mattnz

Nice report Chuck, as always, looking forward to the rest!

Personally, I love visiting some of the smaller parks, and Magic Springs is one of those parks a lot of us would probably not visit without TPR. I really appreciate parks like this being on the itinerary - kind of reminds me of Adventureland on Midwest 2010, which I absolutely loved (just as much as Holiday World, as it happens!). On another note, yay for a TPR return to Texas!

I'm not too keen on Six Flags themeing for the most part - not being a fan of DC probably doesn't help - but I appreciate their attempts to decorate individual rides. They've done a great job with rides like (off the top of my head) Buccaneer Battle at SF Great America, Houdini's Great Escape at SF New England, Scooby Doo Ghost Blasters at SF St. Louis and most of their log flumes/rapids rides. Those are the sort of rides where themeing can really add to the attraction, and if they can keep attractions in themed areas reasonably consistent I think people appreciate that as well. What I don't expect from Six Flags are fully themed rides like Monster Mansion (but of course I'm glad it exists!). I just enjoy nicely landscaped Six Flags parks with lots of trees and individually themed attractions that don't seem 'plonked' on asphalt (Magic Mountain) or in a big grassy field (SF America).

Our final update is Wet'n'Wild Water World, the water park adjacent to Movie World. I don't think Aussies can stand even slightly cool weather as the place was completely and utterly deserted! To us, it was summery and warm and we had fun trying out basically everything the park had to offer in a couple of hours. Wet'n'Wild had lifeguards stationed at every open attraction, which was nice to see, and naturally enough a couple of rides were closed for seasonal maintenance. Alas, Surfrider was one of them. Boo! We enjoyed Avatar Airbender at Nickelodeon Universe, so at least we can see we've been on an Intamin Half Pipe coaster. We also tried the Aqua Loop slides - a very interesting experience! It looks like the park has had a few troubles with them, as we had to be weighed and then put on these weird 'aqua packs' (I'm guessing to get some more friction going?). I think Aqua Loops might be more trouble than they're worth... They're a novelty for sure, with a fast and fun drop and the curious sensation of speeding uphill, but it's all over before you know it as you're spat out, "ramming into a foot of water vagina-first" (to quote a certain recent TPR thread!). The pics will be a little sparse and empty of actual people, but enjoy! It's been fun sharing our one-week Aussie expedition with you. Andrew and I hope to catch up with many of you on a future TPR trip. - Matt It's winter downunder, but we're ready to hit the water at Wet'n'Wild! Unfortunately this sign was a little misleading, with Surfrider, Flowrider and Calypso Beach also closed. Inside and the park looked very nice. Quite a lot to do here... As you can see, the place was a bit empty. Not only was Surfrider closed, there was no train on the track and it looked like some painting was underway. Sob - missed credit! We tried out Tornado, and got a bit of exercise lugging the huge tubes up the 15-metre high stairs. Always a fun ride! Soaring high... The water was admittedly a little cold on this one! Next up we tried the Black Hole slides, which were much warmer and lots of fun. Kamikaze was OK, but a pretty short thrill next door to Tornado. The kid's area was pretty much deserted... Not a soul in sight! We had a look at the food options in the park, which weren't too bad. Back to the front of the park to try out the Aqua Loop slides. Quite a few instructions to follow... They even weigh you before you ride - how humiliating! Fun for sure but too much trouble to bother with a re-ride. The Super 8 Aqua Racer slides next door were much simplier, and actually much more fun! As were these old school body slides. The park's huge lazy river was down for maintenance. It was looking a little too lazy today. Whirlwind Springs are just hot tubs. But provide a nice break from the other attractions. The park didn't get any busier while we were there. The last slides we tried were called Mammoth Falls. Fun family raft slides. That ends our brief look at Wet'n'Wild - thanks for reading!

