The Theme Park Master

Ooh, that is dangerous. Running around with 'official logos' isn't good for your health, you know. And certainly not for your reputation. The fact that when I scroll over the picture it says 'Imageshack.us', you can tell that either you have made it yourself, say, in Paint, or you have uploaded the pic from a website. What would this website be, pray tell? And if, of course, you knew it was in fact from a website, you would be glad to tel us? After all, you want everyone to know you aren't lying, don't you? I for one am a little bit influenced towards the 'this is the truth' end of the scale, however when I think of all the cons of this 'certainty' (which I will explain in a minute), it pushes me right back down to the other end. And didn't you say that this idea hadn't even been approved yet? Why in the world (of theme parks...hehe...what...just a little comic relief...geez) would you start claiming that 'this is the official logo that will be used in this definite-no-matter-what-anyone-else-says-or-thinks theme park that is, I repeat isbeing built. Without approval, of course. Yeah. You forgot to mention that there has been NO APPROVAL AS YET! If of course, this story is true............. TO BE CONTINUED

It's is, in fact pretty amazing that Dreamworld only have one operating thrill roller coaster. The investment of a new coaster would be brilliant, but with the $20m blown this year on The Dreamworld Aqua Park, we aren't getting a new roller this year. I think Dreamworld will know the right time to build a new ride. They know how to satisfy.

To my disgust, unfortuantely, Southport does in fact have a vacant lot to the south of the city...but there is no indication of any lease signs, or any indication of anything being built. And it would only fit a very, very small sized theme park into it. Kyle, what Gazza said was true. Macquarie already owns and manages two parks, Dreamworld & Adventure World. Surely you cant've mistaken that fact...

Ah, Kyle makes a return. Brave statement there, buddy. You know, I think you're reputation could get better if this accusation of yours is in fact true. Then again, on the other hand, I don't know if a person like you should have been the person to announce this. Now, I have really never liked you, and I'm telling you now, I probably never will. But this is a very, very...not-Kyle like thing to say. But, I'm afraid, there are some problems with your announcement. Firstly, a theme park does not have a concrete-set name before it has even been approved. As far as I know, naming the park would be the last thing on Macquarie's mind right now. Oh, and that's another thing. Time. You claim that if this park is approved, it will begin construction in 5 months. That is a very short-notice statement. How come no-one else knew about this, but all of a sudden, you have come out with 'this theme park will be built in Southport (which, to my knowledge, would be very bad positioning in a theme park scenario) and it will be getting started in five months.' All these 'wills' are making me suspicious. How about 'it might be' or 'could be' or, as the case may very well be, 'won't be'. This is major news, and for it to come out of your mouth, especially after not saying anything for a good 4 months, I can't expect many people to believe you. But let's take a look at this from another angle, and say 'Hey, maybe Kyle is telling the truth!'. And, you may very well be telling the truth. Your reputation would certainly skyrocket upwards, that's for sure. I think you would become a more trusted person on this site. 'Hey, that's the guy that announced that new park!' Wouldn't you love that? I suppose this whole matter comes down to the big guns (say, Macquarie or some news company) coming out and saying something about this. Now, all the things I needed to say have been said. Kyle, let's hope you're telling the truth, because otherwise this is going to be a very, very embarassing time for you.

cool thanx

Does anyone know when XTreme World finishes? Or has it already finished? I heard a rumour that it is open until March 7 but, well, let's just say the source wasn't very reliable.

I know there have been previous posts about this, but the Wipeout, boy, it's definetely aging. And it's not just the blasting noise from her engines that shhow the obvious wrinkling, it's the rust, speed, rotations...whatever it had 10 years ago, it has either got little of or none of now. Firstly, and the most recognisable difference between then and now is the noise. God, it's got some noise with it now. The brakes kicking in when they need to is the worst part. Secondly, if you have a good look at the engines of the ride, it is very, very rusty. I have a friend who refuses to go on the Wipeout purely because of the rust. Also, the speed has decreased by a massive proportion. I would say it goes at least 5km/h slower. Have a good look at it. You should notice it too.

