Gazza

Well, I felt it fitted in with the style of WWW, I think I would paint the exterior a bit differently instead of the dingy stripy look they have going, perhaps an aqua colour with more of those murals (just another little note, on the back of the shak on the wall facing the green room has caricatures of those four hosts) but I didn't think it was too bad. worse than those small F&B outlets scattered around the park. Im suprised so many people posted consecutively bagging the poor thing, at least its got a beachy look, you cant say the same for some of the stuff at DW like that RCT style hot dog stand, now THAT is out of place. But If you want to see it in context, this is the best I can offer. And another shot showing the whole thing.

Yeah, I saw that when I was down in Geelong a couple of weeks back, but I definitely is not permanent, though the quality seemed better than most carnival rides, giving that impression. And Ash1111, the Southern Star has been known about for a long time, I think it was actually R-Cs first article: http://www.roller-coaster.com.au/article.php?aid=12 , however it will be about 10m shorter than the London Eye.

You know, I changed my opinion of the H20 zone after seeing it in the flesh, it looked on par with WWW believe it or not, well planted. I guess the grass under Mach 5 could be considered plain, but it looks better than the gravel pits at WWW.

Just a little thing, I think it is a misinterpretation to say the ride is going behind Whirlpool as has been suggested. The area in question is where some concrete slabs are for marquees. The only fencing is that orange netting (about 1m high), so if it were really a ride construction site there would be proper steel temporary fencing. I think the only reason that area is fenced off is merely because its no longer peak season, so they want to stop people from wandering in there.

Heres a few more pics for you all. Cool angle. The thong song. Criss Crossing They were filming one of those horror movies where the whole world is deserted because everyone is dead. You can also see wiggles characters in Chupa Chup form. Signature shot! Half of the interesting loading system. Gotta love that helix. The rings remind me of Jellyfish. Fun....if you are a small person. Forgot to Add this one. In hindsight I should have taken it from the next landing so you could see more park and less sky, but you get the idea. For the record I took 127 photos of the park And as for the questions: To the best of my knowledge the Hydrocoaster didn't break down....or in other words It didnt break down when I was trying to ride. As for the length, well others have written some cursory reviews, so you might prefer them. I said from the outset what I was planning to do. But you make 10 minutes sound like such a long time, just wait till year 12 English comes around..... The other thing I forgot to comment on was the food. It was average at best, I got the "Lifesaver Meal" which had a Pizza (Cheese, Hawaiian or the one I had; Meatlovers) , some chips and a fountain beverage, all for the price of $11 (I actually paid $12 since I don't like carbonated stuff, so the only option was water for $1 extra, ridiculous considering water would be cheaper than Coke, must be that $1 PET bottle it comes in ) It would be nice if they had juice or flavoured milk as an option. The chips were good, they had an interesting seasoning on them, sort of like a weak version of the stuff they use at Nandos, it sounds trashy but I ended up keeping them in my locker and heading back for them, they managed to stay warm, but in hindsight I should have kept the pizza in my locker, as pizza ok cold. Oh, and don't expect sauce with your chips either, thats 50c extra. Evidently, their Idea of a meatlovers pizza is replacing the pineapple with beef on a Hawaiian. There was no sign of pepperoni, bacon, kransky or even BBQ sauce. Naturally the pizza was fairly small. They also didn't bother cutting it up, nor providing a knife and fork, so you have to eat it burger style. The sauce was similar to the type found on supermarket pizzas. It really does highlight how far behind DW's F&B is behind WVTP in terms of price and value. Oh, and Richo, cans were about $5 from memory, and $7 for the imported stuff. And GoGoBoy, the expansion area is a bit bigger than the photo can show (some is cut off, plus the angle makes it look smaller). I guess in addition they can put more stuff in the cyclone area (near the lift and first drop), they can also do something like mammoth falls at WnW and build over the back of house areas. But heres an Interesting one I thought of, what about expanding into part of ocean parade, I mean theres what, an old graviton and entiprise, just rejig the cyclone entrance and some of the paths and hey presto, some more space. Naturally flowrider would be incorporated into WWW at this point.

