Australian Amusement Fanatics

Thanks KIWI, I was glad you were able to catch up with John Short. I have known him for about 25 years and is one of the most down to earth showman on the circuit. It was a shame he sold his Super Loops, but I guess you have to move with the times.
Cheers, DEEFA.

Is it BELLS or one that's being refirbed on the quiet??

It was to see the photo of John Shorts ORION ride from the late 80's at the Rocky Show. I have a folder of show inserts from local papers from the mid 80's showing many of the old rides of that time, eg Chipmunk Roller Coaster as well as unused tickets from rides like ORION,TURBO etc. Sure brings ba...

Good point HUSS. I was only aware of BELLS (BROOKS old one) that was getting a refirbed in Australia. Seems to be dragging on for ages. It would be cool if someone could get the main workings of a TURBO/RADAR and retro fit modern over the shoulder restraint seats similar to those on XXXL. Sure beats...

USED RIDES.COM has just listed on the 13th of JULY a CHANCE RADAR RIDE that needs work for US $15000. This could be a chance to pick up this ride and keep and eye out for a set of TURBO tubs that often come up for sale. Could be an opportunity to bring a TURBO back to life!

DEEFA.

This years show would have been one of the worst for takings for operators and stall holders in years. Combined with gale force winds, crappy weather and Rocky still recovering from Category 5 cyclone Marcia, it was pretty poor. Speed 2 and Dark Ride packed up on the 2nd last night and moved out! Sk...

Went for a lap of the showgrounds and checked out the new Avenger. Geez the artwork looks pretty good now. Earlier in the week it looked like it had been whitewashed, now the whitewash has gone and it's full of colourful superhero characters. A lot better, well done!

Recently (7/11/14) listed on the "Used Rides.com"site-Ref#23483 was a Chance Turbo Ride listed for sale in China for U.S.$49 000. It was described as being imported from AUSTRALIA in 2001.It has had little use as it has mostly been in storage, has no rust, no oil leaks,new paint and last u...

I think there is enough warning in place to inform riders that this ride is WILD!! Perhaps Shorts should have an option when you buy your tickets if you would like to be wrapped from head to toe in bubble wrap for a charge of $10 to prevent the sugar babies from bruising a finger or smashing your fa...

It just goes to show how much the Short and Laurie staff take safety so seriously with all safety precautions taken with their harnesses etc. I'm sure this was not a decision taken just for the benefit of the crowds and cameras and they were updating the passengers on their every move. Very professi...

It was sad to hear that an 8 year old girl died after being throw up to 10 metres while on the AIRMAXX. This ride was new to Australia last year and was the first time at that Adelaide Show. It was suggested the girl flew out from the restraint due to her small size. It is vital that operators stick...

From what I heard, it was on a 25 year lease to Midway Amusements from the U.S.

Thanks Kiwi. Still would like to know what happened to the Sky Diver and the Muzique Bounce that didn't have a very long existance if anybody knows.
Cheers, DEEFA.

I was thinking of the rides that used to travel the show circuit and was wondering what ever happened to the following rides: Paviers Sky Diver ride, Midway Amusements Muzique Bounce ride, Shorts Orian ride and Shorts Superloops. Maybe these rides were sold overseas or are getting a new lease of lif...

Glad you enjoyed the Rocky Show Steve, without being picky, your ride list had 4 Dodgems:Crazy Cars, Nitro Dodgems and both of Shorts tracks. The Slingshot has been around for years now and hasn't been to Rocky for ages and Speed 2 has been a regular for a few years. I decided to give the Freak Out ...

Rok N Rol was run by Coney Fair Amusements out of Brisbane. Don't know if they are still running it now.
DEEFA.

The Ferrari 500's look like the set that did the North run which was owned by Carrick Amusements.
DEEFA.

Thanks HARDROCK, maybe it was their Twister Gravitron that had a re-theme to the TRON colours.
DEEFA.

This year we had a Dodgem Track, Ferris Wheel, Super Trooper, Ultimate Party Machine,Energy Storm, Kamakazi, Gravitron, Cyber Party, Claw, Super Fun Factory, Simulator,Temple of Doom Ghost Train, Scrambler and a Super Slide. Still a good turn out for a small festival and you never know what is going...

Hi Steve, good to hear you are making it to Rocky this year. Will try to catch up some where. There is plenty of free parking around the showgrounds available early, failing that, there is paid ($5 - $7) day/night parking at Rocky High School grounds straight across the road. A few more rides have a...

Well the Rocky show is on this Friday to Sunday again clashing with the weekend Yeppoon show. The rides are starting to roll in including: Crazy Coaster, Space Roller, Flash Dance, Alien Abduction, Crazy Cars, Shorts Zipper, Davis' Wheel, Several Dodgems, Extreme, and what I think is a new wheel fro...

Good to see you had a top day out at the festival Force. I went down on the Saturday and was surprised with the growing number of rides, a few you missed were the: Temple of Doom Ghost Train, Fun Factory, Jumbo Slide and a Simulator. It was good to see the Sky Walker make it's debut there, but the $...

I'm looking at going down to the Gladstone Harbour festival again this year. It doesn't have a bad line up for a small carnival. Last year from what I can remember was: Davis' Wheel, Trindals Cyber party and Super Trooper. Watkins Claw and Kamikaze, Flash Dance, Dodgems Cars and previously Marchs' H...

Hey Dazzle, see if you can squeeze a few bucks from your Mum and get yourself a new keyboard. The Exclamation Mark (!) seems to come on every time you hit the Fullstop key. Just a friendly hint....I don't like to be shouted out.

Sorry Josh, no pics. I think by now most people know what the rides look like by now. Just one thing I noticed with a lot of the rides this year was the use of the computer generated yank voice overs during the ride start up and ride durations themselves. You know, the "scream if you wanna go f...