Richard

I assume you mean Whirlpool (without the Springs). Whirlpool Springs is just the spas which is around in winter, which there are photos of here. I'm going to be out there again late next month. I'll do what I can to get a few shots of that ride - it's one I'm interested in too.

I think it's insane that you could get in at 4:55 on your pass, but suddenly when it hits 5pm, you're paying $16.50. Not to mention that there's nothing mentioned in the Wonderpass Terms and Conditions of Use (which could do with a bit of a proofread to get rid of a few typos and awkward phrases- it's just plain terrible in parts) - or anywhere on the Wonderland website. I suppose, it's just something you've got to remember, and get there a few before 5pm if that's the way it's got to be done. There's really not much you can do.

It's only for one day. Given that as you say, it is during the holidays, and it's a single day, I'm guessing it's not necessarily maintenance. Who knows, maybe they're doing some filming for a travel show that day or some sort of Nickelodeon special for the holidays or something. Now, give me some decent wheels on Cyclone and I'll be happy. That ride was fantastically smooth for all of a few months. Those that didn't ride it in its first three months at Dreamworld really don't know what they missed out on.

Well, it's either simulators, or Alan Schilke (inventor of 4D, now with S&S-Arrow) talking about X, but seeing as X has come and well, gone, I'm not sure what new concept that he's come up with he will talk about. Personally, DJKostya, I don't think you're missing much at all. I know some people will disagree with that, but they're generally not shows I enjoy.

Oh boy, the "Dragon Ride", as it was known, was a damn fun ride. I remember they had a daily show where a really great old guy would make balloon animals and he'd have everyone doing the chicken dance at the end (he'd sing these words to it too, "And a little bit of this and a little bit of that and you shake your tail..."), and all the kids would get a showbag type thing, where inside was a free day ticket to come back another time. I'd say those things were pretty close to a season pass for me. I rode that thing hundreds of times, and it was always a damn fun little ride, and it sounded so cool going around the track with this whizzing electric motor sound. I was out at Aussie World this past weekend (more like driving past, and thought it'd be good to pull over and give the place a quick glance over), and I can confirm what I read somewhere that their newly built swinging ship is the same one that operated at Tops (the only ride there I never rode... it always freaked me 8)), so there's at least one ride. Of course, for those that don't know, the whole area has been turned into a cinema (one that tries to look fancy, but just stinks of cheapness and tackiness), with a small arcade area going by the name of Tops keeping the legacy going. Speaking of this, I'm still quite annoyed that when Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu were up there one night for the launch of CA2 I was downstairs eating KFC with mates. Needless to say we were all pretty annoyed when we got up there to see 2 Fast 2 Furious, and they were just ripping up duct tape and packing away tables. Magic Mountain, though I never went there, sounded like a very dodgey park. I'm also going to suggest that if they had a coaster, it probably wasn't the one in question (any idea of the style of coaster we're talking?).

Thanks for letting us know. Whenever I know they're on, I try to watch them. Of course, that doesn't mean I like them. To be honest, I think they're generally pretty terrible and it's a bit of an ordeal for me to actually sit through the whole thing, but it's always interesting to watch and see what names you know, and hear the annoying voice-over repeat the same basic thing over and over for each segment, and then do the cliche "future of thrill rides" section.

G'day SydRider. Welcome along and feel free to contribute in the forums as much as you wish! You're indeed correct that it probably was smoother when you were younger, and it's nothing to do with the ride's age or maintenance. Rather, as you suggested, it's body size. The restraints are so horribly designed that the taller you are, the more they'd clamp you down to enjoy each and every huge imperfection in the trackwork. I remember riding when I was younger, and I know it was to some extent more rideable, because the restraints didn't necessarily hold you down as much, because you're significantly lower than the axis point of the harness, so it's pressing horizontally on you, rather than vertically on your shoulders as with when you're taller. I guess the ride was really designed for an average Japanese physique, which is considerably smaller than your average European.

"Midway Amusements" sounds suspiciously like a carnival ride operating name. The ride itself is a Miler wild mouse, which I believe are transportable. It probably dates back to the 1950's or 1960's, which is a tad before my times, but I know that the Brisbane Ekka did at one stage operate a Wild Mouse, which I'd say could very likely be this ride. There certainly hasn't been anything that resembles an amusement park in Brisbane recently, aside from Expo 88's Space Park and Tops at the Myer Centre (with their custom designed Zamperla powered coaster), and the fact that Midway Amusements sounds more like an operator's name rather than a park's name to me suggests it wasn't a park.

