A few weeks a go I had the opportunity to ride on what I now consider to be the best dark ride in Australia, and it isn't at any of our big 3 Theme Parks. It is Overboard at The Ginger Factory on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. It is a simple boat ride, through the nations of the world. That might sound familiar, but there is a unique story and it's own ear worm song.
The ride was constructed by local Queensland firm Promotions in Motion, and is a wonderful 8 minute journey through an animated (and at times vaguely racist) world, searching for the elusive Gingerbread Man. It is fun, silly and colourful. If you lucky and it isn't busy they may even let you ride it twice. It is well worth the individual ride price to ride it. The Ginger Factory itself is more of an oasis than a tourist attraction. Hidden, but beautifully built and maintained. Be warned you couldn't find it by accident, but if you do seek it out it's well worth a half day visit!
And I don't like Ginger!
Sure Overboard is a rip off of It's a Small World, but there is nothing like it currently in Australia. The only other real Dark Ride in the whole country is the Justice League ride at Movie World on the Gold Coast. This, plus small parts of the Superman and Scooby Doo coasters, are the only dark rides in any of our parks.
If you are around Yandina on the Sunshine Coast, you should check it out. If you can't, well just watch it on YouTube and enjoy!
Behold: Overboard at The Ginger Factory POV
Friday, 27 June 2014
WWoHP - Diagon Alley: An Outsider's Perspective
In the last week the big news in the Theme Park industry has been the media previews of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express in Universal Studios Orlando. It is interesting to watch this from all the way over in Australia. Obviously we don't have our mainstream media covering this opening, so we are very much reliant on the blogs and YouTube videos for our coverage. This poses a dilemma, which I'm going to discuss in an upcoming blog, about what to watch and what not to watch. Particularly because I do intend to see it in person one day, come hell or high water. So considering that I tried not to spoil things for myself, I thought I'd report what I thought of the new additions.
Wow. I know everyone is saying it, but wow! This land looks breathtaking from start to finish. As far as I've seen, there are no holes, no gaps, no wasted space and most importantly no stop to the theming. Now there are things that I thought would be better, and I think a few things that don't translate as well to video as they do in person. The walk in through the "wall" in London is one, but to be honest I'm not sure what I expected Universal to do here. On the flipside, the illusion for the Platform 9 and 3/4 at the Hogwarts Express looks phenomenal on film, but by all reports the actual experience is more about watching the people in front of you do it. Hopefully when the crowds die down in 5-10 years time, this will be an amazing photo opportunity.
I like that this land feels very intimate, but they have obviously planned to cope with large crowds in the area (at least better than the original WWoHP did). To be honest though, I can't see how they can possibly cope with the amount of traffic they will get. I know they have return time controls in place to stop the area being flooded, but people are just going to linger in Diagon Alley for hours and hours. I wouldn't be surprised if people didn't plan half a day for this land by itself, I know I will when going to Universal.
I wasn't as impressed with the food an beverage options. In my view they've given too many options, and not one simple choice. Butterbeer was genius from start to finish, so that is hard to follow. I do like the ice cream parlour though!
What I've read about the Gringotts and Hogwarts rides are super impressive, but I'm being very careful to avoid watching the actual ride POVs on YouTube. As mush as I want to see them, these seem like the kind of rides that you should enjoy first in person before you get on the ride. I have been impressed at how accurate the leaks that went to Robert Niles of ThemeParkInsider.com were, since they surfaced two and half years ago.
In a way I am glad that it going to take me so long to get over to see WWoHP in the flesh, because I think even with all the beauty and immersion, it's going to be a long time before it will be a comfortable place to visit, even in the quiet months. At the same time, I can't wait to see it. I wish all those that are going to the soft openings, and the official opening (July 8th), the best of luck!
Wow. I know everyone is saying it, but wow! This land looks breathtaking from start to finish. As far as I've seen, there are no holes, no gaps, no wasted space and most importantly no stop to the theming. Now there are things that I thought would be better, and I think a few things that don't translate as well to video as they do in person. The walk in through the "wall" in London is one, but to be honest I'm not sure what I expected Universal to do here. On the flipside, the illusion for the Platform 9 and 3/4 at the Hogwarts Express looks phenomenal on film, but by all reports the actual experience is more about watching the people in front of you do it. Hopefully when the crowds die down in 5-10 years time, this will be an amazing photo opportunity.
