Spotty

Ah yes... the fire eyes. See, when I worked for the parks I was very careful with what I would say to anyone. I wouldn't say anything that could get me in trouble. But I will admit that I did enjoy sometimes stirring up various people that I knew by saying things that were downright ridiculous. Not to mention it was very entertaining to see them later on post it on forums / Facebook as fact... Not to mention generally speaking attractions staff don't know that much information about new attractions until about the same time as Parkz members do. I think what was funny is I found out about Storm Coaster before it was even announced to staff within the company. It was hinted at but when I told my supervisor I got the "How on earth did you find out about this" from them haha. In short, attractions staff can be a very good source of information if it's someone you know. But the majority of staff that have been there a while know the main Parkz members and do like to tell you things that may or may not be the most accurate information. But I know personally that none of them would risk their jobs by saying something that could get them fired.

The area you posted in the second picture would never be used for an attraction. That road passes the main staff toilets, staff eating / smoking area and wardrobe etc as well as the back of Ricks cafe.

Yeah... that's a breach of operating procedure for certain. The only 2 attractions (not including children's rides) that you are allowed to have guests stay in the seats for a 2nd ride without disembarking is RoadRunner and Wild West Falls. Scooby Doo you shouldn't even be allowed through the fire exit door between the 2 platforms as it's very easy to hit someone as you open it as you don't always know who or what is on the other side. It's why operators / staff using that door always KNOCK before opening it to make sure people can hear it and move etc. Mickey, did you leave before the switch from LW to Arkham? As I know the harness unlocking procedure has changed since the refurb as individual seats can now be locked / unlocked from the OCC instead of a global harness unlock system that was on Lethal. Of course they can unlock them all at once though, but it's main advantage is if a single seat needs to be unlocked for whatever reason they can do it without having to re-check the whole train.

Ah okay, that actually does sound familiar now... I remember a lot of the Tech Services staff were a bit annoyed at them doing that and stating that the ride should not have been officially opened until all those bugs with the seats were fixed, which is something I agree with entirely.

I was fairly sure that the VIP gold early entry days finished before Arkham Asylum reopened if i'm not mistaken. I could be wrong but yeah, that isn't procedure to say the least but you likely had a supervisor that didn't seem to mind. Personally I don't see the problem with it, but some supervisors are very strict with every procedure no matter how silly it seems (but hey, that's their job I guess)

I never actually learnt Arkham Asylum as an operator, but I did learn Lethal Weapon as my first ride before the changeover. I don't see why the harness would have to be unlocked to send the train again but it would 100% have to be rechecked by the operator before dispatching for a 2nd time. Weather this is procedure or not is a different story. General rule with Village Roadshow, re-rides are not permitted on any of the attractions within the park. Technically even on Wild West Falls if there is no one in the queue you are meant to get out of the boat and go through the line again (or the red door leading to the old pre-show room) I know back in the Lethal days, and assuming it's the same with Arkham you had to disembark the train and either go around the queue or through the little gate at the front of the OCC. It really depends on the supervisor too as to weather they make you walk the whole way around as well.

I was thinking it likely wasn't Intamin's decision to only have the 1 launch on the track, they are merely the designer of the ride. The park would generally decide on the overall layout of the ride. Clearly Dreamworld didn't have the best execution but Motocoaster clearly is one of Intamin's biggest dud's that they have attached their name to either way.

IF Dreamworld was to go with a boomerang type coaster I would much prefer one of the Giant Inverted Boomerang's like DejaVu. Honestly they actually look like pretty decent rides that pack a decent punch in a small footprint. The invertigo model wouldn't be too bad either really... but I think a normal Vekoma boomerang is too dated for a park like Dreamworld now. Also the height of it would give a bit of a visual impact for the park if it's placed in a halfway decent place. I wouldn't really consider it a 1 trick pony either... it wouldn't be my first choice for a new attraction but it wouldn't be the worst idea.

Lockers are $10 for an all day locker or $2 a hour for the individual rides. Movie World's all day lockers are located next to the photo centre with $2 lockers at Superman and Green Lantern. Sea World has the all day lockers located to the right of the main entrance and near the dolphin nursery on the boardwalk behind dockside tavern and at castaway bay. $2 lockers are located at the shipping container between the Flume and Storm Coaster, and between Sea Viper and Jet Rescue. As far as i'm aware none of the theme parks sell bum bags, but there are many places on the gold coast that would sell them.

Log ride has been like that for a long time... the operator just getting over the microphone telling guests to go down the stairs when ready... calling out for single riders etc too when needed. If anyone has any questions about operating procedures etc about any of the WBMW rides I am more than happy to answer them to the best of my ability. However for obvious reasons I wouldn't disclose anything that might be sensitive to VRTP even as an ex employee I still have to be careful

The control room upstairs is located where it is to provide a birds eye view of the staff loading the train. That way the supervisor of the ride is able to monitor things in case one of the two loaders misses something. A prime example would be from upstairs once the train has dispatched it will be easier to see if a guest undoes the seatbelt compared to the position of the two loaders. Although the seatbelt sensors in the train would detect if a rider undoes the seatbelt as well. Then the supervisor can determine weather the rider will just need to do up the seatbelt to restart the ride or a full train evacuation is required (depends if the train has fully left the station or not) Pretty much the location provides a view of the loading platform, a restricted view of the unload platform and the queue line as well...

