aaronm

I notice they even had some at California Adventure last time I was there! I think most guests just ignore the carny games. Of course, if Sea World went all out and really made the games look like they belonged in the park, put some theming around them etc, it would be a different matter. But kind of annoying that the park is paying people to staff those booths when just one extra ride op on Jet Rescue or Sea Viper would make a huge difference to wait times.

155k passes at ~$110 each (rough average of Gold & Silver price) equals $17m in annual pass revenue. Not bad for a park that only cost $120m. And that's before daily tickets, food, parking, fastpass sales, merch etc. They are raking it in! Operational issues are disappointing, not much that can be done about staircase configuration right now but perhaps in the off-season they can do whatever construction is necessary to sort this out. Most park fans would know that the first season was always going to have issues, not sure if the general public will be very forgiving.

Assume it's kept shut to funnel people through the food court. Seriously that park is like a maze.

^The $20m would almost definitely include the demolition of the old Bermuda Triangle ride, which would not have come cheap.The re-routing of Viking's Revenge would also have added to the cost.

^I suspect the secret is to step over the little gate blocking off the kids area from the path to Storm Coaster. No idea why that is always shut - it just divides two publicly accessible areas!

The Aqualoop scales at WnW GC are pretty friendly too - they weighed me in at about 5kg less that I actually weigh last time I was there! So it seems some tolerance is built in.

Got a couple of rides in yesterday - a few thoughts: - the ride itself is a really good fit for the park - a decent family coaster that looks intense enough to your average punter but won't scare kids away. - the theming looks great outside the ride, especially the churning water near the entrance. Inside the building is another matter - it just seems very empty. I agree with AlexB's assessment that the 'upturned ship' aesthetic is lost, is just seems like they put random crap all over the place. Not sure about the decision to paint one entire wall white either, that just seems to draw attention to the fact that there is a huge empty space. - Viking's Revenge is now Coaster Supports: The Ride. Could do with some plants or something to help with the aesthetics - I get that aircon isn't practical, but some fans or misters would be a wonderful addition to the queue. - seatbelts are overkill for sure. Even the lapbar is kind of unnecessary, although I guess it stops people from standing up. - the splashdown is fantastic. Get pretty wet in the middle seats and absolutely soaked at the back. Agree that it would be great to open the viewing area up to non-riders. - ride ops were on their game, getting boats out about as quickly as could be expected. 20 minute wait for a brand new ride is pretty good. - not related to Storm Coaster but has anyone ever seen Jet Rescue running two trains? Or is the second train just theming now? - also unrelated - anyone else find it weird that Movie World goes all out for Christmas but Sea World does nothing at all? - overall it's an excellent addition, Sea World is going from strength to strength and once they get the rest of the effects working this will be even more fun!

Anyone know the price/duration of the lockers? Used the ones down the front end of the park last time but they were pretty inconvenient, and expensive.

Are you basing this on actually riding an Intamin woodie or just watching POVs on Youtube? El Toro is one of the best coasters on the planet, and still has that great woodie feel. It doesn't ride anything like a steel coaster so I'm not sure where that perception is coming from. This would be a great spot for a smaller GCI woodie, like the Big Fun they were showing off at IAAPA last year.

Have you been on a GCI or Intamin woodie? They are awesome rides! Unfortunately I think we're more likely to see a Vekoma Boomerang or Zamperla Volare...

The rapids are a very popular family ride with very few restrictions on who can ride, and unlike most rides at the park actually has a decent capacity. Definitely looking a little tired though. For the money the park put into Kevil Hill they could have done a decent retheme/upgrade of the ride and freshened it up quite a bit.

^^The 10-2 doesn't make much sense, unless they have hard-ticket upcharge events planned for Christmas/New Year's Eve nights. Surprised Boxing Day is only 10-5. At least they have longer hours during peak periods, something the Gold Coast parks still haven't figured out.

^Themeing doesn't look too bad but I'm not sure it will even be the best coaster in the park, let alone in the country.

