MickeyD

^actually mate I appreciated the pics you took because I have been keen to see how the whole project is coming along for a while now - and I'm with you and others in agreeance that this is a positive move for the park. A lot of people just don't like change I guess?? I think the supports and in fact the ceiling itself will provide great frames to place up different decorations, movie posters, Christmas decorations etc.. I'm happy to wait and see how the finishing product looks.

Does anyone know if the roof is finished yet? I expect they will have it done in time for the September Holidays but was just wondering. When I drove past the park a few weeks ago all supports were in place

Put in some Cinemas, an Olympic Lap Pool, Basketball & Tennis courts.. ... or is that already planned?!?!

^ That's your opinion but I am sure many would disagree. I visited the park a few months back with friends from melbourne. We were there from opening till close. The only attractions we got to do twice were Scooby & Superman but then again, we did go on everything and saw all of the shows. I guess when you are visiting by yourself you can zip around and visit just the things you want in no time but when you go with a group, your hard pressed doing everything in the day. Sounds to me that there were a few attractions that you decided to overlook? Personally I would rather visit a Park like MW any day than stand in line all day long waiting for rides that have poor capacities

^ Personally I don't think the Batman ride is going anywhere any time soon. In it's current incarnation I guess there is a possibility for it to be one day updated with a new storyline and new film but there are no plans for that right now. You would be suprised at how popular it still is: in the morning on quieter days it operates with 3 - 4 motion bases and then down to 2 in the afternoon. It can run up to 6, taking a max group of 120 every 5 minutes or so. I spent a bit of time in the Tower control room during my ride supervisor days at the Park and oversaw over 1000 riders per hour during busy times. Typically nowadays almost 1000 people will have ridden by lunch time. Come the end of the day, almost the whole park of guests have been on. It's still a popular ride and a good mid range attraction for families. I would just like to see them spend some bucks on it and update the whole thing with new technology, a new film and additional FX. By the time they get around to it I think it will be long overdue

Menzies has been mentioning the roof over main Street for years and I still suspect that one is a bit of a pipeline "oneday maybe" project. -Sure the Universal Florida version of Rip-Rocket will be too expensive a project for MW to consider a complete clone but they could do a version that is just as fun for half the price. Back to the Future IMO was as good as Batride when it opened and BTTF cost somewhere in the realm of 70mil. MW did Batman for around the 12M figure I would have loved to have seen the proposed Soarin attraction come to Australia. It's a much needed family attraction but i think that idea has been and gone now.

Well I worked at MW for nearly decade and over that time I got to know some pretty key people. I have formed some great relationships with some who I still keep in regular touch with. I try and stay on top of the goss going on over there since leaving but I also understand and respect the sensitivity of their future plans. That said, everything is subject to change!! If John Menzies says they are going to do something, I wouldn't believe it until it is officially announced! Woodies would certainly add charm, character and uniqueness to the Park but would the general Australian public also agree? Whilst it would make a great family ride, MW have always tended to go for new technology and what has done big overseas. For example, Batman Adventure was built on the basis of success of Star Tours and Back to the Future. WWF was based on the success of the Jurassic Park ride. Interestingly we have recently seen the arrival of Shrek so what next out of the gates of Universal?? I suspect a version of the Hollywood Rip-Rocket Rollercoaster as Gazza and others on the board have suggested:)

Yeah interesting you said that about re-rides on the claw making you feel a bit queezy. I have a cust-iron stomach when it comes to rides but after my 3rd go on the Claw I was feeling the churn. TOT IMO is tame and because of the direction & rate you are travelling you really don't get a true perspective of the height. Cyclone is just an average coaster. Not particularly smooth either. If the wait is long, go back later. It's really not worth waiting for much more than say 15 - 20mins Giant Drop is probably the most intimidating as others have said shearly because of it's apparently dangerous height. DW have not exactly gone out of their way to maintain the general upkeep/appearance of this ride over the years and I gotta say every time I go on, that does bother me a smidge. Even so, once you get over the height and anticipation of the drop from the top, the freefall is a snap. Guarenteed you will be going back for more if the wait isn't too long!! I find the tipping and holding upside down of the Wipeout a little uncomfortable. It's well worth a ride but I doubt you'll go on more than once. I always find the Reef Diver a nice thrill. Sometimes on take-off you almost feel as if you are going to blank out! The G's are pretty good. Motocoaster is a big fat let down. No big thrills here. The 1st launch is fun but the rest of the ride is a bit of a yawn. Bottom line. Go one everything and don't hold back! You'll only regret it after the gates close and you've missed out on something!!