I like that this land feels very intimate, but they have obviously planned to cope with large crowds in the area (at least better than the original WWoHP did). To be honest though, I can't see how they can possibly cope with the amount of traffic they will get. I know they have return time controls in place to stop the area being flooded, but people are just going to linger in Diagon Alley for hours and hours. I wouldn't be surprised if people didn't plan half a day for this land by itself, I know I will when going to Universal.
I wasn't as impressed with the food an beverage options. In my view they've given too many options, and not one simple choice. Butterbeer was genius from start to finish, so that is hard to follow. I do like the ice cream parlour though!
What I've read about the Gringotts and Hogwarts rides are super impressive, but I'm being very careful to avoid watching the actual ride POVs on YouTube. As mush as I want to see them, these seem like the kind of rides that you should enjoy first in person before you get on the ride. I have been impressed at how accurate the leaks that went to Robert Niles of ThemeParkInsider.com were, since they surfaced two and half years ago.
In a way I am glad that it going to take me so long to get over to see WWoHP in the flesh, because I think even with all the beauty and immersion, it's going to be a long time before it will be a comfortable place to visit, even in the quiet months. At the same time, I can't wait to see it. I wish all those that are going to the soft openings, and the official opening (July 8th), the best of luck!
Friday, 3 January 2014
Movie World - January 2014
Yesterday I had a very uninspiring day at Movie World. In retrospect it was a bad time to visit the parks, however it give me a view of the park that I rarely experience. I also experienced the down side to the Fast Track system that Movie World implement during the school holidays.
The park was as busy as I had seen it during the day. I've only seen more people there for Fright Nights. Waits were very quickly over and hour for all the major rides. We saw Scooby Doo peak at 120 minutes before we left. What it proved to me was that this park can't handle that volume of people. It is probably 2-3 crowd drawing attractions short of where it needs to be for this size of crowd.
The biggest irritation of the day was Fast Track. Not the people with Fast Track, but the way the queues were altered to deal with them. The trouble with these passes is that none of the queues were built with this in mind.
The best of the bunch should have been Justice League, which has an inside split in the line, however the crowd yesterday was so big, they had to use the outside overflow queue. Which meant both fast trackers and normals had to wait outside in steaming heat, so the entry could be controlled, and switched between the two queues. The outside staff member was letting people in so slow, that only half the internal queue was used, while the overflow queue was completely full. We waited 1 and a quarter hours between the two queues (the posted wait was 45 minutes). When we eventually rode we had screen failures (videos playing incorrectly, audio not lining up, and one hilarious Windows desktop on it's side. I've rode it 3 times now, once it was perfect, but ever since, no good. I wouldn't wait more than 20 minutes for it next time.
Superman had the same issue. The fast track integration point was at the front gate, which meant that the people where queued outside in the sun. We didn't ride Scooby, but it looked like the same setup.
The Green Lantern had a different setup. The Fast Trackers queued at the ride exit and loaded from the other side. This worked okay except the loading was slow because staff had to decide when to Fast Track and count out the people. Even though there was 6 cars running, and 4 platform staff, it was the slowest loading I have seen. We only queued for 35 mins (posted wait of 50 mins), but we saw at least 4 cars stop hard because of the full station.
We did walk straight into the 4D movie, Journey 2 the mysterious island. It was a long 4 hours to only cover 4 rides.
Queues as long as they were that day make you consider the quality of attractions and how long you'd wait for them. For instance, I love the Scooby Doo coaster, but I would only wait 30 minutes for it. This isn't the haunted mansion or splash mountain. To be honest, only Superman is really worth waiting an hour for. When you have enough time to value the rides, you also consider the value of having annual passes. If I, as a total theme park nerd, am rethinking getting passes next year, then normal people must do the same. I don't mean to sound alarmist, but there must be a measurable cost to having days that busy. I'm not suggesting limiting numbers, what I believe the park needs is more crowd sponges to even out the crowd.
