Gazza

Hooray, they were both very ugly areas.

Thats a flywheel launch, which is something different entirely. A friction wheel launch uses tens of tires arranged on the track that simply force the train along to launch it. Friction tyres are a common sight on roller coasters anyway in the station and brake run, this is just another application of the system. Here is a pic where you can see all the friction wheels lined up: http://www.rcdb.com/ig557.htm?picture=16

But the thing is for a Hydraulic launch you still need a second smaller track in the middle of the two rails so the catch car has something to run along. Your right in saying they could do away with rollback brakes, but you still need that catch car track. LSM sounds like a pretty likely candidate though, it wouldn't be hard to chuck in a transformer somewhere on site, looking at maverick all they needed was a cable tray beneath the first launch to hold all the equipment. Haha, only the Hulk uses that system, I think we can safely say that system will never be used again, it requires huge amounts of power (IOA actually required a power storage system so that the park would draw a constant amount of power, instead of huge surges whenever the ride would launch. I actually read at one point (dont know if its true though) that if they hadn't used these measures the entire state of florida could experience brownouts each time a launch took place.

Woah, the carrots are being demolished, looks like these guys failed in their mission.

^Yeah true, SE definitely does have a well thought out story, but 'theming' is different to story, theming is more talking about the fixtures within the ride (scenery, textures, objects etc), though the two are related. That's why I think WWF wins out in that department because the "look" of the ride is unbeaten here in Australia. Even if there isnt a real reason why you are doing the stuff you do in WWF, it sure does give the wild west "feel".

Is the site parklands or whatever, or is it just that gravel area south of SW? If its the latter then I dont see what the harm is.

Yeah, I agree with Swanny actually, a flume ride has no real place in a waterpark IMO, the idea is to be in the water not on top of it. Flume rides are pretty pointless IMO if they arent themed, which puts the budget up fairly high (WWF was $20 milion) with that sort of money you could buy heaps of waterslides as they are significantly cheaper. For the first point, one thing I have considered is that the bowls may not use the dual entry starting tubs, and they may just squeeze two slides in the last 'spot'. On the second point, there is also something like it going in at "Siam Park" in Spain:

To clarify, djrappa was referring to Hydraulic launches. A magnetic launch is something I have suspected for a little while with the MDMC, as dj said, there is no catch car track, but there seems to be an absence of a motor room for the launch. Oh, thanks for the pics saberon, huge pics though, 3Mb each

Why is everyone missing the point so badly!? NOBODY HAS AN ISSUE WITH THE CHOSEN THEME, HOW ABOUT READING STUFF PROPERLY, NOT JUST SKIMMING OVER Sorry to write like that, but its the only way I can get the message across The whole issue is to do with these statements in the press release! The thing people think is stupid is that DW is trying to pass this off as some sort of patriotic ride somehow trying to suggest that motorcycle racing comes from Australia or that it is unique to Australia. I did a bit of googling, it turns out Motorcycle racing originated in Europe (First recorded race was in the UK) Yeah, our country is home to one of the greatest motorbike racers, but that doesn't make motorbike racing Australian does it, nor does it make it a major part of Australian culture. See i disagree. A plain motorbike themed ride isn't distinctively Australian, otherwise you would say this ride is australian themed because it involves motorbikes. All they have done is chucked the words "Mick Doohan" on the front of the name, that alone in my opinion doesn't make it Australian themed. If there was a coaster named like this, would it be 'as Aussie as meat pies"

Really? I would have rated WWF far ahead of SE, WWF seems more elaborate and has more details to notice, and lacks any major unthemed sections.

But again the point is being missed, nobody really has a problem with the chosen theme, just the suggestion that it is genuinely Australian...go back and read the last bit of the press release if you want to see what people are on about, that tries to trumpet it, and the park as "the ‘Australian theme park’ celebrating our unique Australian culture and its heroes" No, but that ford versus holden debate is one that has dragged on for years, moreso than forum discussions on coasters have ever existed for. Personally I think if you can get a car that does what you want then thats a win for you, and both cars are Australia's best selling so there must be some merit in both for them to sell at the rate they do.....oh wait, the corolla sells better than both now doesn't it

To put it simply, some Australians are interested in motorsport, but motorsport is not uniquely Australian. But yeah Swanny and Richo have the right idea.

