DaptoFunlandGuy

Zordy, Much as I hate to say it Daniel has a point on this issue. I for one will be very sad to see the Bush Beast go, however, without a reasonably sized destination to support it, such as a park or other tourist attraction, it will not be finanacially viable to have an acre of land vacated by all but an old, rotting, derelict wooden structure. If someone bought it, refurbished it to operating conditions ($$$$$) and built a destination around it, yes, its feasible, and a good option. It is an item of local significance, but to that end, without something to back it up, its a waste, and not the right way to remember a park that brought us so many happy memories. I am on your side Zordy, I want the beast kept... but if it cannot be sustained, and operated, then its like caging a wild animal, or taking a blind person to a silent movie. It cannot serve its purpose, so it will remain standing as an icon to the failures of Sunway and Wonderland Management, and nothing more.

Rebranding the park was one of the stupidest things i've seen Sunway do to that park. The thinking behind it was that everyone was going to the gold coast to visit wonderland, but very few people would have actually done that in comparison to the total attendance. "You'll Always Remember Wonderland Sydney?" sorry - not a chance - its always gunna be Australia's Wonderland to me. the memories I have of Australia's Wonderland far exceed that of "Wonderland Sydney".

Jim, your narrow mindedness never ceases to amaze me. Just because it is a coaster train, it doesnt mean its not capable of hauling a bit of extra luggage. I was talking about a storage compartment more along the lines of something the size of a backpack.. or better yet, why not tack on an extra car to the train JUST for luggage? like you see those trailers that are hitched onto the back of the minibuses... Something the size, shape and height of a coaster car would hold a reasonable amount of luggage... As far as Sydney shopping not being light shopping, the prices in the City are a lot higher. trust me if i have to go to the city to buy something, THATS ALL i buy. I am not going to buy anything else there that I dont have to, because i can get it much cheaper nearer to home...

ive actually thought about a launched coaster with two way operation - two stations, one at each end of the track, with a turnaround before the station so the track is one continuous loop. Station 1 - Sydney Central Station 2 - Parramatta Westfield powered launch, with boosters situated along the circuit, loops, twists, banked curves, all the usual elements, and each carseat has a storage compartment that you can put personal belongings in. Ride the coaster the full circuit, or do Parramatta-Sydney in under 10 minutes, do some light shopping, and take it all the way back again at the end of the day....

Bear in mind that the set up costs for Disney would be to utilise local manufacturing where they can, and ship it in from their own sources overseas where they cannot. The Aussie Dollar is strong right now, but Americans still get more dollars than sense when they exchange currency... It would cost a lot less to establish a park in Australia than it would in the US, and on that note, going by the old mantra of "if you build it, they will come", there may not currently be the tourism base in NSW to support a Disney Park. but build one, and watch the people flock to it. If you are interested in a theme park and you travel to Europe, you dont miss Disneyland Paris. If you're in California, you dont miss Disneyland Anaheim... When we travelled to the states last time, Disneyland Anaheim was OUR DESTINATION - OUR REASON TO TRAVEL THERE... and I can see a lot of people coming to Sydney for just that purpose... and a lot of extra dollars will be spent here on the same token. A Disney Park in Sydney will make it a destination for EVERY australian, the same way Movie WorldDreamWorld have been primary destinations for a high population in Australia in previous years... but our local neighbours dont come to Australia to visit movie world, but might go there as part of their overall visit. Australia might not have a large population, but our neighbouring countries will boost the attendance at a Disney park because of its sheer "destinationalism" (i made a new word!). New Zealand, Timor, Guinea, Phillipines, half of south east asia... and Hawaii as well (its about halfway between Sydney and California...) The population base of Australia is not the figures you need to analyse this on. A Disney park is a REASON to travel to Aus... and a lot more people will come along...

