Zamperla

With gravity being a constant, you will never get realistic movement in ride models, especially coasters, being so much smaller and lighter, they will move around the track much faster.

Yes I read this too, but I think this was most likely the top section of the 'castle' (which remains there now as a function room) During the 1970's-1980's this was a huge Dodgem floor, in fact the metal floor still remains. I have seen old photo's of it being used as a 'Tea House' with open windows, I think it was called 'Folley Tea House' or something. Good edited map.

Agreed Alex. Non-profit websites would not be considered "commercial" in nature, as no profit is being made from them. (though Richard's entrepeneurial souveneirs and membership fees could possibly dispute this)

Yes the "spider" is certainly a portable structure underneath, fairly certain it would still have the tyres on too. A pity it cannot be operated in manual mode. Are the lights working at the backs of the gondolas?

Yes, this is good news. A leaseholder with both "heart" and more importantly, financial capital to make something of it, where BCR has left off. It will be interesting to see what happens come September when the consortium assumes control. No doubt the papers will be full of prospective development plans.

Do they have music playing on Spider / Breakdance these days? Also, are you able to operate it in manual mode? I wasn't aware that the spider structure across the top of the ride wasn't reinstated with the latest park development.

Gazza, a pretty good effort there! Where did you find that map? Reasonably professional too? (reminds me a little of the possible drafts proposed in the early 1990's, of which I have the newspaper article somewhere.

You have to remember also, that Disneyland has a huge volume of traffic. Up to 80,000 people per day is not uncommon (as it was when I was there on Christmas eve). I think it was appropriate to re-open the ride after the appropriate clearance in this case, since the unfortunate incident was not related to a malfunction of the ride.

I have had a very positive impression of Aussieworld on both occasions I've visited - the place is exceptionally well managed: ride operation staff very courteous, very fresh food, and immaculately maintained grounds. It was a great refreshment to the larger Goldcoast parks I had been to a few days before. The Wild Mouse alone is well worth stopping in for. (quite a rarity on the international scale of original Wooden Wild Mouse). Like every other ride in Aussieworld, it was beautifully maintained, and definitely the fastest wild / mad mouse I had ever ridden. (the cars just fly!) Some of you may be interested to know that the swinging ship there was the one which used to be in Grundy's on the Goldcoast. The A-frame was built for it in Aussieworld, as when it was in Grundy's it was actually bolted to an overhead beam, on the centre roof.

I don't think it would be heritage listed. Highly Unlikely. I was under the impression it was now in Melbourne for possible trailerisation and had been bought by a travelling amusement company?

Yes Bussy, as Richard said, this was a park ride. So you've just contradicted yourself there with your example. Keep it real

Am wondering what actual noise of the ranger is it that seems to be the problem? Am thinking it's the constant whining of the hydraulic pump (not the actual drives as the ride moves) since this is what they covered up.

Bluman, interesting about the 'religious group' - I wonder if they ever operated the park as an amusement venue, or simply bought it and developed it into a residential zone. Moviegrl, feel free to out-do yourself and contact them before I do!

No it didn't. Our Aussie designed rides have proved the test of time of being some of the best built rides around. Considering we have so many Aussie built rides, it's interesting now that I think about it that the last few incidents of structural failure have been on Italian and US built rides. I think Arthur's Seat chairlift may have been Swiss designed. PS. I agree fully with your positive review of the place though, it may be a small park compared to the biggies on the Goldcoast, but what a refreshing change! Anyway, I'll write about my positive impressions of Aussieworld in that post some other time.

Yes correct GoBoi, I just realised I had the photo's in the wrong order.

OK here are some photo's. The first 2 are of the original Love Express which was at Luna Park in the early 80's? I never personally saw it there, so I have no idea where specifically it was located within the park, perhaps someone else knows this? The ride was in storage for many years, until O'Neils started travelling it. It has done the last 2 Melbourne Moomba festivals. As you can see, it's attractiveness could be greatly improved, but I believe it's being slowly refurbished to its former glory. The second two photo's show what has now become LPS's "Tango", when it was located in the Wittingslow leased section of Darling Harbour in the early 1990's before it was developed. As you can see from the writing, it was indeed brought out from Germany. Does anyone have any other photo's of the rides at Darling Harbour? They seem to be quite rare.

Yes Liam, this disturbing video has been around for some time. That music... hmmm. Think it was some park in Asia. Custom designed chair swing. Looks like the whole 'carousel' came crashing off the bearing.