For a couple of years I actually lived in Echuca ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echuca ) Which is considered "the paddlesteamer capital of Australia" so I got to see them quite a bit. The point I was getting at is the style of the Charles Sturt paddle steamer is wrong as it is in the American style. The ones on the Murray tended to have two narrower paddles either side of the vessel rather than one big one at the back, plus the smokestacks look a bit different (not the "crown" type like on the Charles Sturt) I cant actually comment on the architectural style of Rivertown as I cant remember much of it, but if you want to compare with a real Murray river town then again Echuca would be a good example as there is a historic port district that has been preserved: No, just bogans who have no greater issues to occupy themselves with. Well, I dont think it is, yeah those events attract thousands of people, but what about the other sports out there, personally I would think that one of the major football codes would be a greater part of Australian life, hundreds of thousands attend matches weekly (not say once a year because its something to do) or pull on the boots each weekend, and during the week it dominates the sport section of the paper and office conversation wtih tipping comps. When was the last time anyone on here got behind the wheel of a race car anyway, reeeeal big part of Aussie life I mean yeah there are about 3 noteworthy racing events on each year here, but they aren't something that is iconic about Australia.

Though then again, Model-T cars and big white rear driven paddle boats aren't exactly Australian either, but I can see where you are coming from. Gum tree gully (now that's going way back) was probably more Australian. As for motorsport related stuff, really something to do with Mt Panorama would be the closest you could get, but I cant imagine a ride being able to fulfil that theme well, or that that sort of theme is any good anyway.

Wouldn't it be on the 31st of October?

This hasn't been brought up till now, but what advantage is there in clamping the track to the supports with a metal plate instead of bolting it on directly? Reference has been made to this a few times in the photo updates.

What difference does it make? plans are out showing what they have in mind, you can tell pretty well from that what they are going to do and form an opinion based around that. What about when major new buildings are going up, in various streams of the media you can see 'artists impressions' so you can tell what it will look like, and then the next day in the paper you see letters to the editor printed saying how good/bad it looks. Not all parks go for that look actually, sometimes muted colours look a lot better. Also, I can get what GoGoBoy is saying about the bike colours. Green, Blue and Red seem like a weird combination (on the colour wheel, they dont even represent one of the combinations that supposedly 'work') Id agree that a few more colours in there would make it better. Agreed, though I think the reason people love them is because they were a welcome break from some of the horrible stuff Sandersons came up with before them. At least they are making stuff that looks ok, even if its not groundbreaking. To say they have done nothing good is a bit harsh, the Claw would be an exception as an attempt was made to tie the thematic elements and ride together.

They certainly are, it is a well known fact: Its not the first time they have missed the mark colourwise.... http://www.atomiq.com.au/mainstreet.html

That's got me wondering, in Churros pic you can see a bundle of splash guards about halfway between the power pole and the right edge of the picture. Splash guards are used on open slides, so maybe some of the slides could be fully or partially open. Just wondering though, did you poke your camera through a link in a fence, or were they just out in the open? You could have just walked up closer.

I'm thinking they should just set up the final part of queue like this. Before this there would be normal queue areas, but then it would split in 3 and signage would direct people to the right areas. Cant wait to see what happens with the Mick Doohan Egostroker.

Ian has done an awesome update on the coaster showing heaps: http://ozcoaster.net/index.php?option=com_...9&Itemid=27 There are only 2 sidecars per train, the rest are doubling up with normal bikes. And the restraints look interesting, you straddle the bike, then slide foward and extra bits of body hold you in, then the bar shuts behind you so you are in a little enclosure and sitting upright. Theming looks pretty predictable, lots of chequered flags and walls with a similar motif. Personally I dont like it because its pretty unimaginative.

I remember seeing that as one of the options for what you'd prefer to see as a new attraction in that survey that was circulated a while back, I actually opted for it since I wanted to see SW pull off another animal exhibit as that is clearly their strong point. Hope they go through with it though...If they use the same formula in naming the exhibit as their others can I suggest "Hippo Delta" or "Delta of the Hippopotamus".

I think we can safely say there wont be any inversions given that kids are going to be riding it. The thing is only 7m high so that would rule out pretty much any inversion except for a barrel roll. Plus we haven't seen any supports or footings that would facilitate holding up an inversion. Just with that dual loading station thing, where is the second station? Surely it isn't that second transfer track since that has a stopper at the end. Or will just be separate load and unload like SE? Also, about the fairly low capacity, remember that the number of stations isn't the only thing, ease of loading, and the number of cars in each train are important too (I think the train length is to blame, motorbike coasters by their nature have bulky seats and cant fit people in as tightly as normal coasters)

To elaborate on smash210, here is the whole thing: Sounds pretty much like a nod to Wiggles World, especially the education centre. Time for a database entry.

The logo for those interested: Source: RACV Royal Auto Magazine, August 2007.