The park was as busy as I had seen it during the day. I've only seen more people there for Fright Nights. Waits were very quickly over and hour for all the major rides. We saw Scooby Doo peak at 120 minutes before we left. What it proved to me was that this park can't handle that volume of people. It is probably 2-3 crowd drawing attractions short of where it needs to be for this size of crowd.
The biggest irritation of the day was Fast Track. Not the people with Fast Track, but the way the queues were altered to deal with them. The trouble with these passes is that none of the queues were built with this in mind.
The best of the bunch should have been Justice League, which has an inside split in the line, however the crowd yesterday was so big, they had to use the outside overflow queue. Which meant both fast trackers and normals had to wait outside in steaming heat, so the entry could be controlled, and switched between the two queues. The outside staff member was letting people in so slow, that only half the internal queue was used, while the overflow queue was completely full. We waited 1 and a quarter hours between the two queues (the posted wait was 45 minutes). When we eventually rode we had screen failures (videos playing incorrectly, audio not lining up, and one hilarious Windows desktop on it's side. I've rode it 3 times now, once it was perfect, but ever since, no good. I wouldn't wait more than 20 minutes for it next time.
Superman had the same issue. The fast track integration point was at the front gate, which meant that the people where queued outside in the sun. We didn't ride Scooby, but it looked like the same setup.
The Green Lantern had a different setup. The Fast Trackers queued at the ride exit and loaded from the other side. This worked okay except the loading was slow because staff had to decide when to Fast Track and count out the people. Even though there was 6 cars running, and 4 platform staff, it was the slowest loading I have seen. We only queued for 35 mins (posted wait of 50 mins), but we saw at least 4 cars stop hard because of the full station.
We did walk straight into the 4D movie, Journey 2 the mysterious island. It was a long 4 hours to only cover 4 rides.
Queues as long as they were that day make you consider the quality of attractions and how long you'd wait for them. For instance, I love the Scooby Doo coaster, but I would only wait 30 minutes for it. This isn't the haunted mansion or splash mountain. To be honest, only Superman is really worth waiting an hour for. When you have enough time to value the rides, you also consider the value of having annual passes. If I, as a total theme park nerd, am rethinking getting passes next year, then normal people must do the same. I don't mean to sound alarmist, but there must be a measurable cost to having days that busy. I'm not suggesting limiting numbers, what I believe the park needs is more crowd sponges to even out the crowd.
Thursday, 2 January 2014
2013 Year in review - Australian Parks
It's been another interesting year to be a theme park fan in Australia. We didn't have the big openings of 2012, but we did see a couple of changes of note. Let's take a quick tour of our parks, and see what changes have occurred.
Firstly Sea World, the park with the most changes this year. Early in the year, Seal Harbour opened, at the back of penguin point. To be honest, I'm not sure anyone noticed. I thought it was a great addition. I love the animals and the stylish enclosure. I also liked it because it allowed me to get a sneak peak at what was meant to be the second big opening of the year, the Storm Coaster. This opened for the school holidays in December, to mostly positive reviews despite opening late. There was clearly great effort on the external theming, which is always a plus in my book. I haven't had a chance to ride this yet, but what I hear riders get absolutely soaked. The big surprise for the year was the birth of Polar Bear cub Henry, which has turned out to be a big hit. This surprise caused a number of VRTP projects to be delayed, including the storm coaster, while an enclosure was specifically constructed for mother and cub. There has been great progress on the future Wild project, as the fill in part of the main lake to house a number of yet to be confirmed wild animals. Likely to be Gorillas and crocodiles. That will be a project to watch this year.
Next, over to Movie World. After big years in 2011 and 2012 with the opening of Green Lantern and Justice League, and the retheme of Arkham Asylum, 2013 was a quiet year for Movie World. We saw a new version of the stunt show, a new 4D movie and a refresh of Ricks restaurant, and that's about all. The Halloween and Christmas events were big hits. We know there is work going on for a new Kids Driving attraction in the show building of the former Looney Tunes River Ride, however it was delayed massively by the arrival of Henry at Sea World. We now have no idea when it will be finished, but I'd guess second quarter this year would be the plan.
