DaptoFunlandGuy

Who knows? As was mentioned recently - parks give very little forethought to maintaining their special effects. I'm sure the gas line for Bermuda was a costly effect, and whilst it was disabled (from what we know) to permit construction of Jet Rescue, the reasons cited by the park included environmental ones. This may be a deciding factor here also. My source on this isn't concrete, but it's never been wrong before. There can always be a first time - but as it stands now, I don't think we're going to see fire (and to clarify - fire on a TV monitor doesn't count). We may get it down the track if someone decides to change their mind but I don't think we'll see it anytime soon. I'm happy to be wrong on this because I think the fire effects would complete the coaster and give it that little extra 'wow' after the splashdown (and also assist in warming you up now that you're soaked and freezing). Apart from that, the previously agreed upon decision 'that they were waiting until after holidays' came and went at the start of february. It's been three months. A whole school term has passed... and if it was held up by council there would be records that would show this (and even councils wouldn't be dragging this much when the rest of the installation was signed off in december.

Take it how you like it. I've got it on reasonable authority that flames were never part of the plan - just heat to simulate it. I agree it doesn't concur with the advertising and pre-opening discussions, (if you read my comments previously you'll see i felt the same) but i've since learned new info which makes me believe otherwise....

I don't believe fire will ever be a part of that show experience. I've a feeling the lines that are there are for other things. Despite the 'artistic flair' in the advertising, I don't think they ever planned 'flames'... just 'heat'.

they're going to need to bring it down sooner or later....

In the smaller parks, where the ops are part of the park 'family' (and probably work closer to 'the boss') the info is normally a lot more forthcoming. Likewise - these smaller 'families' of staff are proud of their little park, they want it to succeed (because that benefits them too) and so they want to give as much info as they can (and are allowed to) to their guests to entice them to come back. The bigger parks are always concerned with protecting their next big reveal, or of their competitor stealing the idea (AquaLoop is a good example)... but it can also be because (as we've said before) until we have concrete in the ground, the park can always change their mind - Ala SeaWorld Wild. That - and at some of the bigger parks - the staff like to screw with your head - ala Scooby fire eyes, and the many Dippin Dots stories we've had over the years.

Half-day park + full day crowd = really long queues.

Discussions on wipeout ages ago suggested that there were up to about 6 different ride programs (could be more or less) but that as she aged, dreamworld cut back the more taxing stressing of the programs down to only 1 or 2 gentler ones. Hopefully we'll see them open it back up to randomise the other programs or perhaps they could even offer an option like Pandamonium and have a gentle cycle and a intense cycle running throughout the day...

Well for starters, the same member has made more than one request in the past two weeks, so it isn't an isolated incident.. Secondly, there was another discussion on photo requests less than a month ago about the exact same thing. And it's been said - by many people, over many years - that photo requests are pointless. When people go, they will take photos if there is something new. My post was nothing but respectful, friendly tactful and helpful in trying to point a relatively new member in the right direction. I'm going to take your comments to indicate you still have your nose out of joint, so as they say - water off a duck. Move on.

^said everyone ever.

Ok Jack - pretty simple here - picture whores who just keep asking for pics and updates and latest progress aren't really viewed favourably around here. I've said it before, so i'll say it again - when someone goes, if anything is updated, they will post pictures. If nobody has posted pictures, or an update, this means nobody has gone recently. If you continue to ask people to go to the park and take pictures for you, you're just going to get more responses like Ninja gave you. Just be patient, and it will come.

Wash your mouth out. Wow - what a great idea... MBA, why didn't you think of that... oh... wait...

