azza29

Well, at least they're not retheming BTMM to The Lone Ranger...

In terms of new additions I'll get a chance to ride, it's a tie between GateKeeper and Gold Striker. I'm intrigued by YOLOcoaster, it could be terrible, it could be great - the proof will be in the riding. But I'm just looking forward to 2013 in general, as I've got a six-week-long USA trip planned that will get me to plenty of parks I've never visited before, including Cedar Point, Knoebels, Hersheypark and Busch Gardens.

This has been such a great year for Gold Coast parks - in the space of 18 months we've had: Constrictor, Justice League, Arkham Asylum, Green Lantern, Ice Age 4D, SeaWorld's new coaster, Buzzsaw, plus all of the work Dreamworld have put in with not just re-theming to Dreamworks but actually adding new rides! Considering there are only 4 parks up there this is a fantastic set of additions. I remember visiting in 2010 and thinking how tired it was all looking, then going back earlier this year and being pleasantly surprised at all the new hotness! I know Aussies tend to whinge about the relative lack of coasters down here, but at the moment we have it pretty good.

That would be great! If Disney replaced the theater with a decent Muppet dark ride I'd be tempted to take a quick trip to LA just to see it...

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but apparently Muppets are being bumped for Prep + Landing over Christmas. I'm not a Disney fanboy but I am a Muppets fanboy. Would be devastated if the Muppet theatre just ends up being a preview center for whatever film is coming soon. I know the movie isn't even that great but being the only Muppet attraction at DLR it's something I look forward to every visit.

As far as theme park show go Terminator was pretty solid, but definitely starting to show its age. Great to see they're replacing it. I'm hoping for a Blues Brothers dark ride. Sort of Country Bears meets Splash Mountain kind of thing.

Proslide: most waterparks seem to have a very similar collection of attractions - wave pool, water playground, body slides, raft slide, tornado and a funnel. Is there a need for greater innovation in waterpark rides?

The more I think about this, the angrier it makes me. Entirely preventable, I'm sure the mother must feel awful but when did people get so bloody stupid? She ought to forget about suing the park and think about putting together a defense against manslaughter charges.

I didn't even realise there was such a thing as an off-season until I tried to visit Discovery Kingdom in November last year... yep I am a naive Australian

I'm in. Someone's going to get an awesome gift from Australia!

^ They've set an expectation that they will have something new every single year, yet have to settle for average/mediocre rides because they don't have the budget for something great. Sounds like a problem SFMM have created for themselves.

^ There are plenty of things they could add in the years they aren't adding a new major ride though, such as new shows or flat rides.

Yes! They have an opportunity to replace their crappy coaster with a good one!

What about the week following Memorial Day - are most rides usually open by then?

Picked up the Finding Nemo blu-ray today - it has a 15 minute feature on the submarine ride. Some interesting bits and pieces about the technology used to animate the characters, and how they stop the coral in the lagoon from fading. Apparently the boats have another 50 years of working life left, so no hope for any faster loading vehicles any time soon...

Yes but little things like signage and railings wouldn't. Too much chipped/faded paint around the place makes it look like the park just doesn't care.

While I haven't been to CGA (yet) it's amazing how much a lot of parks could achieve by spending a little bit of money on some fresh paint each year. Faded/worn paint jobs are a terrible look and yet are such a minor effort to fix!

I was 10 years old riding the Thunderbolt at Dreamworld. It's defunct now and I don't remember much, but it had two consecutive loops which was pretty exciting at the time.

Agree that it probably won't be a bad ride. But it would be 10x better if they'd added another 600ft of track following the top hat, just to finish the ride off nicely.

So I've just been reading a few (hundred) pages back about rough park guests and rude ride ops during TPR's 2008 visit, is this still the case or has the park improved since then?

Exactly. If RCT3 has taught me anything it's that when you run out of room in a park, just build that giga underground...

A little quiet on the theme park front this year but: - front seat on Tower of Terror II (who would have thought that turning the car around could make a ride 10x better?) - first time riding a hydrocoaster (whee!)

Looks like a good addition for the park - while family coasters don't offer much in the way of an aggressive thrill they can still be pretty fun (although I'm not really a wild mouse fan). I'd like to see the new rides paired with some decent theming though.

Thanks for the update! Of all the new hotness coming in 2013, Gatekeeper is the one I'm most excited for. Unless they finish Flying Turns, of course...

Thanks, and yes, I am really Australian. Some of these photos are just incredible, can only imagine how powerful that storm must have been to drag big, heavy rides into the ocean.