DaptoFunlandGuy

Oh you can never never doubt what nobody is sure about.

That's the whole idea of theme parks though - one minute you're walking down Main Street USA, and then past the Jungle Drums of the Tiki Room, or through the gates of a fantasyland castle into a world of make-believe. It's a 'movie' park. Universal makes a lot off it's facades - take a back lot tour - marvel at how streets of 1990s New York quickly transform one street over into the crisp green lawns of 1955 Hill Valley The difference being that the attraction can easily stand on it's own without the backstory of the film. I don't know many people who have seen Song of the South - but Splash's storyline isn't reliant on it - it can tell the story on it's own (because it has the budget to do so). The only attraction at the park that I don't believe can stand on it's own without prior knowledge of the film is Roger Rabbit's Car-Toon Spin... I do think you're being a bit broad with 'pretty much built around'... unless you're referring to Mickey & Friends... most attractions in the park are stand-alone themes... some of which have developed into their own films...

i'm calling it - it won't look any better when finished. it'll be a sculpture plonked on top of a building... that is all.

She'll see a growth spurt that'll take care of the 10cm pretty easily... the question will be WHEN it comes along...!

^^And the lack of recent action on the coaster may be more about their urgent switch to focus on a retheme of Wiggles World to include ABC, so they've put things on hold until thats sorted... rather than the work stoppage being an 'indication' that they've decided not to follow through. Maybe they just can't get inside the building at the moment because some Jackass forced them to board it up.

As stated, we've already well debated the merits of them, and so long as they continue to be an income source for the park, they're staying. Disney market their own timeshare properties within their parks, and other companies advertise in Six Flags and occasionally Universal. Theme park tourists are the target market for these organisations, so it's the perfect place to be. I really think your strip club comparison is a little OTT and DQ.

A good report OG, and probably what i'd have expected to hear given the park's current state. I think we'll have to frame your observation regarding AA - I don't think i've met many people that consider an SLC to be their favourite - although clearly it has some sentimental attachments as well. As for the time share folk (we've debated their merits to death in another discussion) I usually just keep to the opposite side of the path, a quick 'no thankyou' and i never stop walking. They aren't allowed to move away from their 'stall' so they can't follow you and are quickly left behind. I find they usually recognise me on the way back, and usually leave me be. Ok - let's make this clear - the PARK doesn't OWN the SOUNDSTAGES. They're all part of the same parent company, which is why they're able to utilise them for FN mazes - especially if they aren't being used... but the stages are PART OF A WORKING STUDIO. If you start opening that area up to park guests on a regular basis, you can't rent the other stages out for filming as the sound around the stages needs to be kept low. This is why the stages have red lights and signs that indicate when filming is on so people outside shut up. Sure - they could look towards doing some sort of 'studio tour' like they used to - but they need active filming to be going on so there are sets to see, or they need to utilise one of the stages for a 'permanent' set like they did with Riddler's a while back... but they still need to keep it fresh or people lose interest. Then they need the trams to actually take people on the tour, so that they don't wander off on their own - and they are currently much better utilised at Paradise Country. There is no backlot outdoor set like Universal has in Hollywood - these 'sets' would probably be something interesting, and worth running a tour for - but as you can see by taking a look at the current POTC set - it was far easier for them to construct the set from scratch at another location, than to try and create the 'look' at the studios. Australia's film industry is one heck of a lot smaller than in the US. A film studio tour is never going to happen again unless we start getting some massive budget films shot here (which might happen more now that our dollar is weak) to keep the tour interesting. History has shown that people would much prefer a blockbuster coaster, than some outdated blockbusters.

One thing to remember is the STYLE of attraction you're dealing with.... Different forces train styles may necessitate different height requirements. Also - Arkham doesn't use the manufacturer restraints anymore - They're Kumbak restraints and may have come with different manufacturer specs.

I wonder how Paradise Country passes will differ from regular VIP Magic Passes... and whether both will be eligible for gold styled upgrades....

^I'm with Joz.

People nearly killed on roller coaster, motorcycle rider nearly killed in stunt show, stunt show vehicle rolled onto roof... These are some of the reasons why 'major sponsors' may not want to put their name on the arena right now.