Look carefully and you will see that I wasn't daring at all

Well, I’m back from 5 days on the cloudy Gold Coast so its time for me to give a review of our newest water park. Ill jump around a bit so bear with me, its not really a trip report, but detailed descriptions and opinions, good for those who have yet to visit and want to know all the ins and outs. The place looks quite nice, though apart from "The Shak" and the artwork/fixtures on the buildings the place isn't really this themed place it is made out to be. The bright colours give it an upbeat feel, and things such as the statues of two dogs fighting over a thong, and the giant thongs near the temple of Huey have a tounge in cheek, jokey feel to them. It was good how there were so many shaded seating areas, but the place lacks the dense tropical gardens that WnW has. Granted, the plants haven't had time to mature yet, but many of the plants are things such as Cycads and shrubs, and wont ever grow up to form a shady paradise. Another thing I noticed was the huge expanses of river rock used throughout the park, even in places which could have been planted. I guess it looks sort of modern, but when weeds start sprouting it could end up looking terrible. Bark chips were common too. It was also excellent how the queue areas for rides were shaded on all sides, so no matter where the sun was you could avoid the heat. The path surfaces were smooth too, a far cry from the pavers used in parts of WnW that can be quite frankly painful to walk on. But overall, the place was nicely landscaped, but not what I'd call themed. But now, on to the rides. THE RIP: This was an interesting one. The best parts of this one are the steep drops, which is odd as I thought the bowl would be the best part. From the start tower (which is a bit of a hike, with long flights of stairs) you enter the tunnel. A quick U turn sends you into darkness, pretty much disguising the drop. Before you know it you go over the edge, it feels as though your whole raft could tip. If you do as the operator says and lean back the, drop is quite thrilling going backwards as you are virtually going head first with your center of gravity below everything else. The drop levels out and you are flung into the bowl, with a bit of a bump and a lot of splash as you transition in. You can expect to go up on the walls a couple of times, though the centripetal forces aren’t that strong. For the most part you feel like you are cruising along quickly. Soon enough you start heading for the middle before plunging down another steep a drop, with a bit of a bump you level out, get swamped by a huge amount of water before another big wave hits you as you finally land in the pool. With all this going on you don’t notice the water curtain, I guess its more of an aesthetic thing. THE BRO. This was a good one. Again it is quite a hike to the top, with long flights of stairs. This ride was a walk on all day, and out of all my rides I only had a couple of full races. The starting method they use for this is quite good, and I think it should be used over at WnW as IMO its safer, basically you start down with one knee on the mat and your foot in the water, so your center of gravity is low and you don’t end up slamming your chest down. The lack of a timer is a bit of a negative, but its still fun. The tunnel gives you plenty of time to pick up speed, its fast! As those blue segments whip past faster and faster you can almost hear the sound of a jet accelerating in your head. I have no idea how people say they can get stuck though, its no narrower than the twister at WnW, and while it does feel small there is no doubt you can fit through, and its quite a cool sensation, like being a bullet in a gun. You emerge from the tunnels and hit the 3 hills, I never got much air on them though. They are well designed, with each getting progressively larger and smoothly shaped. You don’t get those jarring transitions like on super 8, nor is there an excessive amount of water to get in your face. The finishing area is nice and long, and again not a harsh stop. If they get a timer on this thing it would be arguably the best racing slide in the world. And a little tip, lift the front of the mat up, and ride so your only contact points are your knees and elbows…you will rocket! TEMPLE OF HUEY Again this ride was a walk on. It was good how they offered single person rafts as I was there alone and had nobody to ride with. Most people seemed to opt for them, and I guess it’s a point of difference. It was also convenient in a way, if you didn’t feel like carrying the ring you could just stand it up and fling it up the stairs like a bike rim, and then jog up and catch it before it rolled back down. I think this ride could be run a bit better, they had just one op at the top trying to sort out people in 6 starting sections while directing when each person could go. And at times they simply shut screamin’ right handers. This ride could benefit from a traffic light system. As for each track, Broken Headz is a cool dark slide, though they have insisted in bastardising it by putting in fibre optic lights, why cant waterslide places just let us enjoy a pure black slide with no sense of direction? Regardless its quite steep so you pick up speed quickly. Cut snake was my personal favourite, plenty of twists and turns, and it has a vicious helix at the end that gives a bit of force, the first time I have felt g’s on a slide. Screamin’ right handers is a bit tamer, but not boring. Even the open section at the end was fun, sloshing around the turns in a wide channel. The splash pool system is good too, as you drift right over to the stairs and clear the splash area, which would improve capacity. Edit: Forgot to mention the backwards rides, very fun and it gives a whole different experience, you can expect to feel a bit dizzy after trying this way out though, I never knew a waterslide could do that. PIPELINE PLUNGE I passed through here a number times but never stayed for long. The four slides would be nice for kids, but adults were riding them too. I found them a bit narrow and jarring, and not that smooth, but they were ok, I guess that’s what you get for riding a children’s slide. The main