DaptoFunlandGuy

This is where employees on the boards comes in really handy, and I know that Clint and Ian are going to be helpful. Im only guessing here but I'm thinking JSM is Mr. Menzies. All good points Clint and i'm glad you dropped by. It seems pretty obvious that WBMW and SE are the goers on this one. My big post back there was just to throw Ideas around based on the discussions had on these forums in the past. The count is now at 19, so lets spread the word and get our numbers so we can pick a date already!

Well Pixel, I'm sure if you read between the lines there, you'll find the post is about whether the public got wind of the incident or not. I can't sayI've ever heard the story.

Just a suggestion as far as expressions of interest go Richard, but since many of our "members" are infrequent visitors at best, but obviously those who still share the enthusiasm enough to have joined up, would a mass-mailout to our membership be worth while? Also please bear in mind that the votes only count registered members, not extras. My partner shares the same passions and enthusiasm for parks that I do, but is not an R-C member. Mainly because I do more than enough posting for the both of us, but my vote counts as two - The votes currently on there may count for more than one also, so I think we need something else to keep count, because as you've said at the start as far as family members and what not, depending on the date being set and so on, I could have up to 6 or 7 myself, some local QLDers and others interstaters. But considering its been just over 48 hours since the initial post, 11 members was about what I counted for regular posters... but a mass-mailout is my bet. I'd say advertise it but you'd really need it firmed up with the park before that would happen.

As far as transport, road transport, including 6 days from departure to return would cost less than $45 per person plus fuel. Europcar can do either 8 seater vans (like a tarago) or 12 seater vans (like an extended wheelbase hiace). I can get a trailer for luggage and so on, so we can fill it right up. If we get the people, I'm also considering a 21 person bus, and this would work even better as far as to and from the park as well, as it could be done in two or three trips. I am happy to arrange the hire if we can get the people (another licensed driver to give me a break would be good too). Bear in mind that these rates are standard also, so any discounts we could get would reduce it even more. On another note, my preference time wise is either february or april. March is out for me as my industry is very busy during march. If possible, and not to be pushy here but if we can nail the date down by mid-november, it makes organising leave easier. If we can't make the 8, 12 or 21 people, My wagon seats 5 and I only charge petrol. The QLD run for me is one tank for the 1000 k's...

i was moreso referring to the tag line of "ultimate thrill rides" I did note that it was on at those times but couldn't be bothered opening up and editing the post again so thanks for that.

I think the key to this one Richard is advance planning. I know a lot of our members are in QLD, but there are also a lot of old-hat members from the Wonderland days that are here in NSW. Work commitments are another issue. Saturday is good but for those still working in retail and the like, saturdays are a hard slog to accomplish. I propose the following - in this order: 1. Agree on a park, and confirm that the park is willing to offer everything that has been discussed to avoid disappointment - for example if the ERT cannot be achieved. 2. Confirm numbers tentatively based on what dates are available that can be accomodated by the park. 3. Confirm the best date for everybody wanting to go 4. Lock this in with the park well ahead of schedule 5. Advise all members etc. that this date has been confirmed so that those who need to travel can begin making arrangements - again well ahead of time. My workplace would need a minimum of 10 weeks notice for me to be able to plan it without stuffing people around, as an example, so confirming a date in february would mean advising the date in november would be best. We also need to look into group bookings for accomodation, as this would share the burden around and make it easier on everyone. As far as travel plans, if I am able to go, I am happy to carpool with some other people and split the petrol, or better yet hire a minibus and make it a road trip. Seriously though, I am envious of some of the events that ACE can pull off in the states - those guys have some real pull over there, and I am dismayed that the parks over here don't treat us serious enthusiasts with the same kind of loyalty. We need to show the parks out there that R-C.com.au members are not a small bunch of people, made up of Richard, Flea, Rappa, Bussy, Daniel, Myself, Ian, Paul, Gazza, Adam etc... (i'm naming mainly long term members, and sorry if I forgot any regulars), but off the top of my head, I could think of only 10 long term frequent posters on this site, and two of them are employees of WVTP already. If we can make this a success, derive as much from it as we can, while also giving the parks something in return - online publicity, more attendance, good (and worthwhile) feedback (eg: not just criticism), then all we can hope for in the future is more of the same in return. ACE have been running for a long time, and they enjoy many benefits at almost any park in the US, let's get something similar going on here - lets involve TPR, ACE, and anyone else in a position to get behind this to come along. Richard wants 50. I say we can get 200 if we all pull behind this. At the very least, for 200 people, even if you take into account discounts and annual passes, thats a good $10,000 in the parks turnstiles (@ $50 per ticket) and not likely something that they could ignore. Count me in Richard, but please lets consider timeframes, and if we can get a park to do it - my vote is WBMW. As far as what we can do, if we get WBMW, i'd like to see: A behind the scenes of SDSC (lights on), ERT of SE, or alternatively, SDSC If we have 200, we can always have our QnA in the Police Academy Stunt Show stage. We might have the break lunch up over a period and do it in the restaurant bit by bit - whats the capacity of that place? Depending on numbers, maybe we could even split into groups throughout the day, and rotate around selected things such as: Back of house, Studio Tours, etc. Another option for the park would be to offer the ERT after normal operating hours - to avoid public disappointment, allow us to enjoy the rest of the park knowing that the ERT is coming at the end of the day, so we can skip that ride, and of course, to have just that extra time in the park! (of course, an alternative to lunch in that case could also be to have the sit down meal provided at the end of the day - as a dinner, instead of lunch during operating time!) Another suggestion i'd like to make is that we could also arrange to spend the evening at AoS, which would include dinner, as well as more WVTP entertainment, and Clint can also show off some of the absolutely cool crap he gets to do on a daily basis.

