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I too think you are exactly right which is why I've always taken things like a big SF park here in Sydney with a grain of salt. If you do visit SFMM you have to get it in your head that your there for the rides and try to switch off from the rest because it just plain sucks! Only exception was the Scream crew when I was there... If you look at our GC parks they are fantastic in terms of staff and cleanliness. And yes we do have some world class rides. I will say though in terms of WL there is really only a single world class ride being Probe. Anything else is a dodgy park model flat or a boring clone. However the park used to be beautiful in terms of aesthetic beauty and staff. In my books the sort of overseas park you want is Knott's, friendly staff, clean park, great attractions and a good atmosphere amongst fellow guests. Much like we see on our GC parks. "Well Put" I say to you!

I've always thought that funny how they go and mob the LIMs on ToT given that at DCA they have squirters spraying water all over theirs on Clif. Screamin all day long... it's a pretty cool look to see the steam coming off those babies.

Ah knew it would be simple. I never hovered over the button long enough to see the little popup! Just a quick note, don't know if it was a one off but I just came here via the link in a subscription email and it just threw 'runtime errors' at me. Maybe its just a one of thing for me or perhaps there is a loose piece of script lurking somewhere. New forums are great btw.

Okay quick question, probably stupid me but I can't find how... Is there any way to turn off the default setting of automaticaly quoting a post your replying to when you go into the advanced reply section? I know there is an option under 'quick reply' but I can't see anything in the main reply window. Oh and BTW I can't find 'custom tittle' in Edit Profile either??

I must say it sounds like a cool concept and would love to see it some day. However I don't know how possible mechanically it would actually be to achieve the track transitions your talking about. I'd imagine it would be very difficult to have the bogies mesh up with the track when changing from the top to the bottom rails. Not saying it would never be possible but I don't think its anywhere near as simple as they make it look in some of the animated simulation rides (do you know the ones?) It would have to be a very precision system in order to minimise any stress on the cars or the riders. I also don't know what the affects of friction would be if the car was travelling on 2 sets of rails. You only have to look at the problems with X and that’s at least 2 sets of rails in the one plane, not even one above and one bellow the train. Having said that, cool idea, never hurts to come up with unique concepts!

I think the key to how well it would work is how close up you look at it. My guess is with something like this they would be going for an aerial photo of the finished flag. If you took the shot from a decent distance (as you normally would) it would probably look okay and you most likely wouldn't notice the holes.

You say this is your opinion but you are actually trying to say that this is everyone’s opinion. Do you just switch off and create your own fantasy when you read posts because clearly you take no notice of what is being said! I never said anything about who makes the rides or where they come from. IM SORRY BUT PEOPLE BLOODY WELL DO TAKE NOTICE OF PRODUCTION VALUES MATE <-and yes I am yelling Why the hell do you think that Disneyland is what it is and SFMM is what it is???? People don't go to DL for extreme thrills you dolt. Do you actually listen to the drivel your coming out with Where is this published as fact? There is a lot more to enjoyment of a ride than how fast it goes and how many Gs you pull mate. MW rides aren't supposed to be intense, they are highly themed attractions an entire experience not a one trick pony glorified carnival ride. There is a lot more to THEME parks than just Roller Coasters that's why SFMM is an AMUSEMENT park, its not trying to be Disney and that's why it will never have anything like the attendance of the joint up the road. I think its a bit sad that all you can see is your own interests and just can't accept that the greater public might think a bit different to you, and its just as well I might add! I think its about time you stop talking from your arse kid... ...sorry guys but he's ignorance has really pissed me off now.

What does that post have to do with anything I said? If you read carefully (OR AT ALL) you will see I said that DW had the better ride package. However IMO the attractions that MW has in their own right are far superior. Look at WWF and Spooky Coaster, in terms of production value they leave anything at DW for dead. Im not saying MW is the better ride park, I'm saying that the rides that they do have are of a higher standard.

I'm afraid I would actually disagree with that. I would say best rides would go to MW because all of their attractions are pretty much first rate. Best ride package I would give to DW as individually its rides aren't quite up there to the MW standard when put together it makes for a pretty awesome ride park. Best theming easily MW, how can you even compare the quality here with WL?? Best scenery is easily SW as its without a doubt the most aesthetically pleasing park to spend a day in. IMO the nice packed park is the way to go. Look at Disneyland Park, with wall to wall attractions it makes the park seem to offer so much more. I don't think DW would be all that much smaller than WL its just it fills the space with so much more. Wonderland has always had a lot of sprawled out attractions dotted around the place which is no where near as user friendly IMO. Wonderland will never fill in the gaps, its actually making them bigger by the week!! As for WLs theming with the exception of Transylvania I think most of it has always been fairly cheap and nasty. HBB was pleasant but not very highly themed. As for Gold Rush I think that its about the ****tiest attempt at theming everywhere. Just because its an old world theme doesn’t mean you can just throw some old bits of timber and iron around the place and fill it with the usual crap stores, games and asphalt everywhere. In contrast everything at MW is themed down to the end with a fair bit of attention to detail as well. Just my 0.02c...everyone can have their own opinion.

