DaptoFunlandGuy

Why not? they had Batman Adventure - now Justice League AND Batwing at the front of the park, and had Gotham Burgers opposite Dirty Harry's...

Yeah Brad's closer to the money with about half. I'd suggest there'd be a little maintenance bay behind the wall too. I've seen behind the wall so to speak, and it is used as storage for all things seasonal - christmas tree and decorations, floats etc. Sure they could do something with it attraction wise, but they need somewhere to store that kind of stuff out of the weather... they'd need to build another storage warehouse on site before they could do that... and let's remember that is within WB Kids - so whatever they put in there has to fit the theme...

If there's any truth to that, i'd like to think we'd have heard something... outcome of investigation, or something like that. There hasn't been a whisper of anything... It's also a very large investment that they'd be losing... if it isn't the manufacturer's fault, i can't see them throwing it away... and I can't see the manufacturer giving up without a fight and at least TRYING to fix the issue... testing etc... before resolving that the only thing left is to rip it down... It may very well be the end result... but I don't think we've got a decision on it this quickly. Edit: Zanstabar - you echoed my thoughts. We're always very critical of new posters without credibility as there are many trolls out there... however we have had first-timers turn out to be incredible information sources... I'll treat this information with appropriate skepticism until confirmed through some of our usual sources... but i'll allow for the possibility... it IS possible... however unlikely.

Now see there's a good idea.... get a park CEO onto the board to hear from us on issues within the park... pity nobody's ever thought of that... #OHWAIT

It can Jacob - the point we are discussing is an attraction that IS themed to a filmstory, where that filmstory isn't as current as it probably should be to warrant a ride in a theme park. If you read everything in context, my statement as you've quoted above was responding to DjRappa who observed the many story tie-ins at Disneyland of 'outdated' films. What i'm saying is - if you're going to use a theme drawn from something that isn't current, it has got to be able to stand on it's own - sure it'll be awesome for people who know the story as they'll see little 'easter eggs' as they remember from the film or the book - but for those who don't know the prior story, they'll leave scratching their heads a little if they don't understand part of what just went on. By all means - go with a generic story that doesn't need prior knowledge, or use the theme you want to use but in that case you need to include the story in the ride or the queue so that people understand what story it is the attraction is trying to tell. Bottom line is I don't believe Movie World would be capable of pulling off such a feat - especially (as we're discussing) something like the classic Wizard of Oz tale - they simply don't have the budget to be able to pull off an immersive story of the land of Oz without leaving some people wondering what the hell it was all about. And yes - whilst there are modern adaptations - Oz the great and powerful, Wicked etc - which theme can WB use? The classic Judy Garland style is owned by WB and therefore would probably be accessible to VR, whereas the technicolour monstrosity that is Otg&p is a Disney property - which means they wouldn't be able to use the modern style that people are more familiar with. Wicked is currently being made into a film by Universal, so they have the film rights. Of course - it doesn't mean the park can't go with a more generic playscript version of the attraction - but then the benefits of recognisable imagery as most people know from the stage film version will be useless as they can't use that imagery.

I'm pretty sure the park would take issue with that sort of footwear... Wear a thick heeled walking shoe or jogger, and get her some lifts to put inside it...

*spins wheel* Optional upgrade for $50, including 'fastpass'

Andrewh - i think he's talking to you...

Stick it on eBay... find out soon enough.

Oh you can never never doubt what nobody is sure about.

That's the whole idea of theme parks though - one minute you're walking down Main Street USA, and then past the Jungle Drums of the Tiki Room, or through the gates of a fantasyland castle into a world of make-believe. It's a 'movie' park. Universal makes a lot off it's facades - take a back lot tour - marvel at how streets of 1990s New York quickly transform one street over into the crisp green lawns of 1955 Hill Valley The difference being that the attraction can easily stand on it's own without the backstory of the film. I don't know many people who have seen Song of the South - but Splash's storyline isn't reliant on it - it can tell the story on it's own (because it has the budget to do so). The only attraction at the park that I don't believe can stand on it's own without prior knowledge of the film is Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin... I do think you're being a bit broad with 'pretty much built around'... unless you're referring to Mickey & Friends... most attractions in the park are stand-alone themes... some of which have developed into their own films...

i'm calling it - it won't look any better when finished. it'll be a sculpture plonked on top of a building... that is all.

She'll see a growth spurt that'll take care of the 10cm pretty easily... the question will be WHEN it comes along...!

^^And the lack of recent action on the coaster may be more about their urgent switch to focus on a retheme of Wiggles World to include ABC, so they've put things on hold until thats sorted... rather than the work stoppage being an 'indication' that they've decided not to follow through. Maybe they just can't get inside the building at the moment because some Jackass forced them to board it up.

As stated, we've already well debated the merits of them, and so long as they continue to be an income source for the park, they're staying. Disney market their own timeshare properties within their parks, and other companies advertise in Six Flags and occasionally Universal. Theme park tourists are the target market for these organisations, so it's the perfect place to be. I really think your strip club comparison is a little OTT and DQ.

