tom

Visited USS on Thursday! Had a great time. I think the park is awesome! It's still not completely finished but from what I tell and experienced it's a must see holiday destination. Unfortunately, the main attraction I wanted to go on (Battlestar Galactica) was closed indefinitely because of a technical glitch in their morning test routines. Thankfully I have myself a yearly pass and the park is literally 25 mins from my house, so I can go anytime! There isn't a single thing I can fault about the park. It cleverly combines the best features from USO/IOA, USH and USJ. Once it's complete with it's full line up of 24 or so rides it will be amazing!

I'm visiting the park this Thursday! Will report back and tell you what I think of it all.

Yes, it opened on the 14th WITHOUT any of the rides. The gates were opened to the entire complex for people to walk around for a nominal fee. The rides in the park were just 'testing' (I guess) so that people could see them in action. The official opening date isn't until early March I believe, however I do not have a definite date. News here in Singapore is big about it! The tickets released for the soft openings over the CNY long weekend sold out in a matter of minutes.

Not sure if you guys have seen this yet or not. Farrari World Same 'complex' is also going to be where a new Warner Bros. Theme Park will be built.

I went to Sea World today and went on the Jet Rescue and thought it was awesome. Simple but effective themeing, great speed and pace, simple but effective station. IMO the station (themeing) is enough. It's exactly how I would picture a 'Marine Research Launch Station' to be like... the white sails, the blue colours and the simple flooring. I think it works great. Overall a TON better then MDMC. The second launch on the Jet Resuce is (obviously) my favorite bit. Once you hit that launch and then out into the first turn after it's got some great forces on it. I took some video footage and some photos which I'll put into a short vid and place it on YouTube later on for anyone who is interested. I agree, once the Corkscrew re-open I would happily spend most of the day going too and from those two ride. Agreed 2nd (or 3rd) Not enough lockers, and placed in a bad section which is hard to get to in busy times. The loose article policy is always anoying, but it's in place for a reason. It only takes one pair of sunglasses to fly off someone's head while on the ride and injure someone behind them. It's not always about by standers. Maybe once the ride cycles more they will start getting more leaniant towards loose articles. FYI - The park was PACKED today. Officials at the front gate were claiming it to be the busiest day of the year (although, I wouldn't know for sure) but it sure was packed. And the most I waited for Jet Rescue was no more then 10min. Very impressed, although I'm sure that once they stop using the second train that will drop down but for today it was ran very well. Good job Sea World!!

Is the new show going to be similar to the show Lights, Motor, Action! stunt show at Disney MGM Studios. I know this is a big stab in the dark, but the two black car V's the red car is awfully similar to the same 'storyline' used at the MGM show. If it is... GREAT! The MGM show is fantastic. Even if the Movie World version doesn't feature the Jet Ski etc action, the driving segments of the show are unreal!

No they won't be removing conventional queues. Q-Bots work in a way where they save your place in line virtually... so it would be the same waiting time as if that person was waiting one space a head of you. And 15 mins? I know that a lot of Dreamworld rides in busy season get quite extensive queue times, so the Q-Bot system will be good for people who want to make the most out of their day. I would be guessing they will only be placing the system on the major rides of the park. Major theme parks in the USA (including Six Flags Magic Mountain, who has/is recently going to put the system in) love the idea of it, and it is a highly popular among guests and are highly sort after on a day to day basis. I know at Six Flags Great Adventure they have the system and they only sell a limited amount each day, whether or not Dreamworld is going to take on this system, I'm not sure. I do agree with the fact that it sounds like a way to make more money. However, it's a choice people can make and it's not necessary for people to buy if they want to ride every ride, because we all know it's possible without this Q-Bot system.

Wasn't it the station and queue area for the 'back lot' tram tour they used to run? And then it was an entrance to get to the movie magic show... or was that part of the 'back lot' tour?

I live in Singapore at the moment and frequent Sentosa to get photos of the construction. There is a collection of photos that I've taken on Theme Park News Direct, (www.themeparknewsdirect.com) if any of you guys want to check it out. Not sure if I can post that link on here, but anyway. It's looking good! Can't wait till it opens, I'll still be living here when it does so I'm pumped!