We weren't expecting too much from Australia's Sea World, perhaps because they are a little light on traditional theme park attractions, but ended up spending quite a full day there. I got really great 'vibes' from the park. It was friendly and they seemed to have a strong focus on conservation (e.g. they actually rescue sick and injured marine life). We found Sea World's mixture of shows and zoological exhibits a nice contrast. We saw three shows: Jet Stunt Extreme, Fish Detectives Sea Lion Show, and the Imagine Dolphin Show. All were well done and unique to us, having never been to a Sea World park before. We also enjoyed the excellent Penguin Encounter, Ray Reef, where you can touch rays in a shallow pool, and Shark Bay, apparently the world's largest man-made lagoon system for sharks, which was also very beautiful. Ridewise we enjoyed Jet Rescue, an Intamin friction wheel-launched coaster similar in some ways to Mick Doohan's Motocoaster at Dreamworld, but with two launches and much more comfortable restraints. I loved the quick directional changes and low to the ground layout, barely missing rocks at certain points. The other coaster at the park (Sea Viper) is an Arrow loop/screw, the same as New Zealand's own version at Rainbow's End, but with new trains made by Kumbak, which were roomier and undoubtedly more comfortable than the old Arrow trains. The second corkscrew passes just under the Sea World Monorail, giving you a nice headchopper effect. We also rode the monorail, skyway and Viking's Revenge log flume, which wound around parts of the old Bermuda Triangle ride. We had a look around Dinosaur Island, an interactive dinosaur exhibit new for 2012 (but free unlike Cedar Fair's dinosaur incarnations!). Gave SpongeBob SquarePants 3-D a miss, but nice to see the park has a Nickelodeon tie-in that might appeal to a younger audience (they also had Dora the Explorer and a great kid's area, Beach Break Bay, a replacement for Sesame Street Beach). It looks like Sea World may be getting a new Mack water coaster, and I think that would be a great fit for the park as well as a big help in rounding out their ride collection. I really do wish them well in future! Sea World was a very short drive north from where we were staying on the Gold Coast. We got great vibes from the park right away. These are seabirds in rehab. We wandered through the new Dinosaur Island area... These were pretty good animatronics! No $5 charge for this experience either... What's your excuse Cedar Fair? We had a look around the newly themed Beach Break Bay (which is a bit of a mouthful to say!). The park had a few confusing corners... This was the way to the two coasters. Over the bridge. Looks like the railway here is long defunct. Similarly to Movie World, there were no cubbies here either, but these were only $1. Jet Rescue station. Like every other coaster station in Australia you weren't able to queue for your row...but at least the queue was short. Jet Rescue was great fun! Here's the train coming out of the tunnel with the second launch. A bit hard to photograph... Twisty! Lots of low to the ground turns and near misses. Awesome ride! Onwards to the park's other credit. Interesting new trains... The first drops on these little Arrow coasters do have a bit of kick in the back of the train. But it's a pretty straightfoward ride: Vertical loop... Double corkscrew. A nice headchopper under the monorail... And hey presto - new credit conquered! Not sure what the old ship was used for, but it's a nice ornament. Next up, we rode the Viking's Revenge log flume. It's a short ride that weaves around the old Bermuda Triangle attraction. Like Dreamworld's flume, Viking's Revenge had to me the perfect amount of wetness (nice splash but no wet shoes!). We had a little peek at the disused Bermuda Triangle station. This was by all accounts an awesome attraction. I'll be intrigued to see what replaces it. Ray Reef allows you to get up close and personal with rays swimming around in shallow waters. Eww... Not today SpongeBob... We wanted to get to the front of the park for the Jet Stunt Extreme show. Some nice views from the skyway. Sea Viper from afar. Kid's area. I think this was the dolphin nursery/feeding area. We'll see these guys a little later. At about this point the ride stops for loading/unloading. Sea World is located very centrally on the Gold Coast. Looks like the jet ski guys are getting ready... The lake seating area started filling up. And they were off! It was a pretty cool show. Lots of duelling and humour between the guys. It was EXTREME! Never noticed those workers in the background before now! Multiple flips... This was fun to photograph. Not quite sure what's happening here... This guy was British; the others were Americans and Aussies. I'm not much of a show person, but this was definitely fun to watch. After the show we had a look at the Penguin Encounter. They had a nice enclosure. Looks like the Antarctic to me. The penguins were quite amusing to watch, and you could get very close to them. We found the park's famous prayer rooms, which catered more to the Islamic crowd. We rode the monorail, which proved to be a bit useless for photos thanks to some annoying Nickelodeon advertising! At the north of the park we found Castaway Bay and this nice-looking splash battle. Not too many riders today! The Sky Fortress climbing structure. Some pricey food in Castaway Bay. (Bear in mind the Aussie dollar is about the same as the USD right now.) Some cute little penguins in rehab. We had a look around Shark Bay. Glass-bottomed boat rides were a very steep $10... I didn't see the point when you can just go underground to the viewing area! The lagoon was filled with sealife. SHARK! Beautiful. Back outside you could get up close and personal with some of the more friendly sealife. Sea World is the only park in Australia with polar bears. There was only one bear out today and he was sound asleep. The park had a big focus on keeping the bears entertained and interactive with one another. Time for the Fish Detectives show! This was cheesy fun. The sea lions were actually very clever. The show is based around the fish store Alota Baloney, where the evil antagnoist is making big profits by catching too many fish. It's amazing what a sea lion will do for a treat. Hunting for clues... In all, a fun show! Finally, we checked out Imagine, the park's excellent dolphin show, set in a large sandy bottom lagoon. Dolphins away! Treading water? Don't think these tricks come for free... After a little pause for interaction with some lucky guests... ...it was back to the show! Fun job? We were impressed with what these fish could do! So we really only have positive things to say about Australia's Sea World. It was a great day out! Thanks for reading. (Our final update will be a super quick look at Wet'n'Wild.)