On the basis of an 'all day, any locker' system: Tap the card to hire. Locker takes a pre-authorisation of $15 (on second thought - pre-auth can take 10 days to release - let's just charge $15) Lock it in the locker. Enter pin, fingerprint, urine sample, whatever to unlock the locker. take your card out, go to next locker. Tap same card - locker hire automatically allocated without additional charges based on recognition of the paywave card used. I still think an app would be easier... but either way it doesn't matter - the point is - VRTP needs to consider both convenience and efficiency when they next look at their locker system, and needs to take into account the way things have changed... paywave smart phone etc. Nobody uses coins anymore! (On that note - street vendors need to move on from the bum-bag system to a mobile eftpos type arrangement. I have noticed the touch-screen electronic registers on some of them - are they EFTPOS enabled?)

Yes - Anzac day is an interesting one. From memory - it is law for businesses not to open before 1pm (i'm assuming Sea World isn't starting until 1:30 to give staff time to start and get into position), however I heard a radio ad this morning that 'SuperButcher' is open all day tomorrow? Curious... Anyhow - I recall working Wonderland when we'd open at 1 on Anzac day, and i'm pretty sure the park traded late on that day. I think VRTP has missed an opportunity here by closing all except Sea World. I think the reasons cited - Resort, Animal care - are probably the right ones, and staffing is also an issue (as are penalty rates). When Anzac day falls in the middle of the week it's a bit difficult - but when it butts onto a weekend, then as a long weekend the parks should be capitalising on it, and using the 1pm restriction as a bonus - open until 8 (good job Aussie World!), run a 'twilight session'. The parks are reasonably well set up for night-time operations - WNW has done summer dive-n-movies, and MW has done fright nights and white christmas, so I can't see much of an issue with a 'one-off' nighttime operation. Hell even staying open until 6 or 7 would have been good. I can imagine the staff working SW are probably a little p'd off at having to come in for a 4 hour shift.

Not sure the building would handle that structurally without large modifications... but that is even better than 'just another coaster'... bring it on!

You've stipulated this point several times - I just want to double check thats not in response to anything i've said? Yes i've referred to using an app to hire a locker, but i've been very specific in saying your phone goes INSIDE the locker, and you then unlock the locker with a code. It irritates me to no end seeing a group of 4 or 6 people, who have come to the park for a day together standing in line all with heads buried in their phones (and worse when it's on Superman and nobody picks it up) It can be a half day park without re-rides (re-rides are where lockers become a problem for the DC area). My views on this formed whilst I was still a smoker, so whilst the problem is non-existent now, its still an irritant that I would be down at GL or SE or AA, and decide to go back to the locker to get a cigarette. Then (now that scooby chinatown alley DOSA is closed) you have to go either back to SE garden, or the otherway to WWF obs. area, THEN before you can get back on SE, you have to return the lighter to the locker. This is the kind of experience that i'm against. It may be ok for the guest who will only return to the locker for lunch, but what about the family with a younger child who needs access to that sort of stuff? (don't say hang it on the stroller - it's not always an option) And no - it's not a long walk - but depending on the time of day, what parade, show or entertainment is on (or has just been let out) it can be a painful one. Have you ever tried to get from Scooby to SE just as HWSD lets out? Painful. What i'm saying is pay one all-day price (higher than current if need be) and make any locker station available so you can end one, and start another elsewhere. I take your point about the queueing, which is why i've resorted to hiring means other than pin code and favourite colour - like a barcode on a phone that you can just scan and open. For this type of hire, there wouldn't be an option to 'end' or otherwise - all lockers END when you open them (but if you then 're-hire' at the same terminal immediately you keep the same locker). Having a portable locker will also, in my opinion, assist those who arrive late. You would still have the option of a single hire locker for an hour - like the SFMM ones do - but by making them portable - if one 'bank' of lockers is 'sold out' they won't be sold out all day as people relocate their items around the park. That said i don't think i've ever seen an entire locker location completely sold out... Another reason why the smartphone idea has merit - or paywave. I too rarely bring coins to the park so a cashless hiring system of some description is the way to go for the future. fingerprint access also eliminates 'forgetting your pin' as well as the long queues for people who can't use a touchscreen in today's smartphone world.... "place your finger on the scanner" <click> "NEXT!"