To Dreamworld which also had a smaller year after a big 2012. The DreamWorks Experience opened it's last ride, Pandamonium, on Boxing Day 2012, so this was the focus of the start of 2013 for Dreamworld. The middle of the year saw the closure of AVPX, alien laser tag, which has been redesigned as Zombie Evilution, zombie laser tag. In the end of the year we saw a retheming of the Australian Wildlife Experience to our indigenous Australians. With sponsorship from the state government, this will be a positive addition for the park. We also saw a new version of the Tiger show open in the final quarter.
Without a doubt the biggest Australian theme park news this year came from Adventure Park in Perth, Western Australia. This little park stumped up 12 million for a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter similar to Saw – The Ride at Thorpe Park, called The Abyss. This is a huge investment for the park, and we are hopeful it has paid off. Sadly they were in the news again not long after the opening of their new ride, when Halloween fireworks set fire to the parks iconic, but out of style, castle.
Amusingly, this addition, plus the construction of Wet 'n' Wild Sydney, has caused a little panic from our big gold coast parks. As these two openings occurred our TV screens were plastered with state government tourism adverts for the Gold Coast as Australia's Theme Park capital. Just like all theme park fans, my view is that competition is good and drives improvement. We've always had competition between our Gold Coast parks, it's good to see some regional competitions well.
So that wraps up 2013 in Australian theme parks. A quiet but surprising year! Let's hope for big things this year in preparation for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Firstly Sea World, the park with the most changes this year. Early in the year, Seal Harbour opened, at the back of penguin point. To be honest, I'm not sure anyone noticed. I thought it was a great addition. I love the animals and the stylish enclosure. I also liked it because it allowed me to get a sneak peak at what was meant to be the second big opening of the year, the Storm Coaster. This opened for the school holidays in December, to mostly positive reviews despite opening late. There was clearly great effort on the external theming, which is always a plus in my book. I haven't had a chance to ride this yet, but what I hear riders get absolutely soaked. The big surprise for the year was the birth of Polar Bear cub Henry, which has turned out to be a big hit. This surprise caused a number of VRTP projects to be delayed, including the storm coaster, while an enclosure was specifically constructed for mother and cub. There has been great progress on the future Wild project, as the fill in part of the main lake to house a number of yet to be confirmed wild animals. Likely to be Gorillas and crocodiles. That will be a project to watch this year.
Next, over to Movie World. After big years in 2011 and 2012 with the opening of Green Lantern and Justice League, and the retheme of Arkham Asylum, 2013 was a quiet year for Movie World. We saw a new version of the stunt show, a new 4D movie and a refresh of Ricks restaurant, and that's about all. The Halloween and Christmas events were big hits. We know there is work going on for a new Kids Driving attraction in the show building of the former Looney Tunes River Ride, however it was delayed massively by the arrival of Henry at Sea World. We now have no idea when it will be finished, but I'd guess second quarter this year would be the plan.
To Dreamworld which also had a smaller year after a big 2012. The DreamWorks Experience opened it's last ride, Pandamonium, on Boxing Day 2012, so this was the focus of the start of 2013 for Dreamworld. The middle of the year saw the closure of AVPX, alien laser tag, which has been redesigned as Zombie Evilution, zombie laser tag. In the end of the year we saw a retheming of the Australian Wildlife Experience to our indigenous Australians. With sponsorship from the state government, this will be a positive addition for the park. We also saw a new version of the Tiger show open in the final quarter.
Without a doubt the biggest Australian theme park news this year came from Adventure Park in Perth, Western Australia. This little park stumped up 12 million for a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter similar to Saw – The Ride at Thorpe Park, called The Abyss. This is a huge investment for the park, and we are hopeful it has paid off. Sadly they were in the news again not long after the opening of their new ride, when Halloween fireworks set fire to the parks iconic, but out of style, castle.
Amusingly, this addition, plus the construction of Wet 'n' Wild Sydney, has caused a little panic from our big gold coast parks. As these two openings occurred our TV screens were plastered with state government tourism adverts for the Gold Coast as Australia's Theme Park capital. Just like all theme park fans, my view is that competition is good and drives improvement. We've always had competition between our Gold Coast parks, it's good to see some regional competitions well.
