Levithian

It seemed like they had been replacing a lot of that old style speakers and audio with new Qsys equipment when we went over the holidays. Like the new overhaul at road runner is a good example. But why the hell do you need to leave the old equipment just laying there too? throw it out if it's been replaced or no longer in use. There is no way around it, they need to start spending money in park presentation, then focus on problems with existing rides and get things sorted and up to date if they even care about improving on their investment. I don't agree that the company (BGH) had a shocking year and told village to reign in spending because of it though. If they told village properties to tighten the budget it's because it's their management decision (perhaps they feel there is too much bloat and they are leaning out the company to see where the money goes?), not because they had a bad year. BGH don't do yearly, it's simply not how private equity works. They start by seeking partners to invest in a private equity fund which is used to provide capital for future investment purchases. These partners are typically things like super funds, pension funds, foundations, government/ sovereign funds, other investment groups, etc. They aren't shareholders trading shares on a publicly listed company, they are investors in this fund only and all the assets it has acquired. The private equity firm manages the fund and it's acquisitions, forming a partnership with the fund investors. It's literally designed to acquire private assets with a promise of return when the asset is sold, not by paying out yearly dividends in share trading. This is the difference with a private equity investment. The management firm uses the fund to buy assets at what they feel is below their value, they invest in strengthening the companies over the course of a few years, aiming to unload them within say 5-7 years at a profit. This is how the partnership makes their money, it's longer term investments of maybe up to 10 years. The management firm retain the control of their investments as the companies purchased no longer have shareholders to respond to. They charge fees to the partnership for their investment services and receive a share of the profits when assets are sold or traded from within the fund. If you do well, partners get return on their investments and they all share the profits, the management firm develops a reputation for these investments and they find new partners to work with in another new (separate) private equity fund. If you do bad.... well... their aren't too many poorly performing private equity firms. They tend to go bankrupt or get their assets absorbed in a take over of their own. BGH is a relatively new company, but they raised about 2.5 billion in capital for their first investment fund when they formed. They have their hands in so many things it's crazy. I just found out the other day that all the fresh bread and baked goods you see in a lot of supermarkets like IGA, Drakes, etc are supplied by a company owned by BGH. You'll even find them in some coles stores supplying their sour doughs, turkish breads, french sticks, etc. In short, if you see any baked goods with Laurent in the title, it's supplied by them. Check next time you are grocery shopping. They've bought into education, health care, security and produce, along with their entertainment options as part of their initial fund. They literally just raised another 3 billion dollars capital for their second investment fund. They aren't having a bad year. They also aren't in the business of making poor investments. The question is when will we see a spend within village properties or because they purchased so well during the massive covid down turn, do they just need to continue business as usual and wait for the covid recovery to make money for them? Clark Kirby is still in control of operations, just keep that in mind. Remember they initially offered nearly double their eventual take over offer before covid hit. More of the same from village could mean hundreds of millions of dollars profit just from purchasing at the right time.

Mmmm. $3000 a week rental returns.

It's because it isn't running. Water level rises under the final drop when the pumps are running. To be fair, I don't think it's so much in need of a pressure wash, but a wash and a repaint too. The sun is so harsh in Australia, UV just fades everything so quickly. When was the last time it looked like any of the mountain was being painted?

I don't think it would work like that. You would have a minimum water limit in your storage, having to add more if the water passes below that to avoid the pumps sucking in air or to keep their output steady. When it rains and the levels rise, there would be an overflow out of the ride (and storage) to keep the high water level in check. It wouldn't just keep filling, you wouldn't be able to run the ride otherwise. The trough levels throughout would be controlled by the pump output and all the things they have in the bottom of the trough to change the depth. The parts seen in these photos aren't connected to the other half of the ride that passes through the reverse bit and the town. It doesn't flow from top to bottom like other flume rides, it's pumped over to the final drop as the troughs are simply not connected through the whole ride and broken up by each of the lifts. So it flowing over at the end of the ride isn't going to mean the other part of the ride is higher, it should mean the water level in the storage is higher, as this flows back around through the station, under the first lift and into the storage pond. You also wouldn't drain such a massive storage as this if you didn't have to. I reckon it would take days just to drain the ride, let alone refill it. They would have big sediment filters and chemical dosing units to keep the water clear and safe instead. After rains, storms, wind etc when the water gets dirty, probably takes a couple days of cycling through the filter system to clear it up.

Honestly, one of the best things for dreamworld to happen after the tragedy is to get Greg from village. Not just him, but quite a few of his team that worked with him too. He is someone with a real history of managing people and he understands that theme parks arent all about rides. Its the experiences people remember decades later. Be good to see what ideas he can develop without having others hovering over him. Tapping into the nostalgia is a smart move when the public is routinely saying the parks arent what they used to be. Bringing back some of the personality that made each park unique could work very well. Its something i think ardent and village are both guilty of, destroying their heritage for the sake of new toys. They have all been streamrolled and turned into a big lifeless retail outlet designed to squeeze the last dollar out of you at absolute minimum running cost. Pretty much the only reason to stay at a park for a full day now is because of the queue times.