Love the idea MBA. Despite it's simplicity - Space Mountain will always be my favourite (although i'm with California here). My Wife is very sheltered when it comes to coasters, and only left the country for the first time last year. After SFMM, Knotts, Universal, Sea World SD and Disney - she also sits with SM as her favourite too (and we nearly didn't get to ride it!). I'd love to see them do similar (gravity is a great theme btw), but I can't see them knocking up a show building from scratch - it's just not in the budget these days. We'd have to see maybe 5 years investment put into a single attraction (like the old days) to get a half decent imitation... (although to be fair - the lighting expertise present in the VRTPs these days is well known, and i've got a feeling given the freedom and the budget we'd see something pretty special...)

The post quoted was my original statement. I sought to elaborate on it when it was apparent my meaning was not clear. If you read the post AFTER the one you've quoted, I clearly said "I wasn't suggesting it wasn't built over the roadway (it's obvious to see from the lift hill) - only that cyclone rested on part of thunderbolts ride envelope. " To further clarify - in case we have different views - my view on 'ride envelope' is essentially the boundary upon which after you cross it - no further fence, wall or structure comes between you and the ride structure - Perhaps we have a different view as to what constitutes 'envelope', because i would also substitute the word 'territory' which you have used above with a different meaning. So my view of the word used (whether correct or not) was only to elaborate on my original post. Being that the original boundary fence of the park enclosed the western end of thunderbolt - and cyclone infringed that boundary, my statement still stands. I've used three different words now "Space" "Envelope" and "Territory". You've implied all three have different meanings. I'm suggesting in the usage i've employed them, they're all intended to be the same. At this point if you can't see where i'm coming from we'll just have to agree to disagree. I may not have explained and elaborated very well, but my original post (in retrospect) made my intention clear enough. Edit: at this point no doubt most moderators are sick of this discussion as am I. In my mind my meaning was clear and if i've not articulated that correctly then my fault, but read together it makes perfect sense to me and if others can't see it then I don't really care. Now since we've spent the best part of a page discussing a ride that has been defunct for almost a decade in a thread talking about new attractions to the GC parks, feel free to move the thunderbolt shit elsewhere, or delete it. (however if someone can take the pic RAC posted and stick it with the thunderbolt pics for future reference it would be great).

The superman video spiel clearly says "by now all your loose items, including anything in your pockets should have been left with a friend, or in the lockers at the entrance." In peak times, queues to get to the terminal touchscreen are several persons deep. Sometimes people who haven't used them before take a lot longer and clog up the system. when you get several of these in a row it is painful. Less painful to hire (you can always go to another terminal that isn't as busy) but more painful when you need to use THAT screen to unlock the box and get your stuff. I'm talking about paying for a locker using e-services on a phone. My point being I AM bringing a wallet to the park, and i'm talking about efficiency and convenience. There are offices nearby. People work in them. They're obviously a convenient place to leave keys and wallets and other such items - but perhaps they still bring their phone with them for work purposes. This was perhaps a barbed comment aimed in frustration at one such person whom I felt that my point wasn't being understood... so here it is again - clearer. I DO HIRE AN ALL DAY LOCKER WHEN I VISIT THE PARK. I RARELY NEVER HIRE THE 1HOUR LOCKERS AT THE RIDE ENTRANCES. I ALSO RARELY CARRY MY PHONE AND OTHER ITEMS WITH ME WHILST IN THE PARK despite the possibility that i'm spending way more money than i need to, i like the convenience of not having to carry things around. The only thing about the system I don't like is that all day lockers are in one central precinct. I would like to be able to pay one all-day fee (even if it is more expensive) and then use any locker location around the park. I understand there are locker systems out there that permit locker hire in multiple locations. I'd like our parks to do something similar - but these may involve massive infrastructure changes Many stoppers were brought up as to why this wouldn't work. WnW already has barcode systems in place - obviously from the same manufacturer - so a hybrid upgrade appeared to me to be a possibility issuing of wristbands has been raised by others (and me) in the past as an issue - paying staff etc. I don't consider a vending machine to be any better as the expense of buying building maintaining such a machine could be problematic. I suggested an app on your phone would be an option - as Apps are pretty simple to develop and launch, there would be minimal infrastructure costs if the barcode lockers could be retro-fitted to the existing ones, and could read off your phone. It may all well be too hard. there may be other reasons why it can't or shouldn't be done - i'm just spitballing. When someone raises a point (valid or not) as to why my idea isn't feasible, if i can see a way around that point, then I have responded with my solution. Sure - make them free if they are willing (but i bet they won't.) so rather than aiming for the sky - i'm going for a feasible, easily implemented solution that can be achieved in the short term. And to the target of the barb I do apologise for taking out my frustrations. I do hope you are now able to better understand where I am coming from.