So that wraps up 2013 in Australian theme parks. A quiet but surprising year! Let's hope for big things this year in preparation for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Saturday, 2 November 2013
Pineapple of the Damned
Last night was the first Pineapple of the Damned event for Halloween hosted by SlaughterFX. It was hosted at the Big Pineapple, a tourist attraction at Nambour on the Sunshine Coast. Overall the night was better than I expect, and showed great potential. I hope that it proved popular enough to continue in coming years.
Firstly the setting. There is no question that the Big Pineapple has seen better days. In it's heyday it was one of Australia's most famous "Big" things (alongside the Big Banana). But since the highway moved and the Pineapple changed hands a few times, it has fallen into disrepair.
While that is a sad thing for locals, this made it a great setting for a haunt. There was a lot about this event that had potential. Not all of it was realized, but for something that is just starting out, you could really appreciate the effort that was put was in.
The event centred around the Damned Train ride that took guests out into the spooky pineapple plantation. It used the existing Big Pineapple train and took guests past serial killers, zombies, werewolves, Randy werewolves, dinosaurs, robots, Jason and chainsaw maniacs. There was a lot going on here, and there wasn't any sense of story, but there was certainly a deal of effort put into a number of the set pieces. Special mentionnof the non-randy werewolves that looked really cool. The whole trip was narrated (a little painfully) by Driver Dan, who was having a great deal of trouble getting the train going at various points of the tour. It was lame, and it was silly, but everyone on board was up for it. Most of all it was fun.
In addition to the train ride, there was a haunted walk through, which was better than I expected. It wasn't a fright nights maze, but it was better than a run of the mill spook house. There was plenty of pop culture scares, zombies, Freddy, Silent Hill nurses. Lots of flashing lights and props to move through. One moment of hilarity when one of the scare actors, used the catch phrase 'Get out of my section'. Section? How odd! Takes you out of the moment when something like that happens.
In general the actors across the night were good. They were committed, but broke character a little to easily at times. You could tell they were doing it for the fun. I don't think many were getting paid, which makes them more impressive in my book.
The organization wasn't very good at all. Guests were kind of on the honour system, you could have easily walked in and done both the train and the walk through without paying. The ticket lady, although lovely, didn't know where things were. Things weren't well signed or organized. That was okay for the crowd that was there, as everyone was in the right spirit, but they need more organizers outside the attractions next year.
There also could have been more atmosphere outside the attractions. Some music and lighting would have made a huge difference. The "bar" was very awkward, but it might have got a bit busier later in the night. They should have done something with the Pineapple itself, it's only a few shadows away from being a jack-o-lantern.
Was it worth 38 bucks? No it wasn't. Was it as intense as fright nights? No it wasn't. Was it better than I expected? You bet it was. Does it have potential as a new event? Absolutely! I think this year was an underground hit. With a bit more planning and structure, a little story to the haunts, this could be a great Halloween tradition for the Big Pineapple.
For me it was an A for effort with a C+ for execution. However, this is the first event, execution is only going to improve. Definitely worth a look if it comes back in future years.
Firstly the setting. There is no question that the Big Pineapple has seen better days. In it's heyday it was one of Australia's most famous "Big" things (alongside the Big Banana). But since the highway moved and the Pineapple changed hands a few times, it has fallen into disrepair.
While that is a sad thing for locals, this made it a great setting for a haunt. There was a lot about this event that had potential. Not all of it was realized, but for something that is just starting out, you could really appreciate the effort that was put was in.
The event centred around the Damned Train ride that took guests out into the spooky pineapple plantation. It used the existing Big Pineapple train and took guests past serial killers, zombies, werewolves, Randy werewolves, dinosaurs, robots, Jason and chainsaw maniacs. There was a lot going on here, and there wasn't any sense of story, but there was certainly a deal of effort put into a number of the set pieces. Special mentionnof the non-randy werewolves that looked really cool. The whole trip was narrated (a little painfully) by Driver Dan, who was having a great deal of trouble getting the train going at various points of the tour. It was lame, and it was silly, but everyone on board was up for it. Most of all it was fun.
