GoGoBoy

I found a Sega fan site which houses the complete Sega World Sydney (ex indoor theme park at Darling Harbour) website as it was just prior to the park closing in 2000. Kinda sad to see but very interesting, especially for those that never got a chance to visit the park. There's a full listing of the rides with pictures. Go to http://gaming.chronomagister.com/fanums/sw...orld/index.html

LunaParkFanatic - here is what I don't understand. You are a person who thinks Luna Park in Sydney is amazing and can do no wrong. This is despite the fact that Luna Park's main focus is functions and events and the only rides it has are a limited number of old portable models randomly placed around the asphalt. On the other hand we have a world class theme park (Movie World) which is just about to invest in another brilliant multi-million dollar attraction and it isn't good enough?Where is the sense in that? I think I am getting deja vu here

Why is it that so many companies seem to have a serious problem when it comes to updating their websites? It's crazy as it's one of the first places people can go to actually interact with the park and get the information they need. They just seem to leave the updating of sites until the last second or forget about it all together. I think one of the big problems is that most marketing managers don't know a lot about them. I find it a bit strange that Shrek 4D is being released now and not coinciding with any movie release. But I suppose in relation to DW's opening (the very poor/average) Wiggles World it does make sense from a competitive point of view

So does anyone know how the roll out of these new attractions is going to work? I have heard Superman is opening in December but what about Shrek? And in the commercial is Shrek the only attraction being advertised? Anything about Superman? As with Wet 'n' Wild, Movie World is all of a sudden getting a range of great new rides in one hit and yet they've gone for quite a few years with nothing. Shrek would have enough pulling power to be an announced addition all on its own without needing another ride opening a few months later. I am just very curious (not complaining!) as to why Warner Village have gone about it this way

This is absolutely awesome news. I am so excited to hear that Warner Village is really getting their stuff together and upping the stakes. I have always been a fan of Movie World but now with Shrek 4D AND Superman - they are showing us what a real theme park is all about. Australian park standards are hitting a new level and it's about time. Let's hope some of the lesser parks out there are given a run for their money

This is some really exciting news from Wet 'n' Wild - it certainly does seem like a lot of our wishes have been granted. I am also very surprised by the way WnW has gone about the announcement and addition of these new attractions. In the past, they have only added 1 new attraction per year (or even per couple of years) with plenty of hype. To all of a sudden go all out with these new additions in one hit seems very strange. The fact that they have even announced what is coming next year makes it even weirder. Why the change of tact? As I think another user suggested, I would like to have seen some of these attractions rolled out progressively over the last couple of years when they weren't doing much at all with the park. But besides all that I am really thrilled that the park is making such a substantial investment. Well done WnW!

Hmm it appears to be very small but I guess that could just be the pictures. Is it my imagination or is this going to be a mini top hat coaster? Sort of like a launch for kiddies. Hopefully the theming will make up for what it lacks in size

Thanks Adam. Does anyone know if this slide is basically just going to be another type of Mammoth River? You couldn't really call it 'new' and 'exciting' if that was the case. Wet 'n' Wild tends to do things like this. In the past they just enclosed the existing River Rapids ride and marketed it as a major new attraction for the year - Terror Canyon II. It's time WnW got itself either a master blaster or some decent enclosed tube slides (of which they do not have enough)

Great news! Look forward to your updates Richard

Good on them for the continuing expansion. However, if they do end up calling the ride 'Mammoth River' I will be appalled. Think of a moderately original name at least

Adam - your site looks great! The overall design is fantastic. Good on you for including lots of pics of the coaster under construction. I know the park has supposedly banned them but really what is a theme park site without pics of our biggest new attraction under construction? Top work!

Yeah I don't really see how we can hope for any major expansions of Dreamworld if they're going to build something like this on the excess land. It just wouldn't be feasible to have one of those giant coasters you see in the US at DW if the surrounding land is developed. A shame really

What were the crowds like? Surely the park must be declining in popularity fast. With all the recent media reports about problems with the rides and the fact that the current owners are selling up I am sure this would keep people away. I know if I had kids I wouldn't be taking them there in its current state. I may be wrong though, as the general public can behave in unpredicatable ways sometimes. I would imagine a lot of people will be waiting to see what happens with the new park