Well - Zombie Evilution converts to and from a walk through... and pretty soon Dreamworld will also have the BiP Maze - which is kind of a walk-through... We also had Dinosaur Island at Sea World, and soon to be Creatures of the Deep. There's a reason why walk-through attractions aren't usually in our parks... except for the occasional event-style attraction like Fright Nights or Tomb Raider etc... and thats because capacity sucks, and staff costs are high. These sorts of issues, when presented to imagineers, become amazing attractions with huge capacity - like Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion - both of which were originally slated to be a walk-through. Our parks need high-capacity attractions capable of almost continuous loading (omni-mover type system). What we don't need is another large-footprint, low capacity attraction taking up valuable real estate in parks that are fairly limited in which directions they can expand.

The issue can be how they handle GL's queues... the 'grouper' at the ramp only sends a certain number of people up to the station, the ramp (in peak periods) doesn't always show the full queue as i've seen them held back in the area where they had those shade marquees in the middle of summer (granted a couple years ago). But even with short queues, the load process currently observed is very inefficient.. They might go with the 2 seat instead of four seat cars - a very costly exercise - but they'd also have to retrofit the station, the evac ramps on the lift hill and brake runs and a few other minor things. It's doable, but i'm fairly certain the park went with 4 seaters for a reason. If it turns out to be an engineering or manufacturing defect, rather than a maintenance problem - S&S is going to be up for big bucks to retrofit it. If it's maintenance - then nothing will stop them from reopening 'as is' except an overhaul in maintenance procedures, and probably a thorough re-check (and perhaps replacement) of all the current wheel assemblies.

Holy shit! Subtle and everything! Looks like they're actually going to go with it being part of a race... i can see that working... it also does away with the italian facades on that side of the arena too which is good... Progress is at least something...

if by themed, you mean they put up posters of the movie in various places, and played a movie snippet in the queueline before you board - then yes it was themed to a movie. I'd hardly call that 'themed' - 'tie in' would be about as far as i'd go... theres not one part of the ride that has any resemblance to the story, theme, plot, characters or filming locations that were used... they both just happened to have a reasonably generic 'western' theme and conveniently were both due for release at a similar enough time that a tie-in was feasible.

Ok - fair call. Sorry Zanstabar... Wicked hadn't factored into my thinking. I'd suggest re: Dirty Harry and Casablaca - thats more through apathy about working in a more relevant theme than anything else. I'd suggest most people wouldn't connect Rick's to anything these days, and as for Dirty Harry - older guests would remember it - but again most people don't take much notice of it. As for WWF - it's really a generic theme - it's "western" which can fit any of the many western films ever made, and seeks to focus on the 'era' rather than a particular franchise or film (these days). 'Oz Land' wouldn't be something they could achieve IMO... but i'm definitely up for anything they want to do that doesn't focus on a comic.

Yes, but Superman Returns (2006) and Batman v Superman - Dawn of Justice (2016) are far more recent, not to mention the Franchise has had ongoing success since inception. Likewise - Batman's first film debut was 1943, but 2012's Dark Knight Rises keeps it relevant, and the franchise never really died off. I guess the relevance argument could be made for the James Franco version 'Oz the Great and Powerful' - but that's a long time between drinks for a less-than-blockbuster story... and certainly the franchise has not 'kept current' the same way batman or superman have.

The film is 76 years old. The book is 115 years old. If that isn't out of date I don't know what is. Could always install a Break Dance and call it 'Twerk: the ride'

Yep - good idea, but the relevance of that theme is too far out of date. Young Einstein's gravity homestead is a perfect example of a great 'movie' themed attraction however its relevance in today's market is precisely nil. Ignoring IP issues resulting from competing production companies - you'd be better placed to put in a Hannah Montana themed country farmhouse with a darkride themed around her recording studio, and psychedelic (psychotic) dreams based on her outlandish behaviour... it worked for Alice in Wonderland.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the track - clearly there appears to be a fault in the wheel assemblies - they'll need to work out what they are, and then come up with a solution to fix them, or at the very least - something to ensure any future failures fail-safe. That's not to say they won't rectify the assembly issue - but that if they do fix it - it needs to have a redundancy, or a fail safe so that IF it ever did happen again (nobody can say never) then at least it has the appropriate protections in place so we don't have the same 'high risk' incident. I could publicly announce on facebook that there is a chance it could be open tomorrow - all movieworld needs to make the ride operational is to turn it back on and and start operating it. It's highly unlikely for many reasons not the least of which would be the ongoing investigation, and the potential legal ramifications of doing so without ensuring guest safety - but anyone could really pick ANY date and say that. I recall after the incident with BSG at USS that people had dates left, right and centre on when it was supposed to open - and few of them got close. It will reopen IF and only IF the authorities, manufacturer and park can all be satisfied that the situation that led to the failure has been identified, fixed and assured that a similar failure won't occur again, at least not without the safeguards talked about above.

