DaptoFunlandGuy

ok so before I get the linguaphobes dissecting my diatribe, my comments relating to "near miss" come from George Carlin's "Airline Announcements" (its about the 7th one down on the list). And if you were funnier people, you would have known that. But seriously now, how is it possible for MW to do so well, then so crap, then so well.... me thinks upper management need a good kick up the backside.

Thats because there isn't competition in food pricing. Coles and Woolworths have the lion's share of the market, and they don't let anyone else in. 2 Years ago, I picked up a 24 Can pack of Coke at Coles for $6.99 "On Special". Pepsi a year ago $8.49 "On Special". Today, Coles has Pepsi on special for $7.99 on Special, and Woolworths has Coke on special - an 18 can pack for $16........ WTF? It's hard to point the finger at price fixing and the like, but its kinda hard to see how they can justify the pricing - considering a 600ml coke buys for approx $0.90, and sells for $2.80? As for costco, i'm not going to get too excited about it yet. They don't plan for a brisbane store for about 2 years. Sydney will see it next year if melbourne goes well. Personally, I fail to see why melbourne was first off the mark. Sydney would have been a better indicator. I think that has been said, many - MANY times already. Somehow I don't think there is much anger over the closure anymore.

hehehe - and in the latest move in the battle between the giants - Coles (part of Wesfarmers, which includes bunnings) is once again going up against Woolworths - as woolworths announces their own Hardware Chain

No, actually, you are thinking about it the wrong way round. In your example, that would be a Miss (near). Also by your logic, my argument of a Near Hit also works (it is near to a hit) But the near miss terminology is as faulted as terms such as fuzzy logic, or half truth... that can't exist, if half of it isn't true, then it isn't true, it is false. And no, not a pessimist... theres just 50% too much glass.

The doors are something new for me, but the camera stuff has been around a while - I wouldn't say day dot though. I haven't seen the tyre gag, but as usual Gazza, you created the image perfectly... hahaha. On an unrelated note, that term really annoys me - A Near Miss - when things ALMOST hit, people call it a near miss... IT'S A NEAR HIT! It's like two planes flying through the air and they both crash into each other.... "look, they nearly missed".

Was there a username change in there somewhere?

I figured it would have to be, but I am still betting we will see people turn up and demand that they "speak to your manager" despite having clearly held the pass for months without bothering to read it...

Now, I seem to recall Clint mentioning SOMETHING about this a while ago, but I am surprised that we haven't heard more from that direction - surely rehearsals etc. have been going on for a while???

Out of interest, I am presuming that there are a lot of people within WVTP\VRTP up to middle management who are feeling the same sentiments as you two, considering most of them know who you guys are, and some frequent this site also, for you guys to be so open about it on here. Can anyone say Eisner? Edit: With the info about the Show Change at AOS, is this another one of those chest beating moments? Or has the Light Horse theme been in the works since Menzies?

Amish people don't avoid the transport at all costs - there are allowances within their credo that allows them to utilise "modern" conveniences at certain times, one of the biggest ones being in a time of emergency, or the requirement to travel long distances in short time for other reasons. Amish people in the modern world also have the ability to leave their community for a period of time, when they are old enough, but not yet committed to the faith, to allow them to choose whether they wish to continue their path to god in the amish way of life, or to make their way out into the big world. On the the subject, if we're going to whinge about fine print, then you're living in the wrong galaxy. Everything has fine print from pizza vouchers, to cheap holidays and theme park tickets. WVTP do an adequate job of informing people prior to purchase. As said above, the website is quite clear about it. It is printed on the advertisements in all mediums (including their radio ads, where they DO tell you, so stick that one), and even if you don't purchase on the website, the people in the myfun call centre also tell you before the purchase is transacted, so you can't really complain. If you don't want to wait, because that is when all the new stuff comes, them BUY A MEGA PASS - you want it - pay for it, you don't want to pay that much, then wait! Besides, new stuff usually comes online for a soft opening a few weeks earlier, so you never know if you go in the weeks leading up to christmas. I don't think we'll see anything big this year, tightening of belts, as well as the new additions last year... we can expect them to do something, but i don't think its going to be a multi-million dollar attraction. I do think the extension out to january 17 is a bit rough though - maybe Jan 10 would be alright, but that extra week does seem like they're milking it a bit, there isn't a particular expectation on why you would black that out, and not the other school holiday periods throughout the year.... But as Joz said, (and Clint confirmed) the cattle will be cattle - a person can be very smart, but people are very stupid.... And if someone turns up at the gate with a VIP pass within the blackout period after having it clearly displayed on the ad, on the purchase site, and what would most certainly be on the ticket, then they deserve the disappointment, and the potential additional wallet outlay that it would cause. It is definitely going to happen, so I would suggest some conflict resolution training for front gate staff, who are inevitably going to cop flak and abuse from guests whose tickets won't be accepted by the turnstile.

