GoGoBoy

Shouldn't the supports be longer? I thought the ride was quite tall. Or are they yet to be joined together?

Haha that's true Huss... how could I ever doubt you? I forgot who I was talking to for a moment. And you're right about Sydney's being a 'badly themed Breakdance'. It was passable when it had the giant robotic spider standing out the front in 1995 but now it looks rather dodgy. So what is an Eyerly Spider? Is Eyerly the manafacturer of Luna Park Melbourne's Spider? I have a feeling that the one in Melbourne might be the same one that Wonderland owned in the 80's. Are there any of these models on the travelling circuit?

Haha that's true Huss... how could I ever doubt you? I forgot who I was talking to for a moment. And you're right about Sydney's being a 'badly themed Breakdance'. It was passable when it had the giant robotic spider standing out the front in 1995 but now it looks rather dodgy. So what is an Eyerly Spider? Is Eyerly the manafacturer of Luna Park Melbourne's Spider? I have a feeling that the one in Melborune might be the same one that Wonderland owned in the 80's. Are there any of these models on the travelling circuit?

x_princess_x - If I was you I wouldn't get too excited about the actual rides at Luna Park. Most of them are 1980's ex-travelling carnival rides that you have either been on or seen hundreds of times before at various shows, fairs etc. The new owners and management now have a split focus which includes providing top quality function and entertainment facilities rather than just relying on the amusement park. The drawcard with Luna Park is the massive sense of history, the incredible location, the visuals and the atmosphere. The park doesn't really have any overly appealing rides but regardless it is still doing well because of the various factors I mentioned. It also helps that there is no other amusement/theme park in Sydney anymore which leaves Luna Park as the only option for bored families. If it is decent rides you are after you are probably better off waiting 'till next years Easter Show where there are many more (and certainly in some cases a lot more cutting edge) rides on offer. Or else save up for a trip to the Gold Coast and visit one of our great theme parks. On the other hand, if you and your friends can appreciate the stuff I mentioned above then you will probably have a fun day. Make sure you give us a trip report and let us know what you think

x_princess_x - If I was you I wouldn't get too excited about the actual rides at Luna Park. Most of them are 1980's ex-travelling carnival rides that you have either been on or seen hundreds of times before at various shows, fairs etc. The drawcard with Luna Park is the massive sense of history, the incredible location, the visuals and the atmosphere. The park doesn't really have any overly appealing rides but regardless it is still doing well because of the various factors I mentioned. It also helps that there is no other amusement/theme park in Sydney anymore which leaves Luna Park as the only option for bored families. If it is decent rides you are after you are better off waiting 'till next years Easter Show where there are many more (and certainly in some cases a lot more cutting edge) rides on offer. On the other hand, if you and your friends can appreciate the stuff I mentioned above then you will probably have a fun day

What are you talking about Huss? Luna Park Sydney's Spider is a Breakdance just with a different name and different colours

Haha nice post bussy. The Space Probe definitely wouldn't suit Luna Park for a variety of reasons and I certainly don't think there's even a remote chance that LPS has purchased it. However a ride like the portable Mega Drop at this years show would be much more suitable. It already has all the lights and colours and would fit in with the other rides currently at Luna Park with its carnival feel. If they placed it around the area where the Ranger currently stands it actually wouldn't interfere with the residents too much. In fact it would certainly be a lot quieter than the Ranger. In reality the only noise would be the screams. There would not be nearly as much screaming as there is on the Ranger as a drop ride only lasts a couple of seconds. Most of the buildings directly behind this area are offices (the main building being owned by Luna Park) so it's not like you'd be peering into peoples living rooms at the top of the ride. When it comes down to it the residents don't have that much say anymore... it was proven that the park is within permitted noise limits. On top of that the tourism/recreation minister Sandra Nori is in full support of the park and thankfully is willing to make reasonable exceptions to ensure the continued success of the amusement park aspect of the site

Why would Flycoaster want a ride like that? I personally always enjoyed it to an extent but no one else ever did. It didn't provide many thrills. I can still remember the ad for it from when I was little. It had a guy and a girl who took a ride on it and then walk away with massively stretched necks into the sunset. The ad appealed to me which was why I always had an affection for the ride. Aaah, those were the days. Hard to imagine there was a time when Wonderland used to build new attractions and even spend money marketing them

In my theme park experience (whether the park is listed on the stock exxhange or not) the main reason for not giving away info too soon is, as Richard said, mostly for competitive reasons. If a rival park finds out about another parks upcoming attraction well in advance, they may have time to create a similar or even better attraction. This sounds simple but it is pretty accurate. In saying this though I do think there needs to be more insider info revealed on these forums. Most of the overseas park forums are filled with inside info and rumours. Then again, I'm sure we'd all prefer 100% accurate info over dodgy rumours

I think you might be getting a little confused Paul. Luna Park Sydney's Spider IS actually a Breakdance which is a standard travelling carnival ride. Luna Park simply changed the aesthetics of their model. The colours of the cars, the lighting scheme and the backdrop are all different to a normal Breakdance. They did this to suit their 'futuristic spider' theme. Unfortunately they didn't keep the giant robotic spider which used to stand over the ride in 1995 and tie the theme together. In the very early days of Luna Park they had a ride called Spider but it is long since gone and was nothing like the Breakdance model they have there now. The only ride which was sold to Aussie World was the Octopus. The majority of the rides now at Luna Park were once travelling carnival rides. Most of them are 1980's models which were permanently installed in the park in 1995. A number of them have been given the same names as the original 1930's rides. Apart from the names there aren't many similarities between these mass produced rides and the unique rides installed when the park first opened in 1935. By the way, the Wild Mouse was actually built around 1962

pandora440x - I would be interested to hear some more of your personal thoughts as a current employee re what you would do to improve DW. Also, what do you think of the new ride being installed (I'm talking about type, name, theme, placement etc)?

pandora440x - I would be interested to hear some more of your personal thoughts as a current employee re what you would do to improve DW. Also, what do you think of the new ride being installed (I'm talking about tpye, name, theme, placement etc)?

