Jobe

Great topic MickeyD!! I never knew about the fate of Alien Encounters nor exactly what the ride entailed- its a shame this ride didn't survive to live on in another park in Australia! I am of a similar vintage to you and it is to my everlasting regret that I never got the chance to visit World Expo 88. Great video too Gary86- I had not seen that before! It is also with much regret to look at the Expo World Park and see the coasters and rides that were left to leave our shores. I would love to have seen a park pick up the other 2 coasters like Wonderland did with Titan. Here are some pics of various rides from the park. In the first you can see the Centrifuge and in the foreground the Breakdance which eventually ended up at LPS as Spider. ( LPS eventually acquired 3 Huss rides from Expo park for its '95 re-imagining, Spider, Ranger and the now defunct UFO) I have also included some pics of Supernova and also ones from where it currently resides- ironically Dreamworld in Thailand as Space Mountain. There are also some pics of Centrifuge at Expo park and also at Dreamworld ,Thailand where it is now currently called Skycoaster. What a shame that these 2 rides could not have stayed in Australia- I guess a visit to Thailand is in order!

Great photos MIckeyD but I don't think they are exactly what AlexB was looking for. Suprisingly, there does not appear to be many photos of Dipper at LPS on the net. It took a while, but I managed to dig some from other sources in my collection-namely Sam Marshall's "Just for Fun 70th anniversary" edition book and Edwin Dickinson's "The story of Australian Rollercoasters" (which is highly recommended by the way!) I have included some pics that show Dipper from an aerial view, both side and from front on, also a pic from construction of the Dipper in early 1995 and for comparison, aerial pics of LPS in its various incarnations dating from the 70's,80's and 90's until present. These illustrate graphically the changes to LPS's skyline over the years,both in the park and above it. ( See the gradual encroachment of the high rises over the decades) What is interesting to note about Big Dipper is that of course, it was custom built and custom designed for LPS's unique footprint. Big Dipper was designed by Arrow's Ron Toomer for this very reason. Aesthetically, I feel it looks far superior at LPS than what it does as Cyclone at Dreamworld, although, as WWW has organically grown around Cyclone, it has lost that feeling that it was just "plonked" in the first available space. Hope these pics give you some insight into Big Dipper's footprint at LPS AlexB. Cheers.

That would be interesting. Cyclone has always needed another train- it would give the ride the much needed capacity boost it requires. I would support the introduction of the Kumbak trains on Cyclone only as an addition to the original train. It would certainly give differing ride experiences. Is there any other instances of a single coaster having 2 entirely different trains running at the same time?? It must be rare but I hardly think it is unique.

Yeah I get that you don't. I respect that it's your opinion but I disagree. All I will say is that TOT is listed on RCDB as a coaster and that website is widely respected as being one of the best resource of coasters available on the Net.

Agree with you 100% Iwerks. TOT is an excellent attraction, a unique roller coaster and a world class attraction, IMHO. Although it doesn't run to its full speed potential, it deserves this status.

I think I have some about AlexB- I will dig about and see what I can find.

Interesting question JulieLovis. LPS are well within their rights to put in a ride of this scale and legally, there would be little impediment that the residents could do to stop it. However, I have maintained that LPS will never enter the large coaster game again after the experience of the former Big Dipper. The only way I see LPS getting another coaster is by installing any number of the smaller,compact models that are available today. A ride like Superman Ultimate Flight Deck could most certainly be able to be installed into the park, but at the moment, it remains very much on the wish list. Peter Hearne, managing director of LPS, has certainly flagged their intentions to try and reach the best compromise with residents in regards to rides, when he stated that Hair Raiser could have been built twice as high, but they chose the middle ground. For all intents and purposes, this tact appears to be working, as the introduction of Hair Raiser has been very smooth with not one objection raised by any nearby resident. Hair Raiser ultimately, could prove to be an important testing ground for future attractions at LPS

Interesting. New attractions are meant to boost attendance figures. Going by this statement, the proposed new attractions for Jamberoo could take a very long time to come to fruition, if at all. This is especially true if attendance figures had fallen by 15.2% on last year. A new attraction is a guaranteed way to increase numbers for any park and this is extremely important for Jamberoo. It cannot be seen to be stagnant too long while the new kid on the block gets all the accolades and press. Jamberoo has built up some nice momentum for new attractions since the introduction of Taipan and it would be a shame for this to stall prematurely. Hopefully , we can see their future expansion plans back on track, and sooner rather than later. They must keep evolving if they are to match what Wet' N Wild Sydney has to offer.

BigKev I think you will find that Tailspin is a direct replacement for Reef Diver. Stingray was closed earlier.

Well I am at a disadvantage as I have not ridden it at this point in time. However , I thought that the ride had generally had positive reviews. Interesting! What are everyone's opinion of the ride itself?? From an enthusiasts point of view and also from a general public point of view? Is the ride popular? Does it lend itself easily for re-rides?

Wow!! That is very very quick!! Maybe our idle speculation on its replacement could be closer to reality than we all think!! Maybe plans are further advanced than we think!!

