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  1. Almost always. Yeah we've been trying to get our parks to move away from leaving things SBNO, so that alone is enough to disagree with you there. The manufacturer doesn't support it. SFMM - which has far more money to spend than Dreamworld does - is still cobbling together parts to keep theirs running (and not very well, I might add). It's not like an accelerator coaster where theres plenty of installs around that could be retrofit - bringing a company in to design and install a new launch system would literally only benefit two parks in the entire world, one of which was cash strapped enough that they took their old parts to cash converters. No. Nobody is reviving the reverse freefall coaster. It was built for one purpose - to break records. Its a one trick pony and while it hauls ass, that's really all you can do with it - and modern coasters do the exact same thing, but with loops and top hats and all sorts of far more rounded experiences. The ride design is dead and as soon as the last remaining drives die in Valencia, it's done. How many people you reckon drive the M1 after dark? And that's why you're not in charge of a theme park.
  2. *Pic heavy thread* Hi all! Whilst in Melbourne, I decided to visit Funfields theme park to wrap up 2022 and figured I’d share my thoughts here. For those who don’t know, Funfields is located in Whittlesea (about 40 mins from Melbourne’s CBD). Opening in February 1985 as the “Alpine Toboggan Park” (that’s right, this park pre-dates Wonderland) it was rebranded as Funfields in 2005 and has seen rapid expansion ever since. The park no longer offers printed park maps, however a large sign containing the map (as well as a QR code that links you to a digital copy) is located near the entrance. As you enter the park, you are greeted with a large outdoor picnic area complete with barbecues. Funfields allows (and even somewhat encourages) guests to bring their own food and drinks and camp out on the lawn (multiple people even brought tents which are also allowed). Turning left leads you to the first themed land in the park; “Mystic Kingdom”, a children’s area with a medieval theme. The area features some impressive theming, including an interactive animatronic tree. The land is home to a series of flat rides for the youngsters, including an SBF mini drop tower, an SBF Airborne Shot, a ferris wheel, carousel, spinning balloon ride and a teacups ride re-located from Australia Zoo (most of which I forgot to take pictures of, opps)! I love the way this operator’s booth is themed. The “Burnout” (formally the “Stingray” from Dreamworld) was also located in this area, but has since been retired to the car park (apparently it’s for sale). Continuing through this area leads you to “Amazonia Falls”, the park’s interactive water playground with a jungle theme. Manufactured by Wizard Works, this attraction is quite unique in that it’s completely solid-state and uses a computer to activate the water effects, rather than relying on the traditional mechanical valve technology most water playgrounds use. This also allows for some pretty interesting effects such as motion activated fountain jets and “TNT detonators” (where pushing the plunger will cause water jets hidden in the surrounding splash pool to suddenly activate, soaking unsuspecting guests). The structure also has a “tipping bucket” of sorts, though it’s not really a bucket at all. Instead the “treehouse” simply dumps water on guests every 3 mins. A smaller, more traditional water play structure by Whitewater West called Birdy Cove is also located nearby. This attraction is designed for children under 6. Private cabanas are available to hire in this area as well. Moving further up the hill, we arrive at the Tiki Bay Bumper Boats (manufactured by J&J Amusements), one of the older attractions at the park, having been installed in 2004. Still as popular as ever. Behind Tiki Bay is the Typhoon, a Proslide Cannonbowl water slide advertised as being the longest of its kind in the world when it opened in 2013. Despite the many expansions and additional investments Funfields have made after its launch, Typhoon still remains one of my favourite slides not only in the park, but in the country! The sheer amount of speed you pick up in the enclosed section never fails to take my breath away. You absolutely FLY through this thing! That combined with the drop into the typhoon bowl itself and the suspense of not knowing if you’re going to complete the final drop facing forwards or backwards creates an incredibly fun and intense ride experience. A must do attraction when visiting the park! Next up is unfortunately the first stinker in the Funfields line-up IMHO, the Splashdown in-ground water slides. A flashback to the old “Alpine Toboggan Park” days, these slides were installed in the 80’s and quite frankly, that’s were they belong. Whilst they may have some historical significance, I wouldn’t mind seeing them be replaced with something a little more modern. Next are Wipeout and Blackout, two slides manufactured by Australian Waterslides and Leisure and installed in 2009. While they may have been somewhat overshadowed by their newer Proslide counterparts, these are still decent, fun slides that are worth checking out (especially Wipeout which lives up to its name. It has a tendency to launch riders over the final splashdown pool, providing a pretty thrilling finale). Now we reach the ride that started it all, the Alpine Toboggan. Despite being installed in 1985, this attraction still holds up extremely well today. The carts were speed-limited a few years ago due to multiple accidents when guests ignored the warnings to slow down on corners. Some believe that this has negatively effected the ride experience, however I was still able to get my cart up to a decent speed and had a very enjoyable ride. Perhaps it differs from cart to cart? Between the Wipeout/Blackout waterslides and the