DaptoFunlandGuy

I can't quite imagine how Ariel looks with those changes. i thought the brightly lit and coloured area was perfect for the 'under the sea' tune - it in itself was quite upbeat and bubbly. Blacklight implies fluoro paints have been used on everything, which in my opinion tends to ruin it a bit and make it more of an eerie look. I'm glad I got to see it lit up.

But thats just it Richard - you're not being fair (but not in the way you think)... I take what you're saying, and you're making allowances for our parks because of the smaller scales and smaller budgets, but Disney AREN'T all seamless, and they too range from really to not so well done. I don't think Movie World are in any way sub-par when it comes to dark-ride roofing... eg: out of the rides I mentioned above - they do well with Splash, and RSR, (Space isn't hidden so much as it's made a feature), however both small worlds i've been to, Ariel and Midway Mania are clearly visible in the ambient light of the attraction as plain black ceiling tiles, with holes cut in various places for cameras and animatronic control cables. While i'm add it i'll throw in Pirates because several scenes have the same black ceiling tiled roof. Even worse - on Small World and Ariel - the design of the attraction has moving objects animatronics overhead, and in doing so, force you to look upwards where the ceiling is plain to see. This is different to LTRR or Scooby where the majority of the sight-lines were all at or near eye level. I don't think there is ANYTHING to complain about the plain black roof in this attraction, especially since it is a curved, seamless ceiling without joints (other than fire and lighting holes), and it is far better than black ceiling tiles.

So do a lot of Disney rides. It's far safer to have a plain black ceiling containing all your fire fighting equipment than to cover it over with a facade that runs the risk of completely enveloping riders in the event of a fire. Does Small World annoy you? (even the one at HKDL is the same)... Does Radiator Springs Racers annoy you? Ariel's Undersea Adventure? Toy Story Midway Mania? Haunted Mansion? Even Splash and Space are all plain black ceilings. So the reason is - most people aren't looking at the ceiling, so why spend money on it for the few whingers who need to nitpick the ride to shit? Paint it black. If it's black, it's invisible. It doesn't stand out, it doesn't distract you, and it allows the park to spend more money on the parts of the ride that really matter - like the ride system, animatronics, theming, automatic on board fire detection systems with built in auto-reversing thrusters...

Maybe they're doing filming for a new advertisement?

You're joking right?

I think thats a great idea Flea - but I feel like they would need to have done that before doing such extensive facade work... Small world has a plain black ceiling - theirs is ceiling tiles - not even curved to mask the roof...

Thanks for the last shots of viper. It strikes me that some of these photos are taken in areas inaccessible (or at least not intended to be) to guests... or is this somehow some very clever angles? Where exactly are the airbrush caps - it's not quite clear where in the park they've desecrated?

Bermuda's boats were carted off early on though - so by that definition, it wasn't SBNO. I'm inclined to view Mine ride as SBNO. From what we do know, the track is complete, no work has been taken to demolish or remove it. I would usually resort to RCDB (as that is where I learnt most of what I knew about coasters OUAT, and although their current glossary doesn't actually define what SBNO is, the terminology is used for both a ride or a park, so I would imagine it would be a bit more than just 'whether the train car boat is still present'. Although RCDB don't define it in the glossary, what is telling is the other statuses they do have: In Storage Operating Under Construction SBNO Operated (historical status only) The RCDB entry for the ride pretty much confirms it - http://rcdb.com/1129.htm SBNO since 2006.

Yeah - and ToT launching would be a lot louder at nighttime, not to mention upsetting for the animals all night long... WnW is really the best positioned park to be running into all hours (geographically) - but I can't imagine many would go. Disney can do it firstly because most people around the park love it, they've successfully developed most of the surrounding area now so there aren't many residents close by, but because the majority of their 'big' rides are indoors... and so they don't disturb the neighbours the same way our parks would.

Do you really think so? I'd hate to wait and have the train shipped off before I got a chance to ask again... I really hope so. Casey is quite upset SV has closed as it was her favourite (and one of her first), which is why we had it on our wedding day. At this point i'm just thankful it was operating that day... and we had three photographers (and an on ride camera) to capture it!

I think the discussion on Shockwave vs. Surfrider is an interesting one. From memory (and it's been a while) - isn't Surfrider's propulsion contained within on the track? Isn't the 'car' a free wheeling vehicle propelled by LIM or similar? I don't know if the 'manufacturer's name' is the yardstick though - because although Surfrider is a 'Halfpipe Coaster', the Shockwave is a Disk'O Coaster, but to me, it's just an extension of the Disk'O which is a flat. Although there are exceptions to the rule on both sides, i'm generally of the view that if the car train gondola is capable of propelling itself (such as the Scooby cars when the eyes detect a fire) means it DOESN'T COAST, and therefore isn't a roller coaster. Shockwave propels itself, so in my view it isn't a coaster. Again as I said there can be exceptions on both sides so its always going to be a grey area and a bone of contention for those who don't necessarily agree. For me personally - my yardstick is Duane Marden. If it's on RCDB, it's a coaster.

A VW Beetle is a roller coaster now?