reason I kept coming back was for the bucket, it was really nice and cooling, and forceful. The geysers around the outside were also good to run through tackle bag style (I had gotten sunburn at SW the previous day so this place was soothing) It leaves you dripping wet, enough to make the hot trek across the park more bearable. WIGGLE BAY I generally avoided this place for fear of being seen as a paedophile. I did however purposely go through a couple of times purely to walk across the musical keyboards. I also had a quick go at the trumpet type thing. CAVE OF WAVES I spent about one cycle of waves here to see what it was like. The waves were fairly forceful, but at the end of the day a wave pool is a wave pool so I spent some more time on the other stuff. THE GREEN ROOM My favourite ride at the park! Some nicely shaded stairs take you to the top. All day the line was about one flight long, so I got plenty of rides. And yes, it is better than the one at WnW, but only by a bit, and sort of by default if you get what I mean. The raft conveyor simplifies things a bit, and the cloverleaves have a bit more momentum than the whirly wheels at WnW, so they tend not to get bashed by waves as much, and tend to do a few more oscillations in the funnel, It was also cool going up on the walls and being in the darkness for a few seconds as you negotiate the helix. Just like the rip, the drop is steep and it feels like you could flip over, and again if you lean right back you get a virtual headfirst plunge down the drop. As you head up the funnel for the first time you get a ton of air, before you speed down and get swamped by the water that gathers at the bottom, some more wall time follows, usually about 3 or 4 oscillations, and you get a fair soaking from all the water gushing around. The last little drop gives a bit of a thrill (and causes a few shrieks) and prevents the ride from getting boring at the end. I think the ride could be improved though if they had slot drains (like on supertubes) on the drop into the funnel. This would get rid of that huge amount of water that tends to gather at the wide end and through the middle, so you wouldn’t get that bump, and you would get a smoother ride with bigger oscillations. SUPERTUBES HYDROCOASTER. This ride was interesting, but perhaps a bit over hyped. It was popular though, with queues stretching down to the second flight. The loading area is interesting, with space for two rafts in series. There was one conveyor in front of the other, and each had its own control panel. The main control panel even had a colour touch screen, with an overview of the ride that shows the block zones and which ones were occupied. Basically a raft comes off the belt from the ground and onto the first conveyor. You then load in and the op holds down 2 buttons to move you forward to the second conveyor. They then have to walk to the second control panel and dispatch from there. Clearly the system was designed to have one raft ready to dispatch on the second conveyor, with one loading on the first, and two ops running the show. Unfortunately DWs staffing levels are evident, so all the needless walking back and forth and unused capacity means the capacity isn’t how it should be. The 3 passenger rafts are problematic to, as most groups were of 2 riders so on top of this it runs at 2/3 capacity. I think this could be improved by switching to 4 passenger rafts as is being used on Proslides next installation at SF Kentucky Kingdom.(if the layout would allow for it) This would mean most rafts would go out full by combining groups of two. As for the ride…the first drop is fun, plunging to the ground quickly. For you tech heads out there, the magnetic system works by kicking in at a minimum speed. This tended to happen 2/3 of the way up the slope. Its quite an odd feeling as you can clearly feel each set of LIMs activate, so it’s a bit jerky and “bang,bang,bang,bang,bang†on the way up. Its by no means uncomfortable though, just a little “artificalâ€. You head into the U turn tunnel, getting a face full of water on the way in. Its down another fast drop and up into the hill, there isn’t much airtime (for safety probably) though if you lift yourself up a tad on the way over you can get a pop of air. I guess the feeling you got here was the same as going over the precipice on a drop. The way the LIM system worked was evident here again, as on some rides the LIMs simply didn’t activate. From here its another boosting ride up the slope to the helix. Again you cop a bit of water from the big pipes on the way in to the helix. You cruise around steadily but fairly quickly, with a short moment of darkness. Again its down another dip past people watching oneand into the tunnel. It’s a bit of a dishwater finale from here, the only real exiting moment being the small dip. It’s a shame they didn’t make the last tunnel a dark one like the others as it could have made things a bit more interesting. Overall it was a fair ride, but not that intense, it would actually be fairly good for families as it doesn’t have the rough splashes and sudden movements like on other rides. So overall a great park, i managed to get it all done quickly, but i stayed all day. Its worth a visit, and has an exiting future ahead of it. Oh, and as for WnW versus WWW, well my opinion hasn't really changed, try to visit both, if you are a first timer on the GC and can only do one then the variety of WnW is the way to go, but if you have been to WnW recently than try WWW. And as for the vastness debate, I actually got more soreness from WWW, probably due to the fact all slides had stairs (no ramps like at WnW) so my calves were a bit sore the next day. I also noticed you got less breaks on the way up, in paticular the Rip and BRO had very few landings. Compare this to Mach 5 and Blackhole at WnW which have frequent landings. In terms of the physical size of both parks, neither were an issue. Before I finish this report Ill leave you with some pics: From the stairs. Twisty. Probably the best looking ride here. GREAT landscaping . And people complained about the H20 Zone. Temple of gravel. Could almost be in the press kit. Frozen in time. Try getting this shot. Circus themed rip.

