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Last week i visited Melbourne from Sydney for Furiosa in IMAX reasons, and while i was down there, i went and did 3 experiences: Melbourne Zoo, Monopoly Dreams, and Harry Potter A Forbidden Forest Experience. So i figured i'd roll the 3 TR into 1 since much of my trip was picture light, but video heavy. I've only got 1 video up so far of this trip, and it's HP. For those curious about some of the things here im 10 second tours on everything where you can find much of the videos when they go up after my Vivid stuff. Melbourne Zoo: 2 words- Holy fucking shit. Now, i havnt been to Disney, but i have spent a considerable amount of time in the parks thanks to VR, and i must say, 3 1/2 of the parks areas feel like they're up there, if not higher. Especially when compared to AK. I entered from the main gate and not the rail gate, and was advised by the clerk to go clockwise, so i did. First up is Gorilla Rainforest. You enter into these hatched gumnut style domes with airlocks into a fully free roam lemurs everywhere. And i mean free roam in every sense. They can go where they want, including over your toes. After you exit, the trail makes it's way around a Gorilla exhibit that you weave towards and away from. Theres several "thematic education points" scattered around the trails that really bring the themes together. In here, i believe there was 1 and it was themed to a ranger station overlooking the exhibit. The other thing that really sells the theme is tree density and how well its used to obscure the sightlines, see below. You can barely see the back of house areas, let alone the path thats right next to you. around half way through the trail, you'll find treetop apes and monkeys. This is an elevated viewing area that can be described as part Viet Nam, part Seal Harbour and part DW Nocturnal House. It's outside, but it still manages to sell the theme. Eventually you see the Gorilla/s and the trail ends. Trail of the Elephants uses much of the same tree usage, but more and better building use. You pass through a wetlands aviary, and a rainforest aviary which arent really much to write home about unless long-legged waders and eclectus parrots get you really exited. Once you get past the tigers though, thats when shit gets good. There is a very heavy amount of Thailand theming here, and the whole back area is guest paths and elephant paths occupying the same space like a railroad crossing. You first come up to paddock 1, then go through the butterfly house with it's Nimbin looking entrance and Lord Howe Phasmid exit (no, it's not on display). After that you find yourself in an open area with an eatery, function centre and gift shop when youre only half way through the trail. I honestly think thats the best bit as it helps to sell the area more as being in the middle of the Asian jungle. The northern section of this space houses a pavillion with windows to watch the keepers feed and interact with all the Elephants, akin to tarongas space, but bigger and with glass. Next you dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge your way through 3 other elephant exhibits and eventually find yourself infront of the Siamangs and Orangutans. While their education space wasnt open, the building itself is impressive. After that is the Australian Bush. After circling around a Koala and Quokka, you find yourself infront of one of the coolest Aviary's ive ever seen. It's entrance is a giant dome like Rockhampton zoo's, and then has a long bit off the side like Jurassic Park. After that is where this area becomes the aforementioned 1/2. You pass by Echidna's and other staples like Lace Monitors and Potoroos and into a cave made to look like a wombat cave. Then you get all the flavours of the Coat Of Arms and a toilet themed play area thats weird enough to make the Rabbids happy. The next area of note is Lion Gorge which is where you'll find most of the predators. An education room in this area will give you another angle of the Lions, aswell as a python and some Archer Fish. After passing the Binturong (the bearcats that smell like popcorn) you go through a tunnel and find yourself infront of the Snow Lepard exhibit which really looks like Canada and other alpine cold places. Now between here and the Tigers is a mostly themed suburban alleyway which i think is supposed to tell people to put their cats inside. The Tigers area looks like a bush outpost which gave me Ghost Recon Breakpoint vibes. The Devils are found here and have an interesting tunnel mural entry. It was around this area that i noticed the zoo doing something smart and playing with the areas density with sounds attached to laser sensors, as seen below. Throughout the place lies bush tracks you can take that go around a couple of trees and then back to the path you were on, and this one near the tigers had a tiger cutout on a speaker, angled to hide itself from the path provided you went the right way. I guess it's trying to tell you to always watch your back in these areas. Time for the fish in Wild Seas. You travel down a path thats made to look like going under a degrading pier. After seeing some Shovel noses and Port Jacksons, you enter into a massive building with your underwater viewing for the Seals and Penguins. Making your way to the top you pass a number of small tanks with thing like Seahorses and whatnot before coming to the top where you have the above water areas for the Seals and Penguins. The places i'd suggest the zoo fix is the eatery (too many seagulls) and to put in a nocturnal house. Any chance to stare at a Ghost Bat, Owl or Glider i will take. This is where the pictures run out Monopoly Dreams: So i was curious how this would be done and had even forgot about it until i saw the flier in my hotels lobby. But basically, you go for a trip around a Monopoly board in a walkthrough attraction. Entering the foyer, everything is deep red. Walls, floors roof and carpet. Everything. After spending 5 minutes getting given a buch of barcodes to maximise your journey around Monopoly City, you leave the foyer and take an elevator up to Mr Monopoly's (MM) office where you get to meet him (via screen). It's a nice abeit small area. Place is littered with pictures of Scottie (the dog game piece), some nice pepers ghost boxes of things like MM stepping out of his mansion. Theres also a large TV looping security footage of the building. Once you're done there, you come into a small museum space with heaps of old sets from aound the world and other Monopoly propaganda. Theres also screens with a quiz to tell you which game piece you are. After this is MM's vault. Take pictures with his gold, or play some games to earn discounts in the gift shop. This is also where you can queue and watch the 4DX experience. Honestly, the screen here isn't big enough to mentally sell the idea that you're taking a city circle tram around Monopoly City. From here, you have absolute free roam of MC where you can work for more discounts, take pictures, try to win a plush bank note, or do the only thing that wont get you a discount. You can see MM, Scottie and even his Helicopter. Play minigames in the electric and water companies, take pictures behind bars, and play carnival games with a weird play system. One thing i really admire about the carnival games though, is the storage area for the extra stock is themed to a shop front complete with interior. The only other part of the experience left is to get a randomly generated mortgage card. I got the Queen Victoria Market. you can choose whether you want it to be a house or hotel i think, then you punch in your name, and it prints onto a 5x7. Then right next to it is a stamping thing so you can make the printed wax seal look raised. Then you have the gift shop. The experience has its own set. Harry Potter A Forbidden Forest Experience: It's Bush Vivid. Down in Mornington youll find this activation. Esentially you pay a stupid amount of money, and enter a small village with your food and drink venues like Butterbeer and Turkey Legs. Then you enter a preliminary gift shop with fuck all in it, then exit and walk to the bottom of the hill you just spent $30 to park at the top of. it's at the bottom your presented with this marvel It's huge. And you enter it to Hedwig's Theme. You start walking up the hill a bit to the sounds of clips from a few of the movies, with lights to match (ie umbridge is pink). Eventually you'll come across a 1:1 Fang and Hagrid, although Hagrids looking away from you. Up the path a bit more is your first interactive element where you can bow to Buckbeak. Bit further you can see some Unicorns (screen), Nagini and/or the Basilisk (vinyl wrap on a tree) or Harry himself scaring off a Death Eater with his Patronus (practical effect). Rounding the corner is the first spell you can cast. I must say they pulled it off quite well, but it doesnt show in camera as well. You point a wand into the bushland, yell some words, and a random patronus appears via the magic of a clear screen and laser projector. Anyone whose done Pottermore, no you cant cast your own one. So instead of getting my Boar, i did get to cast a Panther, complete with the cheesy sound effect. Just past here is a Butterbeer stand, a soundbite of Luna saying shes not absolutely batshit crazy (she is), and signs saying to watch out for Nifflers. Theres an animatronic Troll that opens its eyes when you press the Idiot Proof BUTTON to ring the bell. It does not ring how you think it does. Trust me, im a Ravenclaw. You even get to come face to face with Aragog (not Aragon. wrong franchise) and his kids, aswell as the weasleys enchanted shitbox. After a few more spells, you emerge at the other gift shop. Prices are as high as expected. If you fit into Slythern or Ravenclaw, i suggest not getting your Potterganda from here as it's the wrong shade of green and blue. The highlight of the gift shop though other than the plush nifflers, is the $85 (i think) snowglobe of the thing above. My only other grievances are things closing early, and the Voldemort sounds every 30 or so minutes. It's cool that every light goes white and every single speaker plays in unison, but it just drags on for longer than it should.

