Jobe

Hey @Jessicajealousy. Just found these sites- have never heard of this theme park over the Detroit River!! have you? http://www.mlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2016/08/these_are_the_eerie_remnants_o.html#39 http://photos.metrotimes.com/30-nostalgic-photos-of-the-boblo-island-amusement-park/?slide=34 Enjoy!!

What a great find @Theme Park Girl!! Brilliant , I watched this with great interest!! Never got to Grundys, unfortunately. It looks like it was a pretty cool place back in the day, although I swear that some of those coin machines and skill games still reside there!! Never knew they had a Tilt a Whirl- it looks very similar to the one at Aussie World. can someone confirm or deny that this is the same unit? If so Aussie World profited well from the closure of small parks/entertainment precincts like this ( their Swing ship came from Brisbane I believe and the Octopus came from LPS). Its quite a pity they could not pick up the Ghost train- she certainly looked a beauty!! Anyone know of its eventual fate and of the other rides in Grundys? The carousel is also a good looking unit. Thanks for sharing!

Was not aware that Wet'N Wild Sydney was under performing. is this your own speculation or has it been reported? Curious.

<Remove the ride completely, build a poignant, respectful memorial of the tragedy that occurred, reinvest in the area with 2 new attractions after the removal of both Eureka and TRRR. Impact- there is a respectful reminder and memoriam of the terrible incident . There is a new lease of life for an area that is in need of revitalisation , turning the horror of the accident into a positive experience for the majority of the public. The park DOES need to move on- Overall positive impact ( as long as the memorial is done with dignity and respect) I think this is the best scenario for Dreamworld , moving forward. It allays the public fears, the victims families and the average punter's belief in the park. It should inspire faith in Dreamworld as an entity, from a shareholder and public point of view.

Agree with you @Brad2912 but I do feel that Dreamworld need to move on quickly with plans to demolish, set up a memorial for the victims and then renew the area with a new attraction as quickly as possible. The park has to be seen to be putting this terrible tragedy behind them and they need to show to the public a renewed faith not only in the existing rides/attractions but the overall park itself. A new attraction rising out of the ashes from the old, to show to the public that Dreamworld is still a viable ongoing concern and a valuable commodity in the company's portfolio. Whilst they are there,its the perfect opportunity to just bite the bullet and remove Eureka from the landscape as well. It will never reopen again now in the wake of the TRRR accident and these 2 rides are indelibly linked. Removing both now will provide far greater scope to install 2 new attractions and renew this area of the park. Having this area significantly renewed will be the only positive to come out of this whole tragic circumstance.

@Brad2912 I appreciate what you are saying here but to be fair, there are certainly people on this board that this opinion would apply to more than @Jamberoo Fan. Funnily enough, these posters are never checked or called out , even though this same criteria you have applied here to Jamberoo Fan would be a far truer statement for them. I understand that this is your opinion and perception, and I am not saying that it is wrong per se, however, I feel we need to apply a little bit of balance and consistency to all. For mine, I have had no issue with Jamberoo's posts, they are certainly far more welcome than some of the guff that occasionally gets presented here as serious conversation. Just my 2 cents worth

Anyway, as riveting and scintillating as discussing the vagaries of common colloquialisms for swimmers across Australia is....here's a thought!!! Let's get back on topic!!

I unfortunately didn't attend the Halloscream event @downunder but my info came from Brad Loxely, the Senior Amusement Park Manager at LPS. I would assume that given there was an overlay on the Hair raiser, that there was a scare experience before the actual ride. Not sure at how long or extensive it was though. Certainly looks like a lot of fun- will definitely try and get to the event next year!!

Pepsi Max Big One in Blackpool Pleasure Beach has a twisting drop as well.

A typo AlexB -apologies I obviously meant to say 5 mazes.

You are correct Downunder- LPS Halloscream ran for 4 nights this year. The event was a huge success and was sold out all 4 nights. There were 4 mazes this year- 'Private Screaming' and 'Madam Fortuna's Forgotten Funfair', which were both brand new, and 'Dead and Breakfast', 'Alone' and 'Fortress of Fear' which were story overlays for Mystery Manor, the Coney Island Mirror Maze and the Hair Raiser respectively. LPS brought in a full theatrical lighting rig for the occasion and the accompanying soundscape was also top notch. Given the success of this years event, I can see no reason why they would not run this event again for at least the 4 nights or even consider extending it by another night or 2. Just to give some further minor info on LPS - they are currently in the process of finalising their Xmas holiday rides line-up. Definitely making an appearance will be The Avenger ( this made its debut at LPS last school holidays and was quite popular. However they are still working out the details for other special attractions which will appear over the Xmas period. The full lineup will be announced late November. There are still solid plans for an attraction on the old Flying Saucer site and they hope to have something in there by late 2017- however they are still working on the final details. Its great to hear such positive feedback surrounding LPS Halloscream event- well planned events like this need to be supported and it seems LPS are on a winner with this annual event. Looking forward to riding this when I visit the park in January. Hopefully there will be at least another 2 quality holiday rides for a strong Xmas lineup.