the Disney Stores being closed in Australia is a shame, but may have been a necessary cost cutting excercise at the time. Disney has had a huge presence in Australia (in sydney anyway) and this may be a way for them to test out the waterstheir brand before they build... (theory?). There have been numerous Disney On Ice Spectaculars (I remember the theme song to Mickey's Diamond Jubilee), The Lion King and before that was Beauty and the Beast... Disney are showing a lot more interest in whats happening down under than they did 10-15 years ago. Would it be great if Disney did build a theme park in Aus? Hell Yeah. Am i holding my breath? Not Likely. Can it be done? Most Definitely. Particularly if Disney chooses NSW to build on, they will have almost exclusive local rights, whereas QLD, they would have to share their market with closely positioned rivals with a better foothold. I think if they were to build, NSW would be the one, close to Sydney, but far enough away that they can own enough land for their expansions, and not have dingy shops pop up right next door (as with Disneyland Anaheim). Also, Building in Sydney would bring a lot more of the tourism base that would ordinarily skip straight up to queensland... making the tourism industry in QLD a little tougher, and a heck of a lot more competitive, which means only one thing - more attractions from all parks to compete with each other - something Wonderland fell down on.... and since Wonderland is out of th epicture now, Disney has a clean canvas to work with.... *fingers crossed*

At the time, I had only ONE VCR, so I could not dubcopy it. I used only the audio portion of the recording, and cut it up to suit my own devices. Ill try and find the Mini Disc I have that still has a copy of it. Very little of the original recording was used, but excerpts of the reports between Ann Sanders and Adam Walters were slotted in between the spiels and music. The music was mixed by one of the performing DJ's at Utopia 2001, and I put it all together into a looping mix for use in the Space Probe Pre-Show. I think Ride Supervisors withdrew this version a few hours after midnight, for what reasons I dont know, but the ops who were manning the ride that night reported to me that it was because they wanted the "official" Wonderland video airing as usual. (i think also because some of the other Dj's complained that their music wasn't used, and they never received an offer for this to occur...)

i would say almost every superman comic, movie, advertisement, book etc since the concept was first published many years ago.

Micka, I would say this video would have been a promotional video, which would have been shot either pre-open or just after opening for advertising purposes. The vehicles visible in the first drop would undoubtedly be other camera positions for the filming of this shoot. It also looks like it was shot before Snowy had a great bit hill built around it, although its hard to tell. Buzz, I am curious to know whether you obtained a copy of any of the "space probe pre show" videos, in particular the Ann Sanders version, with Adam Walters. I had a copy of that in my posession once, when I mixed up a different queue track for Utopia 2001. The footage of the original advertisement for Demon (to hell and back) also brings back fond memories of Wonderland. I anticipate more coming from you, so keep it up, can't wait to see them... Alex.