You can do way, way better. Firstly it'd be a good idea to let us know how many days total you've got up your sleeve, how big your group is, what the mix is (all enthusiasts etc.) and where you're travelling. If you go to Japan just for theme parks you're doing yourself a disservice - it's one of the most gorgeous places in the world in terms of landscapes, people, culture etc. and if you were to go to Hirakata Park over spending a day in Kyoto you'd be doing Japan dead wrong. Secondly, it's not all about coasters. Don't be a credit-whore, it'll become a disservice to your trip because stats don't matter, experiences DO, and Tokyo Disney Resort is one of the best experiences you'll ever have in your life. DisneySea in particular is the best theme park in the world and I'll happily die on that hill. If you're an enthusiast and you don't go to DisneySea, you're not an enthusiast, it's that simple. You can do one day at each Disney park and be very satisfied. Again, take the "there needs to be credits" hat off and put the "I love great experiences, especially at theme parks hat on" and I promise you your trip will get a ton better as a whole. If you can't take the credit hat off and you need to do something that's not USJ/TDS/TDL, the two heavy hitters are Nagashima Spa Land and Fuji-Q Highlands. The beauty about the former is that it's on the way between Tokyo and Osaka, so if you're committed or on a tight schedule you can make it work as you travel from port to port. With the latter, it's next to some sublime natural beauty (Mount Fuji, Fujiyoshida, Fuji five lakes etc.) and is also home to Eejanaika, which should be the #1 coaster to get whenever you visit Japan. Not doing Eejanaika and going to Hirakata Park would be a crime. Again, this is all depends on how long you've got, but think of the above as your "first time must-do's". If you have more time, or come back again on a second trip, Parque Espana (beautiful place in the world, Pyrenees is there too), Tobu Zoo (Intamin Megalite with t-bars, 10/10), Studio Ghibil Park (stunning and gorgeous), Yomiuiriland (near Tokyo and filled with classics) and Yokohama Cosmoworld (good vibes) are probably all parks I'd consider visiting before Hirakata Park. You've also got Thunder Dolphin at Tokyo Dome and Gekion Live Coaster at Joypolis to checkout whilst in Tokyo too.

