DaptoFunlandGuy

Yeah - saying 'closed for safety reasons' is perfectly ok to me - doesn't cast the park in a negative light at all - in fact most parks worldwide use phrases like 'safety is our number 1 priority' so closing something 'for safety reasons' shows them following through. It implies their maintenance work has identified something and they are taking preventative measures to prevent it BECOMING a problem. Saying a safety ISSUE or a safety PROBLEM suggests to me an unexpected issue they didn't pick up due to lack of maintenance (thereby implying negativity toward the park). It's not like that hasn't been done before... ...

We all have a very bad habit of pouring shit on someone who tries to give a little info that they have without getting into trouble. I didn't understand 'staff safety reasons' until 'i know why gotham was closed' So it wasn't a 'i know something you don't know' - like any other employee of the park, they've said the same thing that would be in any media release "staff safety reasons" but can't divulge anything further. Now let's look at a few things here - Kujotess has previously been in discussions about interviewing for a job with theme parks. I'm not sure but I thought at some stage they had worked at movie world... it stands to reason they may just have a legitimate source, and have said 'staff safety reasons'. It is understandable that VRTP does not want the public to know that: a poorly run gas line could have potentially exploded at any minute an inadequate fire safety supressor system was malfunctioning over the grill any other serious safety hazard (which they have identified and are now fixing) But at least now we have a possible explanation that the reason GCC is closed, after only just recently being refurbished is because of a safety hazard in the new fitout which they need to rectify. Thanks Kujotess for sharing what you could.

...or they could go in four different directions across the carpark tarmac

...flat tyre?

Thats interesting. If you cast your mind back to the VIP Gold 'early entry' days, when 1 or 2 rides opened just for gold pass holders - i remember doing something between 8 and 13 cycles on Arkham. I never once stepped off the loading platform - although I did change seats... So op staff only checked my harness, and the one i'd just vacated... no gates or re-queue needed.

Don't worry about the awkwardness. Trust me - it ABSOLUTELY MAKES your day. The thing to remember is - you're in a foreign country. Nobody knows who you are. You're newlyweds... and the recognition you get from the cast members is great (although it's not a given, cast members will go that extra mile to make your day better wherever they can) ......gotta catch 'em all......

Coming soon to the garden on the right..... MORE WIRES!!!

LMFAO... I did totally know that, but obviously slipped my mind... the moment you said it I was like - 'of course!'. Well - the stairs truck might break down...

I'm not saying that it isn't possible, but any time we've done a re-ride, the operator has required the harnesses to be released, and then relocked. Any ride ops or former ride ops (spotty i'm looking at you) confirm this? Is it possible (is it procedure...) to re-cycle without the harness unlocking?

Your own picture shows what is obviously a very concerted maintenance effort. If they're talking "demolition" rather than "removal", then at this point they would not be making any attempts to rectify any issues. Why waste money on something you're about to knock down? Precisely.

Well, given the general agreeance about the VIP pass - having a slightly higher margin on food to recoup that isn't something you can really complain about...

fair call - but still - broken aero-bridge, delays into the airport, slow or incompetent rental car staff, bad traffic accident - any number of things can impact - just don't count on the full 5.5 hours... you may not get it.

Last Aprilearly May (2013) was my Honeymoon in Vegas and Disneyland - and it isn't a bad time to go at all! First thing I will say - something we wish we had of done - switch your journeys - do Disney first and Vegas last. Our original plan for our honeymoon was to finish in Vegas (thereby giving the freedom to blow whatever cash we had left), but accommodation deals convinced us to change it around, and we ended up in Vegas first... we found Jetlag was more severe because Vegas doesn't sleep. Ever. So our first week in the USA was plagued with things like waking up at 1pm, going to sleep at 4am (not partying - just couldn't sleep)... California lets you settle your sleeping pattern a bit better... but just my opinion - we would have done it differently and will do so next time. As for late-night Disney trading - thursday - sunday was their late night periods, but they did chop & change - our advanced (3 months out) planning suggested the trading hours one way, our guidebook in our hotel said something different, but the posted hours of the park were different again. We had planned out our day, where we'd eat and what big items we'd do on each day and it got totally wrecked by the clash. Don't make your plans concrete (except maybe blue bayou), and allow for it to change around if the trading hours on each particular day doesn't suit. Did your fiance go with you last time around? or would this be her first time? One mistake I made was to make sure we got through absolutely everything, and it ended up that for the first two days, my wife never got the chance to just sit and watch the world pass by inside the park, and marvel just at the atmosphere. Day 3, we made sure we did, but I almost lost the chance to show her why the park meant so much to me (and you sound the same)

I wouldn't rely on that estimate - 10:30 landing means you'll typically have your bags and be out of the terminal by 11. After paperwork and the usual crap, you'll probably be in your rental car by 11:30. I'd say you won't be entering the park before 12:30.

We've all talked about how bad the food is in the parks. The parks don't always put the best stuff on, but I thought it might be time for us to talk about the GOOD food we've had, andor where we always go when we hit the coast. (And naturally, this discussion will devolve into talking about food at parks across the world - but lets get the GC parks covered first, eh?) Movie World - For me - Baby Back Ribs in Wild West Roadhouse are some really good ribs... albeit pricey. The Peri Peri burger at the Gotham Cafe is also good value, and the Peri Peri isn't 'smack in the face' hot, but still has some nice heat to it. Wet N Wild - Steer clear of Dominos here - There isn't much variety here with two main outlets right next to each other. I'm usually starving by the time i get to eating at WnW, so a Mammoth Burger hits the spot (although I haven't been in a year so not sure if the menu is the same) Sea World - I actually don't have favourites at Sea World. Most of the time I'm only spending the morning there before heading to something else for the afternoon... I'm interested to hear your favourites to try next time i'm there.... Dreamworld - This is not intended to be a 'dreamworld bash' but i can honestly say that I don't have any favourite best food at Dreamworld or Whitewater world. Both parks pretty much sell the same stuff at the outlet at the front of both parks, and it's typical 'fair fare'. I usually grab a cold dagwood dog and some unsalted fries (it's ok you can salt them yourself!). Importantly, Dreamworld does stock Ben and Jerry's which is the one staple requirement of a visit to the park. What are your favourites?

