GoGoBoy

I hope you're joking. Customers who demand stuff like that are disgraceful... especially when it's an obvious mistake

You're right joz... most parents are understanding when told their child can't ride for safety reasons, as they should be. There are a few who take a long time to comprehend the fact and try to argue it and others who go ballistic no matter what. The problem is that even the 9/10 parents who are understanding still take time to have the situation explained to them. They then have to work out what to do with their kid, whether they still want to go on alone and give the child to a relative etc. So no matter what, it is a time consuming situation. When you consider that it happens all the time, it really adds up. The only thing I can think of is to have a blatantly obvious height restriction sign every 2 metres along the queue with an explanation on each sign

That is totally the publics fault and not much can be done about it. It is a common problem. If the stupid morons would just look at the signs out the front (especially when they have a small child) they will see the height restrictions. The problem is that a lot of parents see the height restriction but still line up anyway hoping to get their kid on the ride. Nothing makes me more angry. The fact of the matter is if the height restriction is ignored their child could be seriously injured or killed. I know that sounds dramatic but it is the plain truth

Ok what you need to do is carefully read the first page of this thread. On that page you will see some great points (in particular there is a good detailed post by Richard) as to why the Demon would be a terrible purchase for Dreamworld. Please don't ask us to waste our time and post the reasons again when you can just flip back one page and read them for yourself

I just had a look at a big pic of the Hershey Park Claw. The thing is because they have the inwards facing version it has a different design and truly does look like a claw. Dreamworld's will be the outwards facing version (which I am very pleased and thankful about) which doesn't look like a claw. Although Richard you did say the design has been modified a bit so I guess we will see

Um, when I'm at the shops I prefer to go shopping rather than 'surveying' people. I can imagine the response I'd get too and it would be more like "who are you and why are you asking me this?". I am quite content with my personal opinion that The Claw is not a great name and they could have been slightly more original rather than using the name of a well known travelling carnival ride. I am also happy for you wonderbus and some others to have their own opinion that the name is fine and it won't make a difference. That is what makes the world go round. I would also like to say that I completely agree with joz's and Richard's last posts. I don't want to waste my time by reiterating my support for this new ride because it seems that a few of you don't bother reading the threads properly anyway. Regardless of how much I appreciate the new ride I am not going to stop discussing the negatives as well as the positives (this is why it's called a discussion) so just deal with it

Um, when I'm at the shops I prefer to go shopping rather than 'surveying' people. I can imagine the response I'd get too and it would be more like "who are you and why are you asking me this?". I am quite content with my personal thoughts that The Claw is not a great name and they could have been slightly more original rather than using the name of a well known travelling carnival ride. I am also happy for you and some others to have their own opinion that the name is fine and it won't make a difference. This is what makes the world go around. I would also like to say that I completely agree with joz's and Richard's last posts. I don't want to waste my time by reiterating my support for this new ride because it seems that a few of you don't bother reading the threads properly anyway. Regardless of how much I appreciate the new ride I am not going to stop discussing the negatives as well as the positives (this is why it's called a discussion) so just deal with it

Um, when I'm at the shops I prefer to go shopping rather than 'surveying' people. I can imagine the response I'd get too and it would be more like "why are you telling me this? get away from me freak". I am quite content with my personal thoughts that The Claw is not a great name and they could have been slightly more original rather than using the name of a well known travelling carnival ride. I am also happy for you and some others to have their own opinion that the name is fine and it won't make a difference. This is what makes the world go around. I would also like to say that I completely agree with joz's and Richard's last posts. I don't want to waste my time by reiterating my support for this new ride because it seems that a few of you don't bother reading the threads properly anyway. Regardless of how much I appreciate the new ride I am not going to stop discussing the negatives as well as the positives (this is why it's called a discussion) so just deal with it

Actually wonderbus it isn't 'a load of crap'. I have spoken to 4 people outside of these forums about the new ride. As Richard suggested, in the conversation I usually tell people there is a new ride being built at Dreamworld called The Claw (a fairly logical statement). 3 out of the 4 people instantly said to me something along the lines of "oh yeah, I've seen/been on that ride before at the easter show" or "is that the same Claw that travels around?". I should mention that the fourth person was my mum who doesn't have a clue about rides and 2 of the people have a moderate interest in amusement parks

Actually wonderbus it isn't 'a load of crap'. I have spoken to 4 people outside of these forums about the new ride. As Richard suggested, in the conversation I usually tell people there is a new ride being built at Dreamworld called The Claw (a fairly logical statement). 3 out of the 4 people instantly said to me something along the lines of "oh yeah, I've seen/been on that ride before at the easter show" or "is that the same Claw that travels around?". I should mention that the fourth person was my mum who doesn't have a clue about rides and 2 of the people have a reasonable interest in amusement parks

The majority of comments on this site regarding the new ride have been positive. I think most of us are excited about the type of ride Dreamworld has chosen and the fact that we are getting something new after a few years of waiting. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't discuss all the pros and cons and what is being handled well and what we think could be handled better throughout the implementation stage. How boring would these forums be otherwise

And would there not be some kind of occupational health and safety issue when it comes to the actual operators themselves being exposed to the rain and various weather conditions?