Well of course, we're approaching the busy season.... can't P off all the holidaymakers....

Joz has it pretty much spot on there Aim. Those are the only rides that you should have any issue with - depending on which parks you do first, I would suggest MovieWorld, and make scooby your first stop (It gets busy during the day so first stop is a good idea anyway). If you make it on scooby, you will make it on pretty much anything. I wouldn't be concerned about being 105kg. My partner is about the same weight (albeit a little bit taller), but she tends to carry a bit of weight in the middle. She has no issues on any of the rides in any of the big 4. Scooby is unique because the lapbar has to sit "In the Lap", and I've seen some gals with a bit of cushioning sort of "lift it up" or take a breath, then lock in the bar and let it out again. Mick Doohan at dreamworld is also restrictive, but mainly across the legs if you carry a bit around there, and Jet Rescue the same, but not quite as bad. Those three are the big ones to watch, and with your height and weight, I can't see any of it being an issue - at the end of the day, enjoy yourself, and if theres something you can't go on, don't worry about it - But as Joz said, talk to Guest Services at the start of your day (Movie World attractions don't open for about 30-60 minutes after gates open anyhow) and let them be your guide. I think you will be surprised that there are much bigger riders out there enjoying themselves without a problem. And as an afterthought, if legs are more your issue than your middle, go for the back in scooby, you can stretch your legs under the seats in front a bit more (I have longer legs and can't quite get a lock-in in the front, without a little kick from the operator, but only because my thighs sit too high)

Although from memory, LG had built their warehouse before the park closed....

The GFC is a myth. The only people who are being negatively affected financially are the people who sprayed their profits against the wall with extravagant expenses that didn't do diddly to support and improve their business. The others are those who invested in them. If you ask around, there are many, many businesses out there that are killing it during these "tough times" Swine flu is certainly an argument for them - Wonderland used Bird Flu and got away with it didn't they? If they say GFC, then they admit that their investment strategy for the past 5 odd years has been crap. If they say "Medical Epidemic completely outside of our control" then they're in the clear - "there was nothing we could do about Mr and Mrs Shareholder - Honest!" And what a load of crap - it takes 4 seconds to google a bullet hole in their story. Plain and simple - H1N1 (Swine Flu) didn't rear it's head (in mexico, mind you) until April 2009. So we're talking about 3 months for dreamworld to lose 5% through the gates. Now if 75,000 is 5%, thats 1.5million people in a year. This equates to 4120 per day. (364 days). The 4th Quarter of the financial year (if we start from April 1) gives you 375,000 people through the gates - So if we lost 5%, and all of it since Swine Flu, then we lost that 75,000 out of the 375,000 - so we only got 300,000 through the gates in Q4 - or 3296 people per day... Right? WRONG On June 10th, 2009 - The World Health Organisation advised they were CONSIDERING a pandemic because Australia had 1200 confirmed cases of Swine Flu. (BBC News) So if this is the case (because I remember seeing all the swine flu stuff on the news, but it didn't really bother me under WHO got involved), then we are talking about a loss in daily gate traffic between June 10 and June 30 - or 20 days. Now with an average of 4120 people through the gate each day, that 5% drop must have been marvellous - where are all the people's posts telling us how awesome dreamworld was between the 10th and the 30th of june, because, on average, there were only 370 people in the park for those last 3 weeks!!!!! (And let's not forget, between the 10th and 30th of June was when Dreamworld ran that promotion for unlimited entry (a bit like Q150) to bring MORE people in the gates! (Musn't have been very successful!!!!!!!!!)