USD$12million smackers according to this website http://database.thrillnetwork.com/ride_vie...87/el_toro.html within MW's price range yes but whilst I have plenty of respect for Woodies, I can't see them building one any time soon

^ I can really see this - the HUSS Jump 2 does kinda look like the Womping Willow doesn't it? It could also easily be themed to a Super Hero storyline as some sort of Doomsday Weapon? This ride is great visual eye candy and would add a new dimension of movement to the place

I've ridden this one before myself - thought it was kinda fun but nothing earth shattering. I agree another adult flat ride would be a great addition to the Park. Maybe something for the end of this year until the next big one is planned? I'd love to see one of the HUSS Giant rides like this one in a Gold Coast park http://www.hussrides.com/index.php?option=...&Itemid=169

I can give you a pretty good explanation seeing's I rode that terrible thing too many times to count!! The cars themselves appeared similar to the corkscrew however the TBolt had very small guide wheels - not like the eurothaine ones found on all good coasters. I think this was one of it's major flaws! From the station you would slowly creep up the hill that was about the same height of Lethal Weapon's. The ride could run with two coasters easily and was probably even designed to cope with three. From the top of the 1st drop you would move horizontally about 20 metres before taking the first drop. This was not a straight down drop, it curved it's way down to two huge double loops. The trains would make a very loud squeeling sound at this point (and at other points of the ride). Just before hitting the first loop I remember a rather nasty snapping jolt - the first of many during the ride. I think maybe the poor design of the trains and the track itself caused this. After taking the first two loops and taking the next turn (another nasty jolt to the neck) The ride would start losing speed. The rest of the ride was 700metres or so of boring corners and mild dips. Then came the horrible finale! Just as you would take the last turn to the left (before entering that rather pointless tunnel) your train would take one last neck snapping jolt to the left. No matter how many times I rode I used to always brace myself for this one and make sure I stuck my neck out to save my head from injury! By the time the train hit the first trim station it would have only been travelling at about 30k's, if that.. Almost the entire track had steel catwalks running alongside it that would shake and rattle even after the trains had traversed by them!! Add to that with such poor upkeep on the ride during it's final years it was covered in rust and signs of poor patchup jobs where sections of the track had been replaced. Interestingly the Thunderbolt was only about the same age as the Corkscrew which is in relative mint condition. I laugh every time I hear about people complaining about Lethal Weapon being a rough ride - it's a smooth as Superman in comparison to this steel nightmare! R.I.P Thunderbolt You will not be missed!!

A few weeks ago I was chatting to someone from the marketing department and whilst he didn't give too much away he told me the new arena is going to be built out on either side. Expect the layout to be TOTALLY different! - that's why the train has fencing around it - because it's being moved. Whilst there aren't any plans to move Intencity (it's proving quite succesful where it is!) the new stadium will encroach on the area - perhaps even be built right over the top, I'm not sure. having worked at the park for years myself one thing is for sure, there is not much room at all at the back of the venue so it will be interesting to see what they do!

well the Aquatrax at Lotteworld looks awesome - I'll be happy if SW's is half as good. I agree with you tho Gav and doubt they will move away too much from the original car design. If it's not broken don't fix it

^ WBMW was reported to have cost $180mil back when it opened but I highly doubt it was even that much. I mean practcially the whole Park has been rebuilt since then. It was very much done on the cheap when it opened because they didn't expect it to be the success it was.. $220mil does not seem to be a sufficient price tag for the blue sky design of this Park. I would say if it was to go ahead the place would open with little more than half a dozen major attractions with others to be built over the years based on it's performance

At this stage I wouldn't bet on it.. I think it's SW's long overdue turn this year for a new ride

^ Oh U can bet they will get destroyed - I don't think they will last much beyond being torn down!! They have been practically been held together with sticky tape for quite some time now!

Just some more news on the show - physically it's going to be much bigger than the PA show. The venue area is going to be built right out either side as the train next to Intencity will be moved elsewhere. The show will eat into some of that area however there are no plans to move Intencity - it's a nice little cash cow for the Park's per cap. I heard that there have been numerous revisions of the new show's script. The old show was such a polished performance with a cute little story line. I am led to believe the new show will not have so much of a story line (which concerns me a little) and that it will be more along the lines of the Lights! Motors! Action! show at Disney

^ I was in the park a few weeks ago and the new additions have added a nice sense of vibrancy to what were otherwise dull areas of the Park. Not a reason to go out of your way to visit the Park, but nice additions nonetheless.. Not sure what you mean by new 'lattace"???

^^ Those of you who have added comment on this the last few days really should read the entire thread and then you will get a better idea of what is actually going in.. NOT the Vekoma motocoaster or a motocoaster at all for that matter.. Similar but not quite.

I am sure that with this idea, they are taking into account things like temperature, asthetics ETC. They have never really done anything that bad and I am sure that they have some pretty good reasons as to why they are doing it!

^ that and the fact that the area at the base of the 'mountain' is a maintenance bay where fitters and turners do alot of general work for all areas of the park

^ Yeah I REALLY wouldn't count on that

For bowling enthusiasts, this is great news I'm sure but a Bowling Alley has no place in a Theme Park. You mentioned that it would be accessable from both inside and outside the Park? I hope it's planned for the outside. Really what are DW Park management thinking? Hopefully about sacking the CEO but I doubt it

Hey Interesting & thanks for that Matt - I must say I am a little suprised to hear the new show being placed in the current venue. Of course it will be LOADS cheaper to do so because they simply need to change the set and update everything but I can't understand that after all of the years of PA running and all of the complaints from neighbours etc, why they would want to put the new show in the same troubled spot? Personally I thought it would have made more sense to earmark the current PA show spot for a future indoor Attraction and build the new show over by Lethal.. Anyway, looking forward to seeing what they do with it! I am sure it will be a great show so long as the talented cast have a decent amount of input into it's development. Afterall, they are who have made PA so great over the years