^ Thanks Jake. I hope your Aussie sheila's treating you well! (No offence to Amber!)

Thanks all for your comments. The next park on our itinerary was Warner Bros. Movie World. We got a great deal with the VIP Pass, which for $99.99 gives you a year's access to Movie World, Sea World and Wet'n'Wild - not bad at all. You are definitely stung in the parks with food prices, which are astronomical, but we were fully expecting that. At least none of the Aussie parks charge for parking. Movie World was similarly empty to Dreamworld, but more corporate and even a little unfriendly. The ride ops were VERY STRICT with loose items. I understand that it's park policy to secure loose items, especially on rides like Superman, which races in part over the midway, but we were a little taken aback with the aggression on display (ride ops shouting things like, "I don't want to find anything in your pockets except AIR!"). There were grumbling Aussies all around us. Loose items aside, we had a good time and the ride selection at Movie World was high calibre. To the left of the entrance is the park's newest coaster, Green Lantern, an S&S El Loco. We've ridden the one at Indiana Beach, but at Movie World the trains seat four across and utilise lapbar restraints. It also looks like they have on-board sound, but that wasn't used during our visit. The ride was fun if a little forceless - it's more about the twisty layout. The public seemed to love it and it's certainly a unique addition for the park. Superman Escape was amazing! Front car was our favourite, and you get some great airtime, including the crest of the top hat (at the back you seem to crawl over - it's a bit odd!). Queuing for the front was another story, as they allocate seats, but fortunately we got lucky twice and actually had two front row rides. The newly named Arkham Asylum - Shock Therapy (the SLC with a bonus helix) had new trains, and they were quite comfortable. They're different to the Vekoma ones we rode on the SLC at Morey's Piers, and we thought they were even better, making for a re-rideable SLC (go figure!). The new themeing was OK, but the park could really do with a few signs to point out where on earth the entrance is. It took us quite a while to find it, as there were no clues on the map. Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster was great fun, as others have reported, and had some nice surprises along the way. Other attractions we did were the Batwing Spaceshot, the Road Runner Rollercoaster, the Hollywood Stunt Driver show, and Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs - The 4D Experience, the '4D' involving seats that moved ever so slightly, air jets on your neck and the occasional spray of water in your face... The '3D' was great though. Wild West Falls was down for maintenance, and we knew this going in, but without that particular attraction we felt the park was a little lacking in 'E ticket' attractions. Justice League: Alien Invasion 3D, an interactive dark ride opening in September, should help that situation, and is exactly what the park needs. Should be a great addition. Another beautiful mid-winter day awaits us on the Gold Coast! Today's park is Movie World, a short drive northwest from the coast. Today we had some friends join us at the park. After getting our VIP passes processed (which literally took less than a minute), it was time to head in! DC characters away! We went over to Green Lantern first. I guess 'Batman Adventure' will become 'Justice League: Alien Invasion 3D' at some point. Here's the ride entrance. The queue was well themed but we couldn't take ANYTHING with us... So our cameras ended up here for $2 - but I'm not complaining! Green Lantern is one of those funky El Loco coasters. Actually a really fun ride. I liked how the four-across seating had the outside