DaptoFunlandGuy

Disney (and many other parks in the US) are quite efficient and effective with their bag searches. SFMM take you through metal detectors. While there hasn't been a 'terrorism' issue at these parks, there has been violence - and it would be quite easy for someone to get in with a few knives and hold an entire group hostage in a pre-show room or the like. Parks have to develop and adapt their own policy for their particular circumstances. SFMM uses metal detectors, Disney only bag searches? It's not just that Disney is in a "better area" than SFMM... it's also got a number of different birdlife to rely on which are very effective. Those saying it can't happen at a theme park - take a read of Tom Clancy's "Rainbow Six" to see just how easily it could be achieved.

Thats a nicely done little ad. Good to see them making an effort on bringing this event into the big leagues.

You're pretty confident they're going to open another ride next year then?

They'd better put some wire on top of those fence panels, or someone might try to jump over it and hurt themselves...

Thanks for the update Flea. I don't think many of us were expecting 'instant' work to begin on the site for anything else, but i'm glad they've tidied it up. If it's going to sit there a while, it'd be nice if the park would spent a bit on it - some turf, tables and chairs or picnic type umbrellas or the like - take some of the pressure off the main "eating area" for seating, especially for families that brought their own lunch. Hell - even if they put up a volleyball net, or a "water wars" slingshot attraction (upcharge$!)... just something to fill the void so it doesn't look like so much vacant space... until they're ready to build again. Of course it depends on the timeline - but if it's there for 12 months, they should improvise in the meantime.

The speed of construction has nothing to do with it. These guys set these things up over and over again. They know exactly what goes where, and in what order. The ride is BUILT to be put up and down in a short period of time. From memory - Taipan takes several days to be put together, but many of the smaller trailer mounted rides can be done in a day. Travelling versions are made to go together with pins and bolts held together with splitpins and lock pins. Most park rides are bolted together. That doesn't make them LESS safe. These guys eyeball every structural weakness week in, week out. I guarantee the parks don't get that up close and personal with the rides on such a regular basis. The article states that the girl's harness was still in a locked position, and whilst I don't want to encourage any speculation - the likelihood is she was too small for the harness (this isn't necessarily a 'height' thing - young girls can be tall enough to ride, but still skinny and flexible enough that certain ride motions can lead to them coming out of the harness)... as stated above, most likely a freak accident and nothing more.

I recall many years ago a fire started on the bush beast fan curve - they were replacing a section of track timber, and so had placed a plywood board between the rails to prevent them from falling through the middle - the ply was touching the metal rail and the heat of the day caused the ply to catch fire, which in turn started to burn the structure. It IS made of wood... and these things do happen.

I remember a time when the parks were on a 'several year' cycle. Everyone complained that they weren't doing anything new. We're just not suited to the 'blockbuster' that the American parks can achieve.

That isn't what you said and you know it.

The bottom of the lift hill wasn't touched - what are you talking about?

Also possible is that the park will modify the ride when major attractions are altered or added. Let's face it - they have movie studios, and access to special effects artists with experience in scale models, replicas etc. It wouldn't be hard to give the film school students a project of producing a scale replica of a new attraction. Scooby's current facade is quite large, but nothing says the addition of another attraction couldn't see the scooby facade shrink to make room for it... I'm with you on that flea, but black applied with a roller (to what was already black) as opposed to a detailed, realistic skyline inside a multi-million dollar casino shopping district would be much cheaper, and quicker, and require less maintenance. Perhaps when the budget permits, they might make some minor changes to lighting and whatnot that might make it a bit nicer, less sterile and 'warehousey'.

Can we modify the thread title to be park specific? Or can I discuss Phoenix and Las Vegas and Hawaii and Sydney here too?