Just to add a bit of news that does not seem to have been reported on the boards is that Aussie World are in the process of dismantling their Wild Mouse Coaster permanently. The park would not say whether it is being scrapped or sold but its fair to say that it is the former, as earlier reports said that it closed due to maintenance issues. This is a real shame and a huge loss to our theme park industry and indeed the world. These coasters were rare to begin with and at one time , Australia was home to 3 of them. Now we are left with the one unit at Luna Park Sydney, which is protected by a heritage order. Aussie World are looking for a new attraction to fill this space but would not comment on whether they are actively searching for a new coaster to replace Wild Mouse. Mayhem Scare Maze is now open. A Trampoline Zone has been placed in the old Octopus spot- not sure whether this is just filler or a semi- permanent attraction. Sincerely hope for filler. They also do have the 2 new family attractions which will be open before Xmas- no word on what shape or form these are to take. These changes are all reflected in the new Park Map which has been updated. Aussie World have stated that this is just one small part of their master plan development over the coming years. To me these additions do not add value for what has been lost ( Octopus and Wild Mouse), and are extremely underwhelming. Hopefully , their plans for future additions are far more exciting than this year's. ( Of course cost and other mitigating factors would have undoubtedly have played a part in these decisions. Octopus and Wild Mouse's recent closure due to maintenance issues was definitely NOT planned) I sincerely hope that Aussie World look to add a new coaster to replace Wild Mouse as soon as possible. Wild Mouse is what made the park stand out from the other numerous small parks around Australia and they need a iconic , lynch pin ride to continue this tradition. Thoughts on these developments guys and the direction that the park is currently taking?

Not having been there before, I am not familiar with the park. Do they have much room to expand Gazza or are the residences only on one side? Given the way the park is rapidly expanding, it is certainly on my radar to visit-it certainly seems like a great little park that the fam bam would enjoy.

Just letting everyone know that the large funnel on The Perfect Storm has been confirmed by the park as being definitely enclosed. They have described it as a "work in progress" and its scheduled to be completed after the school holidays. Final theming of effects are still in the process of determination with all internal and external theming plus the capping of the Tornado slated to be finished prior to the Christmas holidays. I am guessing that the inclement weather over the off season put their timeline out more than we expected. However, this is good news that the final Tornado will be enclosed- it certainly makes much more sense to provide a different ride experience to that of the nearby Funnel Web. The lack of a viewing platform for The Perfect Storm pretty much confirms their intentions regarding this anyway.

Whilst I can certainly appreciate the enthusiasm behind your sentiment, am I the only one thinking that perhaps your "So Long Dreamworld" comment could be a tad over the top? No one here has concrete news on Dreamworld's future plans and I think its a little early to predict Dreamworld's demise or their throwing in the towel. Just my opinion.

Mystery solved.

Yeah when I saw that in the e-mail I had a bit of a chuckle. I deliberately did not reference it to see who would pick it up!! You did not disappoint AlexB!!

Just as a further update to the Ranger status at LPS. I contacted Brad Loxley, the Senior Amusement Park Manager and he was kind enough to answer some questions regarding the fate of the ride. He was also kind enough to allow the use of his replies in these forums. He was very receptive to my questions and seems like a genuinely nice guy who is very passionate about Luna Park and its heritage and history. He is certainly aware of the Parkz forums and intimated that he and his team keep tab on the posts in the forum. Whilst there is nothing earth shattering in terms of the information contained in his answers, it certainly leaves me with great confidence that park is in extremely good hands, and that they also have a strategic plan and vision for the parks future. I thought you guys would be interested in reading his response and he was happy to let me share. Its great to make this official connection with the park and I look forward to further correspondence with Brad regarding the future happenings at LPS. And i think that this post is a great way to bring up 1000 posts, even though it has taken me 13 years to tally this up!! ( For the record I have been a member since 27th January 2003.)

It would be hard to copy though........

That will certainly be hard to cope with.....

Loudoun Castle still has SBNO a Schwarzkopf coaster- its a crime that its never been sold to another park!! What park would not want that sort of Schwarzkopf goodness gracing their skyline? @Mark Shaw maybe an opportunity for Adventure World!! Hehehehe. @Jessicajealousy not sure if you have seen this article but here it is! http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2015/08/most-haunting-abandoned-amusement-parks-of-the-world/ And for your viewing please here is another video through the now abandoned Loudoun Castle Theme park.

Awesome!! Thanks @Jamberoo Fan. I think its looking good. I am not to worried about external theming- and believe that it will be a evolving process. I do not remember the Funnell Web spider structure in the original plans and they took a good couple of years to put in place as well. I am happy that 2 out of 3 Tornado's will be enclosed and I am sure that the effects utilised inside ( especially the 60 m final one) will be excellent! Bring on open day!!

Yeah good question- I asked this on the previous page. @Mark Shaw was this strategy considered? Funds of course being available. Pirate Ships certainly are not the most expensive ride out there but once you include theming and associated works its not small change. Is this something you would consider in years to come- especially since the Pirate Ships demise has seen you temporarily lose dry attraction numbers? This is something the greater public would be keenly aware of between now and the introduction of MI3.

I get what your saying but I honestly don't think capacity would take a huge hit. The 35 metre Coaster Wheel has a capacity of 960 pph while funnily enough the 45 metre Coaster Wheel , with 8 more gondola's, only has a capacity of 1000 pph.Both have a limit of 6 people per gondola. I haven't found through put statistics for the Skylab Ferris Wheel , but I don't feel that overall capacity would be reduced by all that much, after taking unload and loading times.for the extra gondolas., I can see where the stationary gondolas would be much more appealing for young families but this would be tempered by the thrill factor of the swinging gondolas, which wold also have wide appeal and attract patrons to an attraction they might have otherwise missed. For mine, its a good mix of both. I haven't had the pleasure of riding this type of ride ( there are only 3 examples in the world plus Deano's Wonder Wheel at Coney Island). An installation of one of these would certainly make a huge impression in Australia- no matter where it was. I certainly do not think that LPS would get rid of their iconic Ferris Wheel, but if they did, I reckon an Intamin Coaster Wheel would be a winner.

Has anyone checked out this small compact coaster called unimaginatively "Drifting Coaster". It certainly looks like a lot of fun and would certainly be a perfect installation option for our smaller parks- think both Luna Parks, Aussie World and Adventure World. It looks like quite a unique ride experience and it appears to have a good re-ride capability. Thoughts?