Gtmichaels

If I was Ardent, I would be pissed no doubt😆

Just found an interesting video that covers a prediction on Arkham Asylum, been watching this guy’s channel for a while and he seems to give great advice towards future attractions in parks around the world. He also covers Luna, Seaworld and Dreamworld. Not trying to say his predictions or ideas are correct, but definitely going along the Vekoma Flying coaster path some of us have suggested recently and in the early days of predictions. Just an interesting watch imo, and cool to see a perspective coming from someone international.

I was totally content with imagining three family coasters replacing Arkham, but then this post reminded me of what an amazing attraction this would have been Oh god no, this would have been AMAZING. I can’t think of anything better than this for MW. If not for Arkham, then the future at least!

I love how in the sign, the blue train has only belts on, and the red train has the lap bars. Also two riders per carriage? Just some random thoughts I have while waiting in line 🤷🏻‍♂️ IMG_5300.MOV

Yeh it was quite a short ride, but so was TOT2 and Red Force! Even though this is no where near, I feel like it packs in some decent elements for what the ride length is. Absolutely agree. We were waiting for someone to move so I took a quick vid There were many people lingering that had to be told to move when there wasn’t a line up there.

Just had my first ride on BD today, as well as all the other new rides other than Sledgehammer (employee benefits haha). Now, I have moved on with my work life to new and better opportunities for me, so I haven’t worked at Luna Park for close to 3 weeks. I had to come down here and try BD, and WOW! Ngl, it looks sluggish on camera, but it’s absolutely amazing, and has great pacing. I got a front seat ride first time, and it was not too jolty at all. Being an enthusiast for almost all my life, I’ve travelled around Australia and the world for the best Rollercoasters and Theme Parks there are. Port Aventura and Ferrari Land, Ferrari World, USO, Disneyworld, BGT, SWO are just some of the parks I have done outside of Australia, and I would gladly put BD in my top 30-40, also it’s close to home so that makes it more special to me And i’ve been on the fastest coaster in the world so that’s saying something. I’m glad Sydney has a park to be proud of now, and I’m so happy my dream of a new Luna Park has been brought to reality! IMG_5267.MOV

Oh god, I remember seeing the same image around Luna just a week ago. I really didn’t know why they included SLC track, looks like The Goldcoaster from Dreamworld with it’s original yellow colour (funnily enough, was originally the Big Dipper V.2 at Luna in the 90’s).

I’m casual, so it’s $27.80 an hour. If you’re part-time or full-time it goes down from there to around 24-25 I think? Most roles are fine, but doing Loopy by yourself is slow and not a pleasant experience. You can’t open the restraints yourself while in the operating booth, so you have to make people lift their own restraints up, which is fair. But it becomes painful when kids can’t lift the bars themselves, and you want to open bars that no one was sitting in. The pay sometimes doesn’t counter the stress of that. Becomes gruelling after a while, and having to ask people to lift the restraints up before loading them on is problematic to say the least. Not many people listen to instructions 🥲

Oh man I just realised I said “working Big Dipper”, I meant Loopy Lighthouse. I was working it by myself (needs 2 people to operate efficiently) so I was a bit braindead writing that haha. We have extreme staffing issues at the moment 😬

Big dipper was full circuit testing today as I was working Big Dipper and in the morning before the park opened, it looks like a beast! Honestly, many people are very disappointed that it’s included in advertising but is not yet open.

I can’t read the article cause I’m not subscribed, but I do see the article name in the link. I think we all expected this to happen again at some point, but thank the theme park gods that Luna Park is ready this time, legally they are more protected from noise complaints now. Honestly, if you’re gonna live a few meters away from an amusement park, maybe think twice about moving in next time. Its like agreeing to have a child, then wanting to get rid of it because of the noise. Like this is what you signed up for buddy lmao. I’m starting to think people move in JUST to complain about it.