The Tower of Terror Is Getting Too Loud. I had the familiar experience of walking under the walkway under the TOT when the siren went off and the car came bursting out of the tunnel. It was the loudest sound I have ever heard. I noticed it was louder straight away when the ride first came out of the tunnel. It just kept getting louder and louder from there. It was going at a regular speed, so over doing the speed wasn't the cause. Then I thought it could be the engine starting to wear. Yeah, right. All the time I was thinking, the grinding noise of the car going up the Dreamworld Tower echoed through the park. And, like it does everytime, it came back down. As it roared past again, it was not as loud, but still most definetely louder than other times. Then it hit me. It was just a bad cycle. Obviously, I walked under the tunnel at the wrong time. Obviously, it was just this ride. I didn't think much of it until I went back under the tunnel and the TOT was up the top of the tower. And everybody knows: you can't look away when you see this beast in action. So, like always, it rolled back. It screamed. It was loud. And not just Tower of Terror loud, sort of...Wipeout times 10 loud. Was it just a bad day to go to Dreamworld, or is the Tower of Terror realy getting louder?

Hands up those who enjoyed Big Brother's 'Friday Night Live' games on Ten? Well, if you did, you're in luck because this year, Dreamworld is hosting a brand new show, aptly named The Friday Night Games. The show, produced by Southern Star Endemol, broadcast by Network Ten, and filmed at Dreamworld, will be the hottest new Friday night show this year. A spin-off from Big Brother 2005’s ‘Friday Night Live’ show, the 'Friday Night Games' will have you on the edge of your seats, cheering and roaring with laughter as you experience some good old fashioned family fun. Every Friday night at 7.30pm two teams comprising of three celebrities and one chosen contestant will battle it out and test their competitiveness, determination, resilience, inventiveness and agility in a series of hilarious games and challenges. Each game has a different set of rules plus a difficulty rating. Viewers will see the teams be rolled, tossed, bounced, flipped and flopped across the arena dressed as swaggering pirates, giant babies and enormous sausages, just to name a few! Each episode will be recorded in front of a live audience of 300 people at Dreamworld’s specially built games arena. The ultimate Friday Night Games Champion Team will win a $50,000 donation to the charity of their choice. Contestant Conditions: * Contestants must be over the age of 18 * Contestants must be physically fit and able to ride Dreamworld's Big 5 Thrill Rides * Successful contestants must be able to be at Dreamworld on Saturday 4th February at 8.00am. * Contestants who are selected for the program must be available on the evening of Tuesday 7th February, Wednesday 8th February and Thursday 9th February. Any contestant who makes it through to the Grand Final of Friday Night Games must be available to attend in March 2006. * Contestant selection is up to the disgression of Endemol Southern Star.

I guess the Big Brother time issue will have to wait for awhile. We may have to find out how timing is going to be later in the year. My guess is that, like any show in Australia that has been running for 6 years, it will remain in the same slot as it always has. We'll just wait and see.

Channels 10, 9 & 7 have all recieved the rights to a new promotional ad for the Extreme H20 Zone. The ad will begin airing sometime around January 17. And Slick, honestly, how can a park, any park, NOT advertise a new ride? I mean, this attraction is going to be the climax of waterslides in Australia. The biggest (literally), fastest (literally) and most thrilling (li-well, we'll just have to figure that one out for ourselves) waterslides in the whole country and Wet 'n' Wild is gonna sit back and say "Ahh, the new rides. Hey, I've got an idea! Let's not tell anyone about them!" Think.

Google It. The only answer I can give is Google It. I tested it and if you go to "http://images.google.com" and search "Wet 'n' Wild" you can get some pretty good pics there. Don't try to make the picture bigger, though, because most of them have low resolution. Also, if you want to get a particular ride, type in "Wet 'n' Wild / RIDE NAME". It worked for me.

It would be an idea but I would stick to the tyre-based Rubarok, simply because it is just cheaper. Lots cheaper. The theming of The Claw cost Dreamworld $269,000. Now to cover a whole theme park with that stuff is a good idea but very expensive. Just stick to something easy and cheap.

I know I'm kinda just saying stuff that I think, but I don't really think that ANY day is slower or faster. Any day you pick, you will be inundated with people, here, there...you will get annoyed at length and speed of queue lines any day. Except for the Claw. If I'm not mistaken, that is the fastest-moving thrill ride queue.

I think it is a camera angle thing. I work with TV cameras etc and I can tell you that it does make a hell of a lot of difference if you put the camera to one angle or at a certain point around something. How do you think they make all those "really high" buildings in America look high? They put the camera at the right angle to make it look high. No different with the Tower of Terror. Let's ponder over why he said that? Because that's how fast it goes! When I came out of the Tower of Terror when I went on it the second time, it said our top speed had been 163.5km/h. That, as long as I can still mathematically think, is very close to 165km/h. But then again, you know what they say. "Every k over is a killer."