It's funny that in the same breath as telling Yoshi not to make assumptions on what people prefer, he also makes the statement that Coke Zero is way better than Pepsi Max. He definitely is LOL, man. Different promotions don't really matter - typically if coke is on special at coles, pepsi is on special at woolworths, and vice versa. It tends to alternate each week so it's always on special somewhere. That said - Pepsi product is consistently cheaper than coke products. I use the can cube as a barometer - and consistently Pepsi can cubes sell at approximately 50c a can ($15 for a 30 pk). Coke 30 packs normally sell "on special" for $22-23. Regardless of what the price points are and how that affects sales, it's the sales results that matter. You can't just say Pepsi max will sell more because it's cheaper. Nobody is going to buy something they don't like. I hate aniseed flavours - so if I went to buy jelly beans, and they had mixed colour for $5 and black only for $2... i'm still going to pay $5. I've got a challenge for those of you who are staunch supporters of one flavour... Switch - for 2 weeks - to the other side. If you prefer Max - drink coke zero only for 2 weeks. (and vice versa). They say that your tastebuds take up to a week to adjust to new different flavours... this is why water might taste funny if you move house to a different region... but after settling in, you don't notice it anymore (same as moving to or from tank water). I guarantee any staunch supporter of one or the other will change their tune after two weeks....

^Agreed - since taking full ownership, VRTP have done a lot of good work. It may not be 'opening day equivalent' but the fact is - the public don't want schmaltzy themes for things like Young Einstein Gravity Homestead. It was amazing in 1994. Today it would be ridiculous. Considering the budget they're working with, I think both VRTP and Ardent are doing ok at present.

^Driving on the wrong side of the road! tear up her license! (come to think of it - issuing fines could be a good money spinner for the park and recoup the costs of the ride very quickly)...

^BigKev - so long as you're mourning the loss of LTRR, that's fine, but the vibe i'm getting here is that Mini Movie World has already been cast down as a poor ride, rather than (in some people's view) just a poor replacement.

Yes - just one to verify you are a real person... what's the meaning of life?

Dude, don't say that - it's like dividing by zero... you could make the world explode.

Perhaps we need a new rule... If you don't, can't, won't, or aren't allowed to ride it, you aren't allowed to pass judgment or comment.... Then we'd only have opinions of those who have actually 'been there, done that' (although... the boards would be a lot quieter...)

As i've explained - because the supply chain to get it to you costs just as much. And post-mix is cheaper than both to encourage you to go with a product that costs them less. The costs for bottled anything are higher as they WANT you to go with post mix. If one bottle were cheaper than another bottle, they'd likely sell more of the cheaper option. And this isn't intended as a slight on staff - but keeping the price for a bottle the same makes the math far easier for cart-staff to work out change etc. The thread is "2014 in dreamworld"... since the conversion from Coke > Pepsi happened in 2014, i'd say it's in an appropriate thread. There isn't much to talk about soft drinks - and I'd suggest the dust will settle soon.

^What about Sea Screw? (come to think of it - thats even better)

I was leaving the page, so I had to like it. Other than that, this simulated 'world' you're building for yourself would appear to be very unhealthy for you psychologically. Its cool you're building this. I like seeing what people can do with RCT when they have the patience (I don't). But we'd like what you're doing just as much without all the narrative and inventive 'world' you're trying to create outside of the game. I'm inclined to say 'nobody cares' but that would be speaking for everyone without me knowing their opinion, so i'll just with with "i don't", and i'll try not to accidentally open the thread when it appears in the new content section... (knowing me though, I won't pay attention and end up reading it all again).

