nev

As Rappa said, the fixtures in use are made by Pulsar of the UK, and are called Chromabanks. The ChromaQ system is represented by Jands in Australia and the system is licenced by CKI. The color blast fixtures that were discussed are only sold by CKI, and there aren't any in use in Australia at the moment.

Hey guys, As far as I know the LED lighting that's discussed in part wasn't installed by an Australian company. The fixtures used on the installation are US built and I don't think any of the discussed ColorBlast fixtures even exist in our country yet. On the other hand, the talk about making the castle look like a gift for the 50th anniversary sounds more promising. A Sydney based company called "The Electric Canvas" (http://www.theelectriccanvas.com.au/) Are world renowned for their large-format projection work and have lit buildings all over the world. It wouldn't suprise me at all if they were responsible for the project. However, PRG - the largest lighting company in the world, based in the US, takes great pride in its large format projection work. I'll try and see if I can dig up any more information, but this is the best I can do off the top of my head.

Putting my lighting hat on for a minute... floodlighting the GD tower would look cool if done properly, but would require some pretty highly powered fixtures to effectively colour the black tower. I think it would be a distraction for riders - I would imagine that being at the top of GD would be even more thrilling at night as there's no light up there at all. If you lit the tower, the carriage and people would be lit up, ruining a bit of the effect if you ask me.

As promised, here's the article I mentioned. This was in the December 1995 issue of Connections - a national lighting and audio magazine. Don't get worked up if there are a few incorrect ride facts, these guys report on lighting, not ride manufacture

Drewboy, Riddler's Revenge has over the shoulder harnesses that slide down (instead of pivoting) into place over the top of you. They also have a rather uncomfortable bicycle bench type seat that slides up between your legs. As both the OTS and seat thingy are adjustable, you can set it to best accomodate your height. However, after several dozen rides on Riddlers, I still didn't find a riding position that didn't compromise my desire to one day be a father

Yeah Alex the comments I made were about Oracle in live situations as well as installations. Laservision are great at stuffing up live projects The last gig Rappa and I did with them, it got to the crucial moment in the show, and their operator pressed rewind instead of play on the show controller...

Couldn't agree more... it's always fun having an Oracle guy sitting next to the lighting console at a dance party.... they're the only aussie laser company who know how to use lasers properly at a party!

Hey guys, Thought you might be interested in this - I stumbled across an article on the laser installation by a company I work with a fair bit. Oracle Laser installed the original system that worked with the fireworks show back when Space Probe first opened. The article has some cool pics of inside the tower and various night time shots, as well as a heap of info on the trials and tribulations of installing a lot of fibre optic cabling into a tall tower. Link is: Oracle Laser - Australia's Wonderland Space Probe 7 Installation I've also got an old article somewhere about the lighting and AV installation in the entrance tunnels, when I get around to it I'll scan it and post it too. Cheers Richard

In terms of land sites, Prospect really is the only available place. Most of Sydney's commercially zoned land - 60% of it in fact - is in the Norwest Business park and areas immediately surrounding it in the Hills District. This area, while very nice (haha I live there) has effectively no public transport and the Norwest land is the most expensive commercial space outside any CBD in Australia. The rest of the available land for commercial use is at Prospect (easily accessible via M4, train, etc) and down south, out near Campbelltown and Camden (slightly less accessible). 30ha + sites of land are few and far between in Sydney that are zoned for this kind of thing. As for Prospect not being an attractive location, if you've ever been to downtown Anaheim, you'll know that the only two things that make that suburb impressive is DL and Knotts

Hi Bigglesworth, That's what I have heard too. The plan is for AusOpera to use the venue during the Opera House rennovations for the next two years or so, and then for a new show - quite possibly Mary Poppins - to go in after that. Diannasaurus, I just made the point after you said that Disney stage shows come and go - just wanted to point out that Disney has long term interests in Australia that exceed shows just passing through. The fact that Disney have invested a lot of time and money in bringing shows such as the Lion King and Beauty and the Beast to Australia is extremely significant as it shows that the company is developing an interest in our local market and that they recognise Australia as a commercially viable location to mount an operation. While this may not appear to have any direct effect on the construction of a theme park, it does show that Disney do have a commercial interest in the country that has been growing over time. My point is that their recent Australian investments show that Disney takes Australia seriously, to the point where the Australian incarnation of the Lion King will leave Australia with a predominantly Australian cast and crew after its Melbourne (and possibly Brisbane) seasons to tour South East Asia. The fact that Disney have chosen to base this tour from Australia highlights their commercial interest in the country, and as I said, while that doesn't mean a Disneyland will be created here, is still very relevant to the topic which has been exploring the possibility of linking Disney's recent Australian involvement with the construction of a new theme park.

On the contrary Diannasauraus, Disney will maintain a presence long after the Lion King closes in Sydney. Apart from the show moving to Melbourne, Disney actually own the deeds to the Captiol Theatre in Sydney for at least the next 6 years, and the current plan as I understand it is to stage another Disney production before the end of that period. Of course, the Disney group that produces stage shows is not the same group who go and build theme parks, just as they aren't the same ones who build those overpriced Disney stores! But Disney has been and will continue to have a strong presence in Australia - at the very least in the entertainment industry.

Hey Buzz, Awesome video! Can we expect to see the old TVC for Space Probe in the next video too?