toboggan is a path that leads to the rear section of the park. Following this takes you to…The Voodoo! A very highly themed Zamperla Discovery Revolution. Funfields really went all out with the theming for this attraction and the attention to detail is amazing! The basic storyline is that your are exploring an ancient temple, looking for lost treasure. However, the treasure is guarded by an ancient Voodoo spirit named “Tawhirl”. Signs throughout the queue combined with an ominous soundtrack help to set up the story and prepare you for the experience ahead. Many props (lost items from previous explorers who attempted to grab the treasure and failed) are scattered throughout the queue and around the ride area. I love the attention to detail in this rock work too! It’s supposed to look as if the gondola has smashed through the middle. Then, as you enter the site of the old temple (or board the ride) Tawhirl becomes displeased with your presence and unleashes her wrath, picking you up and throwing you around (the ride swinging you around) to keep you away from the treasure. The ride experience is a perfect balance of being fairly intense, but still something the whole family can enjoy. A perfect addition to the park with simply excellent theming and a well executed storyline. I also really love how the theming from nearby Volcano Beach in the background perfectly matches up with Voodoo’s theming in the foreground here. Seems the park actually thought about sight lines which is pretty impressive! Speaking of which, Volcano Beach is the park’s wave pool and another very well themed area. I think I’ll let the pictures do the talking here: As you can see, it’s probably the most immersive and highly themed wave pool in the country. I absolutely love having the volcano as the centrepiece and that there’s plenty of shade around the beach area to relax in. It pumps out some pretty decent waves too! A cafe is also located in the area offering takeaway food such as chips, burgers and pizza as well as ice creams and lollies. Salads and even coffee is also on offer here (a larger cafe near the front of the park carries a similar menu too). Private cabanas surrounding the wave pool are also available for hire. Behind Volcano Beach sits the newest addition to the park, Supernova! It’s a shame this attraction has been largely overshadowed by the opening of Gumbya’s new coasters, as it’s the park’s biggest investment yet and is by far the best water ride they’ve installed to date. The pacing on this slide is fantastic. From the very beginning of the ride, you immediately pick up quite a lot of speed and navigate the first few turns at a pretty fast pace (this speed is maintained throughout the slide). The “Supanova” colour effects in the tunnel are very impressive and the fact you pass through them at fairly high speed really adds to the experience. Then comes a pretty intense drop into the main tornado (not sure if the drop is any steeper than other tornados, but it certainly feels that way) before taking one final turn and finally ending the ride in the splashdown pool. It may not come across in this write-up, but the slide is actually quite long in length and would have to be one of the most intense water slides I’ve been on (aside from maybe some drop slides). If I was to nitpick though, I would say the most disappointing aspect of the ride was the first “bowl” element near the beginning (not sure what it’s officially known as). I was expecting that you would spin around in this bowl or do something exciting. But nothing really happens. It’s just sort of there and you simply glide past it on one side and that’s it. Not really sure what the significance of it is TBH. Apart from that though, this is a sensational slide overall that is fast and thrilling and not to be missed! Next to Supernova is 2017’s Gravity Wave. I must say, the two slides weaving around each other looks very impressive from the tower. While Gravity Wave is definitely a decent attraction, I do unfortunately think it’s a bit of a one trick pony (at least compared to Supernova). The ride starts out incredibly slowly and meanders around until the main drop. While the main drop is still incredible and definitely worth checking out, Typhoon is still the superior slide overall IMHO, with Supernova beating them both by a mile. Still, having both Supernova and Gravity next to each other works really well and adds to a solid line-up in that area of the park. Next to Gravity wave is the Kraken Racer, a 4 lane aqua racer from Proslide. Another good addition to the park. The park is also home to Thunderdome Speedway, a go cart track installed in 1997 that still pulls in decent crowds today. Heading back towards the front of the park leads us to Treasure Cove, a pirate themed mini golf course. One of the holes even goes through a tunnel! This cemetery area reminds me of Movie World’s Boot Hill. In front of the mini golf is Sea World’s former Pirate Ship, Blackbeard’s Fury. Manufactured by Huss and added to the park in 2009, this attraction still rides beautifully and is well maintained by the park. It even has additional theming that wasn’t present during its time at SW. That covers all of the major attractions the park currently has on offer. All up, Funfields is a very impressive park that is well kept, well run and features a fantastic line-up of rides with decent theming and a great atmosphere. Other factors such as themed audio throughout the park, decent food, friendly staff and great operators add to a fantastic overall experience. I do feel like the addition of a coaster is very much needed to complete with Gumbya, though there is plenty of room for expansion, so hopefully this will come later. The water rides on offer are far superior to what Gumbya currently have though. So they easily have them beat in that regard IMHO. All in all, Funfields is definitely a must do park while visiting Victoria and is easily one of the best regional parks in the country!
