Wonderland 5/7/03 Photo Trip Report- SP On Ride Video!

[Flea]

My friend Andrew (Andy_q69) and I took another trip to Wonderland for 3 reasons: - To test out my new digital camera - To watch the new BMX show - And to get more rides on Space Probe! Here's how the day went.. I woke up at 9:12am, expecting it was 8:30am (which would've left time to play my new wakeboarding game on PS2.. but oh well) My mum hurried me into the shower, half asleep. I got dressed, grabbed my digital camera and were set to go at 9:30.. only with a few problems. My digital camera only had a 8mb card, which would only allow me to take 10-15 pics. I also needed more than 4 AA batteries, since my camera really chewed them up fast. We hoped in the car and were heading for my dad's photography studio. He grabbed a 96mb card for me, and said that I'll have to get the AA batteries at Wonderland. It was now 9:42am Due to construction of another lane of the horsley drive, the drive to wonderland was delayed by closed roads, detours etc. I arrived at the park at approximately 10am, and there was Andrew with his mother waiting for me. Andrew and I flashed our wonderpasses, and were now in the park. We raced for Space Probe, hoping that Billy would be operating it. There was no line, and before we knew it, the lights around the door turned green, and the doors opened. Was it Billy? No, it was the short monkey like ride op, who is very cool. We grabbed a few rides on Space Probe, and I took this pic.. In the Space Probe station, looking up.. It was now time for Demon, and Billy was operating it.. enthusiastic as ever. After a chat with him, we were off.. we sat in the front row, car 7. Demon was running very smooth this morning, my head did not bang against the restraints once.. best ride ever! After showing Billy my new digital camera, I took this.. Demon's loop. We were very hesitant about riding Galleon's Graveyard, but passed. Galleon's Graveyard Space Probe was yet again calling. So we took another few rides. (In the morning, SP was running very slow. It didn't feel like we were falling at all) More rides on Demon seemed appropriate at the time, so we took a few rides on car 6.. it was still as smooth as ever. Demon hitting the brakes hard It was now 11:10am, so we headed to Goldrush for a few rides on Bush Beast. On the way down, we passed the Action Arena (former site of the Action Man show) and noticed DareDevil posters to the side of the entrance of the Action Arena. We then found out that the DareDevil BMX show was to be held here.. Now we know why the action arena was kept I'm quite worried about the length of the post, (I may be denied if I continue to type any more) so expect Part 2 in 30 mins. Thanks, ~Flea

[Flea]

We stopped walking for a bit to watch the operation of Dragon's Flight. Yeah, I get dizzy on this ride.. Down we went to TBB, and grabbed 2 rides. (front and back) This was to be the only 2 rides of the day, since the rides literally nearly split my back in half (I still have a sore back now..). We walked over to Snowy River Rampage to watch the suckers get (kind of) drenched. Look at those weird freaks.. We decided to take a trip on the train to Transylvania. We borded the train, and then found 2 girls that we're very annoying. They were telling off all the game attendants, as if they were trying to show off to us. Besides, Andrew's very sexy (who wouldn't wanna show off to him ) We hopped off the train, and had lunch at Batty Chicken. We ate at the tables that provided a great view of Bounty's Revenge. Ouch. We saw a few ducks in the lake, so Andrew decided to throw a few chips in. Sure enough.. And you think you've seen a crazy duck! Just a random shot of Demon. It was now time for the DareDevil BMX stunt show. The show was ok. But really nothing special. We left halfway during the show, since we weren't too interested in people hurting themselves by stacking it 10 feet high, and blaring grunge music. Not a very good show, but worth a look. We took a ride on Space Probe, and Billy was now operating it. (I got on/off ride video! Coming soon..) After this, we took a ride on Zodiac and got a few more shots. A look at the now defunt Little Wonders Land We then took a few more rides on Space Probe and Demon, then left the park. Here's a few more photos.. The planes on Little Monsters Flying School seemed to have been painted. The ride was not in operation today. Two new carnival type stores were added in Botany Bay today. Picture here is the donut shop, which has an awesome american themed paintjob. And here's the other shop that sells fairy floss. The scary thing is that an 8 year old was working in the shop (and that's no joke.) I dunno, I just find this picture funny. Instead of buying coasters, they sell them! Argh! And the last one for the week, a picture of the sign that advertises the upcoming Super Hero Headquarters. I hope you enjoyed the TR and photos! If you wish to have the larger, higher quality photos, just pm me and I will have them sent to you right away. Thanks, ~Flea

[Andy_q69]

