DaptoFunlandGuy

On a completely unrelated note - I hate when unrelated surveys use videos hosted on random vid-hosting sites instead of youtube. And I also hate how they won't let you complete a survey until you've actually watched THEIR video. I can't see random vid-hosting site videos unless i'm at home (which is rare), which means I can't proceed through the survey and give my opinion on things i'm already familiar with (or have watched on youtube)... this of course is a completely unrelated survey about an unrelated topic.

So SFMM is two coasters down for the moment... Cedar Point wins! I don't imagine Ninja will reopen too soon - although it wasn't any fault of the ride to cause it to close, it's had a log weighing several hundred kilos fall or lean against it. They'll need structural engineers to survey that section to make sure the supports and the track haven't shifted or kinked or buckled. Ninja runs a pretty decent capacity. I'd hate to see them lose a train to this. It's what you'd expect from SFMM, but I hope they do invest in having the bogeys replaced, and the train reinstated. it could have been much worse.

Rappa - i'm 100% on board with that leap. The issue is - right now I ensure that I go every year, because my pass includes an entry. I buy a fastpass or whatever upgrade is available because its a small additional cost for a better experience... however - if admission wasn't included in my pass, I couldn't guarantee i'd go every year. I wouldn't have a 'use it or lose it' mentality. I didn't make it to Carnivale, because I didn't renew my pass in time. I wanted to see it, but be buggered if i was going to pay a separate admission price for it when I could get it free on my pass... which I didn't get... which meant I didn't go... and I think thats how the general public would react. For the park to change their business model after they've conditioned so many people to do it that way, i think they need to announce the changes well in advance. they need to offer the compromise for those who do see the value in paying extra (which is originally what the Gold was intended to do), so that people who still want to get it at a discount can pay a premium price for a VIP (gold platinum magic kryptonite?) Anyone with a kryptonite will have guaranteed entry for one night, pre-booked, and everyone else pays admission as per the prices. THEN they need to learn their mistake from Wet N Wild Sydney and not panic when the public reacts badly. Not panic when ticket sales are low a week before the event. They need to be prepared to make a loss on the event for at least the first year... as they say - if you build it - they will come.

Mystic Manor (and it's older cousins - the Haunted Mansions) are pure fantasy invented by imagineers... With stories so amazing, they even made a movie out of it. Pirates of the Carribbean... was a ride for many years before Jack Sparrow appeared. These are all long-standing, e-ticket attractions in a park known for it's film-making expertise that had absolutely no movie-tie-in, which based on it's popularity eventually became one. Now - i'm not suggesting HWSD will some day become a movie. That's got as much chance of happening as Dreamworld does of installing a decent capacity thrill ride that actually qualifies for that description... but Bermuda Triangle is a great example of what some inventive people can do with a ride system and a little bit of money. In fact - BT is probably the closest we'll ever get to a ride that could have been turned into a movie... So maybe what MW needs to do is to get Sanderson involved, look at a ride system, work out where its going to go and what space they have to work with, and then give Sanderson the same amount of money they give the ride manufacturer and say 'go forth and theme'... and I reckon we'd get one kick ass ride.

^i'm in total agreeance with you - but I guess the point is - many of the tickets to FN are free on the VIP passes - they're counting on upsell opportunities, add-ons and upcharges to make money out of it. Much as i'd love to see them increase capacity, attractions and entertainment - they can't do that without upping the price to pay for it all. If as you say - most people won't buy the fastpasses, then they aren't going to make much money off them - which means the only viable way to increase capacity is to charge more for admission - either by increasing the cost of admission, the cost of the VIP or decreasing it's included benefits so you don't get in free - maybe just 'reduced price admission'. If you get sick of waiting in lines - buy a fastpass, and support this worthwhile event that you and most others got into for free with your yearly pass. I bought one last year, did all mazes in less than an hour and a half, and had plenty of time to watch the shows (which I didn't enjoy) and even got a chance to sit down, eat dinner, have a drink, and queue for a ride that eventually broke down before i got on it. I left the park at probably around 8:30, which also meant I avoided the chaos of the carpark. It was GREAT!

I disagree with Twilight Zone. I've never seen it or anything associated with it other than the TOT pre-show, and I agree that it is 'in pop culture' however if you pretend for a moment that the movie TV show any reference to twilight zone prior to the ride never existed - and the ride arose with that storyline on it's own - nobody would question it, everyone would understand it, and the whole ride would be quite successful in it's own right, without any related tie-ins. Pointing to a disney attraction as a reason why a tenuously linked theme from an outdated era still works in today's modern culture is like pointing to an XY GT that still runs as a reason why a Daewoo Lanos should last you another 25 years... neither are built to the same exacting and everlasting standards

I thought VRTP were separating MyFun and going for the re-brand to 'themeparks.com.au' as MyFun was all the other properties.. anyhow I digress... Although the three parks are related, I don't think Storm is going to preclude a new ride going into the other three parks in the next year. Each park is relatively capable of supporting a good solid Capex in it's own right. Mini Cars might impact, but I think depending on the success or failure of Mini Cars as a drawcard, we may see them step up something to fill in the breech before 2016.

That's a big call - especially since the more we found out about the project the more it seemed like suicide to put it into Sea World... I'll be extremely surprised if it comes back to the Spit.

Didn't we discuss Lego a while back and decide since Merlin is expanding into Australia, they probably wouldn't want their biggest property in another park? San Andreas on the other hand sounds like a winner. The MOVIE is WB, however the theme park rights are independent of the films, and they were sold independently to Universal. Yes it would be a great ride, if you introduced it in the same decade as the films. These days, it's too dated for any particular relevance. Amen... although theres a difference between: "I know, but i can't tell you" and "you'd have to be el loco not to figure it out"

Why is Harry Potter defiant? And if the Amazing Spiderman is 'new' why is it 'reopening' on March 8th?