They have started testing out the launches, they sent a video (which unfortunately I’m not allowed to share) but they are calibrating the boost launch (2nd launch) today, getting rollbacks but I guess that’s procedure (as well as it would already have speed from the first boost lmao). So pumped for this coaster!

Also, I had about 10-15 people come up and ask me about Sledgehammer and Big Dipper. “Sorry, but Sledgehammer is under maintenance, and Big Dipper is still under construction”. Most people just couldn’t believe that the two star attractions were not open, but I explained the cost of the ticket is attributed to the scare mazes and event. I heard “Wait, they’re BOTH shut?!” too many times haha. I think that was the only issue last night, wasn’t great giving the bad news over and over.

I was operating on and attending to Loopy Lighthouse for Halloscream tonight, rained a bit but people had a great time, felt good seeing smiles on young families Also me and my mate placed bets on when Boomerang would get stuck on the second lift hill again while it was raining, and the queue was dead XD Also, took a bit of footage of Boomerang today, just before I started my shift at 4pm IMG_4286.MOV

No idea what particular attraction, as they tell us when we get there. It will be Rockin, inside or outside Coney Island, Tango Train attendant or Loopy Lighthouse. Those are all the rides I’m trained on haha. If you see a guy masking a beard, with a name tag that says “Gabriel”, that’s me haha.

I will be working on rides tonight, can’t wait to see the park thriving once again

I just looked up “Wonder Woman” at SFMM, and they have “Wonder Woman: Lasso of Truth”. Just a run of the mill round-up flat. I think this makes it less likely for WW, leaving The Flash as the mostly viable option. Anything can happen tho. Also, it seems that the Six Flags chain does not copy superhero-themed rides in their parks, if there is a Batman: The Ride, that is the only one in the park. Not saying they don’t clone themes from one park to another, which is why WW was probably on some people’s minds, seeing as though another single rail WW coaster already operates at SFFT. So seeing two WW rides in one park would probs be kinda confusing haha. Like if you say “Let’s go on Wonder Woman!” to which the response is “which one?”. 😂

They have been constructing an RMC Raptor for some time now. The footings have already been installed, and raptor track and trains have been spotted at the park. I’ve been following it’s construction recently. Looks awesome, many people think the yellow track and red supports represent The Flash, and with a new flash film coming soon with Michael Keaton’s Batman, I have little doubt this is what they’re going for! Check out Theme Park Tracker and Theme Park ERT for their uploads on the coaster, as well as weekly updates on the construction. The station is being built as of this time.

Those photos are absolutely beautiful. I remember buying the history book from the gift shop when I was very young, with many of the photos you have so generously shared here included. I love Luna Park as a second home of mine, but I wholeheartedly agree that the 1930’s amusement charm has left. Recently as well, with the final removal of the Tumble Bug and Spider. I hope these names make a comeback sometime in the future. The River Caves, the Goofy House, even the Ghost Train. I miss them, even though I wasn’t even alive to see them. I understand bringing back the Ghost Train would be in poor taste, but the River Caves and Goofy House would be so alluring today! Oh man I felt that one hard :,( Literally always been thinking (and on occasion, speaking) about how Australia is one of the only large countries in the world without massive parks. Movie World is slowly becoming a hot destination for coaster enthusiasts, and hopefully Dreamworld can make a valiant return with ST. I am a very optimistic person, born and raised that way haha. So I usually can see the positive sides to this problem. One thing I find with our parks atm, although some are more than others, it doesn’t go to that ‘level’ seen in other continents. But then I realised, if I was American or even European, I probably would be so used to it that the excitement is harder to achieve. Going to Disney World 3 years ago, I was in absolute AWE. Something you couldn’t see in Australia, so much more unique than what we are used to. Then I watch videos, and everyone is like “Yeh Disney, pre cool, seen that done that a million times”, and I’m like WHAT?! I would never in a million years wish to become “used” to a park like that! The magic is gone That’s the one positive I see with being an Australian Coaster Enthusiast. You’ve got some awesome rides nearby to satisfy enough, but you can save the experiences for those special times when you save up and travel the world, makes the experience 10x more memorable in my opinion Now before anyone gets up my arse, OF COURSE I would love a Disney, a Six Flags, and a Busch Gardens! but the positive side is something I can hold onto in order to stop myself getting frustrated over having pretty mediocre stuff here most of the time. Not saying anyone else should feel the same, but it’s interesting to say the least. We as Aussie enthusiasts don’t take great parks for granted! At least we got that I guess 🙂