In addition to the train ride, there was a haunted walk through, which was better than I expected. It wasn't a fright nights maze, but it was better than a run of the mill spook house. There was plenty of pop culture scares, zombies, Freddy, Silent Hill nurses. Lots of flashing lights and props to move through. One moment of hilarity when one of the scare actors, used the catch phrase 'Get out of my section'. Section? How odd! Takes you out of the moment when something like that happens.
In general the actors across the night were good. They were committed, but broke character a little to easily at times. You could tell they were doing it for the fun. I don't think many were getting paid, which makes them more impressive in my book.
The organization wasn't very good at all. Guests were kind of on the honour system, you could have easily walked in and done both the train and the walk through without paying. The ticket lady, although lovely, didn't know where things were. Things weren't well signed or organized. That was okay for the crowd that was there, as everyone was in the right spirit, but they need more organizers outside the attractions next year.
There also could have been more atmosphere outside the attractions. Some music and lighting would have made a huge difference. The "bar" was very awkward, but it might have got a bit busier later in the night. They should have done something with the Pineapple itself, it's only a few shadows away from being a jack-o-lantern.
Was it worth 38 bucks? No it wasn't. Was it as intense as fright nights? No it wasn't. Was it better than I expected? You bet it was. Does it have potential as a new event? Absolutely! I think this year was an underground hit. With a bit more planning and structure, a little story to the haunts, this could be a great Halloween tradition for the Big Pineapple.
For me it was an A for effort with a C+ for execution. However, this is the first event, execution is only going to improve. Definitely worth a look if it comes back in future years.
Sunday, 28 July 2013
Sea World July 2013
So this weekend we took advantage of the offer for VRTP pass holders to bring a friend for free in July, and hit up Sea World!
While I did take some photos, I haven't had a chance to go through them yet. Here are some notes on the day.
Polar Bear Shores is fully closed while construction for the cub enclosure happens at the south end of it. They have built a temporary hut at the front of the attraction showing Cub Cam. The new structure looks like it will be really cool.
The Storm coaster looks great. The huge metal supports now have boats strewn around the bottom. Let's hope the internal theming lives up to the hype!
The land reclaimed for Wild looks vaguely the same. Maybe a little less water.
Seal Harbour is coming in to its own. We saw seals playing, fighting, swimming and sleeping. The weather appears to make s big difference with seals.
Was it just me, or did Jet Rescue previously stop in the cave in the middle of the track. Because it doesn't at the moment!
Also change on the free refill front. Frozen Coke is no longer part of the deal. Soft drink only. You can still get paid frozen refills on the bigger cups.
And that's all the big news!
While I did take some photos, I haven't had a chance to go through them yet. Here are some notes on the day.
Polar Bear Shores is fully closed while construction for the cub enclosure happens at the south end of it. They have built a temporary hut at the front of the attraction showing Cub Cam. The new structure looks like it will be really cool.
The Storm coaster looks great. The huge metal supports now have boats strewn around the bottom. Let's hope the internal theming lives up to the hype!
The land reclaimed for Wild looks vaguely the same. Maybe a little less water.
Seal Harbour is coming in to its own. We saw seals playing, fighting, swimming and sleeping. The weather appears to make s big difference with seals.
Was it just me, or did Jet Rescue previously stop in the cave in the middle of the track. Because it doesn't at the moment!
Also change on the free refill front. Frozen Coke is no longer part of the deal. Soft drink only. You can still get paid frozen refills on the bigger cups.
And that's all the big news!
Sunday, 23 June 2013
Top Ten Australian Rides
A recent post on the Theme Park Tourist blog has inspired me to do my Top Ten Australian theme park rides. We do have some amazing rides in Australia, and while they do not approach Disney/Universal on scale, I like to think we punch above our weight.
So here we go, my Top Ten Australian rides:
10. The Cyclone
A tough choice for the final position, but I had to go for a classic, The Cyclone. Dreamworld purchases it from Lunar Park Sydney in 2001, and during it's 2 minute journey has a reverse sidewinder and a vertical loop. It is starting to get on in years, but it still provides grrat thrills.