That's interesting Joz - surely that would have been an issue when they did the Dragon's Lair or whatever it was? (And is that why they never did it again?) Arkham Piazza is ripe for something as an area too. My point is that there are plenty of "spaces" they could put a maze into. (I think Intencity is the easiest to do though)

I'm enjoying the source info Ifrit, but i'm concerned someone somewhere is breaching some sort of confidentiality...?

..or it could be completely different - and end up somewhere else?

I'm all for smaller mazes - think about it - you can take the sound stage, divide it in half, and have TWO mazes in the same space - divides the same crowd into two lines. People will line up for it just as much as the full-sound-stage mazes. And ABSOLUTELY increase the spacing with the groups. Last year they were sending people through so close together that one group stopping for every scare quickly had the groups behind them catching up, and then the actors didn't get an opportunity to 'reset' for the next scare. The result was very few scares. That said, some of the big open mazes were good - while there weren't very many 'shit yourself' moments, the constant 'when is the next one coming' fear was always there and it helped build tension. Scooby's queue works well - use it for a maze of some sort. Intencity - I know the arcade is a money spinner - but I really feel they could condense the arcade somewhat, and use half the arcade space for another little maze - it's a dark building and you can do a lot with it. soundstages. They're deep - divide them - 4 mazes for the price of two. It's not going to cost you much more for actors - but queue control needs a few extra people. Show Stage - i think another dimension is needed here - the stage area has stairs both up into the seating area and up onto the stairs. I know there are some safety aspects to consider here, but I think it would be achievable A few years ago, they used chinatown alley for a blackout maze - Dragon something or other. It was a great maze concept, but it did clog main street a lot. I'd like to see them do something else with that in another space - behind Rick's, or somewhere up western area... If they aren't doing anything else with the other half of LTRR's stage right now they could use that... i know there are several reasons why these places don't work (WB kids isn't open and neither is the Western area... but it wouldn't be hard to make something happen around that space) Another option would be the extra switchback area outside stuntdriver - enter one way, exit on the other side of Rick's. People can always enter Stunt Driver Arena for the night shows from the WB Kids end... All ideas, not all of them good, and some of them not possible for various reasons, but i'd like to see them exploring different locations, rather than just the same 4 spots every year... change it up a little...y'know?

Is that really the direction we think MovieWorld should go? Take a decades old flat ride from a park that has cast it aside as being excess to requirements and near the end of it's life (and another small park tight on cash trying very hard to expand has also passed on it), and put it in an already crowded bat-area?

Not to mention that timing issues are even more important than that - the animals that may have been on the cards would have REQUIRED relocation from a certain date or time - when it was deferred, the animals would have found an alternative home (and there are usually many zoological facilities that can accommodate short term relocations) - You all realise the Lair at dreamworld was built solely to house the big cats whilst the Canberra Zoo was renovating their enclosure?

^yeah wasn't my meaning - it only happens at work. They mustn't like your host very much... lol. I get to see them at home though.

To be fair - a park is allowed to change it's mind... Wild was the first time one of our parks started a teaser campaign before we knew what it was, and before anyone had stumbled onto any information relating to it. Things happened, and they had to pull the billboard... but if we rag on them now - they'll never do teasers again! Wonderland announced a new ride once - and it never got built...

But then what should a theme park be? Disneyland has Dumbo's flying elephants, and Astro Orbiters.... Every park needs to have it's signature blockbuster attractions, but a park simply can't be viable if it ONLY has blockbusters. This is the reason why Movie World is regarded by most as not being a full day park - it has (for the most part) a series of blockbuster attractions (coaster, dark ride, space shot, coaster, coaster, dark coaster, flume, stunt show, parade... Apart from Batwing - what else do they have to tie it all together? We collectively refer to most flats as spin-n-spew because thats the sensation you get from most flat rides - thrown around in one of several directions, to the possible nauseating outcome that your stomach doesn't like... but without them - a park is incomplete.

Strangely enough Mickey - I think you're right!

I think Westical and Pin must be uploading pics direct to the site or something - I can't see reanimated's images - they all just come up as a red X - are they hotlinked from another site or something?

http://youtu.be/y8SgjaaeoVI

^Several people have suggested there is enough Wi-Fi around the park after you agree to the T&Cs, and I presume it is established for just that purpose. How reliable it is, and whether your phone will constantly be switching between 4G and hotspots... who knows.

Yeah - I used Rollback as everyone would know what I meant by it - but yeah it's probably not the right word Skeet. Realistically - a rope winch with a rescue sling on it would have done the job... and you leave the water on to lubricate the surface... Getting stuck at the top would be a feat though. Either that thing had pressure up the wazoo, or there was some sort of drain in the valley...

I think as a video though, the camera needs to be mounted above the head, angled down, so that you can see the distance from the ground. A close-up shot of the rider will show the gravity drop reaction, but other than that its about 90 seconds of them sitting in a chair with a harness on. Ideally - they need a camera mounted on each harness, with a fish-eye lens so that they fit you and the ground below in the shot. Judging by the info so far, they're mounting it above the car, so it's probably more in line with batwing - one camera for the gondola (although with GD, they'll probably need a good fisheye lens to capture the whole gondola at once so the ground will be in shot anyway) I don't think a camera mounted forward would be an issue for the view (cameras aren't very big these days - they aren't going to block much of the view), but I can't see how they'd do that when the load station is so tightly built around it - overhead and right above is probably the most likely.