Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/04/17 in all areas

  1. I am a big fan of what the guys are doing at FF. As are my kids!
    9 points
  2. @ThemeTendo requested for a high quality image of all of DW and WWW, so incase anyone else wanted to see it, here it is (Images from the early March update):
    5 points
  3. Paradise Country Review Park visited: 2 April 2017 Nestled in the bushland out the back of Warner Bros. Movie World, Paradise Country is a park seldom visited by theme park enthusiasts. We ventured out there today to see what keeps this park in business. It is of course the international tourists. And there were so many tourists. So, so many tourists. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit there, but there was a decent amount. This isn’t the park you would visit to get your fix of thrill rides or superheroes. You won’t find Green Lantern battling Parallax, Batman versing The Joker, or Catwoman taking out Arkham security. What you will find is plenty of Koalas (maybe a few too many Koalas for my liking) and cute little farm animals freely roaming around their enclosures, waiting for the next handful of food from passing visitors. I'll admit. I've been a theme park fan for years and have always avoided Paradise Country because I figured it was geared too much towards foreign tourists. I'm happy to admit that I was pleasantly surprised to find that families and local tourists can also have a great day out there. It's a laid back atmosphere and with all the trees and quietness that usually only comes from being in an isolated location, it’s incredibly easy to forget that you're only metres from the rear of Movie World's Wild West Falls, and not too far from the houses on the other side of kopps road. When you stop and think about it, Village sure does own a huge amount of land. Just look at all the possible coasters you could fit in here. So yes, the walk from the car park to the main entry may be a little long for some people's liking, and I would tend to agree if it was either hot or wet weather, but it's a nice stroll on a cloudy and cooler day. Just on the car park though, after making the speed-bump laden journey from the highway, via the rear of Australian Outback Spectacular, you’re greeted with one of the most poorly laid out car parks I’ve come across. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was designed by the team behind Westfield shopping centre car parks. I’d suggest if you do make the trip to Paradise Country, skip the first car park and head straight for the additional parking area. Whilst not bitumen, it’s a gravel car park with a much better layout. The park itself is in pretty good nick. They’re lucky in a sense that any dirt, spiderwebs, or hornets nest etc just help add to the “outback” theme. Upon entering the homestead, you’re presented with a very easily avoidable ticket purchasing counter. Note: I do not condone bypassing this and getting in without paying, or scanning your VRTP membership card, I’m just quite surprised at how easy it would be to just walk on by without purchasing a ticket. All that's stopping you is your ethics. You could pay for a ticket, or you could just wander on in like you already had one and would probably be easily missed. Especially in the current climate, I'd hate to think there's guests who would do that instead of supporting our parks, but I'm just really shocked that the park hasn't done anything to prevent this. Maybe it's not as much of an issue as it seems? The animal walkthough could really just be called a Kangaroo and Koala, and Koala, and Koala walkthough (maybe I wasn’t exaggerating about the number of Koalas earlier). With all the Koalas to look at, this sure keeps a certain group of international tourists occupied for a while. The nursery however is where the fun really begins. Now obviously everyone is going to have a different opinion on what fun is, however, while I’ve grown up in the city all my life, I love farm animals and animals in general, so it’s a nice change of pace from the thrills on offer next door. Free feed bins are located within the nursery and the animals know exactly who’s holding a tasty handful. There’s plenty of entertainment value in just watching the Goats almost knocking over visitors to get the food. Side note for parents of younger children - the Goats can and will make attempts to jump up and knock you over to get at the feed you’re holding. Now go back and read that last paragraph again. Especially the first couple of words. Or even just the first word.... That's not a typo. Paradise Country provides free food for guests to hand out to the animals. FREE. Not $5-10 per cup. No additional purchase required. This isn't some animal upcharge like you might find at a certain Gold Coast marine park, and you don’t need to buy a fancy wristband to open the food box. This is free food that adults and kids can enjoy handing out to the animals who are always more than willing to accept it. Who doesn't love free stuff? Not only can you walk through the enclosure with the Goats and