Spotty

Hopefully not for too much longer...

As of around 1pm today Shockwave has reopened. Buzzsaw's area and gold rush in general is looking great. Even the balloon game in the old Eureka queue has been spruced up and doesn't actually look tacky anymore. I saw Buzzsaw testing today, and I thought the X car's did the full circuit, then went up the lift and back down the spike once before the lift caught it and slowly lowered it down. But as it's seen in the videos it just coasts for a minute or so before stopping. Hopefully that's not how the ride will operate once open next weekend as it will reduce capacity. Also just an idea, maybe we could have an "unofficial" Parkz meetup next Saturday for the rides opening?

I'll try, my managers are nazi's as of late... but i'm sure I can try

Damn, I start work at 3pm on the Friday So by the time I get home to message you they will probably all be gone *sigh* Stupid work...

Any news on this?

For LTRR or Bermuda?

I think it's around 6am...

If Bob Tan becomes the CEO of Dreamworld / WhiteWater World, I will say that the park will be in very good hands. That man really does know what he's doing as far as rides and development go and I'm sure that he will do great things. We can only hope I guess...

Nah, I don't normally take my camera when I am with friends. Might head down there on Saturday next week though and take some pics.

Also, the shooting gallery, souvenir shop and the old "Diggers Rest" food outlet is also being repainted. There has also been the addition of a Ned Kelly + Woman characters walking around the park and "Holding up" guests to add to the atmosphere.

Hey guys, just an update on BuzzSaw at Dreamworld. The top of the tower where the overhanging track was assembled today and will probably be lifted in the coming days along with the basic foundations for the station completed now. It's looking as though it could be completed in the next 2 - 3 weeks at the latest. In other news, the Nickelodeon shop has been repainted on the outside and is looking great along with Bumper Beach.

Yeah, amazing what you can sus out when bored At least we have an idea as to what the park is doing now with the surprise.

Coincidently enough the name Buzzsaw is on Noel Dempsey's LinkedIn profile. "Attraction investment of over $17m across 3 years ( Shockwave , SpongeBob Kit Flyer, Alien vs Predator, Buzzsaw thrill ride (opening Sept 2011) , Exotic species display , all weather 400pax stadium , 3D digital cinema , Wedgie water ride" Also... may as well confirm Dreamworks right now... "Negotiation of new entertainment partnership with Dreamworks Animation ( due to open Dec 2011 )"

Yet he was one of the greater CEO's the park had... The whole park in general is looking better than it has in YEARS when he was in charge... and just in general. Will be very interesting to see what happens...

Well... i've still got my Dreamworld / WhiteWater World pass that is valid till November 30th. So I guess I'll be buying the VIP GOLD in a few weeks... and closer to the time of my Dreamworld pass expiring i'll look at what options they have. Kind of convenient to have them expire 6 months apart.

Or they could just paint the dogs... I mean it can't be copyrighted the shape considering SBF Visa make the gondola's for other rides as well if they don't have the Dreamcopter's cars still. I just really hope they decide to run the Avalanche at a decent speed again, and backwards!!! The current way it runs is a sad excuse for a Matterhorn.

Question one. Go for it! Provided I have enough notice i'd be able to come and would love to meet up with some of the newer members and catch up with the older ones again. I reckon we should have a mini meet up at the end of July once the holidays are over to try out the Shockwave. Question 2. Go ahead, just because some people don't always comment doesn't mean they don't read them or enjoy them. I for one love seeing photos and reading about the theme parks abroad!

It looks to be running at a halfway decent speed! Will hopefully get to try it on Sunday!

Which means that the ride might actually run at a halfway decent speed again... I can dream I guess.