riders well off the track. Some of the ride feels 'wrong' - in a good way. (Photo from outside the park.) Beyond vertical drops are awesome! Zero-G goodness. I thought they said no loose items! All in all, a fun ride, perhaps a little slower than Steel Hawg, but I don't think intensity is the point of an El Loco coaster. It's twisty fun and the public seemed to love it. Next up, the star of the park - Superman! The infamous Intamin cable... ...gets you to some great heights! Fabulous airtime all over this ride. It really packs quite a punch Loved the part where you blast through the building. Had to laugh at Superman 'pushing' the train along. Are these people asleep?! Another train descends from the top hat. The airtime was definitely stronger in the front. Alas - allocated seating... We were very fortunate to get two front row rides. Verdict - best coaster in Australia! Time to check out the rest of the park. I'm sure these covered midways are a great idea in summer. Happy Potter store. Move over Islands of Adventure! I am a very good gay...I know exactly what MGM musical this is: The Harvey Girls, 1946, starring Judy Garland. Snap! The covered square was a nice place to hang out. We checked out the Hollywood Stunt Driver show. It was actually pretty cool. They had some cheesy/funny stunts. Almost everyone in the park showed up to see this. Fire! Didn't quite manage to snap a photo of the finale, but it was well done. Take a bow! We had a look at some merchandising, which was plentiful in the park. I thought this was pretty cool - 35mm frames from every James Bond film. See that TINY cup? That's a Ben & Jerry's ice cream for $5.95. Ouch! We went to the Dirty Harry-themed bar for some food instead. I liked the sound of the 'Make My Day' nachos! I actually enjoy all the Dirty Harry movies. The food (and beer) was very nice. Moving on... Some of the park had quite well-themed buildings, but with nothing inside. Old/disused attractions? Time for another credit. Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster - the best 'mouse in the box' you're ever likely to ride. The queue was well-themed, as was the ride. Long dark ride section, vertical lift in the dark, backwards section... A great ride! Well done Movie World! They had some Scooby characters out and about. Along with some others. Wandering to the back corner of the park. Sadly, we knew Wild West Falls was down for the count. We had a little peek - looks like a great ride. Over to the kids area. Some nicely themed attractions here. Small carousel. The Road Runner Rollercoaster is a well-themed Vekoma Roller Skater. This is definitely not as embarrassing to ride as some kid's coasters - it's quite tall! Ka-ching! More attractions await... We saw the '4D' Ice Age show, which was packed out. It had great 3D and was a bit of a laugh, but I think I'm tiring of this kind of animation. It's gets a bit 'samey' after a while. We rode the S&S Space Shot, which I prefer over the S&S Turbo Drops (but never over an Intamin drop tower!). Always a fun ride. Public service announcement: Tights are not a substitute for pants! We finally found the entrance to Arkham Asylum - Shock Therapy! It had new trains, with straps instead of OTSRs, and this made for a much more comfortable ride. No headbanging now, and not too bad in the shuffling department either. A re-rideable SLC - who would've thought?! This is the part where it goes into the BONUS HELIX! The exit to the ride was a bit confusing - I'm guessing this all used to be part of another attraction? Some of the new themeing. But I think 'Lethal Weapon' is an awesome name for a coaster! We were almost done by this point, and caught the parade. Not my thing at all, but not bad... We had a fun day at Movie World. It's a well-run, world-class park, and definitely worth a visit.