Sheep, but inside the nursery you’ll find Chickens, Cows, Piglets, Guinea Pigs and Alpacas all within arms reach. It’s certainly entertaining for all ages. While geared more towards kids, there’s also the options of opal mining and gemstone panning to take part in. The lunch options aren’t too bad, and they’re priced exactly as expected for theme park food. The buffet will set you back just under twenty bucks. The eating area provided a nice spot to sit and relax after walking around the park. On a Sunday you'll find local musicians playing in the dining area which adds a nice atmosphere and isn't overly loud like you might find at a pub. Well priced food, a comfortable dining area and free music. What's not to love? Along with the endless Koalas, the tourists and locals alike are also treated to the traditional outback experience of a sheep shearing demonstration and brief intro to a few different breeds of sheep. And what would a show be without some audience participation? I must give Village credit for this. Both this show and the Hollywood Stunt Driver show at Movie World have managed to include some form of audience participation without making it horribly cringe worthy. The show is certainly worth a look, even if it is just to fill in time in your day. There is a stock horse show, and a sheepdog demonstration along with a Lorikeet feeding. All of these make for great photos. Or at least I can confirm the Lorikeet feeding does as I missed the other shows. They are certainly something I will make the trip back for at a later date. You could spend a full day at Paradise Country if you enjoy all the shows and walk around at a leisurely pace. Taking into account the target market (international tourists) and the fact they’ve managed to provide a full day visit with a fairly small number of attractions, I’d have to give Paradise Country a solid 6.5 out of 10. Pros: Good shows Great for families and tourists Decently priced food Animals of course Cons: It could use a little more variety in the animals they have on display The carpark is a bit of a walk from the entry The carpark itself could have been better designed The translation service played over the PA during the Sheep Shearing show was painful. Some guests were wearing headsets with what I assume would be other languages being played to them, so why not do the same for more languages on a different radio channel instead of breaking the flow of the show by pausing every couple of sentences.
    2 points
  4. Just noticed this on the Funfields website... @Mark Shaw confirmed for Funfields?
    2 points
  5. Yeah I should have perhaps mentioned that there's separate wheels mounted to the trains for this purpose. For anyone interested, here's the best picture I could find of said wheels, also from that same TPR topic: You can see both clearly here. One is above the wheel assembly, the other is mounted to the chassis towards the front of each car.
    2 points
  6. I always get my Australian Outback Spectacular tickets through Groupon. Currently they're $79, and well worth every cent of it (although normally they're $69 through Groupon)! I've lost count of how many times I've seen it. I've never heard of Ringers Western, but I've known of RM Williams most of my life, even before I moved to Australia! Still though. It really doesn't bother me. Just realised the reason it's $79 on Groupon at the moment is that they're only offering tickets via Groupon for Saturdays. If you don't mind waiting a while, I'm fairly sure the $69 weekday tickets (which is what I've always bought) will be back soon enough!
    1 point
  7. Goto to surfers and sit through a bullshit seminar for some discounts from those awful ticket seller mobs. In all reality $100 might sound like a lot but you have to think of it as buying dinner and drinks and tickets to a show, then it seems like a much better deal.
    1 point
  8. Village Roadshow boss criticises tourism campaign, previously rejected joint theme park promotion Graham Burke has written to Queensland State Tourism minister to express his anger at a new Gold Coast Tourism campaign that makes little mention of theme parks. But in February he rejected the idea of any Government-funded promotional activities that positioned their parks alongside competitors Dreamworld. Click here to continue reading
    1 point
  9. Dreamworld was pretty much a ghost town on Saturday. All rides were walk on, MDMC was closed for technical difficulties (not sure how long for), Buzzsaw was open before the advertised 1pm open time (I think it was around 11.30 when we went on it) and Wipeout is literally in pieces, the carriage is off and the arms disassembled- it's not going to back up and running any time soon..... It was just dead and it felt that way. Then went to MW and what a contrast. It wasn't packed (SE was pretty much walk on, reasonable wait for Scooby) but the main street had heaps of people, and it generally had a much better 'feel'. Once the new MW coaster is completed I think Dreamworld will be in a bit of trouble and will have some work to do.