Hmm I wonder. There were rumours going around for a while... and they were started by the LPS managing director in a newspaper article. If the tower in question did make it to Luna Park I think they'd need to modify it quite a bit. Repaint the entire structure and make it more colourful to fit in with the park. Add hundreds of lights right up the main shaft so it looks good at night and complements the other rides. You'd also wanna get rid of the dome as the amazing Sydney views shouldn't be restricted at any point. On top of that I can't really see a technological space theme working at an old style fun park like Luna

Richard - those shots are amazing. Well done. Luna Park Sydney is always a good subject for photos but some of your shots are really original. Looking forward to your TR to go with it. Daniel - I have heard the same info. Sorry to disappoint you Huss. I think it's more trouble than it's worth with all the noise its engines apparantley make. I'm sure LPS will replace it with another ride. Hopefully with something worthwhile like a drop tower

Richard - those shots are amazing. Well done. Luna Park Sydney is always a good subject for photos but some of your shots are really original. Looking forward to your TR to go with it. Daniel - I have heard the same info. Sorry to dissapoint you Huss. I think it's more trouble than it's worth with all the noise its engines apparantley make. I'm sure LPS will replace it with another ride. Hopefully with something worthwhile like a drop tower

Yes Daniel is spot on (which is surprising considering Manly is a northern suburb and Daniel is a hardcore westy). The amusements at Manly Wharf were definitely called 'Tilt'. As you guys have figured out Tilt was a chain of amusement centres similar to Timezone. The Manly Wharf Tilt consisted of both the downstairs games arcade and also a couple of rides which were located upstairs on the pier. There was a largish ferris wheel, a carousel and not too much else. The ferris wheel was quite good because it was right on the end of the pier over the water. For that reason and also considering the fact it was not in a great state (fairly rusty) in it's last few years, it was a scary/fun ride. The whole Manly Wharf complex was basically a shopping centre adjoining the pier with a few touristy shops, a McDonalds and the games arcade downstairs. It was designed to be like a mini Harbourside (Darling Harbour shopping centre) but never quite worked. It was all very 80's. Most of the 2 levels of shops were never fully leased out. It stayed like that for years and was all a bit sad really. Just recently (a few years ago) they took away all the rides and refurbished the entire complex. The pier which was once home to the rides is now home to a trendy outdoor bar. The adjoining shopping centre building was almost completely rebuilt and now houses a couple of upmarket restaurants, a large Bay Swiss and various food outlets on the ferry side. It is now just 1 level... I think the downstairs area including the games arcade might have been turned into a car park but I'm not totally sure

Go Movie World (you've always been my fave park)! I had a feeling the next thing might be big. Besides the crappy Matrix, most of Movie World's additions are usually pretty decent and definitely worthwhile. Let's keep our fingers crossed

Oh well, Dominator is only their for another week. Richard - can't wait to hear your trip report. I've read a few peoples opinions now but will be very interested to read your views. Bring it on

Can I just say that it is great to see more people on these forums who are either currently working or have worked in the theme park industry. The more of us there are the better the discussions will be. To all you fan boys who regularly visit DW and the other parks please feel free to give the ride ops and sups you speak to the URL of this site and encourage them to sign up. On the issue of pay rates. Are you guys saying that DW ride ops get on average $20 per hour? In my opinion, that is a very fair and decent wage. I know of a certain Sydney park that needs to pick up its act in regards to pay rates. I read on these forums recently that some of the ride ops at Luna Park are on $14.50 and the others not much higher than that

Nah Skyrider doesn't count. We've had this debate before. It is hardly a ride and only operated for a VERY short time. It closed down way before the park even closed. Therefore the park did not add any new rides (excluding crappy short-lived transportation devices) for 9 years

Allow me to just make a small correction here. Wonderland didn't add a single new ride for at least 9 years. Let's not give credit where credit is definitely not due

Thanks for the pics Rabid. I like the colour of the supports. I reckon brighter is better... in theme parks anyway. And as someone mentioned I think the only way 'The Claw' could work as a name/theme is if they do end up sort of linking it in with Tiger Island. The graphic on the banner outside the site looks quite good. One thing I noticed is that the ride platform seems to be really small. Is this going to be a super small Gyro version or something?

I just noticed Luna Park has done a great job of updating their website with pics and details of the new rides for the holidays, Wild Mouse, new characters etc. It has come a little bit late as it is already a few days into the hols but better late than never. It is a great looking website but could really fall apart if it is not regularly updated by the right people (ie. the people who designed the site in the first place). Right now I'd say Sydney's Luna Park is starting to set a very good example

Hey zordmaker. Funnily enough I was just thinking tonight that we haven't heard from you for a while. Thanks for the update

BridgeClimb has been one of the most successful tourism ventures in Australia. They definitely have a huge profit margin with that $170 so could easily charge less and still make money. But I guess the thing is if people are overall happy to pay it then why not. I would personally rather do the new Sydney Tower SkyWalk as BridgeClimb is old news