^ Thanks - you too! I'd love to try the Wild Mouse at Blackpool. Looks awesome. I wish there were more than (four?) of these things in the world.

^ Thank you. I found the ride ops pretty friendly at Dreamworld, but noticely cold at Movie World. I forgot the Motocoaster has a single rider line. It seemed to get used exclusively for the sidecar. I also can't believe I forgot to add the single most important photo in the Dreamworld TR... Hold on to the ladies girls! BuzzSaw will make them pop out!

^ Thank you! After our short stay in Sydney we made it up to the Gold Coast where the weather was even lovelier (we're talking summer temperatures for New Zealand!). We had quite a few parks on our itinerary, so hired a car and stayed close by the beach, which worked out very well. The Gold Coast parks are open year-round, and that gives you something of a Catch-22: while the crowds are light, some attractions are inevitably down for maintenance, the parks understaffed and operations somewhat less than desirable. One other thing we encountered is that Australia has never heard of single rider queues, and not ONE coaster station lets you queue for your desired row. This was OK at Dreamworld, but was certainly frustrating at Movie World (more on that later). Dreamworld was our first stop and favourite park. Most attractions had one ride op where possible, but that didn't matter too much since the place was pretty quiet. The newest ride BuzzSaw (a Maurer Söhne SkyLoop) was having a few troubles. It didn't open until about 1pm, and then with only the front car taking passengers (that's six people per ride cycle). Loading was very slow and the line became long, but we got a few rides in. Having never been on a SkyLoop we found it quite a bizarre experience! It's daunting hanging upside down 150 feet in the hair in a lapbar-style restraint. The ride's themeing was also a little strange, but it's a good fit for the area of the park it's located in (Gold Rush), looming right near the entrance. The other coasters at Dreamworld are similarly short and nothing to write home about (except Tower of Terror II which we LOVED!), but what the park is lacking in coasters they certainly make up for in other rides and attractions. I would highlight the awesome Intamin drop tower, which instantly became our favourite. The drop just seemed to keep going and going! The park also has a fun Intamin gyro swing, a strange Vekoma Waikiki Wave Super Flip, a good rapids ride and log flume, the newly themed kid's area DreamWorks Experience, the Australian Wildlife Experience and Tiger Island included with admission, plus a decent adjoining water park. All in all we found Dreamworld to be a great day out. And getting a bit of sun was certainly a bonus! We finally made it to the Gold Coast for a little sun and relaxation by the beach. We stayed in a hilariously tacky 80s apartment. But we had a nice view. First park for us was Dreamworld! I've been wanting to come to this park since I was a kid. Looming near the entrance is BuzzSaw, which has certainly added to the park's skyline. The adjoining water park looked very nice (is that a hydrocoaster I see?). There were some workers atop the Giant Drop. Well-trained by TPR we headed straight to the newest ride first, only to be greeted by this... And closed is how BuzzSaw stayed most of the day. We heard the roar of Tower of Terror II (which you can hear all over the park!) and decided to ride that first instead. Wow, it really is going to be a quiet day. The infamous ride entrance. The queue. It's a good thing the queue is covered and air conditioned - Aussie summers get HOT! Tower of Terror II had a fantastic enclosed launch with lights galore. The speed on this - especially going backwards - was unexpectedly awesome. This is about as high as the ride gets, but backwards it certainly feels high enough. On the same tower is another great Intamin ride... An interestingly themed drop tower! The ride entrance. Nice of the park to post this outside... But reduced capacity certainly wasn't going to be a problem today! (And they did run both sides of the tower later on.) The loading area. About now you to start to feel a little nervous... It's