I'm surprised this didn't get a mention anywhere - Video Article (headline should read "Sensationalist media desperate to get you to read story") A standard power-failure E-stop, plus a lift hill evac somehow becomes this: (drama queen sections in red) As you can see, the lift hill isn't that steep, they aren't on the track but a purpose built (and obviously safe) staircase, and people were so scared, they took the opportunity to film it. It didn't sound like any were distressed, just a little wowed by the whole situation. Mainstream media does it again! (and if you didn't click, the article comes from 9MSN)

ToT (and many other similar ride types around the world) have long been classed as Roller Coasters for the purposes of classification (as well as record holding). Although this is from a Wiki page, it does hit the nail pretty well on the head in my opinion: So ToT is a shuttle, single car, with a track that rises once. Whilst I fully appreciate your opinion Brad, I must disagree over the discussion being semantics (although off-topic). The general concensus in the wider community is that the ride type is in fact a coaster - even to a point that some class it's bigger brother - Superman: Escape from Krypton as a Strata Coaster - the criteria of which is a roller coaster that exceeds 400 feet. (from the same wiki page posted earlier): From this page: Superman: Escape from Krypton (originally known as Superman: The Escape) is a steel shuttle roller coaster built by Intamin at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, United States. When it opened in 1997, it was the tallest and joint fastest roller coaster in the world. It is similar to Tower of Terror II, which opened two months prior at Dreamworld in Australia. These two coasters were the first to utilize Linear Synchronous Motors (LSM) technology to propel vehicles to top speed. It was originally intended to open in 1996 but was delayed due to several issues with the launch system. The ride closed throughout the latter half of 2010 for the transformation into "Superman: Escape from Krypton" from "Superman: The Escape". The refurbished ride opened on March 19, 2011 with new trains that face backwards. The ride was also redecorated with a new color scheme. As of 2013, Superman: Escape from Krypton has the third tallest structure, the joint fifth fastest speed and the third longest drop.

I meant value as in price tag - which is extremely EASY to measure.

Well specifically - the item I was enquiring about wasn't scrap metal, was easily removed and wasn't likely to be something needed by a future purchaser, as it was specific to the name theme of the ride. If you have a good memory - I asked for a photo of it in this thread a few pages back. If you don't - it's the rubber step tread with the SV logo on the side wall of the train next to every seat. Ideally the ones in the front seat to match the spot we rode for our wedding. This was the actual response:

Sadly, VRTP won't be selling any pieces of the ride due to their assets policies. Not much chance of a wedding souvenir.

Sorry Kev - I think your list is a little off - it also doesn't take into account the value of the attraction either. I sense a little bias there...

I'm with you Jobe. It's concerning that Dax Eddy of Jamberoo Action Park isn't thinking "build it and they will come". Surely Dax Eddy of Jamberoo Action Park knows new attractions will bring people back to the park. Dax Eddy of Jamberoo Action Park really needs to ensure he doens't piss off the loyal fans that Jamberoo Action Park has. (Sorry JF - i'm assuming you pasted part of what you wrote and thats why the Dax part was in there twice?) Anyhow - Jamberoo operated just fine for many years alongside Wonderland. Then Wonderland closed and they had a bit of a captive market for a while and it gave them a bit of money to expand. Their expansions have come on slowly (i'm not sure the year but I took a trip down there and took photos of the park at the time), and they've changed it up a bit as technology changed... All round though - it seems like they've knee-jerked a bit too much in response to the losses they copped from WnWS. It was only one season - it's not white-flag-waving time just yet.

i think in it's location, Hair Raiser is a perfect height. The proximity to the water really elevates the thrills IMO. If they'd gone twice as tall, it'd possibly exceed the bridge pylon... and I think that'd be tarnishing the harbour skyline. LPS should always try to maintain the 'seaside pier' type carnival that they're so known for. low-profile coasters - like the mouse are perfect for the atmosphere. I never saw CycloneDipper in situ at LPS (does anyone have any photos taken of LPS from out on the harbour when it was there?), but Looking at it at Dreamworld, the skyline of the park (even against the cliff) I can't imagine it and it just doesn't seem a right fit for it.

See it really depends on how you look at it. Touted as a thrill ride (one of the big 8 no less), but it has the option for lame-mode. It hasn't really proven to be a 'hit' - it's just been absorbed into the general area. It's another spin&spew in a park that is full of them. At the very least, Tail Spin has a point of difference in that it is a 'user controlled' experience - which means unlike Panda - where (as has been said) the thrillseekers groan every time they announce a slow cycle - Tail Spin can have thrillers and lamers on the one cycle... I don't necessarily think there is a particular point I could point to to say 'look, it failed' - it just didn't succeed like it could have...

Oh geez - another 'north of brisbane' waterpark proposal. I wonder which resident or council member will object to this one. Believe it when I see it.

Didn't we say that about Pandamonium as well?

I find that incredibly unlikely since: Tail Spin is a Disney Afternoon series Dreamworld has a contract with competitor DreamWorks Disney don't usually sell or lease their intellectual property and are in fact fiercely protective of it the name is bloody stupid given it's location.

LOL... you hit a nerve Ads. LP is too good a brand for how dreamworld have been going. I've long been a supporter of the 'not a theme park' mantra applied towards dreamworld. I will say however in seeing their latest efforts on Wipeout, that they've either suffered a collective concussion, or someone is driving a turn around. They are improving. Only time will tell. I don't see how "tail spin" will fit within "Ocean Parade" but i've been surprised before. As was said a while back - missed opportunity there to make them manta rays. We shall see how they do with their next 'refurb'