  3. That plot of land that's cleared where the Lazy River is should stay reserved for White Water World. That's the only place left they can expand. Dreamworld has a few areas that they can still expand into without using up that location. I really don't want to see a Power Splash in the park, It just seems like a one trick pony which I feel given the past of Dreamworld would be a step back. I strongly think a good family friendly water ride like a decent log flume would be great for the park. If Sea World didn't already have Storm I would have loved a more extended version of that TBH. I Feel that kind of ride should be the next attraction they build from the ground up. Then something to fix up the ABC Kids area would be my next priority. If they re-routed some footpaths they could probably utilise the space Big Red Car took up, and the space where the Tower of Terror queue stood to make a decent sized dark ride. I mean you could even take up the space that the Wiggles Fun Spot uses too. Once those 2 attractions are done, then I'd say the park would be due for another decent thrill ride. I'd love to see one of the new Vekoma Flying coasters like the one at Phantasialand open up in the park. I'm not sure what this ride costs, but I'd say it's cheaper than the B+M Variants and it looks to be a damn good ride and something that's not seen in Australia. Honestly, if they hadn't just done up the Motocoaster that land would have been great for a new coaster but I don't see it going anywhere now for at least 10 years since it just got new trains.
  4. The new show is the worst OS show I have seen. OS tried to one trick pony it with its projection mapping and forgot about the rest of the show. A bit like what happened to SD. It strange don't you think that even though he wasn't the GM of SW he was the face of SW.
  5. I think it is the most likely of the parks in Victoria. IF it goes here this is going to be a huge gamechanger in the amusement park industry of the state. This will be the first large scale coaster in Victoria outside of Luna Park Melbourne ( which has admittedly had theirs for over 100+ years 😆) It will definitely be interesting to see EXACTLY where it ends up going. I have also heard reports that there is a new "amusement park" being set up in Perth WA and they have secured a coaster for it and that Buzzsaw could possibly be it. This could also be true but I feel its more of a long shot than te Victorian parks. If I was to scale my bets on where it will end up, it will look something like this: Gumbuya- to me the most logical destination, they have a need for another large scale thrill ride and Buzzsaw certainly fits the bill at a bargain basement price- its good bang for your buck. Adventure Park, Geelong-They are certainly expanding their dry attraction base and once again, Buzzsaw is quite an attractive option. No shortage of space for it to be installed. Luna Park Melbourne- This is a bit of a dark horse for mine. The park has desperately needed a 2nd full sized coaster ever since Metropolis closed and Buzzsaw would certainly fit into that footprint. The bargain price would definitely be quite attractive for the park here. My only concern would be if the height of the ride would be an issue. I am not sure on whether this would be approved by the council , however their last new ride was a Starflyer , which is a decent height in itself, so perhaps this may not be as much of an issue as i feared. Funfields- This is Victoria's best amusement park and is a good combination of dry and wet attractions. They have had experience with 2nd hand rides from Qld in the shape of the Stingray from Dreamworld and the Pirate Ship from Seaworld. Their last dry attraction was the 360 degree pendulum ride Voodoo and its a great ride that is fairly well themed. There last 2 overall attractions were a new slide and the wave pool so perhaps its time for another thrill attaction to throw into the mix? Who knows, price is good and available space is not a problem New Perth based amusement park- As I said this comes from a reputable source that this venture is off the ground and they have secured a coaster. Beyond that we know very little else. Thats pretty much my thoughts on where it could go. I just reiterate that even though the ride was a one trick pony, its great to see the ride saty in Australia. This coaster will add huge value and prestige to any of these parks.