Doing an identical trip end of this year actually so starting to pull it all together at the moment. Been to USJ before - a fast pass (or whatever they call it) is a must-have as lines get ridiculously long (especially on flying dinosaur and minion mayhem), and you basically need one to do anything in Harry Potter or Nintendo. Will be going there again on this trip as well, as I missed out on Jaws and hollywood dream backwards last time and Nintendo was being built, and really want to see that land in person. Gonna do 3 days at Disney & disneysea too (1 at disney, two at sea). I'm assuming whatever fast pass system they have is a requirement - if anyone's visited feel free to chuck me a reply. Will also take a quick trip to Tokyo Dome and Joypolis while i'm around Tokyo, and do day trips at Yomiuriland (because bandit seems too good to miss), and Nagashima and Fuji Q which i think all three are open in december, and that should be plenty of new credits for me.

Pic can’t be posted, but proper layout track is now onsite. Unclear atm as to if it’s in the position it’ll soon be installed in, but if so it’s the turn/valley underneath the turntable.

That is also true. What I was trying to suggest is that theres most likely 4 cycles: the forward train and backwards train most likely have 1 or 2 different cycles each. I may be wrong though. I guess the only way to find out for sure is to wait until the ride opens or Dreamworld releases another update.

Might need traffic lights for opposing wheelchair traffic. /s I'm still holding onto hope, MW will reinstate the alleyway.

I reckon that concrete was more expensive than moving the churro carts in the lethal weapon alleyway

That is a very narrow entrance pathway for an all new world-class world-first land

I haven't done Hirakata Park before so cant comment on it, but I'd make the mission out to Nagashima. Hakugei is my number 1, and I think Steel Dragon gets overly criticised compared to other Gigas, its insane. If you get a reasonably quiet (and not windy) day its a great park. Been twice, longest I waited was 45 mins for Hakugei, skip the lines available if needed. Second what others are saying, the queues for Disney and Universal are pretty similar, in my experience Universal was probably worse. Disney are much better at theming the queues too, much less cattlepen feeling. If thrills are the only concern, go universal, but I'd strongly suggest checking DisneySea at least. Also depending how many days you have in Tokyo, try spare an hour at Tokyo Dome City and get Thunder Dolphin and Panic Coaster. Stupidly easy to get to from the metro lines, every time I've gone Thunder dolphin hasn't had a queue.

