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Yeah I remember that show back from the 90s when I was little Richard. It was actualy really good and pretty funny in the typical family orientated slapstick way. Captain Sturt used to be a really great attraction...even if it does run on tracks HEHEHE

It all sounds very well structed and interesting Richard, can't wait for it to come online. Look forward to hopefully being able to contribute to the site in any way I can. Just slightly off topic and I won't mention anymore about it but does anyone (particularly Shaun) know of a similar forum discussing the portable segment of the industry?

I thought the Wizards Fury was a great ride, it offer something a bit different. I really wish they hadn't gotten rid of it. Aparently it was for maintanace reasons which I guess it fair enough, it was pretty old. However there are an awful lot of Schwarzkopf rides still out there operating. I'd probably guess it was more a matter of WL not wanting to pay to keep it maintained as oposed to it not being possible to keep running any more.

As I was saying before I'd really like to see them put in a really kick arse re-make of the River Caves. NSW is really lacking a decent water ride, well if you don't count Snowy (its rapids not a boat ride) we don't actualy have 1 at all. There is a fair bit of space they could use, after all there is the area vacated by the Big Dipper down the side and out the back where the big turnaround used to be... Don't know what that area is doing in the park now but that coupled with the space already in the mountain could work well.

I've been visiting Dreamworld ever since I was a little lad (not that I'm that much bigger now ) back when they first opened (both TRR and EM opened at the same time) and the cars have always had 4 riders per car in two compartments... I do remember how they changed Thunder River though, much prefered the rotating station, same goes for Snowy at WL. I'm glad Sea World kept this system when they did BT.

Im not forgetting about the mouse at all, its a great ride, mostly because of its age. The thing is its just that, it is getting on a bit and it wouldn't hurt the park to have more than 1 major ride like that. I think the only reason Rail Chase has been brought up is that is was so rediculously cheap and thus it would be a fairly good return on investment. I would have actualy thought RC was one of the more popular rides at SW. Simple fact is the park couldn't get away with another large outdoor coaster and they don't have the space to build a big looper indoors. If they did want to build another coaster they would have to go for something of the Wild Mouse type variety, that doesn't mean it has to be dodgy though. As I said before though, I would sooner see other things at the park over another coaster.

I would be inclined to agree that yes an indoor type coaster could be quite viable within the park and could probably be quite easily mixed in with the circus theming. Something like rail chase could have been perfect and could even have been combined both in and outdoors as the initial sections of the ride would have generated little noise with the later sections contained inside. Something to also be noted is a coaster with this style of vehicle (single cars as opposed to a large train) would generate a lot less human noise as you don't have that mass of people at once that you get with something like cyclone. I am also very eager to see the River Caves re-introduced, probably more so than another coaster. Ever since they opened the pervious Luna Park incarnation there were plans to build it but it never eventuated. I think something with a bit more thrill than the original would go great. My thoughts would be something in the style of Pirates at Disney as this is an indoor ride with still some great drops etc. Obviously the theming wouldn't be quite as outlandish but it could still be done well. All of this is great however IMO the best thing about Luna Park is the original stuff like the Rotar and Coney Island, was never much interested in the 'carnival' type rides.

Actualy with a proper AV maintenance team as Wonderland should have things like getting monitors and lights working is a pretty simple job. There isn't much that can go wrong with those sorts of systems. There is just no excuse for bad or non existant ride upkeep. If you don't have the ability to properly maintain the rides they should never be built in the first place.

Well yes obviously as your saying Daniel someone who isn't trained can't be rotated. However if WL were running the correct number of staff there would be 4 on probe and at least the Unload, Pre-Show, and person at the Tunnel entrance could be rotated. As for the actual Op. that would be something that would have to be looked at in terms of rotation. However it is done at other parks so I'm sure there is a way.

Yeah its pretty much a whole 'nice in a perfect world' type senario. In the old days where you at an op. at the que, and op. in pre-launch, and 2 in launch with air-con that functioned it made sense. These days the suits are just the tip of the ice-burg with whats wrong with the thing. The right way to do it is as I said above with staff working space-probe for a whole shift, and rotating to other rides the next day. You can still do rotation that way by rotating the SP ops around the different stations of the ride. But hey its been a long time since WL management had things working the right way!