Goboi, You beat me to it. Yes, the Tango Train that is now at Luna Park was not the original one that was there. (the original one that was there is now owned by O'Neils and was last seen operating in Melbourne 2005 Moomba back in March as 'Love Express') I can upload some photo's of it if you're interested. The Tango was brought out from Germany by Wittingslow, and was on Darling Harbour for sometime as Musik Express. (I also have a photo of it, and from the photo, IMO it looked much better then than it does now) I would say the majority of rides at LPS were ex-Wittingslow rides, which were left there after Wittingslow departed their ownership after the Luna Park redevelopment in the mid 1990's. (rides that come to mind that they owned include: Breakdance, Ranger, UFO, Tango, Troika, and that NASA kiddy ride)

Ride's muffled din falls on deaf ears By Bonnie Malkin Urban Affairs Reporter June 11, 2005, Sydney Morning Herald The operators of Luna Park claim they have reduced the noise of a ride at the centre of a court battle with neighbouring residents. Noise made by the Ranger ride had been halved in the past year, according to the report, by Hyder Consulting and commissioned by the amusement park. It found noise mitigation work on the ride's gears and pumps had cut mechanical noise by nine decibels. It also found Luna Park operated within approved noise limits. "Individual noise levels at each survey location show compliance with the predictions made in the acoustic plan of management, and in some cases the aggregate noise level at locations are below the original predictions," it said. "Long-term noise surveying conducted at the site demonstrates that the northern portion of the park closely parallels noise predictions." Luna Park's managing director, Peter Hearne, said the survey proved that the $200,000 noise-mitigation work done on the Ranger had been a success. AdvertisementAdvertisement "The [report] clearly and conclusively shows we have satisfactorily addressed noise emissions from the Ranger while continuing to operate the park within the specified and approved limits." Mr Hearne used the report to urge those Milsons Point and Lavender Bay residents who have taken the park to court to drop the case. But a spokesman for the Lavender Bay Residents Group, Glen Billington, said the residents would not drop the case until Luna Park properly addressed the noise problem. "The issue we have hasn't changed," he said. "The noise levels are far too high. At 7.55am this morning the Ranger was being tested for an extended period. That has a major impact on people; it wakes people up. "The case will be dropped when the problem doesn't exist. As long as Luna Park is causing an unreasonable impact on the lives of residents, we're going to ask them to address that." Yesterday, the case against Luna Park was expedited in the Supreme Court to July 1.

Ask any general manager about wooden coasters. They are EXPENSIVE. Maintenance is a labour intensive and costly process, compared to the option of steel. But having said that, I agree, there is something special about a wooden coaster than a steelie just cannot ever beat. Wooden coasters have an atmsophere all of their own. As I've said on other forums, I could see a large ferris wheel quite viable for Dreamworld on that site, something with a bit of flash from the highway.

Portable rides are just as safe, if not safer than permanent rides, IMO. (various reasons, one being they by being continually dissassembled, the insides of the rides are continually inspected unlike static rides) What was this swinging ship ride? was it a double ranger? or was it 'Top Gun' (single armed)? Can you tell us what other rides were there?

It certainly was a steel one. Unfortunately I don't have any photo's of Leisureland, just blury childhood memories of my two or three trips there. I think the coaster was custom built, possibly by Kevin Ferarri off overseas specs perhaps. I also remember off the first dip, it went below ground level a couple of metres. All that remains now of the park is a street named 'Leisureland Cct' within a housing development. (much to my dissapointment after I had the urge to detour from a fishing trip with a mate to suss it out) Other rides included a large flume ride, Cha Cha (as mentioned), chairswing, 2 waterslides, a Tilt-a-whirl( ? ), the steel coaster and a few others. I would think the Hastings Council would have to have some information or photo's. I might have to try and investigate when I have the time, as I've been very curious about the details of Leisureland too. Howmany Melbournians do we have here? (apart from I)

Yes, most local councils will give you the green light on that one :eek: It just occurred to me that it (Space Probe) would do well at Luna Park Melbourne, but with the imminent sale etc. it may be demolished before this has the opportunity to be looked into. (though the Port Phillip local council would indeed be the biggest obstacle to contend to, afterall, if not for them, Demon would never have come to exist as it were formerly in WL) PS. Sounds like a nice opportunity for you to get a work-related trip over to the U S of Everything amusement. "Knowledge is power" keep me updated!

OK. The LP Melb one despite having a 'release' button on the console, never did have that feature installed for automatic release of the bars.

I don't know anything about the status of this one. I know the original engineering firm who manufactured them under license are in Melbourne, so they may well be contracted to refurbish it and trailerise it. Yes it sure is, a very complicated brilliantly designed ride. I particularly used to like watching the speed of the main gear that rotates the ride, spin at twice the rate against the eccentric one. The rides are also capable of running backwards as well as forwards, though most of the park models were rarely run backwards. (I know the travelling one did) Did the unit at Wonderland have an automated release of the lapbars?