With any luck, I will be living in Singapore for 3 years to study so if it opens while I'm there... I'll be going! So, I'm excited! The Spiderman ride rocks, so does Mummy... Yee-ha!

Umm, I don't think I've ever been during the holidays... But at a guess, I would say the lines would be not HUGE, but decent enough for a wait. But then again most of the rides a fairly high capacity. Obviously you would be waiting for the Wild Mouse because it's the only coaster... However, I am not 100% sure. Has anyone been to Luna Park during the holidays?

I love Luna Park because it's such a relaxed environment. If I were you I would spend the best part of the day there, walk around, catch some rides (Although, they are just Carni rides) and just have a chill day with some action on the rides. Catch a ferry across from Circular Quay (if that's where your coming from) It's a great place just to hang out and have some fun. But that's just IMO. T

I wore my sunnies on El Toro and Nitro with no strap and no questions asked, not even by secuirty and the check points along the queue lines.

Yeah it is!! Puts Superman to SHAME! Even though Superman is still a great ride. I would love an Aussie park to put in something as fast as Kingda Ka.

Well, I'm back in Sydney from the rest of my trip including 6 night in New York and had the chance to visit Six Flags Great Adventure! Let's start with the Dark Night Coaster, is bad. The coaster itself is just a variation of the SDSC without the intro section. As soon as you leave the station you are out up the lift hill and into the first turns. The coaster itself is themed with corrugated iron tunnels and spray paint with black lights, some mannequins dressed as characters from the movies and some buildings with lights. That pretty much sums it up, not worth the hour and a half wait. The queue line is right near the exit door which wasn't good because every one who came out of that door shouted to the line that is was bad!! Now, Kingda Ka... What a thrill! Nothing will ever beat the rush I got from that ride. The wait was only about an hour (including a break down) but it was worth the wait. I was sitting in the second row from the front and of course the seats are tiered so we had like a front row view. Now let me tell you all that this ride is FAST! I don't know how many of you have experienced it but it was WICKED! By the time you reach full speed at the end of the launch track it was hard to keep your eyes open because of the wind! The rest of the ride is just breath taking. Such speed and force it's so hard to describe, but a brilliant ride none the less. Coming down the other side of the tower is amazing, spiraling straight towards the ground. Word's can't describe it, so I'm just going to leave it at that! El Toro is great! I would probably rate El Toro higher then Kingda Ka. Kingda Ka is a great ride don't get me wrong, but El Toro is so much fun. The first drop is so steep and the air time you get throughout the ride i incredible! After quite a few air time hills and some steep banked turns the coaster dives into a more steep turns that twist and turn around each other. The line for El Toro was about an hour but it moved a lot quicker then Kingda Ka. I was expecting a rough ride considering it is a wooden coaster but El Toro is so smooth its unbelievable!! El Toro is a must ride of Great Adventure. The Great American Scream Machine is painful. For all of you out there who think Lethal Weapon causes you pain... Wait till you get on Scream. Old, rough and hurts your neck bad! Superman Ultimate Flight was great! It's not an overly intense ride except for the fact your lying on your stomach. The only really intense part was when it dives down into a loop (I'm not sure what you call it). In that section it pins you on your back as you dive down, great ride. The line was about an hour long, not too bad though. The queue winds it's way trough and under the track so you can watch the people as they go around. Nitro was fun!! Such a good ride for good old air time and G's. Don't really have much to say about Nitro except it was the shortest line because they were running three trains and the lined moved quick!! Great ride, heaps of fun. We only had a short amount of time in the park, and the park was very busy the day I went. There was about 50 buses of school kids in the park. If your ever in New York and you want to go to Great Adventure, just go to the Port Authority in NY and get a bus. You can get tickets which give you bus, entry to the park and the Safari thing at the park for $60 bucks or so, so it's a good deal. Depending on your driver and traffic it doesn't take no more then an hour and a half to get there. Buses leave from NY at 9am until everyone who bought a ticket has boarded a bus and then the buses start to leave the park at 6pm, however the times do change depending on the park hours. If anyone has an questions about it, let me know. Hope you guys enjoyed my little in sight into Great Adventure!! T