Hey Rich, Congratulations on the decision to take the site to the next level. I have been a member of the site for going on a year now and seen it become better and better, even in that time. Having said that, I am dismayed at the decision to make the site a "membership-by-visa" style site. I can understand the reasons for this, being that the costs associated with the running of Roller-Coaster.com.au are not covered by anyone but yourself, and am sincerely thankful that the site is not plagued by advertising, having seen what has become of screamscape.com in the past year. I have given this proposal a lot of thought, before responding to this thread, and I regrettably see that it is necessary for the site to continue to grow into the greatest Australian resource for theme parks and amusements. I have a few questions, and also a few suggestions: the materials supplied to you by persons other than yourself, eg: Liam's theme park videos, photographs of parks and constructions not directly taken by yourself... How will you credit these materials in the "new" site? Will the contributors receive some monetary payment for their contributions? Or will the site rule out all contributions not made by a staff member to retain exclusivity on the material, while losing out on some of the materials that can only be provided by other users than yourself? Will Roller-Coaster.com.au continue to remain wholly owned and operated by yourself, or is there a likelihood that you would take on other "staff" members to support the site, and provide more information that would otherwise be out of your reach? What pre-requisites would there be for someone to become a member of the R-C staff? do they simply need to be a good mate of yours, or are there other, more necessary factors? Being that a lot of our current members are under the age of 18, as we all were once, and that is how our love of theme parks, coasters and amusements came to be, how will you provide those members who are minors with the option to become a member? will the site only permit credit card payment? how else would our younger members pay? Ok, i think i have exhausted my questions - FOR NOW... so here are a few suggestions on things that would make me sign up... Most of these suggestions are things not available on the website, and would need the extensive cooperation of your network of contacts at all 4 big goldcoast parks, not to mention other parks across the country and the world... Exclusive Ride Time - time reserved for paying members of Roller-Coaster.com.au to ride certain attractions at the parks. Behind The Scenes Tours - Allowing R-C members to get up close and personal with the inner workings of some of australia's best theme parks... tour "Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster... with all the lights on...? See what goes on behind the scenes of Dolphin training at Sea World? who knows... the list is endless.... The DVD and Magazine are really good ideas. Why not have a Quarterly Magazine? or a Quarterly DVD? im sure the costs could be worked around to either include the cost of the quarterly issues, or make the subscriptions to the magazines and DVD's slight extras ontop of membership. As far as membership offering customised Avatars and CaptionsSignatures, this is something that has been free on the site for a long time, and having to pay for it all of a sudden is a bit of a shock. I dont think anything currently offered on the site should be charged for in the future, however, new additions to the video library, pictures, etc would be worth the money. I hope I have been able to communicate my opinion here, and look forward to reading both all the other member's opinions, as well as your responses to them Richard, so until then..... I Can't Wait.... Alex.

Another Awesome video buzz. keep them coming!

thats amazing perception you got there Glubbo... lol. We have also remarked on that in the past...

that was an action quote, not just speaking in the third person, you dolt Flea... *Alex Slaps Flea with a large frozen trout*

*Alex slaps Diannasaurus around with a rather large frozen trout* HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THIS WAY! lol. Beast was a rough coaster. I know this, but a lot of woodies are rough, and it comes with age. its part of the experience! But the word is ROUGH, not HORRIBLE.....

i should have been a little more specific. I just realised i used the same term for two different things. when i said "hit the bottom" i meant the bottom of the chute, not the concrete floor of the chute tunnel itself...

this situation could never happen. remember that in normal operation, the boats have a fair separation. if an estop is pressed, then the separation would remain constant for the boats on the lifts, and the rest of the boats would bunch up, towards the bottom of the lift. If asked to make an assumption, I would say that maintenance would need to be present at the bottom of each lift hill for a restart, and only allow boats to mount the lift at safe intervals. How they would do this I dont know, but at a guess, turn on the water, but not the lifts, and give the maintenance guy manual control of the "gate" at the bottom of the lift, and the lift itself, to bring them through at his own control and discretion, or (since the boats do have wheels) they could possibly get away with pushing the boats back up the water chute, away from the lift, to get an even and fair separation.

I agree with you there, but where else can sea world build except out towards the car park? there isnt really very much usable land left on the site, which is why when they build something new, they remove something old... take the waterpark, take bermudalasseters... there isnt much land they can utilise in the park left, unless they... build over the top of the ski lake remove the ski lake remove the dolphin lakes behind endeavour expand out towards the carpark (ala disneyland)

i dont think "shutting off the pumps" would be sufficient to stop a "bump" between two boats. the boats are generally spaced far enough away, just through the procedure of loading the boats... but this is a water ride, for which most of the motion is generated by the water current. Bussy will be able to back this up - that on Snowy River Rampge at WLS, shutting off the pumps takes at least half the course for the boats to touch bottom, and they will continue to float down the course until they hit the bottom.... soooooo that is not an option in an "emergency" style situation. To be honest, I haven't seen a "gating" system on WWF, but a good thing about it is that it does have two lift hills to control the amount of boats in each "zone". I think its safe to assume that while not visible, WWF would have SOME SORT of pneumatic or hydraulic gates that would pop up to prevent a boat entering a dangerous area. As far as the "two boats at the turntable" question, Remember that in a situation such as this, a Maintenance team would need to clear the ride before it is restarted. I cannot imagine WBMW turning on the pumps when they have guests in the boats, in the middle of the circuit. guests would be removed, and maintenance would monitor, oversee and control the release of boats through the circuit at the proper safe intervals.

