Gazza

Thanks for the pics, looks like a very tidy and well landscaped park. Looking forward to Der Mammut?

I doubt it would be all we are getting, With Wet'n'Wild alone it is inconceivable no new rides would be going in there. I think it simply a case that not everything is announced, and Richo has merely worked the things that have been announced into the article.

Sounds good, I guess you cant help but feel we are losing a point of difference by being Australia's park site, but ultimately a worldwide focus is going to be better in the long term. As for the loss of the features, Its no biggie. With the rating system we had, there was an issue of people writing crap reviews, or irrelevant comments (eg saying "I cant wait for this to open" in the reviews section of a ride under construction ) Might I suggest replacing it with a simple 1 to 10 rating system (out of 5 was too limiting) so users can still get a rough idea of how good a ride is. As for how the front page look, as I have said the style is great and the header and navigation bar of the page looks great. But below that everything needs to line up a bit more (eg the latest photos bit should be the same width as the 'OpManager' ad banner, the Ads By Google on the left should line up with the edge of the dolphin photo, the top of the text that says "Sea World unveils new dolphin show should be level with the "Are you a member" box....I know, im picky), and the 3 links (more news, press releases, special features) aren't conspicious enough. Edit: and Myk has the right idea, it would be cool if the pinboard of photos was dominated by Aussie rides rather than American ones...gotta show a bit of national pride.

The Surfrider was featured on Getaway, and a video which has POV footage is on the Getaway website. Definitely does look pretty fun, and seems pretty similar to the Claw if the POV footage is anything to go by.

That "Australian First" tagline always makes me laugh, I mean we don't have a lot of rides so getting an Australian first would be pretty easy. Even if a park put in a small, common ride like a Disko it would still be an Australian first.

Bahaha good one. While we they're it they can put in a Space Shot ride and a Vekoma SLC

Like I said, Soarin Over California at DCA and Soarin' at EPCOT are both examples of this ride. Soarin over California is the most popular ride at DCA.

I have been thinking a fair bit lately about the sorts of things SW should add, and the changes they should make, and this is what I have come up with. Modified Water Park: Basically all of the Sea World Family Water Park would be gutted except for the plunge, and the water park would be trimmed in half roughly along the course of the monorail. The starting point for the old Tobbogan slides would be use for the starting point for three new body slides. They would take varying routes and would end in run-out chutes rather than a pool to save space. A new pavilion would be built, and the roof of this would have a sun deck where people could sit and relax. Two new pools would be built, one a normal swimming lagoon and the other a large wading pool with a small water play structure (Depicted is a White Water West AP650, which is one size down from the one at WnW. So ride wise, the water park would have slightly more capacity. The remaining space where the other half of the water park and the two flume slides were would be set aside for future animal exhibits (any ideas?) New Children's Play Area: I have always felt it was a shame our parks don't have proper kids playgrounds. DW has Wild Thornberries Rainforest Rampage, but I think SW could really do with an elaborate kids adventure area: After all, SW did once have Adventure Island What I had in mind was something squeezed in surrounding the Pirate Ship using all available safe land(though the pirate ship would be well fenced off), and funnily enough themed to a pirate island. It would have things such as pontoon bridges along the waters edge, suspensions bridges and net crawls, tall fortress towers, fake caves, a spray fountain area, walkways through jungle areas, and of course lots of slides: Intamin Panoramic Flight Simulator: If you aren't familiar with this sort of ride you can find out about it here: http://www.ridetrade.com/rti/index.php?opt...3&Itemid=36 This would be squeezed in between between Bermuda and the 3D theatre. The ride would be themed to flying over Australia's coastal regions (In keeping with the fact it is at SW) So you would do things like fly over the 12 apostles in Victoria, over the Sydney harbour bridge, along the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight, over the port of Melbourne with ships going in and out, Over the islands of the Whitsundays, along the beaches of the Gold Coast on a packed day, and perhaps even a climatic moment where you fly through a sea storm: The ride would have an appropriate sound track: Flyingmusic.zip I managed to get sent a flyer from Intamin about it, and surprisingly it had a full cost breakdown, apparently one of these fully themed and with all related capital (eg show buildings, doors, preshow equipment, sound system, IMAX projector etc) would cost about $12.4 Million USD....If I were in their position I would spend that in a flash, they really are breathtaking rides (If Soarin Over CA is anything to go by) New Roller Coasters: I'm going against the grain a bit, but I don't think SW should ever build any new thrill coasters, instead sticking to ones with broad appeal. SW is the most heavily visited park for families, so VRTP should cater to them and focus their thrill ride efforts at MW. The two rides I had in mind were a Maurer Sohne spinnig coaster with a Submarine theme (There you go Djrappa ) located near the Dockside Tavern.... ...And an Intamin Aquatrax with an Atlantis theme located between Corkscrew and Bermuda Triangle. I cant be bothered retyping what I had in mind but you read about it here http://ozcoaster.net/index.php?option=com_...9&Itemid=47 That basically sums up where I think the park should go, and imagine all this would keep them going for several years if you spaced all the additions out.

