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WWW review


Gazza
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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: post-88-1173520536_thumb.jpg From the stairs. post-88-1173520789_thumb.jpg Twisty. post-88-1173520989_thumb.jpg Probably the best looking ride here. post-88-1173521258_thumb.jpg GREAT landscaping :rolleyes: . And people complained about the H20 Zone. post-88-1173521448_thumb.jpg Temple of gravel. post-88-1173521666_thumb.jpg Could almost be in the press kit. post-88-1173521825_thumb.jpg Frozen in time. post-88-1173522019_thumb.jpg Try getting this shot. post-88-1173522236_thumb.jpg Circus themed rip.

Edited by Gazza
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Great report and some awesome photos! You're daring taking your camera on PP, I wouldn't risk it. The day I was the lines were huge so I couldn't get any photos from the towers. :( Glad to hear you had a good time though.

Edited by WnW_Rocks
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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.
Whoa, these are the best pictures I've seen of WWW yet! Got to love pics 4 and 7. Looks like you had agreat time, but comon, do you have to write up such a long trip report!! :o Not saying it's not good or anything, it's just that it took me 10 mins to read it. CoasterBoy6
He didn't say it was a TR. He said it was a detailed description. EDIT : Might i add. It's a very good description. It's worth a read if you haven't already. Edited by dreamworld_rulz
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but comon, do you have to write up such a long trip report!!
Long? Well maybe, but you can't complain. I'd much rather a long one to a shorter one any day providing it wasn't just one huge un-punctuated block of text. I didn't have a problem with reading it at all.
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Great report/description thanks Gaz. Was really nice to have it followed up with those photos aswell. I was interested to see the pic which shows the vacant land behind FlowRider where the park is likely to expand. The area looks a bit smaller than I originally thought... I'm not sure how many attractions they could fit in there

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Heres a few more pics for you all. post-88-1173581606_thumb.jpg Cool angle. post-88-1173581965_thumb.jpg The thong song. post-88-1173582251_thumb.jpg Criss Crossing post-88-1173582446_thumb.jpg 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. post-88-1173582651_thumb.jpg Signature shot! post-88-1173582828_thumb.jpg Half of the interesting loading system. post-88-1173583120_thumb.jpg Gotta love that helix. post-88-1173583336_thumb.jpg The rings remind me of Jellyfish. post-88-1173583566_thumb.jpg Fun....if you are a small person. post-88-1173587196_thumb.jpg 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 :rolleyes: ) 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.

Edited by Gazza
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That's not fair the place looks almost empty! When we went you couldn't even get a tube for the CoW, there were a few but some mental case of a kid had them all to himself and I wasn't going to risk trying to take one. When I went they did have two ops running STHC and they did have two rafts on the loading platform at a time. Kind of added to the suspense a bit IMO seeing tho you were seated in the tube, but you didn't know when it was going to dispatch. Seen some great facial expressions on people as the tubes start to move! :P

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  • 3 weeks later...
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.
Well you would have to say that due to the scenic nature of the Ocean Parade area, that the area could almost seemlessly blend. As for Flowrider, it seems out of place in Dreamworld due to the fact that people have to get changed, etc to ride it, and there is no other Waterpark inside the Dreamworld boundaries.
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