Richard

I don't think anyone really has to prove themselves. If you read over the thread, the every person with their own "ideas" about the ride has clearly stated their source. Most manufacturers won't respond to emails sent enquiring about rides that parks have purchased. It's not their job to answer questions, and for reasons of confidentiality and competition or whatnot, they more than likely won't divulge information.

During the 80's and 90's, to reduce their costs they outsourced their steel fabrication. Big Dipper was built in Newcastle as you said, as well as Melbourne, under Arrow Dynamics' former structure, which was changed a few years later to bring it back in-house. The quality of the end product wasn't what they would have liked, so in around 1996 or 1997 they went back in-house. Rides like their Mad Mouse or Tennessee Tornado were some of the first ones to be truly built by Arrow again. Arrow was of course (unfortunately) purchased by S&S last year. S&S do their own manufacturing as well, so there's no confusion there.

The construction going on at Dreamworld right now is for a petting zoo, due for opening at Easter. Construction for other attractions later in the year won't begin for some time yet.

Remember, thanks to Geocities stupid rules, you've got to copy and paste the link to get it to work (feel free to upload it here though - . You've got to love those old photos of Dreamworld. It reminds you once upon a time the park was actually this fantastic "dream world". I can't help but think that the place doesn't have that same impact on today's kids as it did for us. I just think that the place has lost its sole. Anyway, where were we before I started drifting off?

It's amazing what Dreamworld did to the offending tree. This was a big gum tree, and they didn't just trim it so that there's no chance of anything like this happening again. They've essentially, for lack of a better word, neutered the tree. I know it's nothing really, but I almost see it as some sort of sick, action movie payback type situation, where Dreamworld have finally got the bad guy and killed him in a big gory battle to the death. Too far? Anyway, here's a shot of the tree (to use the term loosely), it was the tree at the rear that was actually the one involved, but I guess they got his partner in crime while they were at it. I don't have any clear before shots, but you can see the two trees in the distance of this shot (behind the roof, near the chimney).

It's fully integrated with the theme park - there's no separate entrance or whatnot, which I think is the better way of doing it in terms of revenue raising. As joz said, they're generally buying a set holiday from a tour group who get all sorts of deals and discounts because of the numbers they buy. I'd have to say that Dreamworld has the better wildlife park. They are similar, but Dreamworld did really well when they turned it into the "Australian Wildlife Experience", which is essentially three separate areas themed to different Australian areas (on top of the Koala Country area with koalas, kangaroos and the reptile house and whatnot), with accompanying wildlife. It's really quite a nice and picturesque section of the park - one of the nicest areas of any Australian theme parks. It's not an expansion of Nick Central, but rather a continuation of Dreamworld's efforts to give families and particularly younger children more to do at the park, as was started with Nick Central. It's being built at the rear of the park, beside the waterfall which the train passes under (see this shot - the petting zoo will be in the land directly beside it, where you can see a small hill and plenty of trees).

I can't speak for Movie or Sea World, but Dreamworld's fairly light at the moment. Of course, be aware that Dreamworld is at minimum staffing because of how quiet it is, and Dreamworld's staff are hardly the most efficient out there. Cyclone, Tower of Terror and Giant Drop in particular will have 15 minute queues, even with only a load or so in the queue in front of you because of the quite low throughput.

I've seen no official document with the name as anything other than Dreamworld. Here's the "proper" names of the major Australian parks, for what it's worth: Dreamworld Sea World Warner Bros. Movie World Wet'n'Wild Water World Wonderland Sydney

They'd be crazy not to have the wildlife aspect to Dreamworld - it's essentially the only thing that brings in Asian tourists in the numbers that they do. Do you ever wonder why you see four or five coaches (more on a good day) unloading hundreds of tourists in the morning, but never see theme in queues? They're all out back at the Australian Wildlife Experience, experiencing Australian wildlife. This petting zoo will be more as a follow-up to Nick Central rather than an expansion of the Australian Wildlife Experience.

Just the land alone is what I'm angling towards - no rides, no heritage listed buildings, just an empty, waterfront block of land.

The way I see it, the area you've explained, the new petting zoo area at the back of the park is quite close to where Tomb Raider is. There was some misunderstanding and they though you were talking about the already completed Tomb Raider area.

I'm not following. They're moving the attraction, despite its contract finishing in April? I don't really think Dreamworld would extend it, because I'd imagine it would be expensive, such that only the peak season would justify such an attraction. I certainly can't see it being made a permanent fixture at the park, and even so, why would they move it? Then they'd just have an empty theatre in a deserted area of the park.

Uhh, Tomb Raider has been open since December 26 last year and known about here since August. Thanks for the cutting-edge news though - be sure to keep us updated on Cyclone's construction!

Just a few confirmations from the park for everyone. There will also be access to the area from a new bridge over the railway, on top of the paddle steamer. I guess this just helps to keep everything flowing, and I can't imagine what they'd do if the boat were to break down or require extended maintenance. It is set to open Easter.

I guess the grass is always greener. I know for one thing my body would explode from overexposure to mediocrity if I were to go to Dreamworld any more than I do, which might be once a month at best, unless there's some dirt piles to watch and snap pictures of, which i somehow more of an attraction to me than the sum total of all their rides.