  6. It’s very interesting. I think there is more interest in WHERE this ride will go than the actual ride itself! At the end of the day , we can only trust the info we have received. I have now heard it from 2 sources but until it’s announced officially, there is always going to be that sliver of doubt. Even though the ride is a massive one trick pony, I am glad that it appears to be staying in Australia and the positive implications this has for the industry as a whole. This means that some regional park will be gaining a quantum leap in ride offering. Be it Gumbuya, Funfields, Adventure Park or even LPM, this is a pretty savvy purchase and it’s mere presence at any of these parks will generate positive public perception.
  7. I am going to throw my 2 bits in here. 100% agree that the Flyer would make probably the biggest impact. These are fairly rare credits overseas in any case and to have one here in Australia would be an absolute game changer. I think we are all thinking B&M here but what would people think if we had the new Vekoma Flyer? Not sure of the cost difference but this might be an easier way for our parks to gain a flyer? FLY at Phantasialand looks fantastic but part of that is the incredible theming which an installation here is not going to have. If it proves economically cheaper then perhaps that would prove the more feasible option. B&M Wing Coaster- again I think this would have a greater visual just like a flyer- its uniqueness would be a huge selling point. Dive Coaster- Not my personal favourite -I find them a bit of a one trick pony- but I get that the public would be enraptured by one and they provide such a strong visual aesthetic. Definitely would be a good option. Inverted Coaster- this provides the similar connundrum as to the flyer model- which to choose between a B&M or a new Vekoma Suspended Thrill model. Personally I would love to see a B&M invert here- Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa remains one of my favourite coasters of all time- however, once again if it came down to economics, then the new Vekoma models do look the goods. RMC-I think that a ground built new RMC should be on the cards as Dreamworld's next major coaster. One of our parks should get one in the coming years. Their installations have been almost universally praised and any park that recieved one would indelibly stamp their presence on the world stage. I think a large Spinning coaster from either Mack, Gerstlauer would be an excellent addition to any of our parks and would fill a need for a coaster that still has plenty of thrills but would also be a great family ride. I am not putting into this category the Mack extreme spinner- I feel that would be better served as a thrill offering than what the other spinners would do. One of them would definitely be an excellent addition though. Other than Scooby, we really do not have a decent indoor coaster and I think if the parks could fit one in, it would be met with positiveness from the public- think something like The Mummy or Escape from Gringotts from Universal. Absolutely the same for me. I dont wish to see an RMC Raptor now we are getting Big Dipper but my reasons are a little more selfish- I enjoy the excluvisity of LPS having the only single rail In Australia. Interesting that you think it will be a more polished ride than a Raptor- on what criteria do you think that this will be the case?
  8. Yes. Classic or not, GC is simply the worst Arrow looper layout ever made, ever. Its ONLY saving grace was its location when it was built. It's a terrible, terrible coaster and I stand by my words. Why is BS a one trick pony? You get insane hangtime on the lift, the lift is terrifying till you clear it, especially after what happened at Magic Springs, and then you get an awesome shuttle section that leaves your guts at the top. Not to mention the roll at the top. I am seeing three tricks here - upside down lift hill, heartline roll and full speed shuttle section. I'd happily ride it many times in a day and get thrilled every time. BS is the only coaster I have ever been scared on, EVER, and that's because of the lift hill situation. I like being scared, it's a nice addition to being thrilled. Can you please tell me what safety issues it has had that make it unique in that department vs other coasters, same with maintenance? By the way, Buzzsaw is technically full circuit, it goes around the original circuit completely after a lift hill. You are thinking of launched shuttle coasters that don't have joined track at both ends. Buzzsaw is not unsafe. What happened at Magic Springs was a freak, and one of only 5 times in the world a coaster has gotten stuck upside down. In all of documented history. The fact that it DID happen though is what makes it scary. To me anyway. My then BF and I both enjoyed it equally, many times during our visit. If I had been allowed to leave my state and DW was open at the time, I'd have gone for a final marathon of 50 rides if I could have gotten them in in a day before it closed for good. PS you conveniently missed out where I said the ride could be improved if not removed, for example, profiling the ridiculous near horizontal drop (J/K but it's bad), to actually be steep and could then deliver airtime, as well as drastically improving the ride overall. Some of the middle dead track area could be changed around also. PPS I put my money where my mouth is - Magic Springs got added to my park destinations for my marathon trip next year, after Buzzsaw was announced as closing. I would like to enjoy a skyloop again on my trip.
