iwerks

Went on the Amazon River Quest flume ride at Singapore's River Safari today. Despite the promotional pictures presenting this as a sedate little river raft ride, it actually has three nice little flumes in it. I don't know if it's the best way to see wild life, as it zipped past some enclosures pretty quickly; however, it does make for a great family-friendly attraction. It's a $5 add-on on top of the entry fee to the park. River Safari, itself, is just under a year old and they're still expanding - at this stage it's a little underwhelming. You need to book your river ride at least 1 hour ahead of your entry into the park as it takes 45 minutes to find your way to the start of the attraction. It would probably cost Sea World $15-20 million to pull off something like this ride, but that's what they should be aiming at.

Are they having traffic lights? What's the thing coming up in the middle of the street?

I think we are entitled to complain about the installation of the mini cars driving school - what are forums for? Like so many other people I just find the whole idea a disappointment. Just say everyone who filled out the age survey on Parkz went to MW. How many of us could actually ride in the mini cars - two? Probably a few more have kids in that target range, but for the rest of us there will be very little. It's certainly not going to make me want to cross the continent to see it. When I first went to MW in 1999, I was really impressed with the place. There was plenty to do. Now, if you're an adult and not a coaster fan, you'll be in and out in a couple of hours. I really do think they should have made a LTRR Mark II. If Disney is able to hang on and improve their classic rides - why can't MW? After all, MW should be aspiring to be Disney and not Legoland (whose target market is that age group).

I know it's not a TV show anymore, but does anyone know when The Inbetweeners movie 2, that was shot at WNW, is coming out? Got it - November 13 - can't wait!

I think I need to re-vote. I can't believe I've ridden 200 rides (especially since there are plenty of defunct attractions not listed that I've been on). Nice ride count Gazza. Nice pic too.

Well themed indoor flume rides?

Well, if they had done that in the first place there wouldn't be the need for this thread.

It's not uncommon for the government to support theme parks or recreational venues. If the grant's there the company can apply for it, like The Maze did with Outback Splash. http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/5049 It does provide jobs for the community. My question is: how does a government work out the value of land for the establishment of a new theme park, like Inspire WA's or Sydney's Wonderland? Most of the locations that Inspire WA was oiginally after are now fast developing into new subdivisions. Whilst most of that is housing, some will be for recreation and industry. How can you work out a fair price to buy or lease that? I'm sure they're very complex deals, but you can understand a government's hesitation after the way some of our parks have been run in the past.

USA Today is running a poll on your favourite US Theme Park Blogs. I think mine would have to Screamscape for news and Theme Park Review for trip reports. The poll is open and you can vote daily: http://www.10best.com/awards/new-media-awards/best-theme-park-bloggers/ So, after Parkz, where is your next stop for theme park info?

Sadly, I did too. They're not doing that good a job, even at this stage. They could at least have K'nex roller coasters instead of having them painted on the walls.

What an evil, self-serving scheme. I like it! http://parks115.blogspot.com.au/

I hate to do this: ".. no sense, grammatically"? Yes, we all make mistakes.

On what is quickly becoming scaffolding month @ Parkz, Luke and the Temple of Fun appears to be playing spot the difference with his Battlestar Galactica photos. http://lukeandthetempleoffun.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/battlestar-galactica-construction.html I'm looking forward to my next visit there in July.

You can charge more if you are going to offer them more. Adventure World charges between $135 and $155 for an adult's season pass, but you also get a 20 per cent discount on food and merch as well as a day when you can get your friends in for half price (I was going to check with their website, but it appears to be down at the moment). There is also be a family pass discount. It doesn't have to be cheaper than the big parks if you have a captive local audience.

Movie World Dreamworld Sea World Fox Backlot Studios Old Sydney Town Adventure World Universal Studios Singapore Universal Studios Hollywood SeaWorld San Diego Magic Kingdom Animal Kindgom Disney's Hollywood Studios Epcot Disneyland Disneyland Paris Disneyland Hong Kong Ocean Park Escape Theme Park Singapore I wouldn't count little water parks like The Great Escape or Outback Splash in their current form.

So would this discount Fox Backlot Studios then?

The back break express rides again - good call Gazza.

I can't believe they would leave that castle to rot for a couple of years. I can understand them not rebuilding there, but it won't look good just sitting there in its current state. Yeah, I saw some white markers around the back of Shotgun, but it looked like they were planting shrubs there. For a park that was closed, it certainly did look busy earlier on in the week. They must have had a bit of cleaning up to do. Does anyone know the numbers they got through for the whole season?

Guessing. It would be great, but I don't think they have room for a proper wizarding world. Was also surprised by how few people go to USS according to last year's results. With what they have there, I thought there would be a lot more through the gates.

*Whispers* Harry Potter.. They've been busy on the other side of the park too. Something is taking shape out of the rubble.

Maybe they'll dig the old tram that used to leave from under the gate area out of retirement.

You were 5 days early. It's also worded so vaguely that the new attractions could be anything. I remember when Disneyland HK used to count a water fountain as an attraction. It could be that they're rebuilding the castle or constructing a new waterslide. It might be the case that Mark Shaw has some grand plan to really build the park up, like they're going to do at Outback Splash. God forbid the worst case scenario: it could involve miniature red cars and a driving school!

They sent this email out on Friday - sometime after they made the call to cancel the rest of the season. Note the use of the plural. Better change the name of this thread again. Time to start speculating!

You bet.. I would rather they do a walk through about movie special effects than this. At least you could spend more time in the park.

Totally agree. I think they will dress this up to the nth degree. The operators will have snappy uniforms. The set design will be great and hopefully the cars reliable, but this will appeal to 10% of the people who go to Movie World. And how often will they ride it? The LTRR you could go on at least twice a visit. I suspect most adults will be reduced to seeing this from a viewing area and that's it. That will take up about 30 seconds of your day - what next? I hope you're right Mickey D and this is a part of some long term strategy because this doesn't bode well.