Australian Amusement Fanatics

Went down to the grounds today to see what had turned up so far.Mega Drop is making its third appearance in a row,it must have just arrived as it was still racked up.Music Trip looks complete already,as does Cliff Hanger.The Tornado is back after a three year absence,and Cha Cha is halfway done.Bells Hurricane is in its usual spot(next to the sheep shed),and the old Tilt a Whirl is back after making way for a flashier looking model last year,which had a nice backdrop and lightshow.There was also something still racked up that I couldnt make out,did catch a glimpse,but didnt recognize anything.Hopefully its a pleasant surprise,and I hope some others show up in the coming days.

Ahh the suspense, something Zamperla likes.lol

Princess, are you implying Bell's Turbo? I had not allowed that hope to enter my mind. if it is, I'll be making the 3 hour drive from Melbourne in a flash.

Matt I am interested in what Tilt-a-whirl this is. Are you sure it is not the same as last year? You are very lucky getting Bell's Hurricane as a regular. Definitely the best run unit in the country in my opinion (the cars swoop closer to the centre pole than any model) - always nicely presented.

I sure hope the Turbo is back! I did hear it would be ready by late this year so I guess anything is possible. My fingers are crossed!

will be attending Whittlesea show, im sure nothing special will be there, hopefully a Zipper, id be happy with that

Have a good time Huss. Bell's No Limit doesn't seem to be doing as many regional shows as last year. Could this have to do with the high maintanence it requires?

Ventured down to the grounds again today,and what a pleasant surprise,Scorpion is making its first appearance in Sale.This was on my wishlist for this year,so I'm pretty happy.Heh,our local paper is really talking it up too,mentioning the "fastest ride in Australia" tag no less than three times in the show section.I did notice that the ride has no safety harnesses at all,only a bar at the front of the gondola.I guess the centrifugal forces are strong enough to keep you firmly in your seat?.The ride I didnt recognize turned out to be Techno Jump,not surprisisng I didnt,since I took one look at it last year and never paid attention to it again.A waste of space that couldve and shouldve been used for a Zipper,which we havent had for two years.You were right about the Tilt a Whirl Zamperla,it is the same one as last year.They started erecting the backdrop today.I really would prefer the old one we used to get though,it gave a much more intense ride.I definitely will be attending this year,I will probably ride Scorpion a few times,also Tornado and Hurricane.Weather doesnt look good unfortunately.

Matt, definitely give Techno Jump a go, it is a good intermediate ride and you can really feel that you are being held by pressurised air. (but nothing as intense as Scorpion) I am pretty sure the Scorpion has just changed ownership - this would be the first show it has operated under its new owners.

Yeah Scorpion is an intense ride, a lot of fun but definitely watch your step when you get off as you'll be very dizzy! Who owns the Scorpion now? It was Pavier's until very recently.

Definitely give Techno Jump a go if you can; I reckon you'll enjoy it.

techno gave me a huge bruise, that took weeks to go, so I will always think twice before I go on it.

Sorry Zamperla I did not mean to give you false hope about Turbo, I just realised after some of your posts that you like to be surprised when you go to a show about what is there, I am actually loosing hope that we will ever see turbo again.

Sounds like a good line-up 4 the show. Hope more rides come soon. As 4 scorpion, is it Peter Stratton, mite not do hawkesbury or sydney anymore

drove past whittlesea show... lol was a joke... a Chance Trabant, thats it... MEH, I never knew jumping castles were considered as TEEN RIDES

A Chance Trabant? I was expecting a lawnmower motor powered chairswing.

I am interested to know more about the Trabant, did you take a photo HUSS?

Who owns this trabant or how many are there is Aus? I know of one which is currently being re built. This is co-owned by Ashley Cosgrove and John Phelan. I've never seen there trabant complete but i've seen the seats for it. Huss, i think u should giv whittlesea show a miss Lol!

I know O'neil's used to own an excellent Trabant that gave a good ride but I haven't seen it for quite a few years.