a LONG way up! They keep you at the top for what seems an eternity. And then...you drop for what seems an eternity! Amazing ride! After two Intamin rides, why not ride another! Some 'fun facts' in the queue. The trains were a bit odd, and not too comfortable, especially on your knees. These side cars for kids were a great idea though. And this rotating bin for loose items was a fantastic idea! The ride itself is definitely a 'family' one. Fun ride for families though. Dreamworld still have their Wiggles. Time to see what else the park has to offer... They had a few characters out and about. Can we make it four Intamin rides in a row? Why yes we can! The Claw went very high indeed. This was a great gyro swing! I preferred it to the giant HUSS versions. Near the Claw another new ride has appeared since TPR's visit: Shockwave. It's a Disk'O Coaster. With a 'hump' in the middle. Always a fun ride. The park has an Enterprise... And this weird Vekoma contraption that has one arm that can bend allowing for diagonal twists. Why haven't Vekoma made more of these? I have no photos of the ride in motion... They needed at least a dozen riders and there weren't many takers today. Time for another quality credit! This Arrow coaster used to be at Luna Park Sydney, hence the odd layout. The station was strange...with doors that closed completely. Not very efficient. Front part of the ride. Apologies that our photos of Cyclone kinda suck, but then the ride kinda sucked too! The exit to the ride is famously pointless! We checked out the new kid's area. Looks nice. Madagascar characters now live here. And some of them spit at you! Shrek's here too. This area is now known as 'Shrek's Faire Faire Away'. Rugrats Runaway Reptar is now called 'Escape from Madagascar'. They had some dummies riding in the back. It's your standard Vekoma family invert, but I liked how it glides over the pathways at certain points. It looks like Dreamworld have more planned for this area. We decided to check out some wildlife. The young tigers were very cute! This guy took up-close photos for people. The bigger cats were very cute too. This is about as playful as they got. Time for lunch and we felt the sting of Aussie theme park food prices - ouch! We also noticed the park has a few 'Canobie Park style' food stalls. Very RCT! Time for something a little leisurely: the train. We hoped for some good photo ops, but the train ride was mostly through fairly dense bush. Looks like the old paddle wheel boat is no longer operating. (Site of future dinosaur attraction?) I'm guessing this is another mode of transport that's long since bitten the dust. Finally we saw BuzzSaw operating and wandered over to check it out. It's a strange looking contraption (photo from outside the park). Intimidating vertical lift. Off they go! Straight down and backwards through the loop. Entrance to the queue. A bit of themeing. This was accompanied by the occasional LOUD buzzsaw sound, along with some evil shrieks and screams. Quite strange! It look a long, long time to get on with the back car not open and slow ride ops. Finally, we rode. Going over the top. Not too many hands up on this ride. You pull some major G-forces at the bottom of the initial drop. Going backwards through the sky loop was fun (I see some daring riders!). In all, it's a good ride and decent addition, but I'm sure the locals would love to see a longer and better coaster built some day. The gift shop was curious. The Book of Runes? Mythic Tarot?! Across from BuzzSaw you can see the remants of the old Wild Mouse in a box, Eureka Mountain Mine Ride, SBNO since 2006. We decided to give the rapids ride a spin. Here's the station. It was a great rapids ride with a long (and well-themed) enclosed section. We didn't get too wet which was probably a good thing. Another view of Eureka Mountain Mine Ride. We gave the log flume a whirl. Loading area with one poor ride op in attendance. This was a fairly short flume but had to me the perfect amount of 'wetness' - a nice splash but not enough to get your shoes wet. We had a great day at Dreamworld and I'll be interested to see where the park goes in future. Would love to drop by again someday!