I've seen some bad press releases and copy come from parks including Dreamworld which is what makes this press release seem better. I actually really like it. I do agree that there is an overkill on the "thrill/adrenaline/nightmare" factor which is clearly not going to be lived up to by the gyro swing. But apart from that I think it's effective and at the very least entertaining. Obstructure - you mentioned that there is a certian reason why the ride is called The Claw. Is the obvious answer the fact that it looks like a claw (you have to use your imagination for this association) or has it got something to do with Tiger Island? Please fill me in because I'm grabbing at anything for justification. Also, you mentioned that it is going to be themed to Ocean Parade? How is that going to work? An underwater tiger claw? That's just too weird

Richard you are spot on. The main park is (overall, minus a few bits and pieces) visually very appealing. I would say this is partly, but not entirely, due to the fact that a lot of the infrastructure, layout and theming was already there and left in place from the 1995 reincarnation. On the other hand Maloney's Corner is a completely new area where they have basically just layed a heap of asphalt and stuck trailer-mounted rides on top. That's it. I'm sure even they'd agree that it's a pretty average effort. Let's hope they fix it soon. Regarding wet weather and operators booths. I assumed that's how most parks overcame this problem. It is a logical conclusion for so many reasons. Although it's not something I normally take notice of, when I think back to ANY park I've visited they always have some kind of operators booth or building... even for the smallest rides. It's another 'temporary' issue LPS really should look at if they're planning to keep the amusement park for the long term

I will say it again - bad name, bad, bad, bad name. Everyone I have spoken to about it instantly says "oh The Claw? You mean the one that travels around to all the shows?". So what is going to happen is that everyone is going to think Dreamworld has done a Luna Park and installed a very 2nd hand portable carnival ride. Not good when they have actually spent $6 mill on something brand spanking new. GREAT press release though which is surprising. Maybe it's thanks to Dreamworld's new marketing director. Really well written

I wil lsay it again - bad name, bad, bad, bad name. Everyone I have spoken to about it instantly says "oh The Claw? You mean the one that travels around to all the shows?". So what is going to happen is that everyone is going to think Dreamworld has done a Luna Park and installed a very 2nd hand portable carnival ride. Not good when they have actually spent $6 mill on something brand spanking new

I agree but can you explain why so many of the rides are so temporary looking? And what about the plastic (I'm thinking it might have actually been glad wrap) over the control panels? Surely that cannot be a permanent measure? Don't forget that the $100 million dollar refurbishment was MOSTLY spent on things like the Big Top, the Crystal Palace refurb and the car park. The rides were already on site from 1995 so you can't say LPS spent a lot of money on rides

I was walking through Luna Park on a fairly wet day (definitely not going on anything, just observing) during the school holidays. It had been raining on and off for most of the day and was quite windy although the park was still busy with people going on the rides (are these people totally crazy?). I noticed that a number of the ride operators control panels had big sheets of ripped up plastic sticky taped over the buttons. Most of the control panels are out in the open and are within sight of all guests either just observing, standing in the queue or actually going on the ride. I personally felt it looked unprofessional and a bit worrying and I'm guessing was to stop the water getting in. What do other parks (big or small) do in this situation? While I respect a number of features and endeavours being undertaken by LPS management, there is a major issue with the temporary feel of the rides. It covers all things we have spoken of before such as lack of facades and the unattractive Maloney's Corner. This rain incident and the cheap method of protection for the rides control panels just highlights the temporary nature of the rides. It really makes me wonder what their long term intentions for the existing attractions are. Sometimes it feels like they are just experimenting until they decide to make some things a little more permanent

A master blaster would be awesome. I would probably prefer a good master blaster over a swinging water coaster thing

I agree. Love the colours but hate the name. It's going to be interesting to see when it all comes together. Maybe they're going to add some other bits and pieces in that area to make it fit in. All I know is if they try and pass it off as an Ocean Parade attraction they are going to fail. Also, does anyone know what the deal is with that concrete brick control room? Surely it is not going to be the operators booth?! It doesn't have any windows or anything. I sure hope they're going to cover up those walls with some nice theming and colours

That's what I say. New rides are good... very good. And seeing as though there is apparantley no construction going on at any of the other parks it looks like DW will be the only one with something new this year. Movie World and Wet 'n' Wild are going to have to pull something pretty special out soon. All we've had from WnW for the last few years is a really bad spa/whirlpool attraction and the worst thing is every year they keep promoting it as something new and amazing

Wow that's a great pic... thanks Richard. The supports look good and are definitely very striking. I'm actually starting to look forward to giving this ride a go. It's about time we had something NEW at DW for the big kids

Thanks for the review and the great photos Schwarz

Ofcourse it wouldn't. The fact that Wonderland, Sega World, and Fox Backlot are now defunct is probably one of the biggest factors in Luna Park's current success. The park has opened with exactly the same rides as it had it in the failed 1995 version (minus it's star attraction the Big Dipper) and yet appears to be enjoying very high patronage. What other reason could there be?