Me, sexy?! :shock: Anyways.. The 'Spellbinding Sorcery was up and running with the tigers. ('Feline Fantasy'). While taking that pic on the Zodiac, we managed to see the poor little tiger in its home having a feast on some leftover meat. Unfortunately, our ride on the Zodiac finished before we could see the people take it out of its cage. Another thing with the train ('Wonderland Express') is that it only stops at 3 places! When we got off TBB, we boarded it and yes, met them annoying couple of girls. We went onto Old Botany Bay where I stopped to buy a drink from the mexican food outlet. The train left without me so then Liam was stuck with the girls :twisted: . Once the train turned the corner to go into Transylvania, I ran after it with my Sprite Ice in one hand and having the urge to drink it for the first time. While I got in the train carriage, Liam and I decided to stop off at the Space Probe entrance. Although, the train didn't stop there, it was heading back for Goldrush! Well, since them girls were still with us, they offered us to come with them on TBB again. Then Liam said to them with his famous saying 'Nah, it's alright' saved the day by rejecting them :twisted: . When the train stopped at Goldrush, Liam and I walked and ran back to Transylvania where we queued for Space Probe. When we got off it, (After about 2 rides due to short queues) we managed to come across them girls again, who said to us: "Nice photo!". While we just ignored them, they stormed off and went to the Demon while we went back to Space Probe .

[Flea]

Then Liam said to them with his famous saying 'Nah, it's alright'

They then threw fairy floss at me, so i started dissing them with comments like 'You wreck my life, why did I ever meet you?' ~Liam

[Andy_q69]

Congrats on your 200th post Oh yeah, the train stops at 4 stops (but only in the 1pm-1:10pm period) due to the Planet X (BMX) show happening. It stops right out of the arena.

[Flea]

Ok guys, from now what I believe is an online first, on ride footage of Wonderland's Space Probe. This was taken with my new digital camera, using the 30 second video feature. I am sorry about the shaking around, but I really was nervous taking a camera 225ft high. http://ourworld.cs.com/Flea110/SP.WMV The file is only 384k. Enjoy! Thanks, ~Liam

[Andy_q69]

Wow. Looks better than it was on the camera when you showed me n Billy. Is that one of my limbs when going up? :twisted:

[Flea]

Yeah, it does look better than on the camera. I wish the lighting was just a tad bit better, and billy put the tv's on! Ah well, better luck next time And to answer your question..

Is that one of my limbs when going up?

Yep, that's when I said 'Move man!' ~Liam

[Andy_q69]

:twisted: I don't remember you saying 'Move Man!'..?

[GoGoBoy]

Can you guys please please keep your personal chit chat to yourself. Is it really necessary for the rest of us to read all this crap? No one is interested. Seriously, maybe you two should talk about this stuff on the phone or through private emails. I (and a lot of other users) log onto these forums to read relevant info about theme parks & attractions. We don't want to hear the pointless ramblings of two (I'm guessing very young & slightly odd) boys. Flea - the photos were great and all of your info regarding wonderlands lastest developments is fantastic... but please leave the other stuff out. Thanks!

[Flea]

Sorry mate. It wasn't intentional, I don't really post stuff that is related to only one person. I will talk to Andrew about his spam like posts. It will never happen again. Anyway, thanks for the comments! What did you think about the video?

[Slick]

Hey! I recken it's alright because it's funny and revelant to the post! So keep talking nonsense because its cool, yeah! :shock: :shock:

[Richard]

No nonsense. I think most of you will agree I don't run this place like many other places. The only thing I really ask in return is you take this "freedom" responsibly and with a bit of maturity. Keep the topics as relevant as possible. There's the PM system if you want to talk about other issues with certain people. rich 8)

[beetlecoaster]

Nice trip report and great photo's! Also thx for the onride, I put that one in my collection of onride video's

[Andy_q69]

Me n Liam are visiting Wonderland again this Wednesday :?: . Hopefully this time I will bring a digital camera and I will get some nice photos also I'll try and get some photos of us since you havn't really seen us two before :twisted: (That is if Liam wants to pose in some)

[GoGoBoy]

Andy... it would be great if you guys could get some pics of the digging near The Beach and any other construction going on!

[Andy_q69]

Ok, we will see what we can do.

[FormerWonderEmp]

Hey Flea DO NOT TAKE CAMERAS ON RIDES, i cannot say this any louder, not only are you putting yourself at risk of injury but other people as well. When camera crews come into WS like the Footy Show did recently and they take a camera on the ride SP and Demon they have the camera gaffer taped to their hand and to the harness. Guys safety comes first at them parks, if you dont care about your own safety think about others.

