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Happy to report that the WWF queue now has numerous bins throughout, and the scenes of a week ago with rubbish strewn everywhere are gone. I did email the photos i took to park management, however I am sure they were already aware of the issue, just glad something has been done

This was shared by Aussie Airtime, this morning.

So I went to Carnivale tonight, the second time I’ve ever been (the last being two years ago). Overall, it was a very enjoyable night and there seemed to be a lot of good improvements. There was plenty of street entertainment and performers the entire night throughout the park. It just didn’t stop and it was fantastic. Created a great atmosphere, especially with so many of them. The park was decorated well (nothing majorly different compared to two years ago), but there was some nice lighting across the park. I must say that I do really enjoy SW at night. The types of lighting that matches areas of the park, signage and attraction lighting and watching the creatures within Shark Bay when they’re most active is really enjoyable. Parking two years ago was a nightmare. Navigating your way through the carpark was horrible and it took over an hour to get out. This year however they had traffic control which made the process a lot easier. My advice would be to just not park in the SW carpark at all and park on the street. The traffic to get into the carpark at the start of the night was crazy, so unless you arrive really early, don’t park in there. Both entrances were open (but I would recommend going to the straight ahead one rather than the usual pass holder one, it seemed to be much quicker). Side note: The main entrance looked different above the ticket booths, so it seems like they are undergoing a refurbishment. As soon as we entered the park at 5:45, the party had already started with entertainment everywhere, but also a lot of people. The crowds were very very big and this lead to probably one of the biggest issues with the event. Because of SWs long design, navigating your way through the park, especially with the park through the new Atlantis now open yet, makes the main path very crowded. Crowds in and around the plaza were also crazy and this isn’t helped by the placement of the food stands. Because they are at the front, queues extend across the path and cause bottlenecking to occur. I think reorganising the placement of these would be helpful. The entertainment under the plaza was fantastic and constant. Really felt like a part under there. The food also all looked really good and there was some variety. Definitely not up to standard of variety of Carnivale back when it was at MW, but still some good choice. Obviously the main part of the event is now the Aquacolour Spectacular. This year the show has a story. The water effects weren’t as spectacular as last time, mostly because they weren’t as big or as many. But with lighting, fire, projection and even fireworks. I found it to be a really enjoyable show. Just watched out for the creepy baby and the PS2 graphics. The incorporation of dancers, a float and the story didn’t feel cheesy (unlike the Thunder Lake Show) and I thought really added to the event bringing it all together. My partner didn’t find the show as enjoyable because she felt the story wasn’t necessary and things didn’t flow as well. She preferred the much bigger and dramatic fountains and water effects. Also, you will get wet if you’re sat on the seating. There is an announcement before the show letting the audience know they may get wet, but I can assure you, you will definitely get wet. It is only a mist, but this is because the fountains are much closer to the shoreline this year. Overall I found the event to be an improvement on my last visit two years ago and I would recommend checking it out, especially if you haven’t been in a while.

See I walk into Sea World and see an absolute mess of a construction site for an uninspired ride that 100% should never have been built in that location.

But for a 20 million investment they ultimately ended up with a worse attraction than it replaced which fatal story/theming flaws, less capacity and not as family friendly. So I say it’s not worth the money. You could plonk that same ride on an open pad and it would be just as good.

Found a few old mobile videos from a visit in 2006. Converting them from 3gp to MP4. My, ToT did get high up that Tower back in the earlier days. SOUND WARNING - it was a loud ride.. Not for reposting. 1119 DW ToT & Drop.mp4 1119 DE ToT.mp4 1119 DW ToT & Drop.mp4 1119 DW Reptar.mp4

So waiting for MDMC this afternoon, it’s running 2 trains which was super efficient when we rode it in the AM, but now every second 2nd cycle is going out empty. When I ask why this is occurring I was told “it’s too quiet for 2 trains we only run 2 if the line is down the ramp, it doesn’t make it any slower doing it this way when it’s quiet”. hmmm... strange as I could have sworn all harnesses need to still be cross-checked, side gates opened, another cross check before dispatch. All of this taking at least 1-2 mins which could have been spend loading the next group on the train they just cleared for dispatch. so we now have 7 ride ops working and pushing out, at the most, 16 riders every 5-6mins... Even stranger, Mr Yong appears up the exit ramp and suddenly....2 train operation Immediately begins again before he’s even had a chance to speak to anyone...

Probably most significant is when the steam effects were decommissioned but other than that the park has done a pretty good job of up-keeping this attraction which is unique and actually does fit the classification of being world class.