A good report OG, and probably what i'd have expected to hear given the park's current state. I think we'll have to frame your observation regarding AA - I don't think i've met many people that consider an SLC to be their favourite - although clearly it has some sentimental attachments as well. As for the time share folk (we've debated their merits to death in another discussion) I usually just keep to the opposite side of the path, a quick 'no thankyou' and i never stop walking. They aren't allowed to move away from their 'stall' so they can't follow you and are quickly left behind. I find they usually recognise me on the way back, and usually leave me be. Ok - let's make this clear - the PARK doesn't OWN the SOUNDSTAGES. They're all part of the same parent company, which is why they're able to utilise them for FN mazes - especially if they aren't being used... but the stages are PART OF A WORKING STUDIO. If you start opening that area up to park guests on a regular basis, you can't rent the other stages out for filming as the sound around the stages needs to be kept low. This is why the stages have red lights and signs that indicate when filming is on so people outside shut up. Sure - they could look towards doing some sort of 'studio tour' like they used to - but they need active filming to be going on so there are sets to see, or they need to utilise one of the stages for a 'permanent' set like they did with Riddler's a while back... but they still need to keep it fresh or people lose interest. Then they need the trams to actually take people on the tour, so that they don't wander off on their own - and they are currently much better utilised at Paradise Country. There is no backlot outdoor set like Universal has in Hollywood - these 'sets' would probably be something interesting, and worth running a tour for - but as you can see by taking a look at the current POTC set - it was far easier for them to construct the set from scratch at another location, than to try and create the 'look' at the studios. Australia's film industry is one heck of a lot smaller than in the US. A film studio tour is never going to happen again unless we start getting some massive budget films shot here (which might happen more now that our dollar is weak) to keep the tour interesting. History has shown that people would much prefer a blockbuster coaster, than some outdated blockbusters.

One thing to remember is the STYLE of attraction you're dealing with.... Different forces train styles may necessitate different height requirements. Also - Arkham doesn't use the manufacturer restraints anymore - They're Kumbak restraints and may have come with different manufacturer specs.

I wonder how Paradise Country passes will differ from regular VIP Magic Passes... and whether both will be eligible for gold styled upgrades....

^I'm with Joz.

People nearly killed on roller coaster, motorcycle rider nearly killed in stunt show, stunt show vehicle rolled onto roof... These are some of the reasons why 'major sponsors' may not want to put their name on the arena right now.

Well - Zombie Evilution converts to and from a walk through... and pretty soon Dreamworld will also have the BiP Maze - which is kind of a walk-through... We also had Dinosaur Island at Sea World, and soon to be Creatures of the Deep. There's a reason why walk-through attractions aren't usually in our parks... except for the occasional event-style attraction like Fright Nights or Tomb Raider etc... and thats because capacity sucks, and staff costs are high. These sorts of issues, when presented to imagineers, become amazing attractions with huge capacity - like Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion - both of which were originally slated to be a walk-through. Our parks need high-capacity attractions capable of almost continuous loading (omni-mover type system). What we don't need is another large-footprint, low capacity attraction taking up valuable real estate in parks that are fairly limited in which directions they can expand.

The issue can be how they handle GL's queues... the 'grouper' at the ramp only sends a certain number of people up to the station, the ramp (in peak periods) doesn't always show the full queue as i've seen them held back in the area where they had those shade marquees in the middle of summer (granted a couple years ago). But even with short queues, the load process currently observed is very inefficient.. They might go with the 2 seat instead of four seat cars - a very costly exercise - but they'd also have to retrofit the station, the evac ramps on the lift hill and brake runs and a few other minor things. It's doable, but i'm fairly certain the park went with 4 seaters for a reason. If it turns out to be an engineering or manufacturing defect, rather than a maintenance problem - S&S is going to be up for big bucks to retrofit it. If it's maintenance - then nothing will stop them from reopening 'as is' except an overhaul in maintenance procedures, and probably a thorough re-check (and perhaps replacement) of all the current wheel assemblies.

Holy shit! Subtle and everything! Looks like they're actually going to go with it being part of a race... i can see that working... it also does away with the italian facades on that side of the arena too which is good... Progress is at least something...

if by themed, you mean they put up posters of the movie in various places, and played a movie snippet in the queueline before you board - then yes it was themed to a movie. I'd hardly call that 'themed' - 'tie in' would be about as far as i'd go... theres not one part of the ride that has any resemblance to the story, theme, plot, characters or filming locations that were used... they both just happened to have a reasonably generic 'western' theme and conveniently were both due for release at a similar enough time that a tie-in was feasible.

Ok - fair call. Sorry Zanstabar... Wicked hadn't factored into my thinking. I'd suggest re: Dirty Harry and Casablaca - thats more through apathy about working in a more relevant theme than anything else. I'd suggest most people wouldn't connect Rick's to anything these days, and as for Dirty Harry - older guests would remember it - but again most people don't take much notice of it. As for WWF - it's really a generic theme - it's "western" which can fit any of the many western films ever made, and seeks to focus on the 'era' rather than a particular franchise or film (these days). 'Oz Land' wouldn't be something they could achieve IMO... but i'm definitely up for anything they want to do that doesn't focus on a comic.