    1 point
  10. That's cool @Richard I wonder how they stop the wheel assembly from rotating or moving around once they have come off the track? I have been doing the calculations and I am willing to put @Reanimated35 reputation on it. Movie World’s new coaster is 1370 metres or 4494.7 feet. Lewa Hyper coaster is 1272.99 metres or 4176.5 feet. By my calculations, the coaster at MW will be 97.01m longer then Lewa. For @Reanimated35 reputation I hope I’m right.
    1 point
  11. Hey dude - a bit of respect would be nice! It might not have been as detailed as some of the others we've seen but he at least gave an attempt...
    1 point
  12. Whilst we're on obscure characters, here is one no one has suggested yet. Might not be DC but they're sort of a superhero.
    1 point
  13. OH NO! You didn't get to ride Desperado!? Lucky you. I made the mistake when driving to Vegas from LA to stop in and give it a go. Absolutely horrible. Give me a SLC over that any day. I'm a little shocked for you Gaz that this is your first trip to Vegas.
    1 point
  14. Pure imagination: Dreamworld ads feature fake attractions and misleading experiences 'Pure Imagination' is the phrase Dreamworld looks set to take into 2017 with a bold new campaign. The problem is it misleads and undoes the entire premise of a theme park. Click here to continue reading
    1 point
  15. I don't go to Disney & pay a hundred bucks to use my own imagination. The article has a lot of merit. Overall I don't mind the campaign, but i'm pretty opposed to showing hot air balloon rides & canoes down lovely rivers when 1) the park does neither 2) other parks (like Disney's own) offer these kinds of attractions which complicates consumer mindsets 3) the park has dozens of other incredible experiences (like sunset safaris) that Dreamworld are the only folks in the country to do (because let's face it, every two-bit tourism operator has a canoe experience up in the NT) that the ad agency has simply ignored 4) the ad agency is putting canoes inside a river that was originally made for a boat ride that was a park staple that previous management ripped out. Also, i'm a diehard nostalgic fan of Tower of Terror, but using a twenty year old ride as your hero thrill attraction wouldn't be my move. It's 2017 and i'm still explaining to folks how awesome Tailspin is, the focus should be on the undiscovered gems that aren't solidified in the market yet, not the ones everyone knows and has been on a dozen times. I think involving the Yugambeh Youth Choir is amazing, I think the idea as a whole is great (I pitched something not far off this a while ago) but if it were me, I would've been pulling a Disney and inviting people into a "Dreamworld" of imagination, not inviting people into Dreamworld and asking them to use their imagination instead, because if we're being honest, if you've waited for Tower of Terror or Giant Drop recently, you're doing just that.
    1 point
  16. Now hold on there - i wouldn't go that far. The article makes a point - that the ad features BOTH real experiences and 'imaginary' ones, blurring the line between what you can do and what isn't possible - without making the distinction between them. This is actually one point I CAN agree with - that the distinction should be made clear - be that in fine print or with 'dream sequence' style editing. In a Lynx ad - its clear that the entire ad is fanciful. There is nothing real about any of the models used in the ads actually using the product - let alone the results they portray after using it.
    1 point
  17. i said my part in the other thread. I can see where this article is coming from, but i don't specifically agree with all the points made. I will concede they probably could have used a small print disclaimer across the bottom of the add disclaiming that some experiences portrayed were only imaginative and not available in park - but i think the ad achieves what it set out to do, and won't generate much negative response from people wanting to take a canoe ride with a crocodile.
    -1 points
  18. I wouldn't be too harsh, I think their approach is an appropriate shift, and their creative licensing is OK. I don't have an issue with Lynx deodorant in that every time I use it hot women don't appear and throw themselves at me.
    -1 points
  19. I had a half sized one (about 50cms long with about a quarter of a bottle of tequila in it).. I also remember the ones that people drag behind them at about waist height. Seriously wtf!
    -1 points
This leaderboard is set to Brisbane/GMT+10:00
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.