Discovery Science - Foxtel channel 638. Wednesday 10th October @ 3:00am Ultimate Thrill Rides: Terror - We love it! Who are the people that design these wild rides, and what does it take to build a killer thrill? Discover cutting edge design technology that takes your mind and your body for a ride. (and I bet you that the Mick Doohan SlowCoaster won't be on it...)

To say "no maintenance in the next 12 months" would be impossible. All rides have an "ANNUAL maintenance" cycle. Simple rides take hours, or a couple of days, Whereas large rides, like coasters can go down for weeks during maintenance, depending on what problems crop up. I'm not entirely sure of the timeframes, but in my experience, steel coasters without major issues would take about a week, unless they're only a one train coaster, in which case it would take longer because they could not bring it back after the first train was completed. Woodies can take much longer, especially if they should catch fire in the summer sun whilst under maintenance... (ahhhh those were the days). If the parks don't publish the maintenance schedule that far, It can't hurt to ask them. If you explain to them that you're trying to plan your trip around certain rides, I'm sure they will be happy to accomodate you if they can, so you don't go elsewhere. Having said that, remember that unexpected things happen, and even if you have been assured of the ride uptime prior to arrival, if the techs and mechs who inspect it that morning aren't happy with something, its closed. In my personal opinion, I don't like the idea of going in february, simply because if something has been wearing out over the heaviest trade time of the year - Christmas\Summer school holidays, the park will take it out the moment the peak period is over, and february is it.

My post to the moto coaster website - I wonder if they'll use it?

well, since this is an Australian site, and we're part of the metric system, i'm sure it was KM and not MPH. Habing said that, I'm no physics major, but acceleration 33% faster than a car could definitely influence the G forces pulled. Just having looked at that video, it seems from the video that the restraints are very slow moving. Judging by the time the ride takes cycle wise, running two trains isn't really going to speed things up any. Looking at the operators releasing the restraints individually, and then how long it takes to release them, i'd say we're going to end up with a two trained cyclone here.

Firstly - congratulations on the blatant description of you as a family thrill ride. I wish you all the best in your new career as a theme park amusement. Moving along now, you can't just say that I am blanket-wrong... so what am I wrong about? the demographic? I doubt it. My 8 year old niece rides SE, me and my fiance ride SE, my Aunty, who is 51 rides SE, my sister in law is 36 and rides SE, my step father is 62 and rides se..... And I have been in the queue line enough, i've seen those people who are riding... the teenage demographic is totally off the mark. as far as your figures, I was just saying that they seemed a bit convenient and "even". Funny that those results perfectly suited your argument as far as riders go that SE was "about" half that of scooby or WWF. Were you saying I was wrong about the capacities? because thats not right.... lets say WWF runs just 10 boats. each boat seats 11 people - thats 110 per cycle. Each ride takes about 5 minutes, or 12 cycles per hour (there is no downtime because the boats don't stop) so you've got 1320 per hour. Now please remember that I am only working on a hypothetical of 10 boats here. SE holds 20 riders per train. Let's assume MW is running both trains here, and from load to load it takes 4 minutes to cycle one train. thats 40 people per cycle, at 7.5 cycles per hour, or 300 per hour. So of course WWF is going to have a higher ride count - it can PHYSICALLY FIT that many. SE cannot, so it won't ever have the riders that WWF has. Its nothing to do with demographic. If you want to take a look at scooby (and please remember everyone i'm working on rough, hypothetical, rounded figures here) - scooby despatches two cars of 4 people every 40 seconds. thats 12 people per minute or 720 per hour. Capacities on each ride are very different because of the operation of the rides. SE operates a continuous circuit coaster. Scooby is a block sectioned multi-car coaster, WWF is a block sectioned water flume. Apples and oranges. I agree with the pull out of the air. if you were privy to the figures, why would you round them? you'd almost definitely have the exact results if you had access to them at all. P.S. my whole family rides road runner, and reptar, and LT river ride... we also ride SE, Batwing, scooby, wwf, LW, cyclone, claw, wipeout, tot, gd, vintage cars.... in other words we all ride it all. My family ranges in age from 8 to 61 (the 8 year old was riding thrill rides much earlier than that.) Saberon, if you think we're wrong, give me some intelligent answers as to why, instead of saying "you're wrong because you don't know me" - put up or shut up. prove the figures are real... Otherwise stop posting crap - or people will start calling you nightshifter

every time I have ever been in the SE queue line, the queued riders have been from the minimum height pre-teens right up to 50 and 60 year olds. I'm sorry but I cant swallow the "not alot of other age groups" theory. firstly, I sincerely doubt that saberon, unless you work within their operations division. secondly, you're comparing apples with oranges. Superman escape - two train coaster Motocoaster - two train coaster WWF - multiple single cars Scooby - multiple single cars. in the time that it takes to load, despatch, unload, stage, and then load again for superman, you've probably despatched more than that on either WWF or Scooby, so the figures for those rides are bound to be higher as it is a continuous cycle, rather than cycle, wait, cycle, wait. On the SE track at any one time there is about 20 people. on the WWF track at any one time there can be more than double that.