Road Runner only needs the 2nd attendant when there is 2 trains running, otherwise the second OCC is not required. The yellow button is pushed by both attendants to confirm they have checked their side of the train and BOTH operators are required to hit the green dispatch button at the same time as the operator in the control room upstairs. So to dispatch the train on Superman it requires 3 people to hit the dispatch button at once. Jet Rescue must be programmed slightly differently to allow it to run with just the two staff.

I have seen Claw operating multiple times with just 1 ride operator, they installed a security camera on the hut where the second staff member sits. If anything it would be like the way RoadRunner operates with 2 trains, not Superman. The operator can hit the button to confirm that they have checked the area that they are required and then there is a timer (20 seconds for Roadrunner) and the dispatch button then has to be hit on the MOCC (Main Operator Control Console) before that timer runs out to dispatch.

If i'm not actually mistaken the original dreamworld unit might have been a Schwarzkopf unit not a S.D.C, I can't say with 100% certainty but that's what I had heard from a few people. This unit was removed and replaced with this newer unit and ended up sitting up the back of Downunderland in Canberra until the park closed, no idea where it is now though. I'd say it's likely been scrapped.

Jeez, they really have taken the Wipeout apart this time around... will be interesting in the coming weeks to see what they do with the old girl.

Honestly I think it was around 2006 - 2007 when they stopped the platform from rotating. That was the first step in Bermuda Triangle's demise, then about a year after that the fire stopped... then the SFX started to die, the pre-show removed and then... well the rest is history I guess. As much as Storm is a great ride, I really don't think it quite lives up to the fully immersive experience that Bermuda Triangle was. As much as I love a good roller coaster like the next person, I think 3 coasters for a park that is lacking in the rides department is a little bit much. I would have personally preferred another boat ride similar in experience to Bermuda, that was as immersive and had a decent ride time to it. I'm hoping whatever "Wild" is will deliver that for the park, or whatever it is going to be now as all advertising for Wild seems to have vanished.

Honestly if they were going to go to those extremes they would be better off buying a brand new ride, which would likely last much longer. I am sure if Dreamworld really wanted to, they could get Vekoma to build a brand new model of the ride. Would be interesting to ride the Wipeout with the same OTSR's that the new Vekoma coasters have, but really the restraint system they have already is a very efficient design that would save considerable loading time for example if they had to have seat belts installed if they got new seats. I can see them maybe replacing the Hydraulics and Motors on the ride, and i'd be very disappointed if they didn't give the ride a new paint job and a refresh of the surrounding area. But I honestly think that replacing the whole gondola with new seats MIGHT be a little bit too ambitious for them to undertake. I mean hell, it might happen but I have my doubts on it. As far as the ride program, honestly the cycle that the ride runs 90% of the time is not that bad as it is, maybe a few more flips here and there but yeah.

Fairly sure it's a company called Dinosaurs Unearthed, I know they are the manufacturers

A company called B+B Games owns the new KMG Freakout that was at Luna Park Sydney.

Wow, don't know where I pulled 15 years out... I had a major derp moment. It's 20 years old now as it opened in 94. I am fairly sure Vekoma WILL still make parts for the ride on request as they know the ride is still in use. It's not like Vekoma is a company that has gone bust or anything, I don't think it's days are numbered just yet... but I think within 5 - 10 years at the most it will be gone.

The WipeOut is approaching 15 years old now, and it's probably getting close to the end of it's service life slowly and it needs a major overhaul. I for one am glad they are taking the time to keep this ride maintained than getting rid of it as it's probably my favourite ride in the park. I will admit that is a VERY long rehab period so there must be some pretty major work being done to it. I would love for them to maybe repaint the ride buildings (queue line / control room) back to it's natural timber colours to make it more like a beach and maybe a complete do-over of the theming to really bring it up to scratch whilst it has this extensive rehab as well. Will be interesting to see how it runs once it comes out of rehab.

That flying flume ride looks even scarier than the "Nautic Jet" rides that are common in Europe... Just the way the track suddenly ends even looks terrifying...

Wild West Falls and Scooby Doo generally have their rehab in the 2nd half of the year. I'm assuming JL will have it too around this time.

I can tell you first hand it's pretty damn terrifying... I was on it in 05 when the lift motor crapped itself... front seat too. Not something I want to experience again haha.

I don't see them getting a free fall slide as The Wedgie sort of does the same thing... But they really need to build something soon as it's been so long and the park is slowly being forgotten it seems...