Willsy, Steel expands much like many things during the day. While its largely unnoticable (Roads expand in the heat too), the minute movements release and apply pressure on joins, such as where the Sp tower is bolted together. The movements are incredibly small, but obviously enough to warrant removing the tower at night. I would imagine that a dark black tower also wouldn't be the coolest of things to have your hands all over during a hot day either

Goboi, The smoke jets have not been reinstalled... for me this was the best part of the whole ride, cause you'd literally be blasted out of the mountain in a cloud of smoke. Adam, There is a set of doors at the top of the lift hill as you enter the final room, and then another set of doors which open at the top of the main drop. Recently, the doors to the final room have been open, which has meant that guests coming up the lift hill can get a fair idea of what's going on ahead of them as the car in front leaves via the hill.

Guys, its pretty simple.. Maybe if there is a new siding track they're finally going to put the second train on the Demon track!!!! This way they can store one train off the track when they don't need to use two! My guess is that this would really help to increase ride capacity on the old Demon by adding the second train. What does everyone else think? (And remember your future level of intelligence and ability to interpret sarcasm may be decided based on your reply)

I guess I'd have to say Splash Mountain is my overal favourite disneyland ride, cause it's so long, well themed and the first time I went on it I didn't have a clue what I was in for! My favourite thrill ride though would be Tower of Terror... and Adam you sit in seats in the elevators.

Hey guys, I haven't been a big poster since I joined but I think I've got enough experience on this to comment. I've spent a lot of time sitting on the Scooby Doo coaster and I work in theatre as a lighting designer, so I know a thing or two about fire regulations 1) The carriage LEDs - under Australian law, any fixture emitting a visible or invisible laser beam must have an emission sign (sticker or otherwise) attached to the point where the beam is emitted from. While these will not be visible on the lasers in the laser room section as you rip past them on a coaster, I can assure you they will be there. The light emitted from the carriage fixtures does not carry any of this signage. In addition to this, mounting laser fixtures on a moving device is costly and unreliable. The eyes on the trains are nothing more than low voltage LED lights that have a small beam angle. 2) The fire theory - there are two types of smoke detectors in general use in Australia. One type is a chemical based sensor, which analyses passing air for traces of carbon dioxide. The other type is a particle sensor, which uses an invisible beam to detect certain particles in the air between two points. Heat sensitive detectors are only ever used in very controlled environments, of which the Scooby Doo coaster is not one. The cars on the ride are subjected to substantial temperatures inside the laser room on a hot day. Particle sensors are a lighting guy's worst nightmare - it means that even a small amount of theatrical fog can set off a fire alarm. If particle sensors were installed on the ride, you'd be getting an alarm every time a car went into the laser room with the amount of smoke in there. Sensors that test for the presence of CO2 and other fire-related gases are expensive, and are usually placed inside air conditioning ducts or in areas of high airflow where they can quickly detect any hint of a fire. Suggesting that they would be built in to every carriage is a bit of a long shot, as there is no reason for it. Finally, smoke detectors are mounted in static locations (such as on roofs) so that a fire alarm system can quickly and accurately show the fire department where the fire is. A mobile system would not be able to pinpoint the location of any such fire, and would be largely useless to any fire crew attending the site. My 2 cents anwyay Cheers Richard

Great guide, but one thing confuses me... How the hell is the Zodiac a "sit on the shoulders of a giant doing cartwheels" ? richard

"My guess is that it's heading off to Kuala Lumpar as the 'brand spanking new' attraction at Sunway Lagoon. They don't seem to know any better over there either" Ok people, time for me to chime in with my first real post! I've had the experience (yes, let's call it an experience) of visiting the Sunway Lagoon in Malaysia. We stayed at the Sunway resort and visited the park. We're talking about a park here that transcends crap - like SW makes Wonderland look like Disneyland. In fact, I'm pretty sure a B&M coaster would be 'Bamboo and Monkey" over there. First, the park is incredibly small - yes it has a huge wavepool and slides area, but the thing is built into the side of a cliff face and it's already bulging at the seams. There's no room to expand - we're not talking about western Sydney with a few thousand acres to play with here, we're talking about central Kuala Lumpur where even the mosquitos fight for space. Secondly, nobody actually goes on anything! When I was there, I was the only one on their one pitiful roller coaster, despite the park being relatively full. They all seemed to come to ride the teacups or look at the tigers. Let me tell you, one of the funniest sights I have ever seen is a good thousand muslim people all dressed up to the nines, standing looking at the wave pool! Fourthly, (or for those who are counting, thirdly,) the park seems to exist mainly for the benefit of the hotel next door - the Sunway Lagoon Resort complex - which is a predominantly business orientated hotel. The Sunway complex is a fair communte out of KL city and was never busy when we were there. Think of the park as more of a sideshow or part of a mega-resort - it's really not in the same league as even any Australian park. Therefore, I really don't think they'd be likely to relocate an attraction like Space Probe to the place. There literally isn't enough space in the park, despite the small footprint of the ride. Everything in the park is old, small and geared towards the kiddies, with the exception of the bridge that takes resort guests into the park - the way that thing wobbles scared the hell out of me! Anyway, just thought I'd share you my Sunway experiences. As I said, their Malaysian effort makes Wonderland seem like, well, a wonderland. richard