let's not forget tony, this is a reply by dreamworld to movieworld's recent additions - SE and Batman... But yes the competition between them can only be good for us!

Just a quick add on to that extraordinarily good explaination, as I don't think it was quite covered - the lift system is not "synchronised" as it is "connected". You would have an idea about how a normal lift works - lift car attached to a cable which goes up to the winch and then back down to a counterweight. In the case of scooby, the counterweight for the car going up is the car going down. there is one cable, and it is attached to both cars. they could never collide because it is impossible for the cars to be in a position where they could hit at the same time.

Two words - Vekoma Boomerang

Welcome to the forums Superman. I've read a couple of your posts so far and it looks like you have a lot to offer our little community here. One little thing though, and that is please don't post photos from other websites without their permission. Ian is a member of this site also, and i'm sure he wouldn't mind, but you need to be careful, especially with photos of Warner Village, as they don't approve of the use of imagery from the park in a commercial setting without consent. I'm sure Ian doesn't mind on R-C.com.au, but if you were posting his photos elsewhere it would definitely be a breach of copyright.

Considering the park operates 99% of the time in daylight only, the lights would be a bit of a waste, however, if you look at the wide picture of the whole structure (which you would have to see the canvas and the spines) you would notice that there are lightbulbs studded all over the facade.

Good to see that area getting some much needed attention and TLC. The thing about a carousel is this - its either a steam powered classic, which requires specially skilled people to operate it, or its a brand new galvanised checkerplated modern one, that anyone can operate, that also comes with a warranty, and a lower likelyhood of breakdown or heavy maintenance. It's better than nothing, and to be honest, I don't think little kids are going to be looking at the framework on the ground beneath it, or on the roof above. They're moreso going to be waving at mum and dad, and enjoying riding on a fibreglass mould of their favourite cartoon character. One thing interests me though.... did anyone spot this on those pictures?

Ok.... Yep I've seen plenty of them......

Ok - so completely ignorant here - Chav?

An excellent update, i'm sure all will agree, and I cannot wait to ride this one during my Xmas trip to brisbane. The pictures give a lot of detail into the construction and overall detail of the rides operation. On a sidenote - Richard - the link at the bottom of the article seems to have failed... Also - is Dreamworld really trying to push the september opening? In the first two sentences of that article, you mention the september opening THREE times!

Actually, in many large projects, the building industry works very differently. I saw a few documentaries on Discovery where that actually did happen. They had a construction deadline set by the client. A clause was written into the contract that the construction be completed by a certain day. Each day that the construction was not complete, they received a fine, meaning their profits were less for each day that they did not complete it. From memory this was the new brooklyn bridge in New York. But the basic point is - large constructions have deadlines and not meeting that deadline costs them money, so they charge it to the builders who do not meet that deadline.

Well, for one, Sunway Group were after the money for the land, which was worth much more than the purchase of the park itself. Village would not have paid the millions Sunway was asking for, because to continue running a theme park on that site would not have been cost effective, unless they spent millions more developing the area into a destination. Besides, Village is only buying a 50% stake in the SAG. Sunway would never have agreed to just a 50% buyout, because then they would be left with an investment in a business that they only purchased to make a profit from, and the profits would have been controlled by Village Roadshow then. Let's not forget also that when Wonderland went under, Village was still Warner Village with a part American ownership. They hadn't even had full control of their own company at that stage.

I was pretty sure that was the case, but without being able to research it, I didn't want to say "wholly australian" if that was not entirely the case - that would open a big can of worms... but I was pretty sure it was, hence what i said earlier. Thanks for clearing that up Clint. Churros, I'm sorry. Typically one goes unnoticed, but three in one post and i've got to speak up - Would you please check up the community guidelines on spelling, and then check a dictionary. I'm not trying to be mean, but the quality of topical discussion we have here gets let down by silly mistakes in spelling a lot. I'm no perfect angel - my grammar and punctuation goes down the toilet every second post I make, but spelling mistakes - particularly obvious ones like that really do begin to irritate. A good suggestion I can make is to type up your response in Word or something similar, and then use spell-check, before pasting it into the R-C window. I've found that helps my grammar a lot also.

I don't believe ANYONE has been saying MW SHOULD retheme it. I'm sure i've said previously that i'm not really for the change, but simply that to keep the popularity with the demographic the area is targeted at, retheming with more popular \ modern characters is a smart move to keep the kiddies interested.