Noxegon

Just a brief note to warn y'all that the Wild Mouse at Luna Park Sydney is down until April.

I just thought I'd share this image that will be in my trip report - 2008 vs 2015.

Thanks for that I'll write a trip report in due course, but initial thoughts: - The park is barely recognisable from 2008 (but in a good way) – I love the standard of theming and overall presentation. The doors/chimneys on the trees were a nice touch. - The staff were great – it's no exaggeration to describe them as the friendliest and most enthusiastic staff we've encountered anywhere. I can't emphasise enough how much this made our day. The guy on top of the Sky Lift made a point of congratulating us for walking up to the top – apparently that doesn't happen too often - The standard of food was excellent (though the price tag did sort of reflect that - we spent $51 on food for two of us between our lunch and a light breakfast snack). - The Sky Lift takes forever - I don't remember that from my previous visit. There's a sign in the lower station quoting a maximum operating speed. I doubt the ride was doing a quarter of that, but on the plus side, it made it relatively easy to snap photographs - It was great to see the old Goetzke Freefall enjoying a new life down under. - Abyss would have been so much better if it had lap bar restraints. I love the theme, the indoor drop, and the two head choppers - especially the second one - but re-rideability was an issue today; we gave up after five laps. We preferred the back of the car as the really violent jolts were definitely worse in the front. I'll link to a trip report when it's written.

Pretty much. I went to Tayto Park for construction shots last month (http://www.themeparks.ie/europe/tayto/) but this will be the first park that's actually open. I'm currently trying to figure out what I'm going to do about the temperature though. Right now it's 1º at home...

Yeah, it's a long transit. Landed in Perth around three hours ago, had dinner, and have just had a long overdue shower. Adventure World in the morning. Can't wait to see how much it has changed since my last visit in 2008.

Just heading to the airport now... can't wait!

You might be better off to have a late night ERS. The wheels will be warm for having run all day.

Every city has its reprobates. It's not a big deal and can be managed. Also, I'd like to echo what's been said here about Mark – it's really great to see park management contributing to an enthusiast forum.

Well, I'm going to be there in two weeks. If the Dippin' Dots guy is reading this, please make sure it's open by then, 'kay? (Not holding my breath on this one...)

I'm very much looking forward to riding Abyss in about ten days time. Hoping it's as good as it looks

Eh, by being male?

Insert impressive amount of invective here. I do have the credit, but I was looking forward to riding it again in a few weeks

6'2. I know that my knees were jammed up against the seat back in front of me.

How's it riding these days? When I did it last (New Years Day in 2010) it did its best to kill me. The major issue was the leg room though; I barely fit in the car due to my knees...

You may find my photo site useful as a guide: http://www.themeparks.ie/ The single most important park in Europe and one you should not miss under any circumstances is Europa Park. I'd budget two days there if you can; it's by far the best park in this side of the world. Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England is a must. Alton Towers is a rite of passage, but bear in mind that the queues will be horrible. Tayto Park in Ireland is currently building a Gravity Group woodie. I'm not allowed to publish my photos from it yet, but it's an impressive looking machine and should be open by the middle of this year. To be honest I'd narrow your focus down. The list of countries you've quoted is long. It took me almost ten years to hit all the major parks in Europe and I live here.

I've been. The first time I rode Shivering Timbers it was a fantastic ride. The second time it was in serious need of retracking. That being said, I've not ridden it in over ten years now so one presumes it has had some new track since If you're anywhere near by it's worth visiting Kokomo's just to support a small out of the way FEC - but it's quite a trek to get there so you'd need to be fairly hard core.

I hope they succeed.... how hard can it be to open a Wacky Worm?

No offence taken. I guess that a lot of people here are very familiar with the Gold Coast parks, and dare I say it, a little jaded by them? For me I've been twice, and I've had a great time on both occasions. I've also been to Orlando quite a bit, and honestly, I've had more fun in Australia. Does that perhaps help to explain where I'm coming from? I do remember getting slightly cheesed off at not being allowed to wear my glasses with strap on Superman, but apart from that I don't remember having to deal with rude staff...

I was the one that said something along those lines, and you're misquoting me. What I said was that the Gold Coast parks present a very real alternative to Orlando. I stand by that; if you want a few good coasters and parks in the sunshine in an area that's not too crowded then you could do far worse.

Yes, I did indeed mean 2015. I'll probably spend the next month or two making that mistake :-) If that maintenance schedule holds, it'll be good; I'm due there the week that Road Runner goes down.

I did the Gold Coast in March 2008 and December 2009, and am now heading back in February 2014. It's not all about credit whoring. Sometimes you just want a few laid-back days at parks.

I think you're being unduly hard on Australia to be honest. Sure, it'd be nice if you had a B&M and a modern wooden twister, but I'd argue that the Gold Coast area is a very decent alternative to Florida, with a major virtue being that it's far less crowded. I've got to say I prefer the Australian sense of fun to the average uptight American, too...

Nice!

I dug up a few more of my old photos from Adventure World and posted them here: http://www.themeparks.ie/australia/advworld/index.htm Really looking forward to my visit now...

AlexB, I think you need to relax a little. Using the word "sad" in this case was simply a turn of phrase that in my case is practically professional opinion I'm as sad as they come... http://www.bannister.org/coasters/order.htm.