So it’s been a massive decade for Australian theme parks, with some of the smaller parks around the country really showing that it isn’t just the Gold Coast parks that can have some awesome rides. Focusing on the Gold Coast though, there have definitely been some major highs and all time lows. The industry was beaten down a few times and there were some incidents that were major wake ups. Just want to get peoples thoughts on what they think our parks have done right and where they are still missing the park? What have been some good turn around points? What decisions did managements make that make you think, why? But also you wish to congratulate them on. Here’s a quick list of what new attractions have opened this decade: 2010 - Wet ’n’ Wild: Aqualoop and Flowrider - Sea World: Castaway Bay - WWW: Wedgie 2011 - Dreamworld: Shockwave and BuzzSaw, - Movie World: Green Lantern Coaster. 2012 - Movie World: Justice League - Wet ’n’ Wild: Constrictor - Dreamworld: DreamWorks Experience 2013 - Sea World: Storm Coaster 2014 - Dreamworld: Tailspin - WWW: Triple Vortex 2015 - Dreamworld: ABC Kids World - Sea World: Nickelodeon Land 2016 - Movie World: Super-Villains Unleashed - Dreamworld: Tiger Island 2017 - Movie World: DC Rivals Hypercoaster 2018 - Movie World: WB Studio Showcase 2019 - Dreamworld: SkyVoyager - WWW: Fully 6

Adventure World held the first of its four AW Nights for January on Saturday Night from 6.30-11 pm. Entry was through the prepaid ticket gate off the main car park. There were a couple of greeter characters, like my friend Magnus Danger Magnus and some dancing girls. The band from last year returned as well as a guy playing the steel drums. They had a lady with glow in the dark hula hoops, a juggler and a fire twirler on a Segway. There were a number of food trucks, a pop up bar and the usual food outlets open. Kahuna Cafe actually did table service. It was a pretty quiet night as these events tend to get more popular as they go on. Most of the rides were open with the exception of the Dragons Kingdom kids’ area.

So had a great time at the second AW nights the weather was a lot warmer then last week and the park during the day was full with all car parks full. Was fun watching them try and removing 5,000 guests and then letting another 2,000 or so in within half an hour. Was great to watch. The event itself is growing year on year and it just has that nice laid back chilled feeling prefect to have a beer and relax.

No

Got the new logo standing by.

The dim things are the ones walking around crashing into each other

And I would much rather JR over Storm. JR is one of the best coasters on the GC

Let’s be honest here. NO ONE is Goggling “Village Themeparks” anything 😜

Thanks so much for posting this!! I saw this had been posted on Facebook- I remember seeing this footage and show "Just For the Record" when it originally aired in 1988 and I have been searching for it ever since!! Brilliant!! What a shame that this never opened to the public- it would have been unique in the world and enthusiasts would have come from everywhere just to have a ride on the thing!!! I think this is the only footage of the Orphan Rocker running to ever be aired publicly- this is a precious moment in Australian theme park history and gives us a glimpse of what could have been had the ride ever been allowed to open. It certainly looked liked it needed some form of better restraint!! Fantastic this has made my New Year's day!!

If you thought Monday would be the best day to go, you have the same opinion as everyone else. Welcome to busy park! In summer holidays, late in the week and weekends are the quietest time to go.

I think the attraction was a decent choice (Once upon a time, everyone wanted a water coaster at SW remember), but the theming concept is just so weird. Like a collection of nautical stuff outside because a cyclone has hit a port, fair enough, bit inside, is it meant to be a ships interior, or inside a warehouse or what? Also, it seemed like they were so intent to re-use the bermuda building that they basically lost what should have been a major social media selling point. Everyone who goes to MW takes a photo of WWF splashing down, or at Universal of Jurassic Park splashing down. These are very popular rides, and storm should have had the same impact. But instead the Splashdown is hidden inside, so it looks like a generic roller coaster, and it's quite difficult to sell the idea of the water coaster. If i may pose a second question @Dano46610 , would people like it more if it was just done like the one at Djurs https://rcdb.com/9377.htm#p=35031

The pathway upto the ride is now all open, the ride itself is ofcosrse hoarded up. In terms of the new rides, when I was there for the Christmas event, they had signage indicating a new coaster was coming soon.

Finally watched all 6 eps and it's just so great to see - it's the kind of thing every single person in theme park management has to see. Maybe not necessarily to try and be the next knock-off Walt Disney but rather to get a crash course in how quality, park-plussing and authenticity really matters to folks, no matter how subtle it is.

You know you don’t count as staff, right? As for testing a new product, let’s not pretend village didn’t just purchase this off the shelf from another developer or park that already had it working. Shouldn’t need to be tested much as a result, and the issues with reliability or accuracy are probably more to do with the fact that the person whose job it is to keep it updated, probably isn’t doing it properly.

I’ll never understand the open early rather than close later thing.

Rivals and SkyVoyager are by far the highlights of the decade. Nick Land at SW in third for its fantastic family offerings, the best on the coast. The improvements in DW over the last 18 months are also a shining light, in terms of cosmetic and additions (Halloween, holiday entertainment options etc). the lowlights for me being SDSC 2.0, the lack of upkeep on some cherished attractions (TOT2 and WWF of note), log roofs, and lack of any quality shows at our parks (stunt driver has long run its course, as has any show SW seem to produce, the DW Madagascar show hasn’t changed in near a decade). VTPs evening programs have dipped in the past 3-4 year. FN’s needs reinvigorating, Carnivales move to SW was poor decision making (made up slightly by the Aquacolour program, which hopefully lifts again in 2020). i think the landscape will be far different in our parks in another 10 years with many notable rides having been retired (HWSW, AA, RHLR, the entirety of MWs kids area apart from RR and JDS, possibly GD, WWF even may be gone if they don’t give it some love soon). Atlantis will be in full swing, DW will have added 2 coasters, I think 2020-30 will be the biggest decade of change for our parks in their histories, should be a fun ride. The potential ownership change for VTP could impact plans, and who knows what Ardent has planned long term for DW...

They indicated TOT was being upgraded before it was closed.