Hi Daniel I wasn't bagging out the ops themselves, they only follow orders. I was talking about managements aproach to the ride crew. It wouldn't be hard to have staff change for rotation, its only a jump suit, SW do it with BT don't they?

Okay as Daniel says the theming is in a bad condition...I heven't been to WL for a while now and they are really going to have to pull something out to get me back there. I was pretty disgusted on my last visit. When I was there a few flashing lights worked, there was rubbing everywhere, the lights on the doors didn't work and yeah the roof didn't work, and the crew just treat it as a ride not a theme... As for the theming itself no its nothing great. I'm sorry but I work in the business and a few orange beacons and some blue lights don't cut it as decent theming. The roof never closed after launch, it opened just before launch, locked open and then closed once the 'catchers' had returned to the station. Giant drop isn't half finished it wasn't suposed to be heavily themed, therefore I say SP is half finished because it was suposed to be heavily themed but it was pretty second rate. The staff play a part in theming, and basicaly wonderland's don't so there you go. The hood doesn't count because as this thread has showed just as many people like it as don't. Yes Space Probe WAS first, thats the point it was a fantastic concept. Dreamworld were able to go ahead and improve upon that concept and build a superior ride. Just as they did with Superman the escap from SFMM. Doesn't mean that Superman is now a crap ride, just means it has been bettered. Now this is just my opinion so I'm not saying anything against anyone who disagrees with me. However I don't think any 'thrill' ride like these can be themed to any great detail. At the end of the day the ride shoots up a pole and comes back down. Its the same for most coasters, you can themed the station all you want but at the end of the day you then dispatch a train around a track. I don't have a problem with this, thats the idea with rides. Some (like scooby) are theme based rides, others (like TOT) are thrill rides. Why waste your time doing a dodgy job of trying to theme something that doesn't realy need it. Better off putting the money into another more suitable attraction. But again unlike what I've said above thats just my opinion.

I just love the fact that you guys keep ignoring what I have said in that the state of the theming on SP is ****!! Its in a disgusting state, if you theming is all crapped up and broken then it don't count. No your wrong 100% on the 'what you remember factor.' I don't know anyone who says, hey the ride was a complete load of crap but WOW IT HAD GREAT THEMING lol. You only have to look at how people charge through the tunnels to the launch to see how much they dont give a rats about the theming. Richard is right, SP is nothing more than a half rate GD with some dark tunnels that 'used' to have some poor theming.

Lets look at that theming shall we... I don't think it really rates the credit you give it considering the disgusting state wonderland allowed it to get into. I wouldn't say SP has any theming over GD simply by the fact they both really have effectively the same level of theming given that all of SP's is stuffed. Second the whole theme is stupid anyway, your suposed to be evacuating right? The ride sends you up and brings you back to exactly the same place you were being evacuated from??? YEAH THAT WORKS :-) I mean SP was a great ride when it opened, and still is a good ride but the fact it GD is better, theres nothing wrong with that. For everything in life there is always going to be another thing better, lets just accepyt that and move on HEHEHE LONG LIVE GD

I am so sick of hearing this same old crap on this board. Okay yes I love coasters but I for one realise that they are not the end all be all of theme parks! You only have to look at SFMM and Knotts, Six Flags has a crap load more coasters but I'm sure anyone (WHOS ACTUALY BEEN THERE...a whole other issue) would agree that Knotts is by far the 'better' park. The whole reason Luna Park failed/Cyclone was because the residents (who are the arseholes, not the owners of the park) had a big winge over the noise. HELLO YOU MOVED IN BEHIND AN AMUSEMENT PARK!! Fact is it would just be stupid to put in another coaster only to rip it out again. So you have 2 options; Either you get over it already and just accept the park for what it is like everyone else and go anyway; OR you have your tanty and never visit the park again. Either way I think this forum would be much better for it if we could stop having all these stupid "Just put in a coaster" type threads. Sorry to get on my soapbox and have such a big outburst but enough is enough already. BTW You might wanna read what you've typed before hitting SUBMIT <--- in reference to your Poll