9. Wild West Falls
Hands down the best water ride in the country, WWF is a long meandering cowboy story with a thrilling and soaking conclusion.
8. Jet Rescue
A motorbike coaster themed to a jet ski rescue of an injured seal. Theming and thrills with a little bit of heart. This is the best ride at Sea World, a park focused on marine conservation.
7. The Claw
So theming isn't always done well in Australia, and Dreamworld's The Claw is a great example of that. This ride is themed to a giant red claw. This ride gets points for being unique in Australia and for great thrills. Plus being upside down 11 stories high.
6. Green Lantern Coaster
Movie World's brand new El Loco comic book themed almost car park coaster is an unquestionable hit. While the theming, beyond the queue, is not of the Movie World standard, the thrills are undeniable. The steepest drop in the southern hemisphere and several inversions plus an iconic LED display and high capacity, means this coaster clearly wipes the floor with Dreamworld's Buzzsaw.
5. The Giant Drop
Once again theming is done away with for thrills, but when you have (or had up until last year) the tallest drop ride in the world, who cares. This one is truly for the brave. With drops on two sides of Dreamworld's gigantic Tower, you eiyher get beautiful views over the Gold Coast hinterland, or even better views to the amazing coast. You can see Surfer's from the top! And then you plummet back back to earth. I can vouch for riding day or night, both are beautiful and scary for different reasons.
4. Justice League Alien Invasion 3D The Ride
A dark ride! A pure stand alone dark ride. This shooter from Sally Corp is not Australia's first dark ride, but it is our only current one. Only Scooby and Superman which have dark ride elements compare. This is our first interactive shooter! And it is fun from start to finish. It's not perfect and the name is a total mess, but it is a wonderful addition to Movie World's line up.
3. Tower of Terror 2
Dreamworld's signature ride is also its best. A recent revamp has turned the car around so that you are now shot backwards out of the dark disco tube and then you climb up Dreamworld's iconic tower facing the ground. One of the tallest coasters in the world, although some question its status since it doesn't do a circuit,the Tower of Terror is a must do if you are visiting Dreamworld. I tell people that a ride on TOT2 goes like this, scary, fun, scary, fun, over. I only wish that the car got closer to the top of the tower. These days you are lucky to make it half way up.
2. Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster
My second choice might surprise a few people, at least my first choice shouldn't surprise anyone. Let me make a case for why Movie World's Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster should be number two. Firstly it is one of our only true family coasters, most of our coasters are thrill machines or kiddie coasters. Secondly, it has tonnes of theming set in a spooky castle from the rather awful Scooby Doo movie. It has an good dark ride sequence at the start and a short one at the end. It is our only fully enclosed coaster. Sure it's not the Rock'n Rollercoaster, but critics that call it a wild mouse in a shed aren't really being fair to it. It has a vertical lift! It has a backwards drop and it has laser and smoke effects covering its wild mouse section. It is one ride I never miss when visiting Movie World. My only complaint is that they took out a great dark ride to make way for it. If only Gremlins could have lived in the same park as Scooby. Overall the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster scores strongly for thrills, originality and theming.
1. Superman Escape
The only Australian coaster to make the top twenty of Mitch Hawker's Steel Coaster Poll (at #16) is without doubt the best ride in the country. It's not our tallest or fastest, but with great thrills and a perfectly matched theme it's very hard to beat. The internal of the ride is themed to a subway, when an earthquake hits. In the dark ride section you see walls collapse, flooding water pooring down and crashed cars. It looks dangerous until you hear Superman tell you he'll get you out of there fast. Superman fast. And boom your slow dark ride turns into an Intamin Accelerato. You are launched 0 to 100 km/ h in 2 seconds. You are quickly cresting the top hat and than whipping through this wonderful coaster layout. Superman brings you right back down to the ride gift shop, for a safe escape. The gift shop doesn't do much trade though, as all the riders have to leave their wallets in lockers before the ride. However, this is one of the best coasters I've ridden, and an easy choice as the best ride in Australia!
So here we go, my Top Ten Australian rides:
10. The Cyclone
A tough choice for the final position, but I had to go for a classic, The Cyclone. Dreamworld purchases it from Lunar Park Sydney in 2001, and during it's 2 minute journey has a reverse sidewinder and a vertical loop. It is starting to get on in years, but it still provides grrat thrills.