To be honest, if it was another corporate tie in it would surprise me. That sounds like something that would have happened under Stephen Gregg's reign, not Noel Dempsey. I mean yes the cinema was another upcharge, but it's mostly used outside of park hours so I don't see the big issue with it. That and it's drawing life into what was a very old attraction which is good to see. That and the park is in much better shape overall than it has been in MANY years, with rides getting fixed up and looking much cleaner than ever. Not to mention the staff they have there are always smiling. I think in the last 2 years I've seen maybe 2 staff not smiling. Much less than at the WVTP properties I have been to recently. Also, from having brief conversations with Noel in the past, I am fairly confident that what is added to the park will be a quality attraction and not some other half arsed attempt like V8 Redline. And on the upcharge thing, attractions like Illuminate and the Cinema I just see as expanding the brand in a POSITIVE way, not like the V8 Supercars attraction and to a lesser extent the Flowrider.

@Gazza, Crap... >_< I meant motor haha.

@Lotl_90, I might have got the program numbers a little bit mixed up. But from what I was told the program that it was running just before the engine malfunctions was similar to the one it ran up until the dates mentioned but with a bit more before the final trick. But yeah, it has had it's programs moved around a few times in it's life. I say bring back the Xtremeworld program!

Hey, just received word from a contact I have within the park in regards to the Wipeout's current status. On very hot days the Wipeout only loads ½ to ¾ of a load at a time, due to the lubricant in the hinge connecting the gondola to the arm heating up too much. This causes the gondola to flip easier and slightly more erratic than the cycle is meant to. When the gondola flips too much for the cycle, it shuts down the computer system and brings the ride to a halt which then requires the ride to be reset. Also I can confirm that the motor in the hinged arm has sustained some minor damage along with one of the other components in the arm which allows the gondola to lock for the inversions. So until such a time as the parts are available from Vekoma it has been forced to run a tamer cycle. The parts have been ordered from Vekoma, but because the ride model is no longer built obviously they don't have the parts in stock and are taking some time to be manufactured for the park. I have also been given some information about the cycles that the Wipeout currently has built into the ride. And before you ask, i'll answer the question anyway. The Wipeout will not be having any new cycles built into the ride. The ride has 6 cycles built into the computer, from 1 to 6. With program 1 being the most intense and program 6 being the tamest. Up until 2004 or 2005 the ride was running program 3, which is very similar to program number 2 which the ride was running until recently. The only major difference between the 2 is that after the twisting flips, the ride does around 25 seconds of non inverting twists before slowing down for the locked rotation at the end. In 2001 (2000 maybe?) during the Xtremeworld Promotional period the ride was running Cycle 1 which did the 2 rotations like the old cycle before stopping to do the slow rotation at the start. It then followed a similar pattern to 2 and 3 before doing a 2nd slow inversion at the end of the cycle. Right now until such a time as the parts are shipped to the park, the ride is running cycle 5. Which is basically just non inverting twists and turns except for the final slow rotation at the end. Once the ride is fully operational, there has been talks of running the ride on cycle 1 again for a trial period to see how reliable it is. If it breaks down too much they will be reverting it back to either cycle 2 or 3. And considering the attraction is approaching 17 years old, it's great to see the park willing to spend money fixing the issue at hand. But then again it's constantly one of Dreamworld's most popular rides, and is in much better condition than the Thunderbolt was at a similar age. So hopefully this answers a few questions about the ride for you

The motor in the hinged arm is currently playing up a little bit. They have ordered a new motor for the arm and until such a time as it's delivered and installed the ride is running on a tamer program. As for why the ride was loading one half only, could be due to the heat as having more weight could make it more prone to break down. At least Dreamworld invest's money in rides when they encounter unexpected malfunctions and don't just let them rot... i'm looking in your direction Sea World. The information about the motor is listed somewhere on Dreamworld's Facebook, but there are so many posts on there I can't find the exact one. The ride is approaching 17 years old now, at least it's still kicking!

Probably Space Probe 7 or Demon... as far as I'm aware they are the only major rides that opened after the park did. Lets just hope Movie World doesn't get Steven Gailbraith ever!