It's also worth mentioning that when comparing Six Flags, (and the others too) that they are all chain parks. Six flags gets the returns on the coasters it buys by moving them around. Sure construction comes at a cost, but you can get consistent repeat attendance at every park by shuffling the lineup in the off season. Not everyone can visit all the 6 flags parks, but by moving around some of the blockbusters, it achieves 'new ride' status again simply by building it somewhere else. It would be like swapping Green Lantern with Abyss in a year's time. both would be a new experience for people on the other coast. I'd love to ride Abyss, but when a trip to Perth costs more than Hong Kong or Singapore - the lure of world class parks like Disney and Universal wins over a Euro in a standalone park every time. As for the other claims of the OP - Dreamworld isn't going to pull anywhere near the attendance, or the dollars of SFMM. Sure some of the smaller Six Flags parks may be on par, but you're talking about the financial capability of 13 parks... not 1 (i'm not counting water parks here). America's coaster nuts are mostly domestic. There are a few die-hard riders the world over (look in the mirror) that would go to the USA to ride, but the predominant market for the parks like Six Flags and Cedar Point are DOMESTIC. The figures already provided show why domestic populations between AUS and USA are incomparable. Side note - KBF is only a few k's from the Happiest Place on Earth... hardly 'Ghetto'. You should go and check out what attendance EACH six flags park got. You'll find SFMM (which holds a record for most coasters in the world) will probably be well above the average that you got by dividing equally the attendance of all 13 parks. Naturally some of the smalltime parks in b*ttf*ck idaho aren't going to pull the same numbers... but they're also not building mega-multi-million-dollar coasters either *(unless they're part of the ride-sharing program receiving hand-me-downs or short-term-loans) If Ardent were 'money hungry' - i think they'd be building more, and expanding more. Clearly that is working for Six Flags who are dropping millions on rides for their 13 parks. If they could afford it - Ardent would be doing that too... the facts are simple - (and Disney have said it too) Australia just cannot support a mega-theme park.

^ @Sam Cash - well at least you got something right. Rather than attempt to use smoke and fog effects that don't trigger detection systems (because it's practically impossible), what you need to do where you have those effects in use is to use fire detection systems that do not work by detecting particulate. Being that these systems are far more expensive, they are only deployed where necessary. ***Disclaimer before anyone gets too upset - what I am about to say is merely my assumption, based on having at least a basic working knowledge of the industry that is easily a decade old, and therefore could be wrong. I have no sources within the park to confirm this (although i'm sure others will). It is my belief that Movie World don't use 'special foggers'. It is my belief that the disco room is outfitted with fire detection systems that are unaffected by smoke haze effects. Being that the system is quite pricey, it is also my belief that this system does not extend back into the ghost train load section of the building (being that they are really two different buildings), which also explains why on occasion when the effects are pumped up a little too high on a particularly busy day, that the repeated 'whoosh' of coaster cars moving from one room to the other do bring with them a little of the smoke particulate... where it then sets off the fire alarms in the other half of the building, and although well known, still requires a full process of shut down and evac to play it safe, which is why Scoob generally has at least one outage, generally in the mid-afternoon on busier days. (Reminder - this was totally my own view andor opinion based on nothing more than educated guesses, and could be completely wrong, but i'm pretty confident i'm in the ballpark). And any AV company working in a venue with sensor systems that are able to detect smoke would generally liaise with the building's chief warden and determine either whether the effects are not to be used, or otherwise whether the sensors in the particular area where the effect will be used should be isolated, and other safeguards put in place. I have seen this precise process used in a heritage listed building attached to the Westin in Sydney around 10 years ago, and it worked - although being heritage listed, they had several people who were not permitted to leave the room until the system was switched back on.

Wait wait wait... back up - Ifrit - do you seriously and honestly believe that they would take the few hazers they have in the scooby disco room out, thereby ruining one of it's better effects, so that they can fog up the park for Hallowe'en? They won't be needing to do that for almost 4 weeks... why remove them now? The smoke produced in the scooby disco room is thin and hazy across the entire room the smoke produced outdoors (where it has to contend with wind) is thick, dense and is released often, and with a lot of noise The few inside Scooby wouldn't be sufficient (firstly as they're probably the wrong type), to smoke up the entire park... so why go to the effort of removing equipment in a permanent installation, when you're still going to need to hire in more of them anyway? I don't believe tech services would cannibalise effects on permanent attractions for a month long series of night events (unless it was a last-minute replacement to ensure the show went on for that night before fixing the issue properly the next day).