B&Mfan

Cut the child a break people. All he/she did was react in a "normal" childish way to some criticism (albeit very constructive and gently phrased) levelled at him/her by Daniel. I certainly agree that correct spelling and grammar is very important; if a post is not written legibly then I simply won't read it. Responding in kind by name calling and the like only feeds the troll.

Here I was thinking that they were there for asthetics

What I'm trying to say Rabid is that if you take your definition and apply it to IOA then it should be considered as a "combination" of both. IOA in my opinion is the best "Theme" and "Thrill" park I have ever been to. All rolled into one magic place If IOA can deliver in both areas there is no reason other parks can't (I'm not saying that all parks should).

Are they still running those mid course trims on the BB? You know, the ones that stop you almost to a stand still.......

I would consider IOA as a great combination of "Theme" and "Thrill" park in the one place.

I am still amazed at just how smooth Corkscrew is after all these years. Great job SW and Arrow!

If you're anything like me JB you'll HAVE to get on any coaster you see. I quite enjoyed Manhattan Express (don't remember it costing a tenner tho), it offers another perspective on the strip and does contain one fairly unusual element. Unfortunately I can't comment on the merits of Speed as it was down the entire time we were in Vegas. The tower sure does look pretty though. Besides, the $10 spent on Manhattan Express would have to be better than the 5 mins that would buy you at one of the 700,000 poker machines scattered around the place.......

Bounty's Revenge is definately my favourite ride/part of the park. I like the surroundings and I love the ride itself; interacting with the others on the ride can be great fun.

If you're a fan of coasters then while in LA you need to do Six Flags Magic Mountain (X, Goliath, DejaVu and Riddler are my favs) and Knott's Berry Farm (Xcellerator (sp)). In Vegas you have the New York New York coaster (can't remember the name) which is always a bit of fun. Have a great time!

So which park do you think will be the one to wow us all with a major announcement? Will it be Dreamworld announcing that construction of the world's first 300ft inverted will start in June? Will it be Seaworld coming out with a fly swatter built above Shark Bay? Could it possibly be Wonderland with the news we have all been frothing at the mouth to hear? I think you all get the idea

Shame that the suspended left our shores. Would have fitted in nicely with any of our parks.

I agree with you Rich: TB I have always thought was a little easier on the head than LW. I never did get to ride LW when it was first built but can imagine that it would have been quite a fun ride. These days you are just concentrating on staying in one piece, rather than enjoying individual elements on the ride as you go.

Goboi wrote: Trouble is while most people don't have very kind words to say about Wonderland these days they have not very much to compare the park to. Wasn't til 5 years ago when I visited my first US park that I realised just how ****e we have it here (this includes the GC parks but to a much lesser extent than that of Wonderland). Haven't been back to Wonderland since my first O/S trip and don't plan on going back until they can justify to me that parting with a $50 for a day in their park is indeed a good investment; only way they can do that is by putting in some decent rides/attractions. In the meantime Wonderland will keep serving up the same tired old ****e they have for the last decade - which the general public will keep lapping up........ Vote with your feet people! Say to them enough is enough Wonderland.

I don't think I could have held my head any further back into the head rest I think the design of the Vekoma horse collar restraint contributes a little to the problem as well, if you look the standard B&M horse collar they seem to be a little more confortable.

Bugger, lost the post I just spent the last 10 mins typing Here the short version: Agreed Joz, rides can be inconsistent (I went on to name a few examples, Hulk at IOA was one of them) but most I have been on don't have the severity that LW does now. Then I went on to say stuff about how Vekoma do a good job for their place in the market and how good a ride DejaVu is. That will do for now.

Hey all, Just got back from our (wifey and I) annual trek to the GC parks. While we had a great time, one issue really stood out for us this time around: How disgracefully rough LW is now. IMO this ride has really deteriorated in the year since we rode it last (2002 there were some parts that were rough but this year it I could could count the non-painful elements on one finger). Never in all the coasters I've ridden (Thunderbolt and Viper included) have I received a bigger ear boxing that the one served up to me on LW this time around. Suffice to say we only did it once, which really highlighted Movieworld's lack of depth when one of it's major attractions is effectively closed. Pretty sad situation actually, MW need to do something about it (we weren't the only ones complaining on completion of the ride).

Cyclone > Demon IMO. My favourite element from either is going backwards through the cobra roll on Demon, however overall I think Cyclone is a better ride.

Richard knows something about next year. How about a hint or two? I am sure we'll be "all very happy" with a little bit of healthy speculation.

As fun as the ride is, it's ugly and the capacity is poor IMO.

Coasters are much sexier to market when launching a new ad campaign for your park...... Does anyone have any real research on what type of attraction increases attendance most effectively?

I'll have a BIG swiss out an backer machine please. Any area would be fine Wouldn't it be great if MW and DW did hypers at the same time. I think Australia is long overdue for a coaster war. Don't you?

I like the idea of refurbing the water park but personally I would rather see another coaster go up. If it was something Swiss all the better. I know that's not very imaginative, but that's what I want and at the end of the day coasters are what I pay admission for. As for the entrance my vote would be to leave it as is. Spend the "landscaping" money on some of the other areas.

Hi Joz, Thanks for the trip report! I'm glad you loved Nemesis, I know I certainly did. Nemesis is proof to me that coasters don't need to be 300ft tall to be intense and fun. Keep having a great time.

International: Dueling Dragons - Best themeing of any coaster(s) I have ridden, intensely paced throughout and the near misses (riding in the front row especially) with the opposite train have to be experienced to be believed. Local: Scooby Doo - Had no idea what the ride was before getting on it which really made the first ride special. Was thinking that it was just a plain old ghost train (the only thing that didn't seem right to me was the restraints - they were just too "solid" for a ghost train) but when we stopped dead half way through and the lift kicked in..........Repeat rides knowing what to expect were almost as good.

It's common practice for bodies organising these types of competitions to insure against somebody walking away with the major prize. I think you'll find that WS has at least the majority of that sum insured with Lloyds or a similar company. The insurance company would have had a good look at the competition structure and mechanics prior to formulating a premium for the policy.