DaptoFunlandGuy

The wonderland history site has some videos of snowy river rampage starting up from different points, and I myself have seen it start up many times. It's amazing to watch the first trickle come down the chute and in very short order the raging torrent that follows... Love watching flumes and rapids rides start up...

I follow several outlets to do with theme parks, international parks, roller coasters, and Disney. Pretty much every single one of those pages has been going mental for at least the last 5 months (some have been going nuts for a lot longer) over the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train ride. Granted, it's a disney ride - and its a very elaborate one that's been in development for some time - but I really think the parks should work with more of an 'anticipation' angle - like they did with Superman Escape. Although they were advertising Storm for some time, other than a billboard, they didn't really give anything else away. SE had the 0-100-02 promotion and a website JUST for the ride... a little more like they do on the international stage.

Yeah I kinda had that in mind - i guess to rephrase - without discussing ALL the cameras you have - what are some of the more 'interesting' angles (without being super specific) that catch people unawares? Or doing things they shouldn't? Does each lift cabin have one in Scooby? or are they fixed at the top and bottom only? With West - an E-stop causes water to drain in two places - the lake at splashdown, and the upper level behind the mountain - What is the water differential? As in - how high does it rise at both points? I recall hearing a story a while back about Pirates at Disneyland, where the ride was switched off for the night, before all boats had been cleared, and it resulted in some loaded gondolas floating outside their track...

THAT is the kind of info we need. Tell you what I am interested in - is a 'mud map' of West and Scoob's 'dark' areas - eg: you talk about seeing the asians whilst in the lift room inside the mountain before the reverse (so the first lift room) - are you physically in line of sight or just watching cameras? If it's just cameras, why can't the load station do the same job? is there another person watching the top hill? i'm keen to see a rough layout of the mountain scooby including observation points, exitevac points etc. I'd also be interested to get an idea of what the operator can see on the various 'camera views' - eg: it's unlikely you're going to have each car boat in sight 100% of the time, so where can you where can't you see? A lot of the cams 'outdoors' on West are easily identifiable, but obviously Scooby is less obvious... (but only if that information cannot be used to break rules or do unsafe things in blindspots etc...)

I must say - Dreamworld are doing a lot better in their PR - they're being a lot more open with their plans when they have info available... I do wish instead of saying 'come and ask us again later when we might have more info' they'd just post the info when they get it...

Don't forget - our first view of Green Lantern were surveyors pegs... and nobody (except those with inside knowledge) had any idea whether it was for an attraction, building, or just civil works...

What could it mean? It's scooby's disco room - it could mean A LOT of different things... Could have been a trial with the equipment on loan from a supplier hoping to sell some to the park... could have stolen them to mount on the carnivale floats... might not be able to see them now because the foggers are empty and therefore no beam? blew a fuse in show control? Dr Evil hatched another plan for world domination requiring another

Are you now free from the constraints of your contract? Is the park OK with you discussing it? (And will the Mods permit it if it's sensitive?)

sounds like they're struggling to get people through the door... opening until June not such a great idea?

I don't see anything newer than April 29 2013.

Well if it's a plane, it should get off the ground pretty easy... And I disagree - I don't think it's going to make it harder... On the flip side I don't think it'll make it easier... but healthy competition doesn't hurt theme parks - it encourages investment and development - Take movie world dreamworld, almost literally across the road from each other... and for years it's been a tit-for-tat development program (in more recent years one overtakes the other but thats besides the point) Good theme parks breed more good theme parks in my opinion... standalone parks without competition tend to stagnate.

I'm not saying it isn't true, but if I had to hazard a guess, someone associated with the park has probably been posed the question "after the success of WnWS, are you considering bringing down any other parks from the gold coast" and they probably responded with something 'MW-esque' being possible (mainly because SW in western sydney isn't really an option)... they've then taken that to be 'headline of the day' on a slow news day... and bob's your uncle. It could even be an old quote from December or January that they've rehashed. It wouldn't surprise me in the least though, if they were considering it.

Easily with the right kind of management team. There was a stage there where we thought Dreamworld could go that way - the town centre planning, the highway right next door - it'd be an ideal distro centre kind of 'halfway' between the two major cities... Dreamworld are investing in the park. They may not be as wow as VRTP's efforts, but they are putting money into it instead of letting it sit without effort for years. And yes we did miss it - Anzac day every year. This year was the ten year anniversary. The facebook page set up for the park had some really nice tribute videos and pics posted.

Nah - don't think so Gary - after many years of faithful service, i'm fairly certain the park will go for something different.

The Doomsday plan at MW was going to fit inside Superman - it'd be a decent fit around the reef diver area too... maybe DW are giving a little payback to VR for the Aqualoop coup? Or it could be they haven't had a new ride there for a few years because they want to keep the vacant land for other purposes?

Considering the thread is about scooby's fire and lighting - and we all know there is no fire - this thread is about as pointless as any other and i'm sure we'd all very much prefer to hear the inner technicalities of the ride than about a mythical gas line, fire eyes and cantilevered roof.

I have got bruises from the ride before. I just think it needs a new train. When it goes up the lift hill it is quite slow and you always seem to go back a bit before the next pull. When it comes back into the station, it stops and then goes and then stops and goes and stops again. I can't argue with that. Everyone is different and different ride seats harnesses are going to grab different people in different ways. There are just some rides that don't suit some body types. Although I don't have any problems with Kumbak (who would be the most likely supplier for a replacement), but i think most people will say they'd prefer the current style of train to a Kumbak. Yes - this is a standard chain-lift coaster. Most of them will 'clunk' as they hit the hill and drop back onto the chain dog. *NORMAL*. Then, depending on how it is set up, the chain drive may surge the train forward, potentially to a point where the chain accelerates JUST beyond the chain before the chain catches up... i may be misunderstanding you, but from your explanation it sounds completely normal. That is something we've seen mentioned here previously, and it is annoying, time consuming and totally unnecessary, but the angle of the track in the station is quite steep in comparison to other similar rides, and the train would come in quite hot if it wasn't. It could be done better, but its a lot of programming. It'd be nice if the operators could manually park the train, but overshoots would be inevitable... and there is no margin for error with the train's parking position...