Is that taken in ultra wide? Didn't realise it was that big of a space. Looks like they've started surveying the walls (assuming that the white pieces of paper on the SM logo and the back wall in the doorway above the wet floor sign) for precise measurements etc... only a matter of time before I think we'll see a skip bin come and the work walls back up probably around the whole ride plaza but leaving FSF's exit accessible. Also a bit weird that all the lights are on... are they usually always left on inside there? MW currently has the ride listed to reopen on the 1st of July... doubt the queue will be ready by then but it does seem like it's only demolition of some non-load bearing walls installing 'pigeonholes' with a sliding door, bit of painting, replastering and some metal railings but then again the concepts that MW has shared don't really fully show how the space will work still looking forward to this much needed improvement! and of course riding the ride again.

Current state of the soon-to-be arcade building

Flash merch

Superman’s current queue entrance & exit

Update on the FotWW castle & the entrance pathing from Superman’s plaza KT’s barn has an unthemed roof now, too, but I only viewed that from DCR

Hardly. It’s probably just exaggerating the fact there’s multiple options on how you ride (backwards or forwards). Realistically theres little with the design of the ride to suggest different cycles. The layout is only designed to really traverse the course in a specific direction at a specific speed which produces safe amounts of forces on the track, supports and riders. This isn’t a vekoma boomerang. You couldn’t have it drop straight down from the top of the turntable, the curve after that drop is far too tight to traverse safely based on the layout drawings and I don’t think it would get the momentum to reach the turntable again going in that direction. Unless you make the ride move through the indoor section multiple times or have it drop straight into the section that goes to the brake run, there’s little variation in the layout possibilities that make sense. With the cycle it’s probably running the train is returning to the station in the same direction you left.

Some images from today: Motocoaster Jungle Rush Murrissipi Motors Judging by what I can see of Jungle Rush, both in person & through these photos, I think this is (roughly) what’s been constructed as of now: (green: track & supports, blue: notable ride hardware of some form) that means the track for the station, entrance into turntable, entrance into the station from final brake run, & maintenance bay are in, as well as the switch/transfer track between the 2 & the catwalk/main support structure for the turntable itself.

I didn't know you were blame the guest type of person @Tricoart You should work for MW management.

if someone’s careless enough to go to the site, buy VIP tickets ‘cause they like the word, then separately purchase extra ride expresses, that’s on them at that point. like seriously, did people just lose any critical thinking all of a sudden? or maybe just you?

You could accidentally buy something, you don't require.

I guess because it's offering to upsell something that is no use to him - like ordering a large big mac meal, and having them ask 'would you like fries with that?' instead of recognising there is already fries in the order, and instead substituting with 'why not try our new banana caramel pie?' Honestly though it depends how much you want to nitpick over stupid shit that doesn't have an impact on your experience. So you bought the premium product and have no use for the poor man's upsell... whoop. The additional amount of work it would take to have accesso recommend a unique upcharge experience that would compliment whatever is in your cart, instead of just a bog-standard upsell product most people would be interested in wouldn't be worth the hassle.

Just to be clear, this isn’t the station. This is an element within the ride experience. The station will be a standard flat section of track like all other coasters on the GC

I'm not sure, but what I think will happen is because of the turntable, the ride will end up in a different orientation when re-entering the station at the end of the ride, therefore having a different experience on the next cycle. If not that, then most likely it will have different planned cycles that it will cycle in between. At first you most likely will only be able to ride it once a day lol. the ride is by far one of the most anticipated in the history of dreamworld.

Sorry but what is the problem with that?

"Experience a different rollercoaster ride each day". Does this mean it's changed day to day and not just a random cycle each time you ride. or do they expect you to only ride once a day?

I’m going to dw tomorrow so I’m hoping to get some good construction pics of the Rivertown area and some updates on the area