  9. So - you think its a good idea to keep a ride that is long established as a 'one trick pony' that has had numerous issues with safety systems and maintenance, but you think they should get rid of a full circuit, classic attraction - an Arrow custom looper that (as was recently said elsewhere on Parkz) would probably qualify as an ACE classic if it was in North America, simply because it wasn't specifically designed for the site?
  10. At the risk of offending anyone I am assuming you mean the SkyRocket II and not the original Skyrocket model as installed at Kennywood. I think a Skyrocket II would be an excellent addition in that space and would be seen as the obvious upgrade to what Buzzsaw brought to the table. These are more than the one trick pony's that Skyloops provide. Not having ridden one yet, they do look like quite intense rides and they certainly are far superior to the Skyloop and yet it would provide a skyline very similar to the exisiting Buzzsaw structure. Of course these are not the only options which could be a fine direct replacement for Buzzsaw. Zamperla announced earlier this year their take on a similar ride called the Double Heart coaster which visually looks very similar to not only Buzzsaw but the Skyrocket II. There has not been a unit installed yet but they look like a good option for some smaller parks to invest in-the larger model would be great marketing for the park as a cheap 200ft plus hyper coaster- matching the height of DC Rivals down the road. 2 trains gives great capacity. The 70 foot option also looks like a good model and option for a direct replacement. All in all, I dont think it will be long before we see some of these models installed in a park soemwhere. Of course, Intamin have a similar model which would also be an excellent replacement in this space . Their vertical LSM coaster has had one unit to date and that has had much praise put on that one install, Sandy's Blasting Bronco at Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America. S & S have been bandied about on this thread with the 4D Freespin ( I hope I get that right 😬) but they also offer something which I think would be a far better direct replacement. Their LSM Triple Launch El Loco has also had good reviews and they look like a decent ride experience as well. Currently there has only been one install of this model at Playland's Castaway Cove. Of course the S & S 4D Freespin has had many installs across the world ( mostly thanks to Six Flags ) and they have been greeted with mostly positive reviews. One of these could easily fit where Buzzsaw sat and would provide excellent kinetic energy to that area and as you enter the carpark. Not my first option as a replacement but one I could definitely see being installed and actually quite marketable to the public. I think that any of these options would be a great direct replacement for the poorly lamented Buzzsaw-my take is that if we had one of these announced it would be met with good enthusiasm from the general public. If Buzzsaw could have survived for another couple of years and one of these was announced immediately as the replacement then I think general approval from general public and enthusiast alike would be aligned. Now of course, we have Dreamworld once again removing attractions seemingly without a plan for replacement. The public perception of poor value abounds in forums and social media posts regarding Dreamworld and their current ride offering. One of these installed would go a long way to regaining some measure of equilibrium- although there is still plenty of work to be done beyond a replacement for Buzzsaw. So out of these options which would one would you choose to replace Buzzsaw? Which would be the better ride and which ride do you think would have the greater impact on the general public ?
  11. Just been on BuzzSaw for the first time in at least 4 years. For a one trick pony, it’s alright, especially when you only have to wait one cycle. But definitely not worth much of a wait. I asked the ride op the last time to ride had a decent wait time and he couldn’t remember it had been that long. So definitely not a loss for the park.
  12. Wow Dreamworld. talk about shitting in your own hand. Where do I start? Why can't they add a flat? Literally anything that fits in the space is fine. It'd be a nice space for a swinging ship style ride or anything with a suitable footprint that adds more kinetic energy to that area, but doesn't detract from ST. Given the proximity to what is likely to take the crown as their new flagship attraction, they'll probably want to get some retail and F&B options set up over there to milk the bystanders though... collapse of ansett. SARS. bird flu. That was my first thought. Probably make stroller and wheelchair accessibility less labour intensive. I'd wager a shorter overall train too. How would you know? It was never bloody open!!! I'll own this one - I made several arguments for this rumour on the basis of rides missing from their pads. These have reportedly returned so it seems rumours of their demise were greatly exaggerated. I am sure QGOV would make them loans as they have done recently on the basis of it being commercially viable. The minute it isn't, they won't. The government doesn't go around propping up a single failing business without broader implications. This is why Village got the same cash Ardent did near the start of covid. No - if DW tanks, like Wonderland, the gov isn't going to step in and save it for sentimentality. If no buyer is found to continue running it (and this has happened before, albeit the park was in a better state than it is now), then they will pave paradise and put up a housing estate. If you open a restaurant, and it serves shit food, and its costing you more money than its making you to keep it open because people who try the food don't come back, do you keep opening the restaurant? Wasn't that because the queue was an iron clad oven? Anyhow - sorry buzz, but good riddance. one trick pony. poorly thought out. poorly executed. poorly manufactured given the safety harness issues it's had. Poorly operated given one row of seats was closed just so that an operator could cross the track... bring on the dozers.