Well being Macquarie bowed out over 5 years ago from 'frontline' management of the park, only those who have been following the industry that long would see it as obvious. That said - as I pointed out - Eley Griffiths is the third largest shareholder, and Macquarie is responsible for that entire investment. But - in my view - you were right (my opening sentence) - because 'A' bank doesn't own Dreamworld.... 'Several' banks do. Joz - Agree we went bananas over JL3d, but it has met lukewarm reception at best. It isn't as obvious as Batman was - many don't even realise it's there until they look on a map. The approach to JL has a giant green lantern in the middle of the path, so it doesn't really seem like theres anything else down that end... it is however a Quality Attraction... and for that - yes, go bananas... but what the park needs are some good filler flats, and sadly they won't do that, simply because it won't draw the crowds to boost attendance - which is what they want, and need, year after year.

I'm not sure that a 'big thrill' would be a 'replacement' for Reef Diver... mine ride though - sounds good. Coming Soon? Well one would presume it was 'THIS YEAR' so we should already have some rumblings somewhere - PDonline or internal whispers somewhere - Where's Gazza when you need him? Good news all round though - it may even mean it's time to buy another DW pass. How do you come to the conclusion that the waterslide will OBVIOUSLY go out the back behind rippers? The last addition was attached to the same tower as the green room (Wedgie) which I don't think any of us would have picked - so how do you reach the conclusion that they're obviously building on the remaining section of the thunderbolt site? Anyone have any ideas on what they could bring it that would be an 'Aus first' ? Joz - i'm with you on the fairly small flat.... god I hope not.

I personally don't see anything wrong with Cyclone. It's not old or outdated, it's still quite a smooth ride. I don't agree that it is rough. Sure - compare it to some others, but considering it's age (and manufacturer) it's aging quite well. You wanna try rough - go to China. To the best of my recollection seatbelts were never a requirement of this type of coaster car in the past and appear to be a dreamworld addition - explain what you mean by 'his seatbelt broke' - do you mean it came undone, or the webbing itself tore detached? Regardless, I don't see that a single fault with a seatbelt that is only a 'backup' safety device justifies a need to replace the entire ride. If Dreamworld is going to remove and replace anything - MDMC is first... and we all know that isn't happening.

^he's right you know.... Several banks do... http://clients.weblink.com.au/clients/ardentleisure/article.asp?view=2789282 http://au.investsmart.com.au/shares/asx/ARDENT-LEISURE-GROUP-AAD.asp http://clients.weblink.com.au/clients/ardentleisure/article.asp?view=2758889 Major shareholders include the following banks: NAB Westpac HSBC ANZ Citicorp (By association, Westpac also includes CBA and St George Bank as associated companies) Although not a 'bank' as such, other major shareholders (either now or in the past 6-12 months) include: BT investment management (associated to Westpac) MLC AMP Navigator Australia Asgard Capital Management The Eley Griffiths Group (which is a boutique funds manager) is also a major shareholder Hilariously enough, the responsible entity behind the Eley Griffiths Fusion Fund is Macquarie Financial Products Management Limited http://static.macquarie.com/dafiles/Internet/mgl/au/mfg/docs/financial-statements/2013/Fusion_Fund_-_Eley_Griffiths_Group_Small_Companies_Fund_2013.PDF?v=2 And Eley Griffiths appears to be the 3rd largest shareholder - so Macquare still have a substantial finger in the pie. *Disclaimer - all of this information has been obtained through publicly available sources and i've tried to link as much of what I found as I could to demonstrate it. The very nature of shares and share trading means some of the entities listed may not be shareholders of AAD, ALT, ALL or ALML at this very minute, or their stock holdings may have increased reduced.. Information sourced only from the past 12 months. But it could still be wrong. Sadly enough - it is. Take a look at our reactions to the coming attractions last year - Storm Coaster - vs. Laser Skirmish. We ourselves are always lobbying for the next great coaster or thriller and aren't so phased by the rest - and thats really indicative of the public view too - the payoff for Pandamonium (great ride as it is) wasn't really worth it as a whole - whereas a new coaster would have had everyone flocking to the gates. Sadly it's all about 'bang for your buck' these days and no longer about the experiences... I'm sure though - that if they think hard enough and consider that LTRR ran for 2 decades, PASS about 15 years, Batman adventure (with an update) around the same period, and bermuda made close to 15 years also... they might one day see the worth in putting in a low-thrill, high experience attraction again... one can dream.

IT'S A WARNER RIDE that we're discussing here! Back on topic! Who's got the latest goss on the justice league banner covering the doorway? Any signs of colour fading in the sun? Is it tied down or does it move with the wind? Did anyone catch it last weekend with all the wind we had? Did it break down? *plants tongue firmly in cheek* Can someone go to the park and take a photo of it?

^ yes but given the lift-stacking, if you're the first one into the lift (and the last one out) theres always a car in front to try and catch. Provided load isn't stacking the entire ride, the lift dispatch and turntable should be timed almost identically between the first and second cars... ie: first car out of lift, backwards drop, turntable, go, second car out, drop, turntable, go - should all be spaced the same as the blocks would clear in the same order at the same rough timing (allowing for weight and friction differences if anyone wants to get technical)... i'm probably not explaining what I mean very well - does that make sense to anyone?

"I am worth reading" ?

...and yet it's been 9 years since then.