Jamberoo should install something that WnW has in both of it's Australian sites already, and thats supposed to wake them up? I can see it now... WnW wakes up, sees Jamberoo building a sky coaster and says 'stop copying me!' and then goes back to sleep. How about Jamberoo builds an attraction not seen at the Sydney or Gold Coast parks, or at least something with a point of difference... oh wait - they're already doing that...

There is a reason PG-13 classifications exist. Don't worry - a few more years and you'll be able to watch them under parental supervision.

I don't imagine MW will be too busy, however there is always the weekday busloads of tourists. As for eats - when it's open, my preference is the outlet in the Wild West. Since they updated their menu, it's the only place I like to go (however since it's nearly always closed except on busy days - it means I don't eat in the park as often as i'd use to). TBH those two places are probably the two 'MAJOR' outlets in the park, so if GCC is closed, my expectation would be that the Wild West (Burgers?) outlet would be open.

Some of these puns are such an E. Nygma to me, Oswald as that, i'm getting a little Scarecrow-ed.. I Dent think that theres any sense continuing this Cobblepot, so now that everyone's had their Pennyworth, you should all head home. I hear it's going to be a Dark Knight tonight.

Yes I believe GCC did have a refurb not that long ago (<1year?)... it wouldn't be the first time a refit was found to be 'not up to standard' and needed doing again... Those green temporary fence panels aren't blindfolds - can anyone see aroundoverbeyond them to get an idea of what they're looking at?

And see that's precisely it - if the policy stipulated a certain amount or 'heaviness' of rain, then doing as you describe would have people complaining left right and centre. Chances are they received reports of lightning and decided to play it safe - kudos to MovieWorld. I'm actually wondering - does Sea World have a lightning rod? I know that Wonderland had a lightning rod between Zodiac and Probe to prevent lightning striking either of those two rides - and given Sea World's history - i'm just wondering whether they've taken any steps to protect those two coasters?

And thats the case in point right there - Sea World's biggest January ever - coinciding with the debut of one of their biggest (ride) investments in 20 years. The people don't want laser skirmish. Few people are interested in Shrek these days (Madagascar and KungFuPanda are far more popular of late). Refurbishing rides and updating them (or reversing them) is good to draw regular crowds back to try something different, but if you want to smash it out of the park - you need to drop some serious coin on something more.

Don't forget the Mint Juleps and the Dole Whip... I've seen the Dole stand have a longer queue than some rides! So does Rick's not serve the asian dishes anymore? Mini spring rolls, friend rice etc? See the thing is they need to bring something unique to the park to make it something worth going for. Lamb Tzatziki pizza? *yawn* pretty sure Dominos already did that... Hell - Doritos were INVENTED at Disneyland by Cast Members... they need to allow the chefs a little more flexibility to chop and change the menu and not just provide the best bottom line.

^increased attendance does not equal increased profits though. If you halve your entry price, of course you're going to increase attendance. That said - you don't have to improve anything or drop your pricing to increase attendance - sometimes the general sheep mentality increases attendance without doing anything...I remember visiting a council operated swimming pool in sydney many years ago. Among it's pools it had a single water slide tower - all of 3 metres high. It opened only when there was a lifeguard to man it (which was irregular at best) and they accepted tokens made out of plastic with the council logo stamped on it which you could buy from the canteen. (Discounts for buying in bulk). I think from memory they were around 40 cents each. In 5 years, the slide never changed, expanded or improved, yet the prices were increased every year (it ended up being about 80 cents a go)- and you'd still guarantee a queue halfway down the (olympic length) pool the moment the lifeguard unlocked the gate and began his 'safety walk' up the pipe to check for the mythical razor blades...

All the parks have advertised disclaimers that some attractions won't operate in inclement weather. I don't think they've gone into any further detail over precisely what that is. And, I think - that is for very good reason. The minute you define exactly what will and won't happen, you open yourself up to issues when you aren't in strict conformity with the above. As i've mentioned recently in another thread, Wonderland's Bush Beast could operate in a decent wind - provided it wasn't in a general western direction as it caused the train to valley or stall. Even calling it a 'wet weather' policy is troublesome. You're not going to operate Batwing with lightning in the area, regardless of whether you get a single drop of rain (pretty much all external attractions really). Scooby will run through anything, and Green lantern can probably operate with a fair bit of rain, so long as the operation of brakes aren't affected. Superman on the other hand would most definitely not run in the rain, purely for the 'stinging pain to the face' sensation you get from an accelerator throwing you face first into the rain. That said, I only ever saw a park-wide "61-Delta" at Wonderland once, and that was one hell of a storm. The simple point of these policies is guest safety, and it would be up to the judgment of the individual operator as to when they felt the safety of guests was at risk. As the person 'pushing the button' they are the ones ultimately responsible if a person is injured as a result of inclement weather. Of course, the park can also make it's own decision or policy to shut down 'sooner' rather than 'later' but either way I think it is best just to accept the park's advice on the situation as and when it occurs, than trying to establish the 'rules' they work by.