  13. Was at the park today when news filtered through about BS closing (strangely didn’t get the pass holder email…) So I figured I better give her 1 last ride before stumps. I can see why it’s closing. Was 12:30pm and not a single person in the queue. The people on the ride were on their third run without even getting off. I still enjoy the speed out of the heart line roll, but it really is a one trick pony.
  14. Yeah see I think that these are a little underwhelming and a one trick pony for mine. Dont get me wrong , they are B&M's and that means quality and it would be a quantum leap over anything we currently have but I think there are far better models in the B & M lineup which i would rather see installed. I rode Shreikra at Busch Gardens Tampa and whilst i enjoyed the ride, for mine, it paled in comparison to Kumba and even Cheetah Hunt. Still, if one was announced, I would take it!! It would make more sense installing one at Dreamworld IMHO.
  15. Interesting- I have never heard this. What was the nature of the poor support from Maurer? Whilst I do not disagree that Buzzsaw was an odd decision for Dreamworld to install ( it was totally opposite to their need at the time) for mine, I think its fairly inaccurate to label Maurer as a "second tier manufacturer" or "terrible manufacturer" on the basis of just ONE coaster. To date Maurer have installed 63 coasters in various locations in virtually every market in the world. Their spinning coasters are well regarded, and with 21 installations across the world, are their most succesful design to date. They have been installed in major theme park players such as Alton Towers, Phantasialand, Disneyland Studios Paris, Six Flags and Hersheypark, to name a few. They also have installations of other custom coasters at Universal Orlando in the form of Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket ( which I have ridden and really enjoyed ) and Fiorano GT Challenge at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. Even the Skyloop model (XT 150) of which Buzzsaw belongs to, has met with success around the world with 9 installations. I certainly agree that they are limited in their scope, however, and there were certainly other options that would have been far superior that Dreamworld could have explored ( Premier Rides Skyrocket II comes to mind). In fact Dreamworld would have been far better off going with the Skyloop XT 450 extended model- of which there is currently only one installation at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, called Abismo. By all accounts , this gives a much more satisfactory ride experience and is far from the one trick pony that the normal Skyloop model is. They still remain as players in the world market and with several installations across the market as late as last year and they are concentrating on their latest product the Spike Coaster, of which 2 units have alerady been installed and several are being planned for Cruise Ship installation in the future. Combined with their Wild Mouse models ( over 15 installations) they have certainly made an impact on the world wide market. I get that they are not on the same level as Intamin or B & M but to completely debase their whole attractions listing as inferior is a bit of a stretch. I have not heard anything majorly wrong with the company in regards to their operations or after sales service so to label them thusly as a terrible manufacturer is also a tad erroneous for mine. Just my 2 cents worth
  16. I'd love to see Aussie World, LPM or Adventure World gobble up Buzzsaw if they were prepared to buy it. A pretty cheap way to add a big ride that doesn't take up a lot of land. DW buying buzzsaw was a head scratching decision for me. They bought a ride from a low tier manufacturer that had a poor track record even at the time whose most successful models are small spinning coasters and wild mice. Remember that when Buzzsaw was built Ardent at the time was penny pinching... I wouldn't be surprised to hear that when they realised they had to get a big thrill ride they went with the cheapest possible option, which was more than likely the skyloop. Nowadays DW have to live with the consequences of their owners being cheapskates with yet another problem child ride in their lineup. Almost 10 years after the fact DW have a double whammy, a ride that is most of the time shut, and when it's not shut, its a ride that nobody wants to queue up for because it is a one trick pony that also doubles as a bone shaker.
