azza29

I'm yet to try Florida, but it seems like a better vacation destination than SoCal. Any trip I take to the US inevitably involves arriving in and departing from LAX, so it's always been easy to grab a couple of days at Disneyland/Knotts/SFMM on the way in or out, but for a two-week vacation I'd definitely choose Florida. Hopefully it'll happen around this time next year!

^Dreamworld is more of an amusement park, it does have some good rides but operations can be slow. I'd say it's more family oriented than Movie World, with two decent-sized kids areas and a better mix of family vs thrill rides. The new Dreamworks section is excellent (the 'Dronkey Flyers' are a highlight), and the coaster collection is fairly unique, albeit low-capacity. WhiteWater World is basically a Proslide showroom, but there's definitely enough there to fill an afternoon. I'd say Movie World is probably a better park overall for it's theming, shows and coasters, but Dreamworld is still a pretty decent park, and certainly improving from what it was 2-3 years ago.

I'm definitely buying fewer discs these days - most films I tend to see at the cinema or not at all. My preference is still physical media though, as even HD downloads are compressed significantly more than the content on a blu-ray disc. I've actually sold off a lot of my collection on eBay over the past couple of years, since I just don't have as much time to watch TV or movies as I used to (it's surprising how much money out-of-print Disney movies can bring in!).

Any kind of "plummet" slide, like the Aqualoops. I get an adrenalin rush from these that is yet to be matched by any coaster.

The more I travel to overseas parks the more I'm surprised that this still hasn't happened. Sydney and Melbourne certainly have the population to support at least a mid-sized park along the lines of Discovery Kingdom, for example. Luna Park's Scenic Railway is lovely but I'd definitely appreciate it if there was something less than a century old to ride. Still - it is kind of fun to nick up to the Gold Coast for a weekend to get my coaster fix... hooray for frequent flyer points and free flights!

^I've been on about half a dozen SLCs so far, and Arkham Asylum is easily the "least uncomfortable" of those. I think the new trains actually make it a decent coaster! Great to hear TPR are thinking about another Australia trip in the not-too-distant future. I think by 2016 there will have been enough additions/upgrades to make a tour worthwhile. The parks have added a fair bit even since 2011 - Buzzsaw, Storm Coaster, Arkham, Justice League, Green Lantern, Abyss, Dreamworks-world, and Wet 'n Wild Sydney. Hopefully the next couple of years will see even more additions!

Great to see this thread come about. I catch some updates on Twitter but don't always have time to go back and see all of the pics that get posted, so it's good to be able to read them as part of a trip report.

Arkham Asylum at Movie World - since the retheme and new trains this thing has taken on a new life! Turns out that SLCs are actually pretty good rides when the headbanging is removed.

Zamperla Volares or Vekoma SLCs? (aka battle of the bruisers!)

Having been to neither, and with both parks on my "visit soon" radar, I'd probably go for Dollywood over SDC, but only just. SDC probably has a better coaster collection, but Dollywood's entertainment/food lineup is a pretty strong pull for me.

I'd go for Disney World. Both are great destinations but I generally enjoy theme parks more than amusement parks.

This is great feedback! Which ones do you use? I'm currently using DownThemAll! for Firefox.

DVDs/blu-rays: about two dozen each year, almost all blu-rays. If there's a new RCITR disc coming out I'd purchase a blu-ray copy. Digital downloads: a handful, more TV shows than movies. I usually purchase via iTunes, and download to my computer. If I'm going to watch it on my phone/iPad I'll download directly to that over wi-fi. A 1.5-2GB file is fine. When downloading TPR digital DVDs, I've found that using a download manager plugin (rather than the default browser download function) gives me a more stable connection and prevents large downloads from dropping out partway through.

I suspect the Hogwarts Express is going to be the breakout attraction once this expansion opens. Unlike Gringotts Coaster and Forbidden Journey there will likely be no height requirement and absolutely everybody is going to want to take the train between the parks. I wonder if they will restrict entry to guests with a park-to-park ticket?

Cedar Fair for me too. Snoopy > Bugs Bunny.

Disappointing to see this happen. At what point did causing mild offence become the worst thing ever?! In my view there is a pretty obvious difference between some lazy off-colour jokes and genuine homophobia. Unfortunately the media doesn't seem to make that distinction and has unsurprisingly blown this out of proportion. What's even more disappointing is that Universal simply caved to media pressure rather than ignore the complaints or defend their work. I'm not looking forward to a world where everything has to be "safe" because God forbid anyone's feelings should be hurt...

Bah - we are already used to being upside-down all the time!

I'm in - this was a lot of fun last year. Thanks for organising it again Brandy!

^Seems to just complain when you tap it, haven't seen any quests pop up yet. 30m ghosts needed until we get King Homer!

Sidewinder is a good one as it has the newer trains with vest-style restraints rather than the full OTSR. I've been on seven boomerangs in different parks, the Invertigo models seem to be the most fun.

People in line for the new Kevil Hill laser tag at Dreamworld, complaining about how long the wait time is. 25 minute wait for an attraction that opened two days ago. If it's so bad just leave, nobody is forcing you to wait!

This conversation has happened about ten times now. Me: I'm visiting Scandinavia next year on a theme park tour. GP: Huh? They have those there? Really? I get that that part of the world isn't really known for it's parks but still, it shouldn't be all that surprising that some actually *exist*!

If it's happening I'm totally in. This was a lot of fun last year!

^Could be worse. Could have Volare clones all over the place instead of SLCs.

People are getting cross about ticket prices: www.news.com.au/national-news/nsw-act/wet8217n8217wild-sydney-ceo-chris-warhurst-says-premium-tickets-are-8216good-value8217/story-fnii5qqu-1226741218178 Single entry is $69.99, which does seem on the pricey side. Certainly more expensive than WnW Gold Coast, or even Disney's Blizzard Beach/Typhoon Lagoon parks. That said, the selection of slides looks great, and $125 for a season pass seems reasonable enough, so I guess they're trying to push people towards purchasing that. I thought they might have some sort of premium season pass which included VRTP's Gold Coast parks as well, but haven't seen anything so far. I feel like the Aussie parks could get a little smarter with their pricing models. A premium entry ticket that included a skycoaster ride and flowrider time, for example, or an 'off-peak' season pass only valid on weekdays.