we get a lot of tourists, they just come here for nature and not theme parks

Most of the tourism is in the south island

Not true

oh ffs its not just nz

@@arrivingone I never said it was 😅

​@arrivinglotus1 Yeah, but we had six years of a government that destroyed our economy and decided to reduce the prisoner population by 30%. Last time I was at rainbows end it was full of mongrel mob guys with ankle bracelets.

​@@arrivingonebro you good?

Actually you asshat if you did some research youd know auckland is one of the most expensive cities to live in in the world. ​@@arrivingone

Just started watching Sweet Tooth because of this comment, the first episode is very good.

Too long. Didn't read

@@ryanstrong1167 try again, it’s worth it.

noice fact

@@Tarokona1Also Waiwera Pools which has been dilapidated for over a decade was used as a location. Cowboy Bebop and One Of Us Is Lying also shot there.

that was my first (and still to this day) fav rollercoaster. i didn't they kept one of the carts from it!

And the Pirate Ship! Such a shame they took it down

@@Ezra_Malfoy97 Such a simple ride but the Pirate Ship was always a blast. Sad to hear that it has been taken down as well as the Gold Rush ride.

@MrSnrSquishy it was my go-to every time I went there! Have they taken the Gold Rush ride down, too? Bloody hell, it's been years since I last went there, but I'm still sad to hear of all the changes. It'll end up going the same way as Waiwera if they keep this up.

@@Ixxlostinabox gold rush is still there, I took my niece and nephew in January and they loved it.

I think there's still a picture of me as a kid on the log flume at Rainbow's End

@KarlAfterBurnett yep I remember that too. It was called Cannonball Run. Built by SDC. I went to Footrot Flats not long before it closed down, and it was very run down with half the rides not operating and weeds growing everywhere.

Dear God, I used to love it as a child but last time I went on it I thought I was gonna die 😆 Definitely a thriller hahaha

Its beyond the manufacturers life expectancy, so are many more

I was waiting in line and I saw someone vomit during their ride on the power surge it went everywhere including on some of the other people on the ride 😂 it had to be temporarily shut down.

Oh my God power surge was pants shitting lmak

@@NineEyes97- yeah given you spend a reasonable amount of time looking at people on that ride - between all the spinning, and all the type of food that is generally accessible at a theme park - that is a huge risk.

"Upgrade" to the gold rush queue? At least with the old one we had something to read/look at while we waited. :(

Was never going to happen ,it was all pr ,they are happy with staying complacent ,they do however have an agreement with counsel to spend 3 million every 3 years till when the lease runs out in 2034

Fun fact , the bumper boats pool and tall light poles are part of the skate park ,the rest of the ramps a buried under the center stage up to the sideshow galleries area .The hungry miner food outlet is built around the old farmhouse on the farm that was on the skate parks boarder ,the farm house opened a lift up window and served food and drink to the skate boarders .That very same lift up window was still there and used at the old food outlet ,before it was changed to the hungry miner ,the western facades are on the farmhouse roof edge , the farmhouse had a green corrugated roof ,still there today but hidden .Behind the scenes ,the back of the weatherboard farmhouse still exists .

There was never any death at Footrot Flats in Te Atatu. There was also a Footrot Flats in Rotorua which lasted several years later closing around 1995.

@@Iron-guy-fly I didn't get the chance to visit Rotorua park, probably drove passed it on my way to camp at Rotoma.

Read my reply at the top .

As someone who's originally from the USA, and has been to Mall of America, Valleyfair etc - i've yet to go to Rainbows End (because most pople tell me it isn't worth it -- because i live in the south island and people just talk it up like it's some american copycat XD) - -but to hear someone who Grew up in Auckland say this about Rainbows End is QUITE NICE - you're dead honest it's not perfect, but it's a warm nostalgia.. AND HEY: MoA has a log flume or did in the 90s xD Ours was based on Paul Bunyan :)

Thanks ,i was part of that .

Fantasy Land back in the day

Again , not true , the population is there , the type of investment inst ,Rainbows would be closing their doors if another was built in Auckland ,its about the lack of investment not sustainability , it couldn't be a huge one but it could be a better one ,bringing in bigger numbers.

They've been in debt for the longest time, definitely not expecting them to expand/upgrade ever.

Thanks for sharing your opinion! I see what you’re getting at by saying the park looked like an eyesore compared to everything else, but I don’t think that’d be true for every park. I believe if done well, a theme park that embraces the theming and is quality over quantity would be a welcome fit here. Imagine if a park with the level of detail in Phantasialand existed here- I think it’d fit in very well! A place like that would only enhance the tourism market, without detracting from all the other amazing things to do here.