  17. The one pictured is the DW ToT. Intamin's modern day version of the ride is this one at Ferrari World. The loading is faster with the switch track and also the cars have greater capacity with both forward and backward seats. BUT when you compare the ride to the new Coaster coming to DW, this new version of ToT really doesn't have anything that the new Coaster does + another one trick pony is not what DW needs. I wish they could have come up with an affordable and effective way to salvage ToT, sadly 2019 is one for the DW history books.
  18. We visited Alton in 2010. Th13teen was a fun ride, quite enjoyed it. Air (Galatica) broke down as it did, but we waited. Really enjoyed that sense of flying. Spinball Whizzer was fun, agreed on the movement of the structure, it was doing that in 2010! Oblivion - remember getting up the top, thinking the view was amazing and then "oh sh*t, why am I doing this" on the reverse chain at the top of the drop. Exhilarating as you plunge into the darkness, but all that energy gained is wasted with the shortness. A real one trick pony. Ran out of time for anything else, never got to ride Nemesis. 😩
  19. I don't want 2 MW's theme parks on the Gold Coast. It must be pulling someone if it's been running for years now. That ship sailed when WWW was canned as a park. WWW is nothing more than Blue Lagoon on steroids now. It's obvious it’s currently not Gold Rush. DW don’t have a plan so what do you want DW to say? Do not do this. Do not spend all of DW's money on a one trick pony while the rest of the park sucks. LOL, who's in the "I'm to cool crowd"
  20. So I just got back from a visit to Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately I only had time to visit Ferrari World. Here's a quick trip report. The park itself is quite small but well thought out. The theming is very impressive throughout. Some of the things that the park did well: - Lockers/Storage of loose items was FREE for every ride. If you got a locker you got a wristband to wear whilst riding - Whilst on Formula Rossa you were provided with glasses to wear due to the speed, this was a great idea! - For those who wear glasses you were provided with "goggles" to wear on all rides so you didn't have to take your glasses off, which is another great idea! - To cater for those who wear traditional headdress they also provided special hoods to wear over your headdress, which I thought was a great way to accommodate the local cultural dress. - Food was acutally quite cheap. A slice and drink cost about $14AUD and the pizza was surprisingly good. OK some negative things: - I understand that Ferrari is a premium brand but merchandise prices here were ridiculous. I bought a fridge maget as I was given a 20AED voucher but it still cost me over $10AUD. T-shirts started at about $80AUD, the most expensive item I found was a leather jacket for about $1900AUD! - The opportunity to drive a Ferrari is available and costs about $300AUD, which is reasonable IMO, but it is on the streets around Yas Island, so you are limited to about 60km/h. There's the F1 racetrack nearby which would be so much better if they could use that so you could actually drive a Ferrari how you should drive a Ferrari, FAST! - Unfortuantely I don't think that this is a full day park yet, unless it was busy. It only took me about 2.5 hours to ride EVERYTHING once. Yes it was somewhat quiet the day I went (The only ride with a queue was Formula Rosa at 40 minutes, yay for free fast passes!). That being said they are constructing more rides at present (Including Mission Ferrari, their new coaster which looks amazing (I got a sneak peak inside the show building where they are building the dark portion of the ride, no photos unfortunately as they were moving a crane through the door and opened and closed it pretty quickly)) So the 4 roller coasters: Formula Rossa Is fast of course but was so much better than being a one trick pony. The long low helixes were great and the hills provided some ok airtime. I'd much prefer to ride this than the one trick ponies like Kingda Ka and TTD Flying Aces This was quite good. Lots of speed and airtime over the hills although it was already getting a bit rough and bumpy unfortunately. Themeing for the ride queue was amazing except for a small section of the Silver/Gold queue which is just a staircase. Turbo Track This was really dissapointing. Slow and a bit meh IMO. You can either go forwards or backwards, but not both. Doesn't feel particularly fast or thrilling either. What worried me most however was watching the spire from the queue, that thing wobbles a LOT in the breeze. I think they would have been better using the space in the middle for a really tall drop tower. Fiorano GT Challenge So much opportunity that has gone to waste. They duelling coasters have no real "near miss" opportunities which was dissapointing and there is a lack of banking on some turns, which make the ride quite bumpy. I went on everything on offer and found that most of the attractions were well themed and thoughtout. The Viaggio in Italia was great so hopefully Dreamworlds new ride is of a similar quality. Overall the park was great to visit. It was expensive but worth the day out. (I've submitted some pages to be added and removed from the Ferrari World page here on Parkz as some rides are missing and or closed)