[Andy_q69]

I've always mentions one of them strap things and attach it to your chest.

[Flea]

Hey Flea DO NOT TAKE CAMERAS ON RIDES, i cannot say this any louder, not only are you putting yourself at risk of injury but other people as well.  When camera crews come into WS like the Footy Show did recently and they take a camera on the ride SP and Demon they have the camera gaffer taped to their hand and to the harness. Guys safety comes first at them parks, if you dont care about your own safety think about others.

It's a weird thing to say but, I feel much safer when I take my cameras on rides with me. I've had a video camera and a still digital camera broken due to people stepping on it (one including a Wonderland ride op.. I won't mention the name). I've seen many other guests insist on taking their cameras (or any other valuable) on rides with them, all because of the fear of it getting stolen or even broken. If a person wants to take their valuable on a ride, then you would think that they would be smart enough to hold onto it. They're not going to throw their arms up as if nothing were in their hand's, are they? ~Flea

[Shaun]

Your Crazy........ So you reckon that just anyone is quite capable of holding onto an item and returning with it to the satation on a thrill ride such as a coaster? So you would be more than happy to just let anyone hold onto your camera while they ride a thrill ride as long as they don't steal it off you? That would be ludicrous...... FormerWonderEmp is right though, they do make thos rules for a reason but i'm a Hypocrite though, I love to see on ride videos i just don't like to see people get hurt lol Anyway that's my 2 cents Shaun :wbmw:

[FormerWonderEmp]

One thing i have noticed about people (guests) coming into theme parks (not just WS but all theme parks i have been to) is that there seems to be a sign out the front that staff cannot see but guests read and it says "Leave brain outside before entering". Obviously Flea has seen this sign if he thinks that taking a camera on a ride is safer than leaving it in the station or launch pad. If a someone steps on your camera or any other belongings it is because you havent put them in a place out of the way. Sometimes when a a riders get caught up in the excitment of going on a ride and forget that they have something in their hand and the next thing you know a camera just hit the roof or the footpath outside at 120Km/h, sooner or later someone is gonig to get hit, as i said before think not only of your safety but of the other people around as well. As for theft, i know that it does happen but for rides like SP there is a confined space not open to the outside to put your belongings. Also the ride takes approx 45 sec from start to finish so the chances of your belongings being stolen are very slim. When i worked at WS i was constantly taking coins of people because they would try to put it on their leg to see what happened when they dropped. The reason was because a coin is very small and could land anywhere and people underneath the ride mey not see it until it hits them. ~Former

[Flea]

It's just my way of feeling safe, not yours. Sure, most of the time I do leave my valuables on the side, but whenever I do so, it comes very, very close to being stepped on. Whenever I do take my cameras on rides, I put them in my pocket. This pocket is very tight and secure, there is no chance it could fall out. The time I recorded the Space Probe on ride was the only time I've done such a thing. I'm not in a very good mood, having being very sick for 4 days.. so don't bug me anymore. If you want to annoy someone, then go complain to the thousands of other enthusiasts that do it also. ~Flea

[thunder001]

People, please keep the noise down as I am haveing trouble sleeping. If a person is allowed on the ride with a camera, then that should fall back onto the ride operator, not the rider. If the rider can take a camera in open view onto a ride, then the operator is not doing their job. Went to Dreamworld and was allowed to keep my new digital camera with me as long as it went into a secured pocket, ie zipped shut. This is the only way that the park would allow me to keep it with me as they would not pay me for the camera if it went missing from the station. It really is a matter of using your brain, but this goes both ways. A good strap system is all that is needed to keep the camera from coming out of your hand, the tape is just for stability and to cover the parks insurance, that's all. We went through all this to get the on-ride footage from the Thunderbolt coaster with Dreamworld, and they explained it all to me. The amount of info about general park stuff that you can get from the park if you be nice and talk to the right ppl is amazing. You should just try to be nice and see what happens. But I am sure Richard will disagree

[Richard]

Well, the only rides that I've taken on-ride videos or photos of are those that you take belongings on with you - Wild Wild West/Wild West Falls, Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster, Corkscrew and Road Runner Rollercoaster are four that come to mind as being in this category. There's no way that I can tell you what you can or can't do at a park. It's up to you as to how you want to interpret or act on park rules. I just think it's a bit of a risk to sneak something onto a ride to get a video that's not that useful (and personally, off-ride videos are much nicer). If a ride op is allowing you to do it, then that's fine. If they tell you not to, it's really not worth it to come back a few hours later and try to hide it.