Is that a carved bird (eagle?) on top of the post (totem?) ?

The big deal is the printing looks terrible.

Dont forget the station now has some power collectors sticking out, along with a bunch of sensors. Maybe there is an issue with the new station now it all works and we just saw the old boats in test phase. Honestly, given how busy it would be over the christmas holidays break, you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. If they could run more/old boats to increase the capacity, they would have.

Problem is the manufacturer, the park and all their engineering guys, probably worksafe planning and any of the government guys who probably come and inspect things prior to being signed off; ALL would have missed it. So if its a problem with design or operation of them, everyone probably missed it and the ultimate issue is with who manufactured them. You cant just go and fix something anymore. Dreamworld accident saw to that. If something has to be changed or modified, it has to kinda work like you said. Fault has to be found, manufacturer has to agree to a fix, then changes have to be signed off by the government accreditor as changes to its registration documents have been made. Some point down the track youll get a fix. We have no idea the issue though. It could be something that is developed in house or it could mean Whitewater West have to remanufacture a part or something. Dropped the ball prior to opening? For sure. But there is a lot going on behind the scenes with regards to changes to designs of equipment that its not always just a quick or easy process. It has to pass through many hands before it even gets approved let alone fixed.

I imagine, given the registration with the government for all the changes, they probably can't go backwards now it's registered, but also, maybe the changes in the ride for the lap bars and new station means they can't use the old boats either? Good point about how it wasn't picked up though. Doesn't mean it isn't one of those situations where you are shit out of luck until a solution can be sorted. Rather than close the ride, run it at reduced capacity and make do I guess.

who knows what might happen if they continue with their hotel build.

Even if it was, what do you do now? How long you reckon it took for the boats to be made and sent out originally? not like they could get new ones in a couple weeks.

The other side of it is will the parks think they can make more money if they stay open late given they probably have to put on a whole new shift of staff members to stay open later. Might think the labour spend is not worth the return.

They have replaced SLC's with STC's now. Different train, different restraints, different wheel carrier design.

Makes you wonder if some of the temp closures are really staff related instead of mechanical/maintenance issues.

I'm talking about running later. There is a restriction on the outdoor rides and the operating hours of events. Years ago there was something posted about the agreement with the council for operating times, my google skills have failed me, but it was spelled out pretty clearly. It's why rides close when they do at these events even if it's still busy with guests. Have to remember It's not just the rides that make noise at night, it's the coming and going of cars of people too.

Don't forget movieworld and wet n wild have limits on when they can open due to the housing behind. Not just operating times, but I think there is a cap on the number of night time events per year too.

Read what i said. It was in the fenced superman area, but it was park related and didnt impact superman the ride.

It was at superman and it happened during park open hours, so yes, people would have seen it happen.

Heh. Some of you are pretty quick to call someone a liar when apparently they did have a fire, but it wasn't actually part of superman, just something park related that was behind the fenced off area.

There's pretty well no way a cylinder would have exploded. They are rated to many times above what the actual running pressure is and are fitted with pressure relief valves as a backup measure. Certainly could have had a fitting or air line burst or snap though and have air gushing out.

I sure hope they have big balloon props floating in the ceiling. Batman - Joker poison Gotham - YouTube

Each seat is probably tagged with it's own ID. No double ups, hence the higher numbers on one train vs the other.

Just how much turnover do you think these parks experience? Cap ex expenditure is spread out by rotating around vrtp properties because (among other things) they dont support major expenditure every year. It makes no difference if the new investment firm owners have money, it has to make financial sense. Since when did any of the parks spend big every year for new rides? Its never been like that. If you look back over the last 30 years, the major cycle has been about 5-8 years, with some smaller spenditure between periods. Just go back and see how much profit vrtp and dreamworld (even pre accident) post every year. You would be literally spending everything you make. Share holders would be screaming for the executives to be sacked.

If the water is clear enough on the day, look closer next time you ride wild west falls. It has a raised floor in the deep sections of water the boats run along, its nowhere near as deep as you might think. I would imagine the boat could fill with water if it was somehow submerged as the entry side is lower to allow guests to board the boat, but i reckon those troughs have been designed because of those very issues. Everyone will get wet if a boat sinks, but the floor would stop riders being submerged (ie, going over their heads) as the boat would bottom out on the raised floor in the troughs.. Its also difficult to see much movement from the boats given how narrow the troughs are, so they cant turn on their side and get stuck/flip. Plus, dont forget the down ramp sections of the ride are out of the water and rolling on road wheels. They dont float or slide in any way when dropping. Youre only floating leading into/around the lazy river sections. So its probably one of the safer types/designs of water rides.