Spotty
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Posts posted by Spotty
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36 minutes ago, Coasterjoe said:
Another way Dreamworld is crushing the competition: Ride inclusivity
Daughter has a brace from a wrist injury, Seaworld was a blanket no for everything, even gentle rides. I am assuming its the same at Movieworld.
Dreamworld uses common sense and only restricts certain rides due to intensity and/or plausibility of riding. The nurse at Dreamworld provided my daughter with a ride access pass that allows her to ride everything except ST, Giant Drop and Dodgems. Village need to step it up.
Village used to do the same thing, if a guest rocked up to a ride and didn't have a wristband from guest services and had a visible injury / disability we would send them to guest services. A staff member would then have a conversation with the guest, to determine the nature of it and then punch out holes for the rides they could not ride. If it was more complex a member of the health team would assess it.
Not sure if this is still the process, but I would assume it would be still the same or very similar. We did also use it for guests that were right on the minimum height for a ride, suggesting they go to GS to get measured and get a wristband to let the staff know what rides they were measured up for on the day to prevent them being re-measured every single time. Overall it was a great system, good for the guests and made it easier for the staff.-
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9 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
lol. Friday Night Games were ridiculous. I suppose it was an opportunity to spin off the show into another format and get extra viewers in a difficult timeslot - i'd heard it as a return of it's a knockout style and it really wasn't (sidenote - return the original it's a knockout format - that would be a hoot!)
I guess my nostalgia is the earlier series around 01 before they started 'tweaking the format'
Ridiculous, but very entertaining as well. I also liked when they had the "Logan Twins" I thought that was an interesting plot twist. Overall after the first few seasons it kind of did go downhill a little bit.
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13 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
If they got Gretel, it'd hit. Sonja just doesn't have the same "je ne sais quoi"
(I understand this year's host is someone else i'm vaguely familiar with from HYBPA \ Working dog, but nothing beats Gretel)
Gretel, Mike Goldman and the Friday Night Games are all required to come back I think if they want it to be a hit.
Those Friday Night Games were always a hoot to watch, especially "The Fan"
- Good Times
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On 30/5/2025 at 9:16 AM, Park Addict 93 said:
Not new, part of the Next Gen additions
I was gonna say, that was 100% not there in 2012 when I worked at the park and did regular morning track walks of Scooby. So yeah, part of the next gen "upgrade" to tie in with the lift sequence ft. Scrappy Doo.
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On 14/5/2025 at 4:18 PM, downunder said:
That is very cool. They are such an archetypical death machine, they need to continue lol.
Hopefully they don't amp down the intensity.
The majority of the ones in Australia that we have actually run faster than the Chance Rides models as well. I don't really see any showmen in Australia buying a brand new one. They aren't really as marketable as rides like The Beast or The Warrior (speed and height etc).
As much as I'd love to see it, I just don't see it sadly. Hopefully one of the other Aussie built ones comes out of retirement like the Bad Ass Zipper recently has.-
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6 hours ago, downunder said:
^Thanks for that. I had a feeling insurance might be in play too. I remember my first ever zipper when I was maybe a little under the height limit, that was not a good idea. It would be interesting if they are still prevalent still in the US. I've only been to the LA County Fair and State Fair of Texas once each and didn't see one at either.
They are still fairly common in the US. Insurance after the Rapids incident got really expensive which is when a lot of older carnival rides started to disappear. Then covid made it even worse.
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8 hours ago, downunder said:
I haven't seen a zipper at the Sydney Easter Show for ages. Are they just not popular anymore or are there other reasons they seem to be disappearing?
As a little one I remember getting traumatised by one of these lol.
After COVID insurance on a lot of rides went up like crazy. As they are older rides they needed a lot of work done to them and a lot of showmen were focusing on newer rides. Also with space at a premium at some of the shows they want the new and "extreme" rides despite the Zipper being one of the most extreme out there.
Hopefully we will see more of them come back, but I'd say the 2 that are now travelling will likely be the only ones. -
20 hours ago, Ashley Jeffery said:
Was visiting my parents in Kingaroy this weekend. Looked what was at the show. One bad ass mother of a ride. Still the most extreme flat ride ive been on.
That is the ex Shorts one that was recently sold and extensively refurbished. Fairly sure it's owned by Festival Amusements in QLD. They mostly only do shows in South / Central QLD so not sure if we will see it around too much outside these areas sadly. But glad to see it's back up and running.
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56 minutes ago, Naazon said:
Seatbelts
Oh... my bad
I was thinking it had more to do with turnstiles.
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4 hours ago, New display name said:
@Dean BarnettYou're adding a train, you're adding an extra maintenance bay. Where are you adding the extra block to safely run 3 trains?
It will stop at the top of the non inverting loop, and there will be sensors at the back of the train to reverse it back if it detects danger... Just like Scooby Doo's fire sensing eyes
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And what does the security line at an airport have to do with theme parks?
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The one thing I've always found with pretty much all of the Top Spins was the stopping constantly for several seconds before doing another flip. I find it really kills the pacing of the ride in my opinion. It was one thing that Wipeout did well for the most part (Apart from the stop before the final locked flip, which could be argued that it was done for suspense)
Sadly it's not just limited to the HUSS variants either, the Moser ones do it as well. Still really gunning for a screaming swing for Movie World. -
On 21/3/2025 at 7:00 PM, aussienetman said:
Aging myself here... I look back on my employment with Movieworld with extremely happy memories. The team when I was there was fantastic... working the Special Effects Show was definitely a highlight. It's closure marked rhe end of my employment there as the company shifted away from scripted attractions and I wasn't interested in pushing buttons on rides anymore.
