Spotty

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!

That was pretty much what I was hinting at. And almost all the photos i've seen of Superman only have 1 of the 2 sides running. Hence I was thinking they may have only done one side FOR NOW so that if there was issues (and apparently there has not been) they could then install it on the 2nd side. If there were issues they could have at least had the other side running at the normal height until the bugs were sorted out. Dreamworld has quite a strong relationship with SFMM when it comes to these 2 rides, sharing information and tips and whatnot. Not to mention Dreamworld sent the spare wheels over to the park when the ride needed them as it was quicker than Intamin making new ones for the ride. So in return Dreamworld got the shiny new wheels. Now what I am saying about the 2 sides IS pure speculation, but from a company point of view it kind of does make sense especially if it's a new system never been used before. Having 1 side running at a reduced height is better than having no ride in the event of issues, and being able to fix the issues on the other side. Once they are fully tested and working well... integrate it onto the other side, and the twin version of the ride down under.

You will find that the computer system on this attraction would have been upgraded. And it would not surprise me if the ride in America has had only 1 of the 2 sides with the new upgrade. So that if it wasn't running properly (or buggy) they could at least run the other until they got all the kinks worked out. From what I have heard the ride has been running well since it started testing. It would not surprise me if the 2nd side of the attraction gets the upgrade too now along with Tower of Terror 2 during its rehab period (around September) This may or may not be true, but it would be the most logical explanation. And obviously with the computer upgrade it was able to reach slightly higher speeds than before.

- Taken from Dreamworld's Facebook page.

The concrete area people are taking about near Tiger Island is for the Lions. It just makes LOGICAL sense. The facilities for the Tigers are next door, so it's a no brainer really.

/me and 2 others like this post.

I'll tell you what guys, i'm heading to Dreamworld tomorrow... I'm going to take a super exclusive photo of the construction and tell everyone about how much of a rumor it will start. But first I need to post it on my site, my facebook and every other site and then here. In case you aren't aware, I was being sarcastic. But I am heading down tomorrow, and I know what to look for. There has been some construction work between the back of AVPX and Tiger Island (where the gate is near Nick Stuff) I will post the pictures tomorrow night after my visit EDIT: OMG!! No way!? A ladder... maybe this is for the new B+M WingRider that Movie World is getting to replace the Looney Tunes river ride. It's going to be themed to Tweety flying away from Sylvester! I'll get some construction pics ASAP!

WhiteWater World may have been announced in November 2005, but i'm fairly sure that WVTP knew about the park well before that as it has been in the pipelines so to speak for quite some time with rumors starting in 2003 about a new waterpark within the Dreamworld precinct. It was probably all planned, but I don't think they were originally planned to open within quick succession of each other. Maybe like 1 ride a year sort of thing.

You see, Village having a monopoly IS a bad thing. If there is no other companies competing for the market share... why would they need to constantly add attractions. Only since WhiteWater World was announced have WVTP really started to invest in Wet n Wild.

You also do need to remember that almost all the upcharge attractions were added under OLD management. The park has a new CEO and a very different management team compared to the Flowrider days. Also on a slightly different note, Dreamworld is now a major sponsor of the QLD Sun (New AFL team) and are set to provide entertainment during the half time at all the home games.

Well, some of the smaller attractions they have brought (wedgie and illuminate for one) would not be that expensive. In fact most of the attractions in the last 3 - 4 years have been rather cheap compared to something like the claw etc. From what I can imagine Tower of Terror II was only a few million dollars tops. So if the last MAJOR investment for a ride was the Motocoaster... they could actually have quite a bit of money left over to add to that money.

^ I call a rebuild of the Thunderbolt

Must have changed since I was there cause I clearly saw 2 people in the high zone on Scooby, and I could have sworn I saw someone on the final lift on WWF. But I am happy to be proven wrong. And as far as batman goes, I said 2 for when it's REALLY REALLY busy as I have seen it done... but mostly it's 1 per module attendant as having that much staff on one ride is just chaotic. I don't even think i've seen all 6 modules used since the 2nd incarnation of the bat ride!

I rode the Zamperla Disk'o at Luna Park over the holidays, and if it runs a cycle anywhere near what it ran at LPS it will be a great addition to the park. IMO they should get rid of the Pirate Ship at Aussie World as it is a real bad excuse for a pirate ship.

Wild West Falls has an observer on the first lift hill near the turntable. Just before you go backwards you can see the person to the left of the front of the boat. The way rides operates is as follows: SUPERMAN: 1x Supervisor 2x Loader (one groups as well, up to 4 loaders in peak) 1x Grouper (peak only) 1x Unloader 1x Queue Attendant (2 in peak) Maximum Staff: 9 BATWING: 1x Operator / Supervisor 1x Operator 1x Grouper (Peak Season only) Maximum Staff: 3 ROAD RUNNER: 1x Operator 1x Grouper / Harnesses (Peak season only) Maximum Staff: 2 RIVER RIDE: 1x Pre-Show 1x Loader 1x Unloader 1x Supervisor 2x Watchers (To the right of the lift behind the waterfall, location of other unknown. might be a 3rd somewhere) Maximum Staff: 6 WILD WEST FALLS: 1x Supervisor 1x Loader (2 in peak) 1x Unloader 2x Watchers (1 on each lift, might be a 3rd somewhere) Maximum Staff: 6 SCOOBY DOO: 1x Operator 1x Harness Checker (Peak season only) 1x Supervisor 1x Unloader 3x Watchers (2 on the high zone, in front of you on the first hairpin and the 3rd I think. And one near the lift) LETHAL WEAPON: 1x Supervisor / Loader 1x Grouper / Loader 1x Grouper (Peak season only) 1x Loader (Peak Season only when running 2 trains) Maximum Staff: 4 BATMAN: 1x Grouper / Library 1x Batcave 2x Module Attendants (per module sometimes only 1, so up to 12 attendants) 2x Unloaders (based on minimum of 2 modules running, can be up to 6) 1x Supervisor Maximum Staff: 21! At least that's what it was when I worked there in 2007. Far out I can see why they don't ever run 6 modules anymore and only a maximum of 4!!!

Or at Dreamworld / WhiteWater World either. I can understand the lines being long due to it being peak season. But as an ex theme park employee, hearing that kind of report about staff customer service is just purely shocking! I can assure you if I treated a staff member like that when I worked at Dreamworld, or Movie World for that matter I'd have been given a very firm boot in the arse!

You will probably find that because those cinema screenings are NOT included in the price, that the park will still close around 7:30 and then let people back in the park for the movie...

I was totally expecting one of the penguins to push the other one over!