But thats just the point - You're making a comparison of a lifelong term of visits to Dreamworld with just ONE DAY at Knotts. Maybe you caught them on a bad day - maybe half the cast went out partying the night before and called in dead? I know a couple of occasions where that happened at WLS... Did you go back to knotts? Try them again a few days later?

Hehehe, the only other thing that I would add is that this coaster's baby brother - The Vekoma Boomerang (Demon at Wonderland or Titan at Expo 88) was well renowned for stalling on one of the lift ramps, and thankfully (as it was a sit-down) had stairs up each lift ramp for just such an emergency. Invertigo has the same profile as the original sit-down version (slanted lifts), but I thought inverted boomerangs had almost vertical lift hills (like DejaVu) or am I off in my own world? Edit - yep off in my own world - inverted's had the same profile, its the GIANT inverted (such as Deja Vu) that I was confused with)

Because the vast majority of HONEST people (read: Sheep) would see the rules, and not attempt to bring it in anyway. It was like a concert I went to recently - where the ticket specifically stated "no recording or image devices permitted", and yet there was the intermittent strobing pulse of flashes on digital cameras speckled around the arena, whereas I had intentionally left my camera at home. Nerdville, obviously did the same thing - by not packing food to take to MW, and yet specifically taking food to DW (because MW had put it on the ticket, and DW had not)

Why stop there? Allow me to expand on the above with a long diatribe that makes interesting reading for those that didn't know........- Coles group (which doesn't actually include Myer anymore) eliminates the following: Coles Bi-Lo 1st Choice Liquor Liquor Land Vintage Cellars Officeworks Target Kmart Kmart Tyre & Auto Harris Technology Coles Express Coles Express Petrol (incorporating Shell Petrol) Now the Coles Group is currently owned by WesFarmers. This means you will also have to boycott the Wesfarmers Group. This includes: Bunnings Premier Coal Lumley Insurance Australian Gold Reagents Queensland Nitrates Australian Vinyls Blackwoods Total Fasteners Motion Industries Protector Safety Packaging House Paykels Air Liquide Wesfarmers LPG Kleenheat Gas Energy Generation Wespine Industries (This list is by no means exhaustive) So this means you're going to have to boycott all major hardware stores (and by association, any tradesman who uses them), All coal-burning electricity generators, since along with Premier Coal in perth, there are also ownerships in QLD and other states). There's also all gold jewelry, since AGR is the only supplier in australia for gold reagents (sodium cyanide), and any other gold-related applications. On the industrial and safety front, pretty much anything related to personal protective equipment in the industrial sense, all sorts of electrical safety switches and surge protectors etc. Energy wise, don't travel on any form of transport that utilises LPG or CNG, so that rules out buses and taxis, as well as private vehicles running on LPG, as well as your own home Barbecue, since Kleenheat Gas is one of the biggest LPG distributors in australia. Another of their partners, Coregas is an important supplier of many different gases, one of which you almost can't avoid if you are injured or involved in an accident - as Coregas produces Medical Oxygen. Wespine industries is a large producer of pine for the construction industry - don't look now but you made need to boycott your own HOUSE! The Bunnings Group themselves has it's own diverse portfolio. Lumley Insurance, as an afterthought, underwrites the entire fleet of commonwealth (federal government) vehicles, so I hope that you never went to a public (or private for that matter) School, ever took money from the dole, went to hospital, used a medicare card to visit a doctor, received a tax refund (or this years tax bonus) - on second thoughts, since tax funds the entire government operation, and therefore the contributions paid to lumleys, the government is really funding the closure of wonderland - so stop paying tax, and never pay it again!!! (declare a republic or something...) Now let's just take a look at the big bad Dick Smith plant. Dick Smith, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Woolworths Group of companies (not coles, like Nev said, , also has this under their wing: Woolworths Woolworths Liquor Woolworths Petrol (Including stake in Caltex) Dan Murphy's BWS Beer Wine Spirits Dick Smith Dick Smith Powerhouse Tandy Electronics Safeway Thomas Dux Grocer Big W Everyday Money Credit Card (listed by HSBC Bank Australia Limited) Everyday Rewards (including partnership agreements with Qantas) The ALH Group (Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group) So effectively we've eliminated most major places to do your shopping, buy Alcohol, Petrol, Fresh food and consumer electronics. (JB HiFi is staked by one of the Major Two but I can't remember which one - They also own WOW Sight and Sound) We've also eliminated a major bank, a major airline, a large chunk of the construction industry, Suppliers of other major fuels, Utility companies, Office supplies, kids toys, clothing.... the list just goes on. Then we have to start looking at the alternatives - A lot of what you can get at these places can also be bought online, until you start boycotting the tele-providers who make it all possible, as both Telstra Bigpond and Optus Internet have supplier agreements with the Big Two also - so you boycott them (because they also own all the cabling that the other ISP's use to provide a service), NO MORE INTERNET! And as the Market share of all of these companies tends to be the biggest piece of the pie, effectively, the majority of Australians all support the closure of Wonderland.... so you better boycott them too - become a hermit, cut yourself off from civilisation and all the big bad companies that invested in a site that was in their business' best interests by being co-located on the link between East-West and North-South of Sydney.