If anyone was interested a heres a pic I took on Monday of the "Shak"

On the first point, we could expect something half the size, Vekomas version is 60m tall (as per the stats at the end of the video) while Intamins comes in both a 30m and a 20m version. On the second point, well In reality very few rides truly recreate their subject matter (There are probably more, but mine rides are an example of one that does recreate its subject matter) I mean Wipeout is themed around surfing and its a topspin type ride, the claw has some sort of beastly theme, but all you do is swing and spin around, in real life pirate ships don't swing back and forth, but that hasn't stopped them being a popular ride. I could go on and on.... The point is a little theming and a surfboard shaped vehicle would be good enough for the general public to get the idea. It might not be exactly like surfing, but as I said very few rides actually do anything to do with their theme/concept) To be honest, you're splitting hairs a bit, how else would they do it? Have a straight track with a little zigzaging to simulate going up on the wave, with single rider surfboards you get strapped into and a fake wave over the track? Sounds a bit complex and not particularly fun, when they could just build a half pipe and theme that.

Umm, We know its a roller coaster, what's your point? After being up on the GC, I'm wondering if SW would have been the right choice after all, the place was full of families with little kids, with barely any teenagers who would be likely to ride the thing, which makes me wonder if it would actually convince thrill seekers to head down for it. I mean Corkscrew seems virtually always dead which says a lot. I think SW would be better off going for more family oriented rides and do more to add value to the visits of their primary audience. Given the parks situation in terms of space, planning restrictions and the proximity to animals they would never be successful trying cater to the thrill market in the long term.

Yeah, I never found it too bad, the queue video is actually watchable and somewhat interesting the first time, there are some nice touches in terms of theming, and you are through pretty quickly. Behind WWF it is probably one of the better themed queues.

The other day I drove past the port of Melbourne, going by the number of shipping containers, there must be hundreds of new rides being built. Also, I might repeat a point I have said before, but if you want to subscribe, but don't have a credit card, pay via money order, I'm sure you are all old enough to go down to the post office and get one.

Gee, its a bit much to go all the way from Tweed Heads for some photos of shipping containers. I'll be up that way Wednesday/Thursday so I'll take a couple of pics then. Though If you were planning on visiting anyway, It could be worth seeing if you can your trip to a hub like surfers/pacific fair, and then transferring to a bus to DW. Edit: Ugh that Surfside website is terrible, I love it how the network map is so small its barley readable, and the PDFs are sideways. But you would take bus TX1, it runs from Tweed Mall to Burleigh to Mermaid Beach, and then express to WnW/MW and then DW, it leaves at 8:10 or 8:40 and takes 31 minutes to get there. The return direct bus leaves at 5:10pm assuming you want to stay all day.

I wont be going to DW on my visit, perhaps if DW had tried to compete more and had built a new ride I might have gone back One other thing to consider is that 43% of Dreamworld's visitors are from within Queensland, so many of these people would be locals heading to a park for an occasional day out, or would be season pass holders who might have settled for one park. Therefore by being competitive you can capture visitors who might only go a single park for a weekend outing, or "lock in" visitors with an annual pass by offering them more than the competition.

LOL I think you are getting Batman confused with Deja Vu, which was built by Vekoma. Batman was built by B&M, and I have never seen a source on the net say otherwise, see http://www.rcdb.com/id24.htm You seem to have some degree of coaster knowledge, so I am surprised you didn't realise Batman was a B&M

White Water World isn't the only park that has had a good season: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...947-643,00.html So I think we can lay to rest these fears about parks failing, needing heavy discounting, an over saturated market etc.