while both have good points, bear in mind that Sea World have been harboring "Pig" as a recuperation effort. While they have built him a permanent display tank to showcase him to the park, they may still not be permitted to keep him in captivity forever. Its possible sea world has built this tank to utilise him as an attraction to make some money on what would surely be a costly expense in helping him recover. They may also be using these 2 years to give PIG an intensive program to adapt him back into the wild, for an eventual release. "Pig"'s current home is a show tank that is well over 10 years old, so its about due for removal... there could be something to this rumor... but there could be nothing to it as well...

Apparently, Yes. Half of what you listed was a guess or an assumption, which I did not state as fact. When you're wrong, you state it as fact. Remind me again what exactly i was wrong about with Scooby's wheels? The two turntables was about the only thing out of that whole list that I did state as certainty. Everything else was a stated assumption, guess, or a claim to common sense. Funny thing is in the year I have been here thats about all there was that I was wrong about. the difference between you and me is that when I realise I am wrong, I admit it, i dont delete all evidence of it, and then claim for 50 posts in another thread that I never was wrong. Here are the facts Until despatched on the 13th cycle, the oeprators did not feel the noise was a danger When they felt it was a danger, they elected to remove it as soon as possible the new amendments to the manuals will probably not change that because the operators will STILL need to feel it is a danger before doing anything. Maintenance did not tighten the bolts Maintenance signed off on the train being fit for service, when it wasn't. Disney at all times maintained the policies necessary for that ride to be kept in good condition. Maintenance did not follow those policies. this is why the accident happened. It is the fault of Maintenance. they goofed. Disney Didnt.

Very good. you found a quote from a single opinionated person who does not work for DOSH. Now here's DOSH's official word on the same statement... You wanted to get pedantic over the words unusual and different and now you're saying "you could call it..." The single amendment that was recommended would not necessitate bringing in every single cast member to be retrained. I would guess (probably quite rightly, having worked in a park myself) that a communication on a change in procedure, would generally just be an "all staff memo", posted in the ride op sign on area, which would draw their attention to the new amendment in the manuals, and decribe the change in summary on the memo itself. The bottom line is, without this extra line of instruction, it is obvious by fact that the operators still know that if they feel something is unsafe, they should outservice it, or close it down. This extra line just takes the onus of responsibility off Disney, and puts it on the shoulders of the operators themselves. Well lets have a look at your first few posts on that topic shall we? OOOoooops thats right, you got embarassed at how stupid you felt about it so you deleted the thread - Your original post came on swearing blue in the face that a "source" at WBMW told you that they all had motors and brakes and automatic fire detectors in the eyes on the front of the car. When people told you that you were wrong, you got angry, called them names, and said that "you would get more information from your source". You are a FOOL adam. A fool who cannot admit when he is wrong.... no... when its obvious you are wrong, you delete all proof of the fact that you were found to be wrong. You dont know that. What if the upstop fell off on the first cycle? there is no evidence you can provide to suggest that this wouldn't have happened if they had an extra redundant line in a manual that half the operators probably would not even read unless it was bright pink. As has been said to you numerous times before, by numerous people in numerous threads... seeing in retrospect is always 20/20 Vision. There is no physically possible way you can prove or disprove this information. So far as what bussy says as far as Disney being at fault for providing the maintenance by an outside contractor, Yes, in that way, you could blame disney, but I dont specifically blame disney for that decision, as it was a way to keep costs down, WHICH EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE CIVILISED WORLD WILL DO if given the opportunity. The only let down was that the outside contractors did not fulfill their contracts. If they had of fulfilled their contracts, the accident would not have happened, because the contracts specify the procedures to be followed, including the tagging procedure. if the tagging procedure had been followed by maintenance, the train would never have been allowed back on the track without a tightened set of bolts on the upstop guidewheel - front left hand side of train number two's decorative locomotive. You ask me if there was no way the accident could have been prevented? i say there was a way - maintenance following the correct procedure. No operator removing the train or shutting the ride, just maintenance providing a safe vehicle for use on the track, and certifying it correctly for that purpose. thats all. for that reason I DO NOT blame disney in any way shape or form, it is the whole and sole responsiblity of the maintenance team charged with the maintenance, service and repair of that ride - the West Reliability Team.