Ok so we finally got down there today. A lot of the same "yawn", but I did experience one that wasn't too bad... It certainly wasn't the best or the brightest, but I have to give props to the Techno Jump, quite a nice balanced experience, without simply being a typical "spin and spew" like some....

Only if they demolish that bridge. They can't leave it there if there isn't any water under it. There barely is any now.....

Today's programmers just don't have any creativity left to create something new and original... Everything is a remake, a rehash, or a redevelopment of something old. Hehehe, Whatta Mess.

And i'd say that that would be the plan if that is the way they went - the "entertainment precinct"

Although now that Jet Rescue is where it is, that space between the new stairs and the old "access stairs" for staff is perfect to install a ramp - nothing stopping them from doing that to clear out the old ramps, so its always possible. Has the pirate ship gone yet? I haven't been in a while - if so, that would leave some significant space to install something decent - particularly if they did divert the cork queue stairs \ (ramps) to face Jet Rescue, as the whole walkway area could be utilised also. If the existing ramps were removed, the footprint available would be about half of the current corkscrew footprint, which isn't too bad - see below: (And as an aside, the latest google maps satellite image was taken in the early days of Jet Rescue construction - looks like a few of the first pillars for the footers have been set

Well I'll be buggered - it wasn't last time round. It had the feel of a dingy "kiosk" in a run down caravan park where they chucked a few arcade machines and skill testers to milk the pocket money of kids. It looked nothing like the intencity at MW, and last time I was there (which was admittedly 3 or so months ago) it wasn't branded as intencity. I certainly hope there has been a change to the theming. If it's still got the dingy kiosk look, then the branding is really inappropriate.

Well Mickey, since you didn't take your obvious pill today - the rants about BT lately have been consistent - poor theming, theming not working, lacklustre experience that was nothing compared to the BT of even just a few years ago. The comment was that Spencer hadn't been on it in 10 years, and considered it a classic that they really enjoyed, and hoped to get on it again soon. I simply said prepare to be shocked, because in its current condition, it isn't a classic, it won't be something you will really enjoy, and you won't look forward to getting on it again after you have ridden it in it's rpesent state. Clear enough?