Adventure World 2015 - 'Mi2' Kraken Tornado slide

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

Everyone talks about the dry rides of Adventure World and I wanna ask if the water rides are really good?

[iwerks]

They're good for what they are - they're not bowls and they're not new - but there's plenty of variety.

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

They're good for what they are - they're not bowls and they're not new - but there's plenty of variety.

What's the best water ride and the most intense one?

[XxMrYoshixX]

The best= Shotgun.

Most intense= Speed Slide.

[iwerks]

Took lots of pictures today. The dinosaurs look great. Will post them later tonight,

[dukeofwhales]

Update, I have just come from riding front row and the Abyss is very fast at the moment. I have spoken to the Maintenance team who will switch out one of the wheels for a softer compound wheel which will take a little bit of speed out of the car and reduce the head movement. Thanks for highlighting it here.

Cheers Mark, greatly appreciate you checking it out. The front row was still very popular so it wasn't a big deal!

What's the best water ride and the most intense one?

I'm surprised Mr Yoshi says Shotgun is the best - for me I probably like it the least - seems like a mostly inferior Tunnel of Terror. Very popular though.

I'd say the best is Tunnel of Terror or the 6 lane racer, though they're both pretty standard water park rides. Agreed on the speed slides being the most intense - wish we would ride them head first.

[iwerks]

Actually avoided the waterslides today, although I did go in the big pool, which is still freezing.

Noticed lots of differences at the park, most of them changes for the better.

Security was tight at the car park. There were big signs up telling people to lock their cars and a staff member zooming around the lot on a little golf cart.

The car park entrance was so quick and speedy. Got in in next to no time. I didn't catch the new signs out the front until later. The new logo looks awesome.

All the crew members were great and very positive. I especially thought the boys on the Freefall (like Jared) were excellent. That's such an improvement having the cast members do the countdown instead of some random Jamaican-accented person. It certainly adds a theatrical element to the ride. I like the way the pre-ride announcements have been done by the creepy-sounding guy who does the Abyss advertisements. There's also a little beast used for the measuring of the minimum height of people going on the Rampage, which seems to be doing really long and involved cycles.

The dinosaurs of Dinosaur Island look great in their setting. The only tricky thing about taking photographs of them is the fact that you need to get them with their eyes open.

Loved the Christmas theming with the wildlife - the dingoes had a sleigh to rest on.

Wait for Abyss was about 15 minutes and most other queues weren't too bad.

I noticed more pegs up next to the Shotgun. The area around there has had the grass cut short. There is a lot of room in that pocket of the park, although none of it flat.

Just a couple of negatives:

The moat around the back of the castle has some kind of Dreamworld funk going on - I'm pretty sure I could smell it from the chairlift.

None of the special burgers or drinks were available today. The burger I had was very nice, affordable and fresh, but it wasn't the Wagyu burger.

There were no fog effects being used by any of the attractions that I could see (Dinosaur Island did have heavy mist).

Despite these really minor complaints, I had a great day there and everyone else seemed to be doing likewise.

[Mark Shaw]

Iwerks, thanks for the feedback and looks like you mostly had a good day. Just coming back to you on the fog effects, we do have the fog billowing out of the Volcano on Kahuna Falls every 5 minutes or so. Unfortunately we had to stop the fog in the Abyss tunnel early on as the building is reasonably open up to the dispatch platform and we therefore had too much fog rising to the platform affecting some team members.

As for the speciality burgers we had stopped serving yesterday due to a supplier shortage of a key ingredient which has today been resolved (I just had the best pulled pork burger for lunch!)

Having spoken to Laura our food and beverages manager we aren't sure which speciality drinks were not available? perhaps you could let us know so we can investigate. I've yet to notice the moat funk but will check.

I rode Abyss this morning and it was spot on, still fast but not head banging!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and thanks for your patronage and enthusiasm, it is appreciated.

Mark

[iwerks]

Thanks Mark. It was the fresh juices they said they weren't doing. I did see you in the other lunch queue yesterday as well. That's a shame about the Abyss fog effects, they were great.

[Gazza]

Mark, one question I have wondered about Abyss, but when ordering the ride what drove the decision about overhead harnesses on the ride, versus getting cars with lap bars only? (Eg Iron Shark, Daredevil Dive, Karacho etc)

[Mark Shaw]

_Gazza

_{I know where your coming from with this I think. it was a while ago now but I think from memory the decision was made based on the challenges of getting the safety harnesses/systems certified to cat 5 Australian standards. not that we would not have managed to get the lap bars certified but we didn't want to take the risk of making it any harder. we also felt that it might just have been too scary for a lot of people only being restrained at the waist. It was certainly well considered at the time.}

_Mark

[XxMrYoshixX]

Feedback:

One thing to fix up Rampage is to replace the metal floor with something that isn't boiling hot for your feet on a hot day.

Abyss is now very smooth, thank you very much Mark!

Mark, good job on the loading speeds for Abyss and the other flat rides, they are streets ahead of the Gold Coast which takes 5 minutes to get people on and off any given roller coaster. Also I like the new scoreboard for Aqua Racer, it was much needed (because the original one never worked!).

Overall, I had a great day yesterday. I hope you all have a great Christmas. Next stop- the Gold Coast!

[Gazza]

Ah true, forgot about the Australian Standards issue...Explains why some newer rides in Aus have additional seatbelts and the like.