  21. I really think that Dreamworld kinda has to go back to the drawing board as a park, there are signs that perhaps this is what they're already doing behind the scenes. Put simply, they're not going to be able to be anywhere close to rivaling Movie World in terms of thrills for quite some time and will have to focus on something different to get people through the gates for the time being. It does seem like something they're doing, which gives me hope. (Keep in mind a lot of this is my own opinion on what makes rides fun/thrilling, so of course there's going to be subjectivity here.) It's not just now because of DC Rivals that Dreamworld are behind on thrills, their lineup was inferior long before this. The only rides that stood above MW equivalents are the Claw and the Giant drop. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love these rides, but if I was given the choice between those two and MW's best thrill rides in Superman/Arkham, I'd have picked MW every time, maybe even just for Superman alone. Although I will admit that I'm probably more scared on Buzzsaw than any other coaster in the country, it doesn't deliver on the fun side of things even when compared to something like Green Lantern. TOT is just not that good, maybe if the park was empty and I could get lots of repeat rides I'd have a good time with it, but whenever I've ridden it has been a long wait for a slow launch to put me halfway up a tower with a bit of floater air that I could get over and over again on the claw at the other side of the park which rarely has that long of a queue. Wipeout looks way more intimidating off ride than it feels on ride. There's not any real forces involved with it, it just lurches you backwards and forwards and sideways a bit, and sometimes you flip upside down. I could go on and on for every other ride but I'll save you the trauma. Now that DC Rivals is here it has pretty much cemented my position on this, and with dreamworld as they are at the moment they're not going to be able to compete in the thrills market. I really want dreamworld to be successful, and I'm happy to be quite patient with them. But they're not going to be able to survive as a legitimate rival to MW forever unless they step up their thrill ride game some time in the future. I totally get that the right thing for them to do now is go back to their roots as a park and get that all fixed before they can build anything massive. Also, for the love of God, if they didn't spend the last decade building one trick pony cheap ride installments they'd probably have been able to build something incredible. I think once dreamworld starts to enter the rides market again they should really actually think about what they're building instead of seemingly picking any random pre built rides and placing them wherever there's empty space. It's like they're playing RCT career mode, and just picking whatever cheap flat rides will only just get them to reach the scenario goals, instead of actually being imaginative and building something truly unique to dreamworld.
  22. Because he's talking out of his ass Ive not ridden TTD but apart from Xcellerator I've not found anyone who doesn't rate superman as the most powerful launch. And Superman is certainly most solid attraction of any of the accelerator coasters given its more than just a one trick pony. Xcellerator is of course a whole different beast. There is nothing like that launch except maybe dodonpa
  23. In terms of thrill ride offerings, until Rivals opens, Dreamworld has Movie World totally licked. There's just so many different flat rides, some of them iconic legends (Wipeout) that to say Movie World's lineup of thrill ride attractions comes close is hyperbole. It's not a poor offering by any stretch of the imagination, and even when Rivals opens, it won't be poor, it'll be at best out of date. Talking specifically about roller-coasters though, Movie World's had Dreamworld licked for years. Sidewinder is a second hand, out of date 90's coaster with the smallest inversions on any major coaster in the world, Buzzsaw is a one trick pony, Tower of Terror, one trick pony, and the rest are either universally panned as awful, they're closed or a kid's coaster. Movie World has a world class launch coaster, world class wild mouse coaster (until they stripped it and said nothing since about it), an interesting albeit gimmicky El Loco coaster, a stock standard inverted coaster but with a unique helix and world class VR setup and a kids coaster. TLDR, almost every major coaster Movie World has brings something world class or unique to the table. Dreamworld's coasters are just not up to the national standard anymore, let alone the international standard.
  24. It must be a good overall ride, elements should work together and not be a "one trick pony"...
  25. Fair enough, everyone's different in what they like, hence why DW etc has a variety of rides I guess. Do you class ToT and GD the same as BuzzSaw, as in one trick pony? I went on MDMC the other night, I guess it's aimed at being a middle ground ride (between kids rides and big rides) but I really don't see how DW can label it a 'Thrill' ride, same with Pandamonium or what ever it's called. THat Green Lantern one you linked too looks interesting, but if it's anything like MW's I'd take BuzzSaw every time. What I don't like about GL is it's too controlled and doesn't 'flow'. It seams to have break points every where to reduce speed (which I get why). Just let the train go and have gravity and good design do the work.
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