Very interesting spin on the fire - and I don't doubt it for one second. I'd be surprised if the land Luna Park is on is worth anything less than $200 million (I'd go for more even) - Melbourne's near water-front St. Kilda location I believe is worth upwards of $150m. That's some seriously sweet land, worth every penny if you could get your hands on it.

I by far prefer Sydney's version - and my only experience of it recently was looking at a ripped up, fenced off construction site. Melbourne's is just a miserably bitumen area with pretty badly looked after rides, most of which nasty carnival things. Scenic Railway, as historic as it is, is just painfully rough, which isn't a bad feat given its biggest drop is all of about 10m. It's obvious that unlike Melbourne's, Sydney's owners are in it for the long haul, not just a cheap fix so that they can get more back on their investment when they sold it a few years later as happened in Melbourne.

BD= "The Ride Formerly Known As Big Dipper" I was TTD as well... I wanted Thunder Dolphin - of the rides on the list, it was the only which actually interests me. I want rides with substance!

I'm pretty sure the ride is a Zamperla model, which are still in production today, so even if there were any significant issues, servicings or replacement parts are certainly not a problem. I'll go with the extensive rehab (perhaps they have sent off for replacement parts?), because I don't think Wonderland can really afford to loose any more rides... though it is Wonderland we're talking about.

Construction is going ahead nicely on Dreamworld's next attraction, going in the back half of the park, near the waterfall tunnel that the train heads through. The frame is up already, and they're working on the fence that will suround the area. There's been lots of earthmoving going on, but it's good to see they're now into the vertical construction, meaning it might be here as soon as Easter. The unique thing about this attraction is, because it is located on the "wrong side of the tracks", instead of having foot access, it will give the paddle steamer a genuine purpose. It'll be good, because the time it takes the boat to do the loop, as well as load/unload at the main stop in Rivertown, it'll give everyone a chance to see everything and get on the next boat. The first picture shows the construction of the frame, with two dudes sawing some pine for the fence they were working on. It was hot enough for me just walking around the park leisurely, I'd hate to have been these guys today . The second one shows where the dock will be for loading and unloading. They'll more than likely rebuild the dock to something that actually complies with even basic workplace health and safety. Did I mention that what they're building is a petting zoo (leaving it to the end to spill that one for everyone to be pleasantly disappointed)? Stay tuned for more exciting developments in coming weeks!

You didn't miss much that summer, unless six hours plus queues (Giant Drop's initial summer period) are your cup of tea. I really don't know how they managed it - that's attrocious even for Dreamworld - but they did. A flat ride takes only a matter of weeks to construct. The reason they open new rides on Boxing Day is because technically it is the start of the new season. Remember that this is only the official opening date. The rides more often than not operate in the days and even weeks leading up to the opening date. Of course I'm not telling you to make travel plans based on the slight chance of getting on a ride before it opens . If that gets you, try coming mid-year or even off-peak. Not only is the weather nicer, but the crowds are only a fraction of the size, and I don't need to mention that hotels are also cheaper. It would have next to no effect on attendance, summers are pretty well consistently packed anyway. The real increase in attendance from a new ride comes later in the year.

I flew ten times on that trip, all economy, and there's no getting used to it, for me, anyway. I'll gladly fly anywhere under three hours or so in economy, but I'll gladly cough up the extra money in future for business class. Did I also mention that the current plan also has me staying at the Grand Californian at Disneyland, Fort Wilderness at Walt Disney World and within both the Paris and Toyko resorts? Let's watch the luxury of this trip go down over the next 18 months as reality sets in.

Well, reports generally say Vekoma's Dutchman is a rough ride, but it's also the more forceful of the two, but this is because neither of the B&M versions were designed really with extreme forces in mind. If they were given a brief to design something like Six Flags' Batman - the Ride, I have no doubt that, as their track record has proven time and time again, they would be perfectly capable of making the most intense yet smooth ride possible. Vekoma have tried so many different things to try and make their coasters smoother, but there hasn't been too much success in it all, so I don't give them much hope to create a new ride that isn't at least somewhat rough. Being fair, the smoothest coaster I've ever ridden (Disney-MGM's Rock'n Rollercoaster) was a Vekoma, but I'd have to say almost entirely thanks to Disney's efforts.

I flew Air Pacific to LA, which was three hours to Nadi in Fiji, six hour layover in Fiji which was spent sleeping and hacky sacking in the terminal (at first it was just the two of us - but later we were joined by a Yank who was heading back home and a Kiwi couple, which occupied the remaining hours until our plain boarded). The next flight to LA (eleven hours I think) was barely half full, so we got a row of four seats for the two of us. It still didn't do much to help me get any sleep (on the flight home, direct LA to Auckland even sleeping pills I picked up in a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere in Arizona didn't do much to help, and I had used them before and managed to sleep right through a day in Texas ).

The Gyro Swing is a Ride Trade product, a division of Intamin (still very much the same company) who build various towers, Ferris Wheels and simulators. kennykoala, there's no need to get all worked up about it. If that's how it's going to be, then it's also worth mentioning that Dreamworld's getting neither a Huss ride nor a Delirium.