I had an overnight flight from Singapore to the Gold Coast, landing not long after 8 o’clock in the morning. I can never sleep on planes, so I was pretty knackered at this point. The airport at the Gold Coast was a bit of a faff. It’s only small, and was quick and easy to get through immigration, but I needed to sort a couple of things before I left, and since I’m sure they pump something through the ventilation systems at all airports that turns people into slobbering morons, it took **** ing ages.
First up, I wanted to get a Go card, which is basically like a London Oyster card and gives pretty hefty discounts on transport in the area. Stupidly, only one place at the airport sold them, some transport desk, and only one person was working that desk. Some stupid woman in front of me had missed her bus and was somehow trying to blame the girl behind the desk, who was nice enough to sort the vile woman out by making a few phone calls and getting her on another bus. Anyway, long story short, something which should have taken me 5 minutes ended up taking half an hour since apparently an incoming 737 only requires one person to be working the information desk.
Similarly, I wanted to quickly grab a SIM card, which again would have taken seconds since, you know, I can actually read instructions once I open the **** ing thing, but a guy in front was taking centuries trying to comprehend what he was supposed to do: open packet, insert SIM card, follow basic instructions. It wasn’t even a phone shop, just a convenience store, so why he expected the 90-year-old woman behind the till to know how the **** to use it was beyond me.
Idiots.
The bus which comes “every ten minutes” decided to take another half an hour to arrive, so I finally got to my hotel at around 11, when I really could’ve been there by about half nine.
Anyway, rant over. I was expecting to dump bags at reception and head straight out, but the hotel staff were great and let me check in early. The hotel room was lovely, looking directly out onto the Q1 Tower (the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere), which made navigation really easy.
I just dropped my bags there and had a quick wash and brushed my teeth before heading back out to the bus stop I’d just got off at (literally a 1 minute walk from the hotel) to get a bus to my first Australian park. The buses were so easy; I just used the same bus stop every day to get direct, regular buses to and from the parks.
Warner Bros. Movie World and Wet ‘N’ Wild
This is one of the parks that I’ve been wanting to get to for a pretty long time. I’d planned to arrive for opening, but ended up getting here at about 12. It really didn’t matter, as the park wasn’t very busy. There were enough people around to create an atmosphere, but not enough to make the queues very long.
First up was Superman Escape, an Intamin Accelerator. This had a 40 minute queue due to one-train operations, but went slightly down to about half an hour later in the day.
It was **** ing brilliant. It’s nowhere near as tall and fast as some others, but there’s more airtime than on any of the others I’ve ridden. It’s also very cool that it starts off as a bit of a dark ride and actually has a slight story to it. I also managed to get front row for my very first ride which was a nice little bonus.
So yeah, my new favourite Accelerator.
There’s a generic shot tower that I didn’t bother with at first, but had a go on later in the day since it was quiet and I’d done everything.
Meh.
In the same area is Arkham Asylum, a Vekoma SLC.
Again, this was on a one-train operation, and getting dispatched quite slowly. The station could’ve been improved with some music or something. As it was, people were just standing silently, waiting for the coaster; it was weird.
It was pretty awful, but has a new Kumbak train which essentially is just a lap bar (realized I didn’t take a picture), meaning that there’s no headbanging. It would have been pretty brutal otherwise.
Green Lantern was closed, which was annoying. I wasn’t particularly bothered about missing an El Loco, as they’re crap, but this one has the newer trains with lapbars and speakers. Plus, a cred’s a cred at the end of the day.
The “Main Street” kind of area (forgot the actual name), was decent, but felt like a bit of a cheap knock-off after Universal Singapore the day before. It’s all in the timing though I guess.
I didn’t go in the 4D Cinema; I just seemed to miss the show times every time I went past and didn’t want to plan around it since I generally can’t stand the **** ing things.
I also missed the stunt show, again due to crap timing really.
I did, however manage a couple of rides on Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster, which was excellent for what is, essentially, a wild mouse. It starts as a dark ride though, and has also got a totally unique layout, including an elevator lift and backwards drop.
Yep, new favourite (steel) wild mouse coaster.
The Wild West area (again forgotten the actual name) was ok, but very generic.
The log flume type ride was here.
I’ve ridden the same model at Discovery World in Taiwan, and a similar one at Parque Warner Madrid (different manufacturer) and they’re excellent.
The last coaster here was Road Runner, a Vekoma Roller Skater. ‘Twas exactly as to be expected: a mere +1.
The last ride I did here was the new Justice League 3D shooter.
It was excellent as a shooter, with a combination of real sets (with targets) and 3D screens. It’s kind of a shame that the ride system is so basic, though.
Overall I liked the park. The layout is a bit weird – the log fume is quite a walk away and stuck out at a dead end for example – but they’ve made a really good effort with their rides, with Superman being a massive standout.
Wet ‘N’ Wild was a 10 minute walk away, and was closing soon, so I headed over there just in time to get a ride in on the coaster, an Intamin Halfpipe called Surfrider.