Andrew and I have thoroughly enjoyed two TPR trips in the last couple of years during this colder time of year for us downunder. It's wonderful to get away from the "Antartic Riviera", as I like to call New Zealand in winter time. We decided to take a week's long vacation in Sydney and the Gold Coast to keep us ticking over coasterwise since we were unable to do a TPR trip this year. The official TPR trip to Oz in March 2011 looked absolutely amazing - and we'd never done the Aussie parks before - so after snapping up a few cheap airfares we were on our way. The weather was beautiful, the parks pretty quiet this time of year and another bonus for us was to try out the two "new for 2012" credits at Dreamworld (BuzzSaw) and Warner Bros. Movie World (Green Lantern Coaster), so we have plenty of photos to share. Our general consensus with the Aussie parks was similar to TPR's: the parks are totally decent - smaller in scale than US parks, of course, but with a lot to offer nonetheless. Here's our itinerary: Luna Park Sydney (scroll down) Dreamworld Warner Bros. Movie World Sea World Wet'n'Wild Water World (Alas we didn't make it to Aussie World this trip.) We started in Sydney where we hit up Luna Park and finally got on an elusive and rare wooden Wild Mouse, which was awesome. Luna Park was also a little bigger than I had expected, with some great, quirky stuff to recommend it, like the original 1930s fun house, the Rotor and the Flying Saucer, a rare HUSS UFO ride. We spent a few days in Sydney, which is a very vibrant place, if a little pricey! Onto the photos. Here we are again at Wellington Airport's 'pumpkin' terminal. Must be time for another international trip! In Sydney we stayed with Andrew's dad in Leichhardt and were greeted with fantastic weather. We used the light rail to zip into town for a bit of sightseeing. Just under the harbour bridge you'll find... Luna Park! (Looking all patriotic for the Olympics.) Looking down the midway. The prices - like everywhere in Sydney - were very steep. They charged $10 for ONE RIDE! The $44.95 day pass was OK, though you'd pay similar at a Six Flags or Cedar Fair park. First up - the Rotor! Detail. This park has hilarious political incorrectness everywhere. And inside... We've been on a few rotor rides in the US. Always fun - and here they let you position yourself sideways. At the end of the ride they don't bring the floor back up, they just let you slide down! Time to check out what else the park has to offer. A lovely old carousel. This park has a very troubled history. I'm guessing this is one of the older rides. Ahh! We've been spotted!! Downunder cotton candy is called 'candy floss', or in this case 'fairy floss'. This had a very long cycle (a little too long actually!). We were really looking forward to our first wooden Wild Mouse coaster! The entrance. You get up close and personal to the track in the queue. Cute station and transfer track. Cute trains! They'll let you squeeze in two adults. The ride itself was really fun! There are some genuine "holy shit" moments on this, along with some great airtime. We loved it! (And would love to try the even more insane Aussie World ride.) View of the ride from the fun house. You do sort of feel like you'll careen off the track and into the ocean. Speaking of the fun house... Luna Park apparently has the only operating example of a 1930s fun house left in the world. Lots of history and memorabilia inside. Wacky mirrors. This way to more fun... Moving platforms. Andrew's 'Marilyn' moment. I can imagine TPR having a blast in here! The spinning barrel was fun to watch. Primarily to see kids get thrown off! "Hello luv!" A little more of that aforementioned political incorrectness. Looks like a good chance for an injury here, but actually they supervise all the rides quite closely. We had to try out these crazy slides. It was a little unnerving at the top. Looks fun. Our turn! There's a very steep slide here too. Andrew and his dad on the way down. There were quite a few old coin-operated games in here too. We encountered some more bizarre paintings on the way out. The old Big Dipper station is now used for the Tumblebug ride (a HUSS Troika). As if clowns weren't creepy enough... One thing not to miss at Luna Park is the Flying Saucer! (And it's easy to miss the station.) This HUSS UFO is much, MUCH crazier than a traditional round-up ride, and goes completely vertical! Time to head out and see a little more of Sydney... Farewell for now Luna Park - I hope your future is a little less troubled than your past! Heading out we saw some people atop the bridge. For $250 you too can enjoy this climb! We went underneath instead. It really is an awesome old structure. We walked over to the CBD. Long way down... Oh, bless. There were people lounging in the sun...is it really August?! We visited Chinatown. It's a really cool place with lots to see (and eat). A good place for Asian cuisine in Sydney...is Eating World! (Very authentic.) We wandered through Paddy's Market, a crazy mish-mash of stalls. We walked over to Hyde Park. Is Big Brother a pop group or something nowadays?! Homeless man outside Prada. The Queen Victoria Building was pretty cool. But you had to be a millionaire to shop there! Sydney is the only place I've seen cops on horseback. We made it back to Darling Harbour where some kind of boat show was going on. And here's the Sydney monorail. Get on it ASAP - apparently no one rides it and it won't last much longer! Anyway, that's Luna Park and Sydney for now. More from downunder to come.