I'm iffy on the $11 mil figure too. I'm guessing it's out of the latest report which will explain it... You're reading WVTP's totals - taking out absolutely everything that they spent money on. That's the money that Village Roadshow and the shareholders see in dividends (or rather don't see thanks, to some dodgey runnings... but this isn't the place ). I'll say that the $16 mil profits you're talking about for Sea World are not including investments. The fact that it is for the single park alone proves that, as they don't fund their own capital expenditure. Because the money for investment comes out of Warner Village, to Village Roadshow. WVTP will show off all their fancy figures and projections to the Village Roadshow board who will give them the money they want, and that money will be taken out of the figures you read in the reports. While we're in this financial mode, it's also interesting to see that Dreamworld's just announced a 13% increase in income and a total 3.2% increase in attendance, while WVTP are saying that SARS and wars and whatnot are killing them. I hope Warner Village have finally learned that though the local market mightn't be as lucrative, it sure as hell is a safer bet.

Well, if the truth must be told, I've been watching a lot of Nickelodeon the past few weeks - three hours of SpongeBob every day (12 'til 3) isn't so bad, especially since TV1 took off my Seinfeld, Becker, Frasier and Just Shoot Me lunchtime TV offerings (Monday to Friday I'm proud to say I have no life). The "Sarvo Dreamin' " thing doesn't seem half bad - it's targeting every 9-12 year old who watches Nickelodeon in the Greater Brisbane area, which isn't half bad marketing. Dreamworld's turn will come at Christmas, and I'll put my money down now and say that what they're up to will be the best low budget attraction of 2003.

For me, it's probably a tie between Scooby-Doo and Sea World's Corkscrew. Scooby-Doo is a great ride, unparalleled theming and incredibly unique in every sense of the term, but the actual ride isn't the most comfortable - there's some pretty awful transitions (in the coaster section) which really don't do the neck or lap much good. Maybe if you weren't worrying about how your neck has been twisted, you could enjoy some of the drops a little more. As for Corkscrew, I ask you what more you could want in a ride. It's silky smooth, has fantastic airtime on the first drop (easily/sadly the best airtime we've got in Australia), three inversions, a superb headchopper and it actually fits into its surroundings. It's a better ride than Cyclone (if Dreamworld actually gave it some maintenance and kept it running as smooth as it was in its first six months, it might be above Corkscrew), and Lethal Weapon's far too rough and just doesn't do it for me (though I can't argue with that sweet airtime hill before the sidewinder). And there's absolutely nothing south of the border that interests me - aside from Toboggans, which in themselves are much more thrilling and fun than any coaster I've been on, but I don't think many people acknowledge them as coasters (maybe I'll have to change that ). Oh and yes, Scooby-Doo does still change everything.

To convert it from winter to summer mode, they simply place steel frames into each of the 12 spas, and the top of each is capped to close them off. You'll notice that the spas are actally set into the base of the ring, which is 1.2m below the surface. They fill the ring with water, and that's the attraction. It mightn't sound like it's very deep, but remember you're in rings - this is basically just a faster version of Calypso Beach (also 1.2m deep). You can see in the sides of the walls, the vents that are angled in all different ways to create the current and whirlpools.

That's precisely my point - they don't visit because of the lack of good, modern rides. If the investment were to be made by the park for say a new coaster, then believe me, the boost in attendance would be far more significant than any increase they'd get if they were to add "family" attractions. Again, to tie this in, Dreamworld gets noticeable, but not overly significant attendance increases when they install a new thrill ride. Believe me when I say Nick Central has really done wonders for the park in terms of attendance boosts.

Dreamworld 10 or 15 years ago wasn't the park it is today. Back then, you'd find, as with Wonderland today, a majority of the guests are families. I remember visiting with my family, and you'd just about be surrounded entirely by families. All it took at Dreamworld was a Wipeout or Tower of Terror to nearly completely flip the market shares. Until Nick Central came, an average day at Dreamworld would have easily more than 50% teens. You'll have seen that change with the introduction of Nick Central (not necessarily a drop in teen attendance, but rather an increase in family attendance). In fact, Nick Central's main purpose was to "balance Dreamworld's strength in the young adults market" - and it's worked tremendously (20% increase in childrens attendance). Flip that statement around, and replace "Nick" with "Marvel", and it works just the same for Wonderland. I think that some thrill rides would do tremendously to balance Wonderland's obviously family-oriented focus. It makes good sense to have a balanced market. Dreamworld coped much better than the other parks on the Gold Coast when the "terrorism" or SARS hit, simply because they actively target the local and regional markets a lot more than the Warner Village parks. As with any share or real estate portfolio, it really pays to diversify. For someone that doesn't really like Dreamworld, I'm sure sounding a lot like a fanboy these days.

Yep, that's the one. Aside from being the ride for a fact, Meisho only produced two coasters in 1982, one with four inversions and one - our Thunderbolt - with two. Has train number two been salvaged for parts for number one, or did Dreamworld bin it? Not really important, but it's something to think about.