Not sure I'd agree with it being too scary, given the high ridership similar rides in Aus such as Green Lantern and Buzzsaw generate.

[iwerks]

From Adventure World's Facebook Page -- now that looks like a great burger.

Thanks Mark, I'll be back to check it out on Friday. Merry Christmas.

[iwerks]

I spent about 8 hours in Adventure World today and considering I saw Mark when I entered the park and chatted to him briefly on my way home around 6pm, that must have been a long day for him. From memory, I thought it was a little more crowded Boxing Day last year (I'm not complaining). The queues for the rides were very manageable. My favourite crew member was Matt on the go-karts - very cool with his long hair and whistle.

Rented a cabana today, which was very useful as we had a few friends joining us. The cabanas are bigger on the inside than they look and a great place to recover during the heat of the day. They're so popular they're pretty much booked out until January 5. Here's the review from my blog:

I spent the day in Maui -- the cabana -- not the island. This is the first season Adventure World has had cabanas. They're strange little beasts nestled between the large pool, Kahuna Falls and the Kahuna Falls Cafe. At $125 rental (with a $50 refundable deposit) for one day they're not the cheapest solution for a fun family day out, but they definitely do have their uses.

We entered the park through the season members' gate near the car park. What I didn't know before this week is that members can bring guests through as well, as long as they pay for them with a debit or credit card. We visited the guest services counter and paid our refundable deposit for the cabana and were told about the condition it was in. We were also given five special wrist bands and the code to our safe.

The safe and bar fridge are not dissimilar to the type of equipment you might find in a hotel room. Indeed, the cabanas do emulate that kind of lifestyle. They're the equivalent of 'gold class' at the movies. The fridge comes with five complimentary bottles of water. There's plenty of room for everyone to stretch out inside the cabana and they're ideal for family groups or special occasions. A couple of my friends almost fell asleep on the lounge chairs - they're that comfortable.

Location-wise they are perfect for families with children. The mums and dads can sit in the comfort and shade of the cabana and watch their offspring play on the Kahuna Falls water playground. Kids, for some inexplicable reason, are quite happy frolicking here for hours or swimming in the pool next door. Lunch can be purchased from the cafe and delivered to your cabana if the order is placed by 11.30am. The only problem with this is most people don't know what the time is as their watches or phones are usually locked securely in the safe. However, it doesn't take long to pick up your food from the cafe, which is footsteps away, or visit the restaurant, Dragon's Bites, located in Dragon's Kingdom.

Besides being a quiet place to rest up during a long summer's day (Adventure World is now open 10am to 7pm), you will be the envy of all the other patrons in the park. The Cabanas are proving their popularity and are quickly selling out. Book now to avoid disappointment!

Thanks again to Mark and his team for a great day out. Plus I finally got to have a pulled pork burger for lunch.

[Tim Dasco]

Hi Mark,

What rides are included in the fast pass? Is it the same as last year?

Thanks Tim

[Gazza]

http://adventureworld.net.au/gifts,-comps-offers/fast-pass/

Check website Tim.

[iwerks]

Saw some guys use it on the Aqua 6 Super Racers yesterday. Everyone is so competitive on that ride now.

[Noxegon]

Here's a random question... was Turbo Mountain sold on or was it scrapped?

[XxMrYoshixX]

It was most likely scrapped.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

It was most likely scrapped.

Any factual basis for that view? Or are you just speculating again?

[Adam C]

Turbo Mountain was already 2nd hand, bought from Luna Park in Sydney. There's nothing online to say what happened to it but you'd have to consider how much it was worth and how much it would cost to ship it somewhere else. Especially as Perth is miles from anywhere.

The Black Hole ride in Alton Towers, UK made me smile when it failed a H&S review and got sold to the Brazillians who had no problems with it. It had a spiral lift with no way off if it broke down.

[Mark Shaw]

I spent about 8 hours in Adventure World today and considering I saw Mark when I entered the park and chatted to him briefly on my way home around 6pm, that must have been a long day for him. From memory, I thought it was a little more crowded Boxing Day last year (I'm not complaining). The queues for the rides were very manageable. My favourite crew member was Matt on the go-karts - very cool with his long hair and whistle.

Rented a cabana today, which was very useful as we had a few friends joining us. The cabanas are bigger on the inside than they look and a great place to recover during the heat of the day. They're so popular they're pretty much booked out until January 5. Here's the review from my blog:

Thanks again to Mark and his team for a great day out. Plus I finally got to have a pulled pork burger for lunch.

Great review IWERKS, Thanks. how did you like the Pulled pork burger?

[iwerks]

Very much. Onion rings were nice too. I don't know how I can visit AWagain without renting a cabana - it was very cool.

[Noxegon]

Turbo Mountain was already 2nd hand, bought from Luna Park in Sydney. There's nothing online to say what happened to it but you'd have to consider how much it was worth and how much it would cost to ship it somewhere else. Especially as Perth is miles from anywhere.

The Black Hole ride in Alton Towers, UK made me smile when it failed a H&S review and got sold to the Brazillians who had no problems with it. It had a spiral lift with no way off if it broke down.

You might be thinking of the Thunderlooper – that went to Brazil, but the reason there was due to the noise the ride made, rather than anything to do with safety.

Black Hole was refurbished by Gerstlauer and was reinstalled at Furuvik in Sweden. As part of the rebuild it got an exit ramp

http://rcdb.com/9602.htm

Turbo Mountain was older, but only by a year.