Comparing the 2 parks at this stage is pretty pointless. They both have 1 or 2 remnants of heritage significance with the rest of the park being made up with 2nd hand carnival rides. I think it will be a very different story when Luna Park Melbourne gets its upcoming 're-birth'. Hopefully it will become a true fun park in the spirit of the old Luna Park's and then the best park will be obvious to everyone

The Wiggles park map looks craptacular! I really think they need to get rid of that river as it's so dominating and ends up making the area seem very cramped. Also think it's a bit dodgey the way they have incorporated Farmyard Friends in an attempt to make Wiggle's World seem bigger. It might be have been ok if Farmyard Friends was a bit closer but as it is it's so far away it has to have a seperate reference on the map. So altogether we have 1 ride, some shops, an 'activity centre' and an already existing animal exhibit all surrounded by a big bushy swamp/river. Can't say I'm overly impressed. Sorry guys but you know how I love being picky, I can't help myself. One positive thing I will say though is this is a heck of a lot better than anything Wonderland would have produced. Remember the ads and big posters for 'Super Hero Headquarters'? Everyone got so excited and all it turned out to be was a Marvel merchandise section in the gift shop

I had a theory a while back (when I first found out they were building Wiggles World in River Town) that the current vintage car ride would be re-themed as the Big Red Car ride. Seemed like the sort of thing Dreamworld would do. Does anyone know if this is the case?

I tell you what Colin, the current Luna Park would certainly be an easier model to build. All you'd have to do is add a few conference buildings, a big warehouse/shed (Big Top), an office block, a brasserie building, a large ticket booth with a car park ramp behind it and a large flat area out behind Coney Island with a few portable pieces of junk scattered around randomly. Not nearly as fun as the old models though

It shows you just how small Dreamworld really is and how strange the layout is. Also shows how much the park needs another coaster. I have my doubts about how much space Dreamworld really has left (considering the fact they want to use the excess land as a town centre) for future expansion. I think it's about time to say goodbye to that river, especially now that Rivertown is gone. Or at least build something over the top of it. It just takes up so much space

Let's hope this new plan goes ahead the way it has been described. It will certainly give Luna Park Sydney a run for its money and show the general public that a Luna Park can be so much more than just 2nd hand carnival rides stuck on a bit of asphalt. I'm looking forward to seeing this new incarnation raise the bar and in turn people's expectations

I have seen a model similar to the one Zamperla posted sitting in the North Sydney library. I am not sure how accurate it is. I think you will find there is quite a large difference between the Beastie and LPS's original Big Dipper. The Big Dipper certainly seemed a lot longer and stretched a decent length of the park

A lot of the general public (the ones who aren't overly interested in theme parks) tend to think that just about every roller coaster or ride is called 'the Big Dipper'. I also find that particularly the older ones are under the impression that every ride has something to do with Luna Park. It's quite funny really

Yes your Dad is lying... or he's one of those people who like to sound like they know the facts when they are not really sure either way

The 2 coasters have nothing at all to do with each other from what I know. The Big Dipper at LPS was quite badly damaged by the Ghost Train fire. There was no River Caves fire as someone else mentioned... although a section of the River Caves was damaged by the Ghost Train fire. Although it could have been repaired, the owners of the park in the 80's completely demolished the Big Dipper and trashed it

Yeah there was something about the Roulette Wheel that really used to appeal to me too. I remember really enjoying the ride when I was a kid. Perhaps they modified the operation of the ride when it became Stingray? It certainly seems a lot tamer. I actually quite like the way they re-themed the ride to fit Ocean Parade and think it was a pretty clever transformation. You can't say they didn't put any effort into it. I have seen a picture of it recently and noticed they upgraded the op booth when they expanded Ocean Parade - looks good with the nautical theme and big octopus on top

I'm not debating whether Sunway had a right to do it or not. It is obvious that they were well within their rights to do it. But just because a company makes a decision doesn't mean you just have to agree with it or be happy about it. When companies do decide to close down factories employing lots of people, you don't find a lot of people saying "well, that's fine with me, it's their right" do you? You are going to get a lot of angry and upset people who are going to make it as difficult for the company as possible. It seems to me like a number of you guys (particularly the bitter ex-employees) are quite supportive of Sunway and their decision to close and sell off the park. No one's trying to bring Wonderland back to life anymore. However, I will continue to believe that what occured and the way in which it was carried out was very poor. It was sneakily sold off as an industrial estate by a foreign company. This is after 20 years of local ownership (at least part local) which had managed to keep it going strong as an iconic theme/wildlife park for the people of Sydney and its visitors