Yeah we did but on what level has Pandemonium failed??

Hehe! Seriously though, it seems with this latest refurb on Wipeout, Tail Spin's introduction and the knowledge that several older attractions are due to receive some TLC ( starting with Rocky Hollow ) , it appears that Dreamworld is finally taking some positive steps in the right direction. The info that Skyra is imparting is excellent and I hope that the big announcement that he has been touting for Dreamworld continues in the same postive vein. Personally, I am looking forward to Tailspin. It has a number of positives- Australian first, it was a quick replacement for a old ride, and it will capture the publics imagination. While it may not be the coaster that we all HOPE Dreamworld gets just yet, I cannot see anything but this ride being a hit.

Ah no. No we wont. That would be entirely inaccurate and the intention behind your post would be demeaning to both Dreamworld AND Luna Park.

Really??? What tipped you off?

What you mean to say we are NOT getting a Powersurge??? Well who would have thought that???? Lol!!!

And we are also now postulating that the announcement involves a B & M, given the topic at hand........

Yeah its a regret of mine that I never,ever got to ride it- neither when it was at Luna Park Sydney where it was known as Geronimo or when it was at Adventure World. The closest I got to riding it was watching my father ride it in 1983 not long after LPS had reopened after the Ghost Train tragedy. ( I was very young) . Shame. However I certainly do remember the Chipmunk travelling coaster with a great degree of fondness! Loved that ride and the space age looking cars- it was brilliant!!! I used to ride this every year without fail when it came to the local show. It must have travelled the East Coast of Australia for over a decade. It always felt so out of control- its a pity it went stateside. I had heard about its fate- it finally went the way of the scrapyard. It was manufactured by Miler Manufacturing, a little known coaster company in the US. Great times and memories! As far as the Python Loop is concerned , I have never ridden it. I know that it is a Pinfari model but it usually sticks the Western and Southern Australia- to my knowledge it has never travelled the East coast before. I would like to ride it for the credit but to be honest it does not look like it is anything special.

Just looked this up on RCDB. Looks very impressive. This is the ride DreamWorld SHOULD have got. Would love a clone for LPS but options would be very limited as to where to position it. The only 2 positions off the top of my head where it could go are: 1) Out the back in Maloney's Corner directly parallel to the back of Coney Island or 2) The ride looks like it has a very narrow footprint and is 863 feet in length. It COULD be a perfect fit for the space that runs in between the Tumblebug slab/Big Top area and the cliff face. This is currently used as an access/maintenance staff corridor but these could be moved further down. Its not that long that it would not encroach upon the current LPS offices and you could have access and the queue line go up and over the Tumblebug slab. It is quite tall at 150 feet versus the previous Big Dipper at 131 feet but if it was positioned in this corridor then half of the ride would be enveloped by the cliff face on one side and the Big Top on the other, so screams and sounds should be quite localised. All in all a winner!!! Hopefully LPS is listening to our suggestions!!

Hehe true! Well I want all and sundry to know that if Luna Park Sydney get a Maurer Sohne Spinning coaster then it was at my constant urging.

The plaque is only part of the memorial that LPS has for the Ghost Train tragedy. On top of the car park there is a garden which comprises some of the historic Moreton Bay figs that have graced the site since before the park was built. This green space forms part of the memorial for the 7 people that lost their lives that night. Access to this is only available from the top of Alfred Street adjacent to the entrance of the car park.

Don't forget that this is purely speculation on the part of this forum and board. Merely bombarding SeaWorld with e-mails calling for the immediate installation of Led Zeppelin would probably be ignored and no doubt they are already forging ahead with plans that are at this point , unrealised and not public knowledge. Just because we think it is a great idea doesn't mean the park will follow our lead. Good point Richard. If by chance SeaWorld were to install Led Zeppelin , this could also be a precursor for other Australian parks to seriously consider installing more rides of this benchmark into their lineup- especially if it was embraced by the public as a whole. As I said in my previous post- this would be a unique opportunity to obtain a ride of this calibre from the 2nd hand market in great material condition. As you have pointed out, the marketing opportunities would be endless and my word, it would certainly look good across the Spit and really project SeaWorld back into the forefront of the public consciousness, as far as rides are concerned. So realistically what are the chances of SeaWorld buying Led Zeppelin? Pretty slim and narrow in my estimation. But that's not to say that it is not a good idea- the reality is that Village Roadshow most probably already know what they are going to do with the land vacated by Sea Viper when it eventually is removed. The real question is how long will it be before they move forward with these plans?? Will Sea Viper sit idle SBNO for years or will the whole process be very quick?? Hopefully , if their plans are advanced it is the latter.

The thing about common sense is that it really isn't that common unfortunately........................ :angry2:

There were many strange coincidences about that tragic day....that is but another story!!

To be fair Turbo Mountain was installed from 1991 to 2009 - 18 years in total. That represents pretty good value for a ride that was already considered old when it was installed in '91. Schwarzkopf's god bless them!!!