No joke, that’s what my family was planning on doing next year in July: California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, NY and Florida. We ending up cutting Pennsylvania and NY out due to the time restrictions we have (my Uni and my little bro’s high school resume after two weeks of holiday). Also due to the fact that each park in Pennsylvania and NY is better visited in a road trip, as the 3hr distance between some parks makes it a time consumer as well, and my mum can’t do long drives so we scrapped it for now. And you are absolutely right about Florida, it is a trip in itself and that’s what we did the first time we went into the states. We hit Disneyworld, Universal, Busch and Seaworld. We spent 2 weeks there easily last time, and this time we are going to do 10 days in Florida, 5 days in Ohio and Three days in California to hit SFMM and Knotts Berry Farm. Just like your thought process, when entering via LA, why not spend some time there? We aren’t too fussed to visit Disneyland or Universal Hollywood, just cause as a family we don’t mind leaving then out if we are going to see the larger parks in Florida. Still something I will do in my future travels though! I think it’s mainly due to the fact that the Disney and Universal parks in both states share a large majority of the same attractions, and even though I would love to visit California Adventure and the backlot tour of Universal, I don’t think It’s up there with my bucketlist PERSONALLY. I still think these are beautiful looking parks. Anyways that’s my brain on the subject, idk if there is anything valuable in what i’ve said, but definitely cool to see others planning similar trips

I’m a sucker for Arkham cause it was the first suspended/inverted coaster I ever went on when I was 10 years old (as I’m sure a lot of us Aussie enthusiasts can relate to 😂) Now 9 years later, I’ve been on Nemesis Inferno and the almighty Montu! Ye, I haven’t ridden any other SLCs, and B&M is just the master at inverted style coasters. I wouldn’t wait more than 20 minutes for Arkham when it was still breathing, and especially after seeing what the world offers in terms of coasters,I don’t think I would’ve gone back haha. I suppose Australian coaster enthusiasts who have not been on coasters abroad would have enjoyed Arkham so much more, and the last time I rode it, I hadn’t yet travelled sooo yehh. Just from what I remember, the new restraints had made a big difference, but I’m more than thrilled a replacement is on it’s way haha.

Haha yeh, it’s funny the B&M Gigas are actually still called Hyper models, just instead exceeding 300ft tall. Absolutely get you, it’s just like a larger hyper, same restraints and everything. I do see that repetition at most of the cedar fair parks with Carowinds and Kings Island, two B&M Hyper models, one hyper height and one giga height. I think many people were disappointed with Leviathan, especially after riding Fury 325. But again, I agree that it is absolutely everyone’s own decision to make where that coaster sits in their lineup. That’s why I’m so excited for my first visit to America’s Roller Coast! I think every coaster there (maybe excluding corkscrew and Rougarou, 😂😂) will find a place into my top coasters.

I know that Mack rides does controlled free-spin on their extreme spinning model and their family spinner (Cobra’s Curse at Busch Gardens Tampa). I suppose it’s the same deal here 😎 According to Mack themselves, there are eddy current brakes on their spinning trains that limit the spins to a bearable level, and I suppose motors are used (like on their family spinners) to align them for loading and unloading guests. Honestly though, in the video it seems like it stops spinning in the way that things do when spun manually. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone just bloody gave it a push haha https://mack-rides.com/products/rollercoaster/xtreme/

Yeh I find it just hilarious the hate it gets, I honestly think it will be an amazing ride for me, even if it’s mostly banking and the speeds or whatever people say it has and lacks, I think it just looks like such a rush with those T-bar restraints!