Slick

If there's one thing i've learn about theme parks is that nothing is set in stone, especially when it comes to future projects. Surfrider at Wet 'n' Wild is a great example of a ride that was meant for one park, and then at the last second was installed at another. In the last 18 months alone i've seen one or two major projects get pushed around or even delayed over the simplest of reasons. So what do you do then as someone in guest enquiries asks you the same question you've been asked a hundred times already that no one except for the board & management know the answers to? You give a concise and definitive answer to avoid having a longer conversation where you have even less answers to.

Just to recap on Dirty Harry talk a short while back, I thought i'd post a picture of the menu. I've also posted a little review on my thoughts. In short, it's really great, and well worth a try next time you're in.

It seems like a nice little treatment for what was an awkward, small space. I'll be interested to see what changes, if any, have been made to queueing and how that all looks. Given there's everything from unused vibrating floors to LCD screens it'll be interesting to see how it all pans out and if any of the existing elements get re-used.

It'd be really neat if it was another digital display. They could show maps, wait times etc etc.

It's really great to see that it's back up and running, no doubt it's the culmination of many hundreds of hours of work to get to this point.

It's almost as if they read the forums.

Review is up: http://ourworlds.co/white-christmas-review-2015/ It's a lovely night, like pushbutton said, i'd recommend the Christmas dinner too. It's a little shorter then Fright Nights but keep in mind it is essentially a family event. Anyway, check it out, let me know your thoughts.

It's been covered in the past that it wasn't asbestos.

Went last night. Being a bit of a christmas grinch myself it was lovely to see all the younger kids really light up and get into the christmas spirit. There was a few tech mishaps that were noticeable (like the countdown to turning the lights on that didn't go as planned) but I think with these things you can practice as much as you want after hours but until you have a captive audience it's tough to predict what you don't know you don't know. I'm sure by tonight it'll be a tight show and when I head back next weekend it'll be a well oiled machine. Anyway, here's a few shots. As the day progresses i'll get a chance to look through all 650 and pick some favourites.

Ditto this. People wanted new mazes at Fright Nights and when the park delivered, people whinged that they should've saved the money. I walked past it yesterday and it looks great. It has this Universal / Benihama vibe thanks to the giant glass windows that allow you to see straight into the kitchen areas. Would love to see more draught beers as they settle in the new digs.

I'm confident. I don't think i've seen the park look this good since just before Thunderbolt closed. That's over a decade now. It's abundantly obvious management are really switched on, and it shows.

It's also very insightful. While the Mine Ride was certainly more intense then Scooby Doo, it was shorter, had a much smaller capacity (which meant more waiting) and the theming was stuck squarely in the 90's. It wasn't stellar, but it was definitely a classic by all counts. I'd also like to think part of the nostalgia is due in part to the sudden and mysterious way the park closed the ride. It wasn't like management gave park-goers a chance to say goodbye to a classic and have a final crack at it, rather, one day there was a part issue and the ride suddenly closed, and then it never opened again for a barrage of unconfirmed random rumours, none of which were really confirmed by the park and for the most part, were all untrue.

For those of you who missed this morning's broadcast (free to air television, what's that?) here's a link to some of the action: https://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/watch/30199437/make-it-stop-sam-and-eddy-ride-the-buzzsaw/

Honestly? 99% nostalgia.

I'm definitely in the boat of being a fan of Green Lantern. Firstly, not every coaster is going to be a high-speed, top-ten thrill machine because I just don't believe you can build a well rounded park by essentially just doing the same thing over and over again. You only need to look at the comments inside this very forum when Dreamworld started building Buzzsaw or when Hersheypark broke ground on Skyrush to see the proof. Sure, it's a different story if you have five local competitors and money to burn, but most parks don't have either and so building a well-rounded park with some genuinely fun different attractions is far more important in terms of actually generating a return. With that in mind, Green Lantern ticks that box easily. It has unique selling points (beyond vertical drop and manoeuvres that are uncommon on large steel coasters) and it's pacing for a thrill ride defines it as an experience the park didn't have previously. I'd take that any day over a park that had double the amount of same-same coasters.

TVC's up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF7pmVR_jro Good to see one of my Screamworld timelapses lives on.

This is insanely exciting news. I don't think I can recall a time where all of the parks were filled with this much pride and promise.

I feel bad then for the likes of Sea World and Busch Gardens being so close to the world's most visited tourist destination, Walt Disney World.

Imma go ahead and play my own game in the sandbox here and play by the rules of "if you opened a park tomorrow in Australia, what would it have?" Signature Roller-coaster - Some sort of Intamin Hybrid Megalite meets Vertical Lift Coaster Family Coaster - Intamin Aquatrax Signature Flat Rides - Large-sized Intamin Gyro Swing, Intamin Combo Tower - Obsersvation Deck + Drop Tower with pivoting seats, Zamperla Powersurge

Good stuff. I'm glad to see there'll be another Jet Rescue in the world. Here's hoping for two things: 1) They don't butcher it in an effort to make it more family friendly 2) It gets the praise it deserves this time.

All engineering would need to do is get the okay to take down the Dreamworld Corroboree sign ontop of the waterfall, fixup whatever broken pump parts exist and voila, supercheap water agitator that would take out a huge chunk of the algae present. Let's be honest here, at the end of the day it's a theme park. If you're going to put money into presentation (and Dreamworld does, last week there was new woodwork decorating the steel supports for the Main Street roof) then spend the extra money to make a huge part of the visual footprint of the park look extra clean. A few fountain pumps throwing a few streams of water into the air would not only look great from the buffet but would help add atmosphere to the park along with keeping the water churning.

Peta are one of the worst organisations in the world in my opinion. Their "shelters" euthanise an incredibly staggering amount of animals that is disproportionate to any other not for profit shelter in the US, so much so that US states had to redefine the term shelters, and wouldn't you know, Peta lobbied against it. http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/peta-euthanasia-shelter-animals_55fc17d7e4b00310edf6a608?section=australia&adsSiteOverride=au Since you're a fan of memes POP, here's one for you to do with anti-vaccers that's fitting for this discussion:

Since you're not open to critical thinking, having your opinion discussed (or using logic or reason for that matter) here's some places you'll be more welcome at. Church of Scientology Anti-Vaccine Movement Westboro Church

I'm just going to leave this here... http://goldcoastbulletin.com.au/lifestyle/pets-and-wildlife/the-truth-about-sea-world-gold-coast-theme-park-reveals-all-and-answers-critics/story-fnk74alk-1227179971254 I don't agree with the treatment of orcas but the solution isn't black and white despite what activists like Peta make it out to be nor is it going to happen overnight either. As for everything else, you should read the article, particularly the part where our sea world has virtually nothing to do with the American equivalent. There's a reason film is north koreas go to platform for propaganda. As a filmmaker myself I get to see first hand how malleable the platform is for delivering a message, no matter how one-sided that message might be, which, let's not beat around the bush, blackfish most certainly is. Long story short, if you're looking for a boycott you've come to the wrong place my friend.

The area's looking really great. Good on 'em. Neat that you can climb over that horse-carriage/herse much like what they've done with the firetruck that was cordoned off for many years. The park's starting to feel very polished and together again.