I’ve done a few of these now; apart from the POS at Chimelong Paradise, they’re ok really.
I got a bus back to the hotel, and somehow managed to stay awake to meet Gavin (Gazza on here) for a couple of drinks in the evening before crashing out relatively early.
First up, I wanted to get a Go card, which is basically like a London Oyster card and gives pretty hefty discounts on transport in the area. Stupidly, only one place at the airport sold them, some transport desk, and only one person was working that desk. Some stupid woman in front of me had missed her bus and was somehow trying to blame the girl behind the desk, who was nice enough to sort the vile woman out by making a few phone calls and getting her on another bus. Anyway, long story short, something which should have taken me 5 minutes ended up taking half an hour since apparently an incoming 737 only requires one person to be working the information desk.
Similarly, I wanted to quickly grab a SIM card, which again would have taken seconds since, you know, I can actually read instructions once I open the **** ing thing, but a guy in front was taking centuries trying to comprehend what he was supposed to do: open packet, insert SIM card, follow basic instructions. It wasn’t even a phone shop, just a convenience store, so why he expected the 90-year-old woman behind the till to know how the **** to use it was beyond me.
Idiots.
The bus which comes “every ten minutes” decided to take another half an hour to arrive, so I finally got to my hotel at around 11, when I really could’ve been there by about half nine.
Anyway, rant over. I was expecting to dump bags at reception and head straight out, but the hotel staff were great and let me check in early. The hotel room was lovely, looking directly out onto the Q1 Tower (the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere), which made navigation really easy.
I just dropped my bags there and had a quick wash and brushed my teeth before heading back out to the bus stop I’d just got off at (literally a 1 minute walk from the hotel) to get a bus to my first Australian park. The buses were so easy; I just used the same bus stop every day to get direct, regular buses to and from the parks.
Warner Bros. Movie World and Wet ‘N’ Wild
This is one of the parks that I’ve been wanting to get to for a pretty long time. I’d planned to arrive for opening, but ended up getting here at about 12. It really didn’t matter, as the park wasn’t very busy. There were enough people around to create an atmosphere, but not enough to make the queues very long.
First up was Superman Escape, an Intamin Accelerator. This had a 40 minute queue due to one-train operations, but went slightly down to about half an hour later in the day.
It was **** ing brilliant. It’s nowhere near as tall and fast as some others, but there’s more airtime than on any of the others I’ve ridden. It’s also very cool that it starts off as a bit of a dark ride and actually has a slight story to it. I also managed to get front row for my very first ride which was a nice little bonus.
So yeah, my new favourite Accelerator.
There’s a generic shot tower that I didn’t bother with at first, but had a go on later in the day since it was quiet and I’d done everything.
Meh.
In the same area is Arkham Asylum, a Vekoma SLC.
Again, this was on a one-train operation, and getting dispatched quite slowly. The station could’ve been improved with some music or something. As it was, people were just standing silently, waiting for the coaster; it was weird.
It was pretty awful, but has a new Kumbak train which essentially is just a lap bar (realized I didn’t take a picture), meaning that there’s no headbanging. It would have been pretty brutal otherwise.
Green Lantern was closed, which was annoying. I wasn’t particularly bothered about missing an El Loco, as they’re crap, but this one has the newer trains with lapbars and speakers. Plus, a cred’s a cred at the end of the day.
The “Main Street” kind of area (forgot the actual name), was decent, but felt like a bit of a cheap knock-off after Universal Singapore the day before. It’s all in the timing though I guess.
I didn’t go in the 4D Cinema; I just seemed to miss the show times every time I went past and didn’t want to plan around it since I generally can’t stand the **** ing things.
I also missed the stunt show, again due to crap timing really.
I did, however manage a couple of rides on Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster, which was excellent for what is, essentially, a wild mouse. It starts as a dark ride though, and has also got a totally unique layout, including an elevator lift and backwards drop.
Yep, new favourite (steel) wild mouse coaster.
The Wild West area (again forgotten the actual name) was ok, but very generic.
The log flume type ride was here.
I’ve ridden the same model at Discovery World in Taiwan, and a similar one at Parque Warner Madrid (different manufacturer) and they’re excellent.
The last coaster here was Road Runner, a Vekoma Roller Skater. ‘Twas exactly as to be expected: a mere +1.
The last ride I did here was the new Justice League 3D shooter.
It was excellent as a shooter, with a combination of real sets (with targets) and 3D screens. It’s kind of a shame that the ride system is so basic, though.
Overall I liked the park. The layout is a bit weird – the log fume is quite a walk away and stuck out at a dead end for example – but they’ve made a really good effort with their rides, with Superman being a massive standout.
Wet ‘N’ Wild was a 10 minute walk away, and was closing soon, so I headed over there just in time to get a ride in on the coaster, an Intamin Halfpipe called Surfrider.
I’ve done a few of these now; apart from the POS at Chimelong Paradise, they’re ok really.
I got a bus back to the hotel, and somehow managed to stay awake to meet Gavin (Gazza on here) for a couple of drinks in the evening before crashing out relatively early.