As for the Sale Show, I've heard there has been some really heavy rain and strong winds which probably caused massive disruptions. Let us know how it went if you can! The RES used to be imfamous for being rained out all the time and stilll cops a day or two of heavy rain each year; very disappointing when it happens.

Is oneills the one that used to go to moomba. Anyway, hope the show goes all to plan. Shame if they get a whole lot of rain

You're not wrong about the rain,in the past 24 hours we've had around 90mm.Places that were flooded earlier this year are being evacuated again.Thankfully the rain held off until Saturday,so the Friday night carnival was rain and wind free.Line up this year:
Mega Drop
Scorpion
Cliffhanger
Music Trip
Techno Jump
Bells Hurricane
Bells Cha Cha
Tornado
Tilt a Whirl
Dodgems
various kids rides
I ended up taking my 12 year old nephew Jesse with me this year.He is at the age where most kids start riding the majors,so I had no problem with this!.We arrived around 6.30,and after purhasing some showbags for my two younger nephews it was time for the first ride of the night,which was the Tornado.It's probably been a good 7 or 8 years since I've been on this so I was glad to see it back (it was in Sale in '04 but I didn't attend that year).Jesse refused to ride it when he saw it spin and rise for the first time,so it was just me the first time around.The centrifugal forces are as good as ever,although I did feel very dizzy as it came to a stop,and had to take those steep steps easy.Hopefully this was due to the light-headedness of the cold I had during the week,and not the years starting to catch up with me .Because I don't recall Tornado having such an effect in the past.Next up was the good old trusty Hurricane,Jesse was up for this one.This Hurricane (Bells) has been at every Sale show for as long as I can remember,well over 20 years.It still looks and runs great,and according to Zamperla,is Australias best.The thing I get from this ride is just pure fun,sure, it has it's thrilling moments-like the arms swooping back down and passing perilously close to the centre,but overall a good ride for all ages.I just wish it would last another minute or so,maybe make the beginning of the ride cycle a bit longer,because I really enjoy that too.After this we made our way around to where both Mega Drop and Scorpion were situated.Unsurprisingly there was a large crowd watching and riding both.Jesse told me before we even left he wasn't riding Scorpion,but this opinion quickly changed when we ran into one of his school friends.I guess he felt the need to prove himself?!!.I dicided I had to see this,so I sat this one out and watched.He of course thought it was awesome,and our party of two became three.Next I watched them ride Music Trip.I tried this last year,and wasn't eager to ride again.I think Ali Baba or Rainbow would suit me more.After enjoying Scorpion we convinced Jesse to give Tornado a go,and after we stumbled off he agreed with my opinion that this is a great ride that leaves an impession.The last ride of the night for me was Scorpion.Well,I don't know if my expectations were too high,but I was disappointed.The beginning of the ride cycle is good (although way too slow),but once the arms rose it didn't do much for me.I remember someone on this forum saying this ride has slowed down,so it looks as though I missed it in it's prime.I'm not a fan of Mega Drop,it's thrills are much too short lived.I rode it the last two years and that's enough for me.As for the other rides:Techno Jump looked to be running at full capacity the few times I noticed it.Unless I'm mistaken,none of the lights on the actual ride seemed to be on,only the floodlights around it.Cliffhanger seemed to be doing good business as well.Cha Cha is always popular.Overall I'd say this year was better than '06,crowds looked to be of a similar size to the last few years.I just wish a few more majors would show up and restore our show to it's former glory.

I will agree with you on the Scorpion, I find it to be highly repetitous (and found it a bit too fast, but I had just come off a nauseating zipper experience) up until about 2003 they used to operate it backwards - it was a brilliantly disorientating sensation and boosted the whole ride experience. I often wonder why they no longer do this, perhaps to increase the life of the bearings = $ lower maintenance.

Great reviews as always guys!

Good review

Great review Matt, I hope that your years arnt catching up with you too. lol