Tell me how a theme park that gets roughly the same attendance as Dreamworld, and I'm sure has much the same average in-park spending per person is not making a profit, while Dreamworld's owners are making close to $15 mil per year. If there were any reason that they're not spending money on new rides, it's because Sunway are using income to pay off debt that they incurred buying the park, which is a fair thing. Interestingly (and somewhat off topic), assuming the park's value hasn't changed since they purchased it, it's worth roughly 25% more to Sunway now because of the way currency exchange works.

As Psycho said by law, Wonderland must do eveything "right". I'm not sure on the details, but I don't think there's any way that they can underwrite a prize they're offering. It's not like when someone wins the million on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Channel Nine can just back out of the deal. They'll be licensed/authorised to hold the competition, and I'm sure they'll have various officials present who ensure it's all done properly.

Some say that because the rides are dismantled regularly, they're safer than fixed rides, simply because there's apparently less of a chance that problems with parts will go unseen. I have to disagree with that idea though. They people who own them, from my perspective seem pretty shadey. The company that owns the Mad Mouse have had a string of incidents in the past few months/years, where the cause is 100% operator. How the three cars got past the block that is right before the bunny hill is totally beyond me. The only way that can happen is if the block brake system has been modified, making for an unsafe (and presumably illegal) ride. The fact that there were 12 people on the ride at the time, which means six cars, speaks enough for me - I've worked it out, and there's no way you can fit six cars safely onto the course of the Mad Mouse. I don't think these people should be allowed to operate another ride ever again as far as I'm concerned.

Yeah, the Python Loop was a Pinfari Zyklon Z42L if I remember correctly (might have been the Z47L, but I doubt it :?). No idea where it ended up - presumably overseas. Even so, that's absolutely nothing compared to some of these Schwarzkopf monsters. The Luna Park Jetstar is now at Perth's Adventure World as Turbo Mountain. I think it also spent some time in Adelaide somewhere between Sydney and Perth, and the spiral lift was either removed in Adelaide, or before it opened in Perth. RCDB has some good pictures of it, both at Adventure World and Luna Park: http://www.rcdb.com/installationdetail1126.htm

Of course they'd have the million, but they're not counting on giving it away. That's where the odds come in. If, as Nightshifter says, they have 9000 bottles, then there's a 1:9000 chance that the million will be picked up. Wonderland is hardly taking much of a risk, considering also that the sole purpose of it is to get people into the park, which means probably at the end of the day, the park is ahead - regardless of how much they have to pay in prizes.

Well, let's not forget that strangely enough Space Probe debuted around the time that Big Dipper did. Certainly that time around, it could have been seen as a potential threat. Whether the lineup that the "new" Luna Park will have will be seen the same way as Big Dipper was by Wonderland is anyone's guess.

Of course the place won't look too good while they're in the middle of construction, that's something you've got to live with. If the front of the park doesn't look too good at the moment, give it a few months, and once they've finished what they're doing at the moment, I'm sure it'll look better than it did before. $10 mil may have been spent on Space Probe (nearly 10 years ago), but how should that stop them from getting new rides? Dreamworld spent $6 mil on Wipeout, $16 mil on Tower of Terror, another $12 mil on Giant Drop, $5.5 mil on Cyclone and $7 mil on Nick Central. That's $46.5 mil in roughly the same time frame we're talking about with Wonderland. I don't understand how they "blew" the $10 mil either. Space Probe was, and still is a hugely successful ride, and I'm sure the park sees it as one of their best investments to date. They mightn't be getting new rides for a while, but that's for other reasons (you even cited the major reason for no new attractions in your post), certainly not because they can't afford it.

RCDB confirms that - http://rcdb.com/installationdetail492.htm Quite amazing, considering the odd mouse or galaxy, if that, is the best our shows can do. It looks like a great ride, but most reports suggest that the restraints kill the ride. It's something I'd give a shot if I were at the park, but I don't think it'd headline a day at SFMW for me. Not to mention I love the African names - Kumba, Zonga, Zinga... they've just got that nice ring to them.

Don't quote me on this - I'm hardly a traveling ride enthusiast - but I believe that this is the Zipper which was involved. Add of course the incident they had on the chairlift the other day. Hasn't been a good show so far by the sounds of things. From what they showed on the news, it appeared that the car came to a halt on the first bunny hill (see Aussie World's Wild Mouse. The first car stopped near the peak, with two others slamming on the "up" side of the hill (caught by the anti-rollbacks they have on the bunny hills) and the forth hitting the back of the one in front and valleying. I wouldn't want to have been in the fourth car, and I hope everyone injured has a speedy recovery.

Just a few hours ago four cars collided on the Melbourne Royal Show's Mad Mouse, five children were taken to hospital (one in a critical but stable condition). Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s954543.htm Let's just hope that nothing happens to the ride, as it is a classic - one of very few remaining (I count five around the world - three of which are in Australia) wooden mice. Other links: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/26/...4083180956.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/...4083182328.html http://news.ninemsn.com.au/National/story_51985.asp