Amazing photos as always Hanno. That slide needs a first aid station permanently stationed at the end. It looks like it might give quite a few people concussion!

Nice TR Laura. I absolutely adore all those retro signs and unusual rides. I have also always wanted to go on a Miler Wild Mouse however horrendous they seem to be!

Very interesting to see your take on Elitch Gardens, a park I've always been intrigued by - mainly because there haven't been too many TRs on here. The Arrow shuttle loop is definitely on my coaster bucket list.

Looks like they have a few classics at Conneaut which along with Waldameer is on my 'yet to visit' list. Fingers crossed Conneaut stays open a little longer as there is (alas) no TPR trip for us this year (next year though). Look forward to seeing your take on Waldameer!

What a cute park - seems like a perfect stop to kick off the (pre) trip. Would love to be there - will be following with great interest!

Thanks for your report. Love the shots from the observation tower. I am desperately keen to get to this park someday very soon, and the more reports I read the hungrier I get! Looks like a top tier SF park.

I'm pretty sure I saw a photo in there of us front row on Phantom's Revenge in the pouring rain - which was fun, if painful! Amazing ride, though, great few days and awesome park. Like Knoebels it didn't really matter what the weather was doing, we still had so much fun.

WOW - fascinating, and a little sad, to see the state of Parque de la Ciudad. Would love to see Aconcagua saved - South America is the land of Anton Schwarzkopf after all, right?

This is an interesting question, but I would be surprised to ever encounter this situation from a park or chain. A park's goal is to have as many guests visit as possible, and I would imagine they'd always try to be apolitical and non-controversial. Perhaps certain American state employment laws (fire at will, human rights not being covered, etc.) would annoy me, but I haven't heard of anything in particular that would turn me away thus far. The closest I've ever come to getting annoyed by a park was a certain park in Indiana where some of the employees were cleared disgruntled Republicans with a strong dislike to Mr. Obama, but as a non-American that's none of my business!

Despite the first photo of me dipping my foot tentatively in the water I would totally have gone for a swim that day. The water and weather were gorgeous!

Wow, some of those vintage rides look hair-raising! Great TR so far - particularly looking forward to your Parque de La Ciudad update - a park that has always fascinated me.

Look forward to checking out these new attractions when we (finally!) make it over the ditch to the Gold Coast later this year.

Yay - you're back! I enjoyed the Galaxi for nostalgia's sake. That particular ride type was my very first roller coaster.

I enjoyed Deja Vu at Magic Mountain, especially the rather intimidating backwards lift. Kind of wish they themed it to the area it's in a *little* - I dunno, paint it black and theme it to mining or something! But it does look impressive.