Yes I totally agree on the laser cutting thing, that's easily done. You just vary the intensity of the laser for the depth of cut you want. This works because you are hitting an object, glass. This doesn't translate to the 'mid air' application because there is nothing for you to hit, simple of that. There is nothing for the light to refract off enabling you to see an image. The laser will just travel forever until it fades off into nothing.

Well Slick I don't know what your 2 years was spent doing but my guess is it was pretty much wasted. If you re-read my above post you will see that it is in fact NOT possible to do what you are suggesting. A laser is just a high intensity beam of light, therefore still has to obey the laws of physics pertaining to light. I work in this industry everyday and trust me if one could simply project in mid air I'd be a very happy man but its just not gonna happen. The problem isn't the light source its the air!

Actually just FYI you can animate a laser projection, it involved the use of high speed drive mirror heads. You can also get full colour laser projection. What this involved is pumping the argon laser beam through a series of prisms and reflectors to get the separate colours to make up the RGBAW image. Pretty complex and precision stuff but easily doable. You can also project a hologram through the use of a Fog Screen which involves a carefully fine tuned wall of fog being produced. This technology can be seen in use very effectively on the Indiana Jones ride at DL. It is used to produce a cobweb which the ride vehicle ultimately travels through. Not being able to create a projection in thin air is not really a matter of technology, its simple physics. It will never be possible to project an image into an empty space (mid air) because there is simply nothing for the light to bounce off meaning it will just keep travelling until it does find something, invisible to the eye. The way we achieve 'mid air' beams with lighting is to fill the air with a thin 'haze.' This usually consists of vaporised oil particles or super heated glycol fluid at high pressure. This produced sufficient air born particles for the light to bounce off whilst still enabling it to travel, thus producing a beam of light. Fun stuff huh :-) ...and people say forums aren't educational!

I was talking with some friends today and the topic got brought up... Does anyone know what ended up being the result of the investigation into the cause of the fire?

Well in all fairness equipment does fail. It doesn't matter how well you maintain something there is always the possibility for a component to malfunction or a computer to crash. Thing is if the proper maintenance is carried out etc, these sorts of failures should result in minor breakdowns, not catastrophic accidents. I motor burning out is one thing, a critical weld breaking on a ride vehicle is another.

Sounds interesting...IMO would be for the best either way. However I'm very sceptical of anything like this and don't really believe it for a second. Perhaps if you could at least try to give an idea of where you’re getting this but otherwise it’s doing nothing for me. ...can't help but think its a bit more of the 'I’ve got a secret' game.

I have no idea how it broke things I just remember reading about it in a coaster history somewhere. Beats me man :-)

So Shifty I'm dying to know... What exactly IS the new Billabong Beach contruction that your talking about? Is it actualy like Wirlpool Springs or more like a lazy river in nature? I haven't been down in years, where exactly have they got the surf hill and all this?

Oh yes I'm not in any way trying to play down the seriousness of the incident and I do indeed hope the girl is okay. I just don’t think it's fair to phrase it like that as it immediately puts doubts in peoples minds about the more reputable amusement facilities. I'm never surprised to see incidents like this at carnivals as I know how they are run. Amusement parks tend to be in a bit of a different class. For the record my gripe was with the media, not Chippy.

I made an attempt to look for the ride last night but the S&S site appeared to be down... Have you guys go a link to some info on this ride? Thanks heaps

Thanks Joz, I figured this was going to be the case. I hate it when the papers go and use the word 'amusement park' because its only intention is to get us thinking its one of the BIG 4. Its a Carnival we're talking about here, not an amusement park!

OOO look Chippy is talking out of his arse for a change... S&S DID NOT "take over" Arrow, they bought them out. Arrow went into serious financial trouble after X and was basically bankrupt. S&S came in and bought up the company, the alternative would have been Arrow (and its staff) just disappeared into nothing. I also believe S&S did have the fastest coaster for a while at the time it opened. Have you ever actually ridden a S&S ride Chippy? If not, (which I suspect is the case) then I stand by my opinion that you have no right to pass judgement on them. How can you possibly have an opinion of something you’ve never been on???

I weep for the future... ...enough said!

I think we all know thunder that what we really need to help the park is a few people that call wonderland home to get on their way to take up positions as far away as possible. Pinning their problems on this poor guy is IMO disgusting and just reinforces my opinions on WL mgmt. ...didn't say anything sooner as I felt it was your info. to tell Daniel.

Ah right you meant they are demolished coasters. I knew about them. The first looper was wooden but it was an exact loop and used to break necks if I recall! I think SOB is in a new category.