Pfft, 500pph is weak and not high at all, especially considering their attendance...down the road SDSC can do 1000 pph and Superman can do 820. The officially stated capacity for Motocoaster is 746, but when would they ever achieve that?

I wouldn't get too annoyed at DW for the state of the green room, it is the fault of Proslide, they make nice products...too bad they don't weather very well. I couldn't find pics that really show it off well, but have a look at how glossy and bright new proslide rides look: And compare to how dull and faded they look down the track: As for Eurekas replacement, something along the lines of a Gerstualer Bobsled or a Mack E-motion coaster would fit the bill...too bad DW would be unlikely to do something like this though.

What I was sort of getting at is that in the past it doesn't really seem like VRTP have trumpeted themselves in the general media as much, as you said they have been reasonably upfront about the buisness side of things, but with that it still takes a bit of research on the indiviuals part, and for the most part the GP would have no idea. With this it could end up being on the lips of locals.

This really does sound promising, even in the bonanza for park fans that was 2005/2006 there was nowhere near the amount of publicity we are seeing now. But what we need now is less rhetoric, and some solid announcements. Who knows, this newfound openess could see new rides being announced months in advance like overseas. Somehow, I think the fact VRTP 100% own everything means we could see a greater willingness to spend on their part, they after all are an entertainment company, and when it comes to entertainment you cant really cheap out on the audience. And hey, the shareholders support this strategy, so maybe within them there is a greater level of comfort with respect to large investment. In any case, it sounds more promising then anything Macquaire can pull off. Definitely looking foward to the year ahead.

Solution: buy the 4th remote.

I still stand byan Intamin Wooden Coaster being MWs first priority. I think it was when I was riding Goliath at SFMM that I realized I am more of an airtime fan than a g force fan hence me really wanting one of these. An Intamin woodie just seems like a really safe option, I mean after the Voyage, Balder and El Toro have second and third spots respectively in the Mitch Hawker Poll (With Collosus at a still respectable 11th spot) I think that speaks volumes about the quality of ride we would be getting...Imagine it, another coaster at MW being one of the worlds best.

I completely disagree with that statement. Indoor and outdoor rides can be themed equally as well, it is merely that certain subject matters are better suited to and Indoor or Outdoor setting. A ride themed to space would obviously be better indoors, but a ride themed to the Jungle would obviously be better outdoors. Have a look at these outdoor coasters with great theming:

Well, when they first announced the move I was happy because I had never gotten the chance to ride it at LPS (And I'm sure a lot of other people didn't either) At $5mil it was a steal, but they rely too heavily on it. At any other park in the world it would be a B list ride.

I hope Scenic Railway never goes, Its the oldest continually operating coaster in the world, and it would be hard to make up for the loss of it. I think just a bit of re-tracking would be the way to go. There is space for if they want to build another more thrilling coaster, why not have another coaster doing a couple of laps around the park beside the scenic railway? I think apart from the carousel and the ghost train you can just gut the rest (is that dodgems building protected? I hope not)

IP Board is cool like that. To do hyperlinks (even those ones where you have a word instead of a URL) Click the button that looks like this:

But that is a hyperlink it took me to the right page when I clicked on it.

It would have been published.

Edit: No I get what you are saying, and no you are wrong because if it were part of the resort then normal SW guests would lose access.

Being a first ain't make the ride more fun.

^By default splash battles have a pond that is under the whole ride area as a standard design feature, so water wastage would be reduced. Ill admit that this would hardly be the most thrilling ride in the park, but at the end of the day you cant just cater to thrill seekers, families are important too. Im sure everyone back in the pre water restriction days enjoyed having a water fight on the back lawn when they were younger, something like this would be just as appealing.

-Turbo Tunnels -Dark Mammoths -Body Slide Toilet Bowl -Pitch Black body slides (ridden with headfirst mats) -Future developments by manufacturers A master blaster is another option, while these uphill slides are nothing special, the GP love them, and the novelty of water flowing uphill seems like enough of a point of difference to what WWW has. Now that surf rider is in I wouldn't really object to wet versions of 'iron' rides now, they have the visitors to make it worthwhile, and they have the space to do it. The splash battle is a ride popping up everywhere, and A water park version reportedly costs around $2mil. A Vekoma splash party could complement this ride, perhaps even being built directly above it...those on the Splash Party could bomb water on those below on the splash battle, and those on the splash battle could fire back. Naturally these rides would give a much needed capacity boost.

LOL no thanks, I think Terror Canyon 1&2, Speed Coaster, Black Hole and the Mack 5 sidewinders has us set for raft slides. They should build something...how should I put this...NOT IN THE PARK ALREADY!