But when you "wipe out" during surfing do you go through locked rotations and swing back and forth ? (A reference to Wipeout at DW for those who missed it) I'll probably be wrong, but I think Ride Trade might be sticking stand up seats on this variation of the ride (As they have done with their free falls) I mean I don't see why they would bother with another model name (surf rider) for a halfpipe if it was something as trivial as a different shaped ride vehicle. Standing up could give something more akin to surfing (as far as the large numbers of non-surfers riding on the thing would be concerned)

You sure do like using weasel words such as "larger people" to tiptoe around how people really are.

^That was the greatest post known to man. But on what Rabid said, well I guess there would be some water parks out there with coasters (I don't know of any though, but Ill take Rob Alveys word for it) But if you look at the mainstream sort of water parks (Eg the Hurricane Harbors, Schlitterbahn parks, Wet'n'Wild's in the US, Cedar Fair water parks, (In fact all of the American ones I can think of) the European ones in the Mediterranean etc they basically dont have coasters (In the interests of a balanced argument I wont omit the fact that one water park has a Caprio AquaFlyer, a sort of precursor to the Setpoint Roller Soaker style ride, see http://www.rcdb.com/id1450.htm, however it is a water ride so it sort of fits in and people tend to approve of this sort of ride going in to water parks, however it no longer operates) I mean a water park having a small galaxy type coaster is one thing (I assume that is what you are referring to when you say a similar sized coaster), but a $5 mil thrill ride seems a bit much. But for me, the main reason I'd have rather not seen it at WnW is because I feel SW needs it more.

Yeah, I can see what you are saying, redoing the vintage car guideway would be quite cheap, I could imagine them just making it hug the edges of the area or something in order to give a nice big space for the ride. Plus when it gets finished people have another launch they can stop under

Ah you mean this guy? http://www.roller-coaster.com.au/gallery.p...=70&image=1 I hope they stick to their dates, as I'll be there from the 4th of march (But I was planning on heading to SW that day) and I don't want to miss out on another chance to ride SE. But as for the refurbishment aspect, would it be just stuff like repairs to wear and tear caused by visitors that happens over time (Perhaps a regular/recent MW visitor can shed some light on the condition of the attraction)? Or could it be those theming improvements people dream about?

I have thought about something like that too, nowadays I don't think the Matrix movies have enough of the hype factor to really make it strong enough as a standalone attraction, but I think a whole exhibit of various WB movies could do the trick. Along with the usual memorabilia, It could be made more appealing to children if they introduced some interactive exhibits centered around the production of special effects. Think of something along the lines of Questacon or the Science Center in Brisbane city, but with exhibits explaining how special effects work rather than scientific principles. It would sort of be reviving the old special effects tour, but instead people would be free to try out the ones they felt like and a CM would supervise/explain. There could be things such as a bullet time room, where you hit a button on a touch screen, then move into the area where you can jump around and look cool, before watching the results on a projector screen. There could be all the usual Green wall stuff too. Another idea could be a revival of the sound effects thing, but have little stations with the noise making devices chained on, and lights that gives each person a cue. Maybe they could do something to do with the Ant Bully or Happy Feet where you read off an auto cue, and then your voices are dubbed over a scene from the movie to give an idea of what it is like to be a voice actor. The possibilites are huge. If they built an exhibit like this, It could also be popular with school groups (for example those doing media subjects) This sort of addition would be a nice for a year when no major rides were planned.

Hey cool photos, they remind me of the sort of thing that would suit the parks website, but I mean that in a good way. WWW seems to have tons of gravel though, I feel sorry for the people who had to get off Supertubes, ouch. Perhaps WWW maintenance should duck into Bunnings and pick up a few stepping stones for the emergency exit.

Because the only mechanics are in that separate mini park at the front (Dont ask me why I made that, i think i must have forgotten to close the park, so instead of clearing the peeps out I just gave them some stuff to do so when the MW was done I'd have a nice supply of guests to dump in) Either that or it is a bug in the game, which isn't my fault.

Yeah today I went to WnW and rode the Half Pipe, it was a really enjoyable ride, great G's at the bottom of the curve, and cool airtime at the top, the spinning was pretty fun too, a bit faster than the Claw at DW. See an interesting thing happened and the ride got built instantaneously, so now we can all talk about the ride and how it was, instead of commenting on the happenings during the construction process that normally takes months. Its really lucky for you too sonic123488, you were facing months of not being able to talk about the ride since it wasn't open, but now it is so you can enjoy it now and talk about the construction technique.