I always wondered how I would feel, should I ever see the garish uncanny Luna Park face entrance in real life. It was a place that felt too far away to contemplate.
Yet here I was in 2024, on tour in Australia, a little bundle of anxious energy repeatedly checking everywhere for spiders.
I hopped out of a (very expensive) taxi and stared the Luna Park face right in its...face. It's black cable eyelashes flapping in the wind. It's crooked gappy teeth not inviting, but daring me to walk beneath them. It's manic blue eyes rivalling the crazed look in my own (deliberately obscured by shades
)
How did I feel seeing this iconic entrance irl? Tired. So so tired.
You see, dear reader, I had the privilege of 1 hours sleep the night before. We had played a show in Perth the previous night which ended up running really late, then had to get up crazy early to fly to Sydney the next day. As glamorous as a musicians life is often portrayed, doing back to back dates in a country as vast as Australia is EXHAUSTING.
It was 3pm, soundcheck was at 5pm, so I knew I didn't have long to enjoy Luna Park. Every part of my achey body was telling me not to bother, to have a little nap instead.
But my inner coaster voice refused to be silenced. "This is probably you're only chance to visit Luna Park Sydney!" it bellowed. "YOU'LL KICK YOURSELF IF YOU DON'T RIDE THE BIG DIPPER!" it screamed.
Okay, OKAY. I'll accept my sleep deprived state and be a sleep deprived state with 3 more coaster credits under their belt.
Luna Park was eerily quiet. Hardly any music playing, just the whirr of ride machinery and the odd scream from the drop tower. This had a huge knock-on effect on the Whimsy-o-Meter. Instead of oozing nostalgic and charming atmosphere like say, Bakken or Tivoli Friheden, Luna Park felt kinda sad. Almost as if a horror movie were about to be filmed there.
I headed straight for the Intamin Single Rail known as the Big Dipper
The novelty of a rollercoaster with a backdrop of a block of flats was not lost on me.
The trains looked like cheap plastic toys, reminiscent of something you would pull out of a cracker. But you know, an upmarket M+S cracker at the very least.
Taking my seat in the front row, I immediately noticed how much more comfy these trains and restraints are when compared to an RMC Single Rail.
The tire launches were fairly snappy, the inversions deliver a good array of forces and there is one rather good airtime hill in the middle of the ride.
It's a fun ride, far better than it's RMC counterpart purely because the track feels much smoother. On Jersey Devil, I could feel every single join in the track but there was none of that here.
I rushed back around for 2 more goes on Big Dipper. It was equal parts desire to reride and desire to get my moneys worth for my ride wristband.
I imagine this entrance looks lovely all lit up at night.
I felt very torn over the drop tower. It looked like a good one, but literally everyone was making noises in pain when the ride vehicle hit the brakes. With my body already being very battered from playing shows every night, I simply couldn't risk making things worse for myself physically.
I grabbed the other 2 creds then had totally run out of ways to occupy my time at Luna Park.
I picked up a sausage roll from a food stand, which ended up being the best sausage roll I've ever eaten in my life, and sat by the water soaking in the views whilst munching my tasty snack.
Little did I realise in this moment, that all subsequent Gregg's sausage rolls would be ruined for me, forever.
And there we have it. My 37 minutes on 1 hours sleep at Luna Park Sydney.
Highlights:
Sausage roll
Big Dipper Airtime Hill
Would I go back? No. Do I regret going? Also no.
Thanks for reading
Yet here I was in 2024, on tour in Australia, a little bundle of anxious energy repeatedly checking everywhere for spiders.
I hopped out of a (very expensive) taxi and stared the Luna Park face right in its...face. It's black cable eyelashes flapping in the wind. It's crooked gappy teeth not inviting, but daring me to walk beneath them. It's manic blue eyes rivalling the crazed look in my own (deliberately obscured by shades
)How did I feel seeing this iconic entrance irl? Tired. So so tired.
You see, dear reader, I had the privilege of 1 hours sleep the night before. We had played a show in Perth the previous night which ended up running really late, then had to get up crazy early to fly to Sydney the next day. As glamorous as a musicians life is often portrayed, doing back to back dates in a country as vast as Australia is EXHAUSTING.
It was 3pm, soundcheck was at 5pm, so I knew I didn't have long to enjoy Luna Park. Every part of my achey body was telling me not to bother, to have a little nap instead.
But my inner coaster voice refused to be silenced. "This is probably you're only chance to visit Luna Park Sydney!" it bellowed. "YOU'LL KICK YOURSELF IF YOU DON'T RIDE THE BIG DIPPER!" it screamed.
Okay, OKAY. I'll accept my sleep deprived state and be a sleep deprived state with 3 more coaster credits under their belt.
Luna Park was eerily quiet. Hardly any music playing, just the whirr of ride machinery and the odd scream from the drop tower. This had a huge knock-on effect on the Whimsy-o-Meter. Instead of oozing nostalgic and charming atmosphere like say, Bakken or Tivoli Friheden, Luna Park felt kinda sad. Almost as if a horror movie were about to be filmed there.
I headed straight for the Intamin Single Rail known as the Big Dipper
The novelty of a rollercoaster with a backdrop of a block of flats was not lost on me.
The trains looked like cheap plastic toys, reminiscent of something you would pull out of a cracker. But you know, an upmarket M+S cracker at the very least.
Taking my seat in the front row, I immediately noticed how much more comfy these trains and restraints are when compared to an RMC Single Rail.
The tire launches were fairly snappy, the inversions deliver a good array of forces and there is one rather good airtime hill in the middle of the ride.
It's a fun ride, far better than it's RMC counterpart purely because the track feels much smoother. On Jersey Devil, I could feel every single join in the track but there was none of that here.
I rushed back around for 2 more goes on Big Dipper. It was equal parts desire to reride and desire to get my moneys worth for my ride wristband.
I imagine this entrance looks lovely all lit up at night.
I felt very torn over the drop tower. It looked like a good one, but literally everyone was making noises in pain when the ride vehicle hit the brakes. With my body already being very battered from playing shows every night, I simply couldn't risk making things worse for myself physically.
I grabbed the other 2 creds then had totally run out of ways to occupy my time at Luna Park.
I picked up a sausage roll from a food stand, which ended up being the best sausage roll I've ever eaten in my life, and sat by the water soaking in the views whilst munching my tasty snack.
Little did I realise in this moment, that all subsequent Gregg's sausage rolls would be ruined for me, forever.
And there we have it. My 37 minutes on 1 hours sleep at Luna Park Sydney.
Highlights:
Sausage roll
Big Dipper Airtime Hill
Would I go back? No. Do I regret going? Also no.
Thanks for reading
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