@@CoasterStudios Well said. Those parks can be rare, but I agree that in the long run it would boost tourism.

@@connorsmith8752 I hear they have glow worms in Waitomo caves

@@marty_nz There sure are. It's well worth the visit!

that's a fairly new thing and it's in a separate building next to the cafe near the bumper boats

@@jamiem5529 ahhh I see, I thought it was there for years after he talked about it

Over priced because they can ,i worked for 10 years there and trust me , i know

In other words, real NZers doing real NZ things in what is real NZ. Because Auckland is anything but. It's just another bland, crime-ridden sprawl.

Not many Aucklanders go to Rainbows End on a regular basis. Look around on a Saturday afternoon, you will see people playing rugby/league/cricket etc in their DROVES all throughout Auckland. My Jafa mates go hunting and fishing all the time. You two are out to lunch.

I don't get it?! Why TF does everyone hate Aucklanders? We just happen to live in a large city but you can still drive like a few kilometres and get to rural areas. We just like any other city. I simply don't understand why we specifically get a bad rep.

@@willhawkins-dt7um Because they're mad that Auckland is basically the only 'relevant' city in NZ

The Gold Coast theme parks are amazing. That said i went with a few friends to Rainbows End in 2010 and had a great time. NZ tends to focus on things like bungy jumping and zorbing etc which IMO is prob better suited to the NZ way of doing things and is different which is a big plus for NZ thrill seeking

@@boomertuxx yeah, I don't disagree. I could see an alpine coaster in Queenstown or one of the other ski areas doing really well, though

Rides have use by dates and some burn down ,and creative discussions were never NZs strong point.

I worked there for 10 years trying to drag it out of the swamp, was never going to happen

Thanks for being sensible.

@Iron-guy-fly I think those into theme parks that have traveled abroad and been to the likes of Alton towers in the UK and Magic Mountain in CA etc I think those Kiwis always wished Rainbows End might get bigger, even the size of Movie World on the Gold coast which isnt large but does tightly pack a heap of great rides, I think locals world love that but once you understand basic economics NZ couldn't pay for it, or atleast the price of entry due to limited gate sales, the entry price wiukd be rediculously high to pay for new international level Coaster. The Stratosphere and drop tower are achievable but a new coaster that would have to be twice the size to even bother, I can't see anyone willing to pay for it, or atleast the return would be slower than its increasing maintenance costs for it to be remotely economically viable, sadly.

How do you even get to that? I was staring at it wondering how to get to it

​@@NobodyisAnybodythere's an entrance underneath the invader ride

Always been my favourite ride at that entire park, usually has the smallest queues as well

@@yasthemann thx

I was worried it was gone for a sec lol. I realised like 6 minutes in that he didn't mention it yet :')

@alanjames6236 53 minutes ago (edited) I worked as theme artist from 2008 to 2019 .History of the park is long and complex as from 1982 they had a 7 year lease from year to year and would not invest due to half the local council wanting to develope the land ,worth billions now . I in 2008 approached the then CEO ,who at the time had got an agreement with council to extend the land lease to 2034 providing they spend 3 million every 3 years on infrastructure. There was no job ,I just sent a letter to the then CEO talking about reinvestment etc ,and my abilities coming from the movie tv industry. After 10 years i had a workshop and 2 other artists working with me . I am an all rounder prop set model maker inspired by Disney parks . look at past photos before 2008 and things are pretty dismal ,just look at the castle and rides and queue area all designed by myself and my team under (rediculas budgets) then and around 2019 , now changed to simple again in 2024, they have the money .. I tried to help, working directly under the CEO ,to create better experiences and was involved with helping make million dollar decisions . I was the designer of kids kingdom layout and the look ,but it has since been simplified due to a hostile takeover. The CEO ,me and 30 odd managers were forced to leave ,followed by half the maintenance men just walking ,putting the parks safety at risk , with new management not taking on the past vast experiences of those they forced out . The current CEO, knowing nothing about theme parks made for a dangerous situation . We were getting that park up to world class standards and then the take over ,from a CEO that was too scared to invest in any new major attractions hence VR experiences etc was all she could offer. The parks early history of just making money and not reinvesting, was the result of not owning the land combined with no direction or idea what an amusement or theme park should be . In the old days moistly run by managers that had family members as maintenance men, causing to this day, a type of control by or resistance by maintenance to except new or creative ideas . The park changed hands many times over the years but always turned a profit ,even though many thought it was going broke back in the late 80s . The yearly attendance when i left was around 3 to 400. 00 people ,grown from 200.00 in 2008 and would require 900.00+ at least before any large coaster could be invested in . To sum it up , the park never had any long term direction to be an amusement park nor theme park ,people at the top would go to IAPA twice a year but still never come back with any degree of where the park should be headed. Full of political agenders from year to year ,it will never become anything more than an overseas knockoff. Think of an old episode of star trek , when Kirk and the team landed on a planet where aliens put them in an earth like environment , the aliens observed earths history but translated wrong !. A funny comparison , but actually sums it up .