The original post that my comment responded to was from Santa07, who said that Dreamworld still had the thunderbolt land to build on. My response pointed out that they didn't have thunderbolt land to build on, as it was taken over by Cyclone and WhiteWaterWorld. It may only be 5% cyclone and 95% whitewaterworld, but my statement is still 100% true:

It's not about phones (ive suggested it as a payment method alternative entry system to speed things up), it's about not being able to carry your wallet, keys, and other such 'regular' items when you go to the park. By Superman's rules, you can't have a single car key inside a zipped up pocket - so unless you can leave all your loose items with a friend, you're using a locker. Not everyone enters the park from their office across the road.

that's pretty well spot on what i put together too... so while it was built on the parkway - it clearly extends into the envelope. In the USA - the Parkway would have remained open and people would have been able to drive under it.

Just as WnW has both wristband and coin operated lockers - so too could there be 'app powered' and regular coin op lockers. Those who pre-purchase online via app wouldn't have to wait in line behind the hordes that can't figure out their date of birth. yes - kind of a catch 22 situation there - when they offered the gold pass, they didn't offer those extra perks - things like early entry and ERT weren't part of the pass... they came later to try and encourage people to buy and use the gold pass. Trouble was - few people knew about the extra offer because it wasn't included in the marketing for the gold pass (probably because they didn't want to be 'bound' to it... so either they'd already bought a regular VIP (and no upgrade was offered at that point) or they didn't want to pay extra for the pass because it wasn't an inclusion. And they went away from it around the same time they gave them away for free.

I've been trying to find overheads or aerial shots whilst the two rides were standing. It's been nigh on impossible. It's hard to believe (considering the rides stood side-by-side for almost 3 years) that there are no good photos of that particular area. I was certain cyclone protruded into Thunderbolt's envelope, because both tracks curved toward each other... and it does, but barely. . I wasn't suggesting it wasn't built over the roadway (it's obvious to see from the lift hill) - only that cyclone rested on part of thunderbolts ride envelope. The image posted above seems to show the three loops very closely aligned, but the Meisho loops are rounder, and now that i've looked back on the footprint layout, you can see the loops are presented at an angle. Here's a comparison using the Meisho floorplan - for those that don't remember, the Flowrider store is the old station-house for Thunderbolt - so i've lined them up as closely as possible for scale...

These days, theres an app for everything. Incorporating it into an e-commerce platform would be far quicker to organise than some sort of 'vending machine' to issue wristbands. The whole suggestion for the 'app' concept was to eliminate the issue seen by some surrounding the need to 'issue' wristbands in the park. It's a real bottleneck in WnW - so much so that I never bother with wristbands and just go for the coin-op lockers instead... provided I have change. If a person can use an app to pay for their locker - then they could book it ahead of time, before arriving at the park...thereby speeding up the process, electronically banking the revenue immediately, negating the need for staff to supply wristbands or refill vending machines (which will break down) I see an app being far easier to implement than any wristband type system.

Yeah - they need to like - open their website up so anybody can log in and update details at any time - then you could have just done it yourself!