You know what Southern Star (well more Endmol, if you look at their history) are like. They'll compete for ratings anywhere. This year, though, they're going to have a harder time earning the viewers they have earned in the last 5 years of BB, simply because 1. People were cautious after the big ordeal with the ABA, 2. Big Brother may have lasted 6 years in the US but chances of that happening here are not likely because people are sick of the show, and 3. It's reached it's use-by date. As far as I see it, 2006 will be the final year of Big Brother in Australia. As for everyone else, well, that's their choice.

Well, saying that is part true part false. The true part about that is that parks DO spend hundreds of thousands of dollars etc. The false part is that it's not a big deal. Think about it. $100,000 to DW is like any of us owning $0.50c. It's not a big deal to them, and it shouldn't be a big deal to us. Not saying, of course that reproducing the material is right.

NO-ONE KNOWS WHEN BIG BROTHER IS STARTING! Geez, if Southern Star haven't made it "the most likely date that the series will start" to the public, then why would they rumour to you? Re-word: Why would you rumour that this is gonna be the day that Big Brother is starting? It seems to me like we've got another Kyle amongst us. How about you follow this theory: Big Brother will start when it starts.

With all the um's and ah's over the last few weeks, I don't think anyone can be sure over the opening of the H2O Zone. Wet 'n' Wild staff would have the most knowledge, though, so maybe ring them and find out.

It may get hot, but it does not get half as hot as the cement that is currently covering the ground. Apparently, there has been a group of people living in Brisbane that have signed a petition to try to get WnW to review the ground, but according to sources (those of which cannot be disclosed for legal reasons!?*), the park immediately said 'no' and when the angry group stormed (actually, when they walked) in, they did not get anywhere and after a long verbal battle with staff and management (note I said verbal battle), they ended up going seperate ways and spending a day at the park. *All I can say is that this source was an Australian newspaper.

I have to say that I have noticed the noises that the Wipeout makes, but as long as Dreamworld staff do their bit to keep the old girl in good condition, I don't think there will ever be an end to its magic. On the topic of The Claw's "bump", and Mrmoon427's quote "it does get stressed out during it's daily run". The Claw runs on the same amount of energy every cycle, every swing & every spin. The Claw cannot get "stressed out".

There's a significant difference between nearly all aspects of Luna Park when compared with Dreamworld. I don't, as many other people have said, think that a temporary summer ride for Dreamworld would be necessary. Firstly, if the public gets engrossed on the ride, what is Dreamworld going to do when it's time to take the ride down? It costs a lot of money and Dreamworld would not plan ahead and say, "Hey, the public is gonna love this ride, let's spend a few million dollars on keeping it here!". Like GoBoi said, Dreamworld is not a theme park comitted to randomly placing carnival rides around, it is instead Australia's most top-quality, value for money park. A funfair ride just isn't suited for Dreamworld. That simple.

There are a number of problems, though, with each of your suggestions. Firstly, to use a path cooling system that uses water would automatically mean more water usage, and there are signs posted throughout the park that say that Wet 'n' Wild is trying to minimize water usage, even if it is recycled water. And with the drought around the Gold Coast region, it's not a suprise that that idea would not be a good alternative. Secondly, like I said in the very first post, it would cost a reasonable amount of money to cover the ground of Wet 'n' Wild with a poor conductor of heat-well, really, with any flooring whatsoever! Shading the footpaths also makes a problem arise, as there needs to be some sort of covering to shade them. Unfortunately, this costs money and is useless for a nice, sunny, watery park. And covering all the cement with shady material would take ages and make the park a less sunny place to go. Finally, providing an alternative to walking would also cost a lot of money, and given the attendance numbers at Wet 'n' Wild, it would not be wise to try to have alternative travel for everyone. Any other ideas?

Well, it doesn't look like Big Brother will be moving down to Sydney anytime soon. Firstly, auditions have already started and TV ads have already been broadcast; there have been no reports of construction of the BB studios being re-built in NSW, and literally, there has been no construction anywhere else with anything to do with Big Brother. So I suppose we're all just going to have to face the fact that Dreamworld & Queensland are still the homes of Big Brother.

I haven't been to Wet 'n' Wild for quite a while, mainly because it was coming down to summer, but also because if anyone else hadn't noticed, the concrete ground there is extremely hot. The mixture of the sun beaming down on you all day, concrete and water isn't a good mix and match. The only thing that stops your feet getting blisters is if it's a rainy day. Yeah, good idea to go to Wet 'n' Wild on a rainy day, huh? There is one other way, which I found out, and that's to wear thongs or shoes. Wow, another good idea for going to Wet 'n' Wild! What is the point of wearing shoes or even thongs if all you're going to do is go on water rides or in the pools? I think, though it may be an expensive solution, that Wet 'n' Wild staff have a look at what they cover the ground with. What about everyone else?