9. Wild West Falls
Hands down the best water ride in the country, WWF is a long meandering cowboy story with a thrilling and soaking conclusion.
8. Jet Rescue
A motorbike coaster themed to a jet ski rescue of an injured seal. Theming and thrills with a little bit of heart. This is the best ride at Sea World, a park focused on marine conservation.
7. The Claw
So theming isn't always done well in Australia, and Dreamworld's The Claw is a great example of that. This ride is themed to a giant red claw. This ride gets points for being unique in Australia and for great thrills. Plus being upside down 11 stories high.
6. Green Lantern Coaster
Movie World's brand new El Loco comic book themed almost car park coaster is an unquestionable hit. While the theming, beyond the queue, is not of the Movie World standard, the thrills are undeniable. The steepest drop in the southern hemisphere and several inversions plus an iconic LED display and high capacity, means this coaster clearly wipes the floor with Dreamworld's Buzzsaw.
5. The Giant Drop
Once again theming is done away with for thrills, but when you have (or had up until last year) the tallest drop ride in the world, who cares. This one is truly for the brave. With drops on two sides of Dreamworld's gigantic Tower, you eiyher get beautiful views over the Gold Coast hinterland, or even better views to the amazing coast. You can see Surfer's from the top! And then you plummet back back to earth. I can vouch for riding day or night, both are beautiful and scary for different reasons.
4. Justice League Alien Invasion 3D The Ride
A dark ride! A pure stand alone dark ride. This shooter from Sally Corp is not Australia's first dark ride, but it is our only current one. Only Scooby and Superman which have dark ride elements compare. This is our first interactive shooter! And it is fun from start to finish. It's not perfect and the name is a total mess, but it is a wonderful addition to Movie World's line up.
3. Tower of Terror 2
Dreamworld's signature ride is also its best. A recent revamp has turned the car around so that you are now shot backwards out of the dark disco tube and then you climb up Dreamworld's iconic tower facing the ground. One of the tallest coasters in the world, although some question its status since it doesn't do a circuit,the Tower of Terror is a must do if you are visiting Dreamworld. I tell people that a ride on TOT2 goes like this, scary, fun, scary, fun, over. I only wish that the car got closer to the top of the tower. These days you are lucky to make it half way up.
2. Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster
My second choice might surprise a few people, at least my first choice shouldn't surprise anyone. Let me make a case for why Movie World's Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster should be number two. Firstly it is one of our only true family coasters, most of our coasters are thrill machines or kiddie coasters. Secondly, it has tonnes of theming set in a spooky castle from the rather awful Scooby Doo movie. It has an good dark ride sequence at the start and a short one at the end. It is our only fully enclosed coaster. Sure it's not the Rock'n Rollercoaster, but critics that call it a wild mouse in a shed aren't really being fair to it. It has a vertical lift! It has a backwards drop and it has laser and smoke effects covering its wild mouse section. It is one ride I never miss when visiting Movie World. My only complaint is that they took out a great dark ride to make way for it. If only Gremlins could have lived in the same park as Scooby. Overall the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster scores strongly for thrills, originality and theming.
1. Superman Escape
The only Australian coaster to make the top twenty of Mitch Hawker's Steel Coaster Poll (at #16) is without doubt the best ride in the country. It's not our tallest or fastest, but with great thrills and a perfectly matched theme it's very hard to beat. The internal of the ride is themed to a subway, when an earthquake hits. In the dark ride section you see walls collapse, flooding water pooring down and crashed cars. It looks dangerous until you hear Superman tell you he'll get you out of there fast. Superman fast. And boom your slow dark ride turns into an Intamin Accelerato. You are launched 0 to 100 km/ h in 2 seconds. You are quickly cresting the top hat and than whipping through this wonderful coaster layout. Superman brings you right back down to the ride gift shop, for a safe escape. The gift shop doesn't do much trade though, as all the riders have to leave their wallets in lockers before the ride. However, this is one of the best coasters I've ridden, and an easy choice as the best ride in Australia!
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