Would love to see a soft open happen by the 15th. Fingers crossed.

Looking at the drawing, the slide is tall but not particularly steep, and the drop tapers off quite a bit before the hill. If the test dummies start flying out they can just make the walls higher...

^I can think of at least half a dozen parks which have both a drop tower and a Star Flyer/Windseeker. Most people can tell the difference...

And they still want $50 for a day pass. I paid less to get into Cedar Point!

^It seems to be an Aussie park thing - I've been on plenty of older Arrows overseas where the crews manage to get trains out pretty quickly, even with only one ride op checking restraints. Viper might be slow-loading but Cyclone just borders on the ridiculous.

Given how much growth the GC has seen over the last decade, I think there is definitely potential to market the parks to the after-work crowd on Thursday/Friday nights during the warmer parts of the year. I'm kind of surprised that Movie World doesn't have a Citywalk-style dining/entertainment complex attached to keep people spending money after the park closes. So this is what I was getting at when I said that Sea World was "close" to being a world class park. I don't think it's quite there yet either. Once Storm Coaster and the gorillas are in it'll be getting there. Unless you're hell-bent on seeing all of the shows and parades it's difficult to stretch out a visit beyond the six hour mark. They should definitely offer something better than a 5 minute Spongebob cartoon in the cinema, and a pet show would be a solid addition that could build on their animal welfare/conservation theme. Filling in the back of the lagoon isn't a bad way to increase their usable land. Getting rid of the bridge might help open up that part of the park, especially given that it doesn't traverse a body of water any more. The whole park layout is a bit off though, not sure what they can do about that - most of the food venues are at the exit? And for a park which doesn't have much room to begin with I'm not sure a splash battle was the best use of space.

My point is more that when every major park in the world adjusts its daily opening hours according to demand, the Gold Coast parks are stuck in this time warp where nobody would possibly want to ride a rollercoaster after 5pm. Personally I'd much prefer to hit up the beach during the day, head down to a park in the late afternoon, and stick around until 8pm or later. I think you're selling them short. Their dolphin show is better than San Diego's, they might not have anything on the scale of Manta or Kraken but Jet Rescue is one of the best family coasters anywhere in the world. Certainly some improvements could be made but on the whole it's a pretty good park. Looking at it from a 'guest experience' perspective rather than a straight-up comparison of attractions, I'd expect to have a fairly similar day at Sea World whether down here or in San Diego. Remove or look for ways to make it better. Essentially the park got Intamin's prototype motocoaster, which has been improved upon with Jet Rescue and then again with Juvelen. It's still better than any of the Zamperla motocoasters, and with some track additions/modifications could be significantly improved. The capacity issue could be addressed by having a second train in operation, and training the ride ops to help dispatch trains faster (but it's Dreamworld so probably not going to happen...).

^There is no way Buzzsaw could possibly do 600 pph. That would mean a 50-second cycle, including load/unload and ride time. From memory the ride time alone would have to be at least 45 seconds! But I can definitely believe 600 pph for Abyss, providing the ride ops are on their game.

A true "world class" park would be open longer than 10-5 during peak season. I think Movie World is one big coaster and another show away from being a full-day park. If Dreamworld expanded their wildlife offering and replaced Cyclone with a decent coaster they would have something similar to Discovery Kingdom, which is a great day out. A flying scooter ride wouldn't be amiss either. Sea World is the only park I'd classify as being close to world class, once Storm Coaster opens they will be almost on a par with their namesakes in the USA.

Only $10 more than the Gold Coast park, looks like they are pursuing the same strategy of pushing people towards buying the season passes rather than pricey individual tickets.

^Cheers thanks.

Hey guys - long time lurker, first time poster here. Looks like I'll have the chance to check out Fright Nights this coming Saturday - coming up from Melbourne and staying down near Surfers Paradise. Does anyone know if there are buses running to and from the event? Movie World's website mentions there should be but I can't find any detail anywhere...