Where is the evidence that this occurred? they made the decision after the train left. Prove it. Well, i'm pretty sure that this discussion is based on the first accident and subsequent report. With the exception of my mentioning the fact the ride HAD a second accident, I dont see the relevancy of bringing in the reports from the second accident, to back up information from the first. there is no link to the recommendations made by the DOSH in the first incident, and the recommendations, policies or reports made by Disney or Dosh in the Second. My point exactly, finally, proven, and admitted. YOU ARE PRESUMING THIS INFORMATION. If i presume something, I say so. When you presume something, you argue for 45 posts that its fact until someone shoves it up your nether region. This is the same thing that happened with the Scooby Doo Motorised car incident. If there is proof, I haven't found it, and i have spent hours reading all the information associated with these incidents. I do not believe Disney would publish the intricate safety procedures that they instruct their operators on, for one, because if a general public member knew some of the policies, they probably wouldn't ride... am i right Bussy? Daniel? So your presumption is permitted to be stated, however, do not state it as fact. . . . . because god only knows Adam, we have already discovered how absolutely full of it you are.

Hello Craig and welcome to the forums... Before Richard comes in here with a big baseball bat, could I please ask you to read the community guidelines, and try as much as possible to abide by them. In particular the shorthand, and also try to write each post a little less as if you were actually speaking it a little more formal writing while still keeping the conversational edge. Other than that welcome to our wonderful little community, avoid the dark corner where Bussy and Daniel torture small animals, and enjoy!

While im sure your wonderful Oxford dictionary was obliging to supply those definitions, i think the similarities in the two words are irrelevant. If something is unusual, it is not usual, in other words, not what it normally is. If something is different, it is not what it usually is. the waters get muddied there and i don't think arguing the pedantics of the english language matter much in this debate, considering those words (as demonstrated) are pretty similar. Show me the exact wording of this policy. the DOSH report is probably the most detailed report we have on this incident and it doesn't say what the policy instructs the operator to do. I think yet again you are reading your own words into what you read for the benefit of your own argument. You're not listening, are you? as already said, the report doesnt say what the new policy dictates to the operator. it is highly likely that the train will be shunted off, yellow tagged and after a 4 minute downtime to get that specific train off the rails, it is back up and running again... not a two hour down time. And another thing you still aren't listening on - the Disney operators were NEVER retrained after this incident. the only effect this accident had on the operators themselves besides psychological or emotional is a modification to the operations manual that may and or may not make a lick of difference in a future emergency. No, because you have misread and misquoted half of the previous discussions, and the entire DOSH report, meaning once again you're twisting the words to suit yourself, the same way you have done it in countless posts on this forum since you joined. Your opinion is not that of DOSH, because the DOSH opinion you are quoting is a MISQUOTE. Your opinion is not that of Disney, because the Disney opinion you are quoting is a MISQUOTE.

Adam, dont get me wrong, i still agree with you on the subject that the expansion causes the lean, i just think it would lean towards the sun, not away from it - and that is because of the weakened steel.