Hey all, on a trip in the US at the moment and was fortunate to visit Sea World in Orlando today and had an awesome time! What an amazing park! Journey to Atlantis is a fun and quite thrilling ride. Has great themeing with the use of water effects, sound and projections all adding to the effect. The first drop is fast, sudden and steep and if your sitting in the front row prepared to be drenched. After the first major drop a smaller on follows which creates a massive tidal wave into the front two seats! I was in the front first time around and was completely unaware! Following this is another climb higher into the atlantis building where the speed builds as you move through dimly lit cavern into pitch darkness where the boat turns and dives into its finally splash down. Again, very sudden and steep and you can't see the track infront of you until your almost at the bottom of the hill. Overall fantastic ride!! Major ride number 2 is Kraken. A BnM Floorles! Very good as well although little themeing. But thats fine because the ride is wicked! Sitting in the front is the best. I think I rode it 5 or 6 times. Smooth, fast and twisted. The only themed section of the coaster ride itself ( apart from a bit in the queue area ) is where the coaster dives into a tunnel into a tight left turn and into a flat spin! Great ride!! One of my favourites!! The rest of the day we spent seeing all the amazing shows including Shamu the killer whale! Spectacular shows!! World class acrobatics, lighting, sound and animal entertainment all in one!! A beautiful park and heaps to do!!! I highly recomend anyone who is in Orlando to go to Sea World. After spending a week on the Carnival Glory and a day at Sea World its off to New York and on Thursday Six Flags Great Adventure!!!! If there are any mistakes in this post sorry, I'm typing this on my iPhone so a bit difficult. T

I think she would have signed a contract stating she had to do so many years of the show, and either leave or be reviewed and get replaced.

Alton Towers again. Went in 2000 and loved it. Disney in LA and Hong Kong. Been to Disney in LA in like 1997 or 8... want to go to California Adventure. Six Flags Great Adventure (May 2008 WoO!!) And the top of my list: Cedar Point for SURE, and Magic Mountain.

A block system is usually a system of sensors and breaks which control and monitor the position of each train at every moment. For example: (BASIC example) A train leaves the top of the lift hill, does a couple of turns and what not, and then heads into a mid-track break run, then continues on into more turns and into the station. The section of track between the hill and mid-track breaks is called a block section, and the section of track between the mid-breaks and station is a block section. These breaks and sensor system only lets one train in that section at a time. It's a safety measure to make sure only one train is in a section at a time and that the trains are kept a safe distant apart. This system can be more highly complex depending on the ride, or more simple. If I'm totally incorrect, feel free to correct. I'm not at all sure how the block section on Superman works, so I'm not going to comment. Leave that to someone who actually knows.

It's out in the US, which is where I am currently living/working. That's how I got mine.

I just got Super Mario Galaxy. It's a wicked game... Any one played it? I also like Super Monkey Ball. That's just a whole lot of annoying fun! Ba ha ha!

Yep, same system just a lot more power behind it. Wikipedia - Kingda Ka I love Wikipedia! Go Web 2.0!

You can try Div Share (www.divshare.com). Its free and I think the restriction on file size is 250mb and it doesn't decrease quality. No need to sign up either. Or you can try Vimeo (www.vimeo.com), which you have to sign up for, but only takes a second and Vimeo features a nice integrated player. I use it a lot, well I use both a lot for TAFE projects.

Hey guys, Was just reading Attraction Maintenance details on the Movie World website and it said that the Matrix Exhibit will be closed on the 1sth of April to make way for a new attraction. Anyone got any informatioin on what this might be? I'm guessing, another sort of 'movie' attraction, but from another movie (Obviously!). Just thought I'd point that out to you all! tom

Every time that I've seen the movie it has been in 3D. And I've seen it MANY times... Haha! Multiple times, each time I've been at the park. I love it! Maybe the day you saw it, they were having projector technical problems. If one project isnt going you can't get the 3D effect.