The minigolf (and Cinema180, the old dome showing 70s first person movies) was removed probably seven or eight years ago.

The only country where Ride to Happiness has the chance to be the best coaster is in NZ. Belgium it doesn't. Also, i'd take a clone of either Hals-Uber-kopf or Karacho and count the credit again.

@@marty_nz you really need to reride ride to happiness

@alanjames6236 53 minutes ago (edited) I worked as theme artist from 2008 to 2019 .History of the park is long and complex as from 1982 they had a 7 year lease from year to year and would not invest due to half the local council wanting to develope the land ,worth billions now . I in 2008 approached the then CEO ,who at the time had got an agreement with council to extend the land lease to 2034 providing they spend 3 million every 3 years on infrastructure. There was no job ,I just sent a letter to the then CEO talking about reinvestment etc ,and my abilities coming from the movie tv industry. After 10 years i had a workshop and 2 other artists working with me . I am an all rounder prop set model maker inspired by Disney parks . look at past photos before 2008 and things are pretty dismal ,just look at the castle and rides and queue area all designed by myself and my team under (rediculas budgets) then and around 2019 , now changed to simple again in 2024, they have the money .. I tried to help, working directly under the CEO ,to create better experiences and was involved with helping make million dollar decisions . I was the designer of kids kingdom layout and the look ,but it has since been simplified due to a hostile takeover. The CEO ,me and 30 odd managers were forced to leave ,followed by half the maintenance men just walking ,putting the parks safety at risk , with new management not taking on the past vast experiences of those they forced out . The current CEO, knowing nothing about theme parks made for a dangerous situation . We were getting that park up to world class standards and then the take over ,from a CEO that was too scared to invest in any new major attractions hence VR experiences etc was all she could offer. The parks early history of just making money and not reinvesting, was the result of not owning the land combined with no direction or idea what an amusement or theme park should be . In the old days moistly run by managers that had family members as maintenance men, causing to this day, a type of control by or resistance by maintenance to except new or creative ideas . The park changed hands many times over the years but always turned a profit ,even though many thought it was going broke back in the late 80s . The yearly attendance when i left was around 3 to 400. 00 people ,grown from 200.00 in 2008 and would require 900.00+ at least before any large coaster could be invested in . To sum it up , the park never had any long term direction to be an amusement park nor theme park ,people at the top would go to IAPA twice a year but still never come back with any degree of where the park should be headed. Full of political agenders from year to year ,it will never become anything more than an overseas knockoff. Think of an old episode of star trek , when Kirk and the team landed on a planet where aliens put them in an earth like environment , the aliens observed earths history but translated wrong !. A funny comparison , but actually sums it up .

Yes Microworld! Down at the viaduct where the tank farm used to be.

The one in Rotorua closed sometime ago. It was Rainbow springs and was directly next door to the gondola. It went under about two years ago I think. Only the kiwi sanctuary and hatching operation still works on that site

Not "poor" so much as "strip mined by the rich-" including the rich circlejerk currently posing as people running the country.

There wasn’t an accident. How do all these absurd rumours get started? Someone else said someone died at Footrot Flats. Never happened either.

@@Iron-guy-fly it was an accident, someone got their head cut off

@@cameraop8210 lol. Never happened.

@@Iron-guy-fly yes, u heard about the rape in the log flume as well yeah?

@@cameraop8210 Next you’re going to tell me the one about the Vegemite jar right? You’re just regurgitating schoolyard garbage.

so true

I feel like even in NZ there has to be people who can maintain these launch mechanisms. Like, if they could afford to hire a specialist only when they're needed, and the rest of train and station maintenance can be done by standard park staff, that would be great.

It explains why Marty likes arrow jank so much when he visits the states.

@@alantrotter2077 I need Magnum dorito hills

@@marty_nz Never heard them compared to doritos but the hills are quite good.

Facts

I LIVE IN NEW ZEALAND AND LIVING HERE LONG ENOUGH THAT ISN'T TRUE TO MEEEEE

Ahaha there u go. You just don't appreciate it coz you see it everyday ​@Fox_potato

@@3xtasy777 I do appreciate it its just.... why no new things?!!?!? (rainbow's end)

​@@Fox_potatoit's more like a gang haven and breeding ground