For me, it was the shift away from scripted attractions that I believe marked the different direction for MW. The OG batman simulator and v2. The River Ride, even to an extent working the Harry Potter or Matrix walk throughs with its interactive scripted elements.
I can truly say back then there was zero issues for me personally with anyone working there... (although the head male park supervisor was a bit of a cranky ass sometimes 🤣)
Ah yes... I can totally agree with your comments about the Male Supervisor (I'll call him JM) haha. Cranky, but also a great bloke. I will admit I have some fond memories of my time there, and some not so fond ones haha. Overall it wasn't bad, but around the time that I left things were really starting to go downhill slowly.
Glad I left, but glad I had the experience
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4 hours ago, Coppertine said:
Wasn't Doomsday an Intamin flat ride? Or are intamin more so infamous for flat ride projects compared to compeditors?
As far as I know it was sold by Intamin but built by ABC Engineering. They have built several other flat rides including the Toubillion Model that is also known for having major issues (Cyborg Spin at Six Flags for example)
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10 hours ago, aaronm said:
Let's say they went with a Funtime model rather than the budget SBF, is it any more reliable? Or are the issues something else - the ocean breeze or aftermarket restraint sensors perhaps?
The Funtime models for the most part have been proven to be very reliable, Sea World cheaped out and brought a lemon much like they did with Doomsday.
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The only place that they could really expand (and I'm not sure if they actually can for structural reasons) would be ontop of the carpark. But even then you could maybe fit 1 or 2 flat rides at the most. The only thing I can think of is maybe a repaint of the front half of the park and just giving a general refresh. Not really much could be done given the space they have. But any investment is good investment.
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On 18/2/2025 at 8:50 AM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
Are you sure it's 8? Bermuda and Pirates OTC are both about 4 to a row. An 8 seater boat feels massive... Finding imagery of LTRR to confirm is a bit difficult (i'm sure its out there but it wasn't easy on a quick google).
ETA: turns out I was right - it's "4 to a row or your boat won't go" 6:35 in this clip. Looks like your trauma is slowly fading @Cactus_MattSnowy River Sam here, please keep moving all the way down. Remember 4 to a row, or the boat don't go!
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11 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
Batwing and Superman always go down together in February. Batwing may have gone down early for unplanned reasons but the scheduled maintenance periods almost always align.
Normally Superman was Feb - April and Batwing would be March - April depending on when the school holidays / easter long weekend were. If the easter long weekend was in March it would go down in February but if it was in April it would go down in March.
Would make sense for Flash and Superman to go down at the same time though. If possible I'd try to have Batwing not at the same time anymore because 3 major rides at once is a bit sucky...
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7 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
That's way too much capacity for MW.
But they can do what they do best... run it at half capacity, maybe even 1/4 capacity!
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3 hours ago, New display name said:
Why did they place dinosaur's poop on top of the temple?
Maybe in 12 months it will hatch into a diamond? Or maybe a subtle dig at village that even they can make a turd look better than what is down the road.
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13 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
Not my photo, I don't use instagram, but this is what I saw making its way around (original poster unknown)
Thanks... I can't unsee the reference you made earlier and I hate it haha.
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1 hour ago, New display name said:
This is the scene that really lets the ride down.🤕
I'm getting FotWW queue vibes... hopefully they will add more to it over time. I have more faith in Dreamworld doing this than Village Roadshow.
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14 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:
They've certainly got a track record, but i'm sure most of those attractions, when closed, they had every intention of reopening if they could.
I can tell you right now... 3 of those they had no intention of reopening once they closed (Bermuda, Tunes and Pirate). Pirate was up for sale anyway, no idea why they got rid of it when it had no major issues. Bermuda and Tunes had structural issues that were going to be very expensive to repair and from the very early stages of the closure they knew it wasn't going to reopen sadly. I still remember operating Tunes on its last day of operation, the last operator to be in the lift room when it closed.
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2 hours ago, ClebPleb said:
I agree with you but also don’t I think a flat ride would fit up behind wizard of oz really well I mean it looks like they have gates at wizard of oz to eventually open that area up more I think one more high capacity thrill could do some good especially with superman and green lantern likely looking at having to get replaced in the future as whilst they are getting replaced it makes dc the only good coaster at the park (assuming it’s superman and not green lantern that gets moved first) I honestly think after Wild West goes the park will have a bit more land to play with but they have a land battle at the moment and I think it’s going to be a major issue for them
They have a decent amount of land behind Wild West Falls where they house the scare mazes for Fright Nights that they could use for expansion. The area behind Scooby Doo / WoZ is quite large as well and you could fit a few rides or a whole new area in there, especially if you utilise the Doomsday area and the old show stage building.
1 hour ago, mattcrombie said:No carnival rides that's for sure.
I would rather they just clear that area and expand on western land and utilise the area for a larger attraction.
I would love to see a multi launch coaster of some kind. The area is quite big for them to work with something good and themed to western precinct. Runaway mine carts ?
Another coaster is NOT what the park needs right now. As multiple people have stated they need a few decent flat rides to help soak up the capacity as the park is struggling with that right now.
I was thinking it had more to do with turnstiles.
Riding with injuries: Dreamworld vs Village ride inclusivity
in Theme Park Discussion
Posted
Good to know they are still doing that, just wasn't sure