Thanks for that extremely concise answer thunder. He is 100% correct, I too deal with these issues every day as our industry adopts a lot of its practices from the construction industry. Falls from height are a serious killer in the country and I'm sure that 99% of them are avoidable. There is just no excuse for unsafe work practices, do you really value your paycheque more than your life? The problem we have guys is that a)there are a lot of 'backyard operators' out there that don't follow the Workcover Regs. and b)there is way too much complacency among workers today. The mindset that nothing had gone wrong before so I'll be fine without PPE(personal protective equipment) today is all too common. At the end of the day a big problem is that if a worker kicks up a fuss about safety he will often be put out the door (even though this is illegal) because there is always some other moron out there that is happy to do the job unsafely for a quick buck! I have my own fall prevention equipment for working at height and use it all the time. Having your own equipment is the safest way as you know exactly what happens with it and what condition it has been in. Not really a bad investment. It is very sad that this has happened as it is often people like this boy (fresh on the job) who are the victims. As for the company abandoning its plans to build at WL that would only be the case if legal action forced them out of business is what I think they are getting at.

No a coaster would draw more ride enthusiasts into the park, not GP. Something like a big waterpark would attract a lot of holiday makers and when you think about it an entire waterpark is more of an attraction than a single coaster. A waterpark is also something that apeals to parents because they can take the kids down there for a few hours and relax why the kids hit the slides as oposed to dragging around the park from ride to ride. The whole idea of a rival waterpark is where the DW return passes would come into it, if your gonna come out to the highway anyway to go to WnW then why not pay only a few bucks and goto the DW park?? Also your local pool argument doesn't come into it because DW wouldn't be offereing a 'pool' they would be offering a waterpark. There is also nothing to stop them putting in an additional entrance and having a waterpark only ticket to reduce the price of just visiting the water section. What I think a lot of people on this forum forget is the parks are not there just to serve us coaster nuts, we make up a very small percentage of their patrons, you have to look at the big picture :-) Thats my thoughts...value AU$0.02c

Thanks Psycho I was about to say I remember all the years of lining up for Deamon and seeing the waterfall and was pretty sure I wasn't imagining it :-)

Yup I've said it before and I'll say it again Giant Drop for sure! ...for all the reasons I said in the other thread. The whole height factor and added sensation just maked for such a much more worthwhile ride. I'd never want to line up for space probe for an hour and have the ride over and not doing much in a little over a heartbeat. The viewes with the open top crap all over the dodgy SP dome...plus the dome is such a fixed stop point for the ride (once you get there you know thats it and your about to drop) where as on GD its a bit of a mystery as you slow down so much your not quite sure if your still going or stopped at the top. Oh and SP doesn't get any credit for that waterfall, its been there since day one!

One thing has always puzzled me...why does GD have that awfuly ugly platform construction above the sled? Surely there are better ways to do maintenance which is what I'm sure its for?? Its just ever since I first saw GD I've thought this one feature spoils it making it look a bit like a building site elevator! Any ideas?

Well I'll put my vote in for TGD. I mean yeah SP has theming but these days its pretty sad and nothing more than an extension to the cue line. Even from day 1 they never really used the themed area properely and just let it fill with people cueing for the ride. It didn't take long for the TVs not to work and lights to start burning out (I CANT STAND LIGHTS NOT BEING MAINTAINED). As for the ride itself I find with SP that really by the time you really get moving the ride is over where as TGD has got that nice long fall time. Plus also these days TGD isn't a giant billboard in the sky like SP has become.

I'll second that Richard. There has been big action in the states recently with many parks canning enthusiast events and introducing zero tolerance policies in regards to unsafe riding practices. Under no circumstances should you ever attempt to interfear with the proper functioning of a restraint or safety advice. Done ruin things for those who ride safely by doing otherwise guys.

I'll second that Richard! Took me quite some time to get up there and ride cyclone and when I did I found nothing like the silky smooth ride that it was when at Luna Park.

Some great photos there Liam... Only thing is yeah they are a little bit too big. The actual physical size of them is fine of course just the image/file size is a bit too big to load nicely. Keep up the good picture hunting :-)

Oh yeah I completely forgot about Cali. Screamin... The overal look of the coaster is great too, the attempt to look like a woody has been done very well. I'd agree that its an overall great ride that doesn't really die at any time through the ride. Plus the dual track station design is great and keeps the capacity up very well.