If every km driven was at $0.30 (which based on the km allowance, it wasn't) - you're only looking at $30k in mileage fees. When new - the car was worth $60k, and redbook still holds a dealer trade-in price of $21,500 - even with 100,000 on the clock. That car might sit on their lot for 8 months of the year (few people travel in the wet season - especially with a stock-hire vehicle) so they do need to cover costs in the few months of the year when they do get business. Granted - the dent is unacceptable, and considering the companies are part of a national chain, there's really no excuse for them not to have the same year-models as their metropolitan counterparts - they could probably make more money off them by cycling them between metro and rural centres. I get the 'accepted without complaint' bit. it's a rort. especially the mileage and taxes figures. I guess you can just write this off as 'reasons why we don't do megan's cultural stuff on coaster trips' and bank it away for future use...

I believe the suggestion was for a family RIDE - which of course the park could do with - another 'all ages' ride like scooby doo. Although given as an example, I don't think the mentioning of scooby was intended to imply another coaster. There are already two coasters suitable for 'younger families' - RRRC and SDSC. I know the park doesn't have much space to achieve it - but another family dark ride would be nice. One only has to look at the fantasyland dark ride suite of attractions to see that they don't have to be very big to still be popular and enjoyable for all ages. Attach a suitable theme using existing IP and you're on a winner.

Yep - the one way fee basically covers their cost of shipping it back or (as is the case frequently) the discount they give to the next customer booking a one-way in the reverse direction. You can actually get some seriously cheap rental (and camper) deals from some suppliers if you're flexible with dates - they'd much rather you drive it back and pay for the privilege, than having to ship it themselves... so the prices are ridiculously cheap for the return journey (because the first guy already got reamed). I also don't take issue with the premium location surcharge - that, like the airport - is to be expected as costs are higher to maintain that particular location. 'taxes and fees' make it sound like it's outside their control - but businesses in Australia are required to include "taxes and fees" in their "base rate" under consumer law. I'm curious to find out whether this conformed to the law on this issue - even international flights quoted by Australian Airlines must be an 'all inclusive' base price, and not slug you for additional 'departure fees' or 'airport taxes'. As for the mileage rate - I totally agree with you - Knowing full well most customers are going to exceed the mileage to get ANYWHERE - it's clearly a rort. That sort of cost should be included in the base rate and therefore not subject to change... every rental car i've ever hired (in Australia and OS) has always had unlimited kms included (or at least a crazy high figure like 500km/day) - and these are the same companies you considered based in Alice.... so that is definitely taking advantage of the situation. As for the fuel - whilst it was a cost - it isn't really something that can be attributed to the 'hire car' cost as it makes it seem like the hire car company charged more than they did for the service. As for the high price - yes it was much higher than Metropolitan Perth - but given the location, a higher cost of fuel delivery is to be expected, isn't it? Don't get me wrong - i still think the high cost was quite rich - on that i totally agree - but a lot of it is to be expected in the situation, isn't it?

*insert appropriate Ashton Kucher burn meme*

Supply and demand Joz. It's not like you can go down the road to get a better deal... down the road is a REALLY long way. logistics of getting the cars out to those spots, having them serviced etc, plus being a tourism hotspot - the pricing seems to be about what i expect. No doubt their costs are higher for many things too - including insurance - with every second dingbat rolling it, or driving at night and plowing into a roo. Obviously Nox was sensible about it - but the bottom line is that there are many stupid people out there, and unfortunately, all the smart ones have to pay the stupid people tax - because you can't make stupid people wear signs that say 'i'm stupid'. (Bill Engvall is hilarious).