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Had to take a leak and get a coffee, so I stopped in at Dreamworld to see how things are. "Theming" (don't worry, keep reading and you'll see why this average first impression and degradation of an iconic building bugs me.) This new precinct, dubbed WhiteFacadeLand is coming together nicely. Guests will be stoked. This is a good execution of continuity for the new WhiteFacadeLand as it starts outside the park and continues inside now. Jokes aside, i'm sure all these panels will eventually get wraps on them but to have your first impression when you enter the park be this is pretty piss-poor. If regional theme park operators like Six Flags don't miss details this glaring this then so can Dreamworld, a park that was once known for its attention to detail. Also, the whole Buzzsaw area is now closed. More WhiteFacadeLand construction. Stuff is definitely happening for "unknown i-ride #1." After taking a leak, I noticed this. Can you guess what picture doesn't belong? If you guessed #6 you guessed correct! Speaking of Peter Brock's Garage - they've wasted no time gutting the place and putting up bollards near the sliding doors to keep guests out. Does that stop them from advertising it in park though? Hell naww! That photo was taken outside of their brand new "Designated Smoking Area" a.k.a. Big Brother Cafe a.k.a. Hollywood Cottage (no shit, that building there is 100% Hollywood Cottage and played a pivotal part in Dreamworld existing in the first place. They would actually be nuts to demolish that building given it is such an integral part of Dreamworld lore.) Currently the whole space is very inviting and "themed." Half removed walkways more theming. Super flammable foam disintegrating more rustic theming. Posts from abandoned pathways more colonial theming. After walking down and seeing Log Ride unexpectedly closed, I jumped on the train to see what was left of Blue Lagoon. While I was waiting I got to take in this scenic theme park vista. (Below is what it used to look like.) It used to be awfully pretty. But leaves are too hard to sweep up so it is what it is. Nothing to see here. Definitely nothing to see here, like unkempt and hazardous tree matter. Nothing to see here either apparently, even though it's the only thing you can see. Definitely no dangerous fences to be seen. On my final walk around, I stopped to admire the maroon theming that's been in place for nearly two years now. Theming. I'm definitely in Australia's Disneyland right now. You thought seeing this from ground level was bad? Check this out - if my theme park went through a globally seen incident people then i'd probably avoid giving influencers a great vantage point of where we're trying to pretend like nothing happened hey. On a positive note, after The Claw's random extended downtime (it's okay, we'll gloss over Buzzsaw's extended downtime, the West side of Giant Drop's random down-time earlier in the year, the east-side's current un-announced down time and just a total myriad of unplanned maintenance because the park is super duper safe) the ride has re-opened and it's looking really good. This was a tiny silver lining from what was otherwise a super depressing visit - the signs look great (both the one pictured above and the entrance side have been really well taken care of) and the new surfacing and paintjob is very well done and should be the standard for the whole park. I don't care for upcharges attractions that are forced into areas like this. You couldn't have just chucked all of this into Kevil Hill and connected it via the current passholder centre? You know, i'm just saying that if you did that, then the Trolls IP would be connected to all the other Dreamworks IP. And you know, if you did that, then the whole area would be air-conned and then when it closes (because you said it was temporary except first it was 12 months and now it's 18 months so who knows) then there'd be no impact visually for guests? Because you know, no parent wants to have a toddler crying because they see Troll stuff but they can't actually DO any troll stuff. And you know, then you wouldn't be chucking more conflicting themes inside an ocean themed area. Because, you know, you're a theme park and people expect that kind of hindsight. Because you know, maybe you should've learnt that when you tried to jam car stuff into an ocean themed area? Because you know, it's an ocean themed area. Dreamworld was successful because of John's attention to detail and nothing else. Today's Dreamworld is not even remotely detail focussed and I think it shows. Those who reckon there's no money to keep it to some unrealistic "Disney" standard couldn't be further from the truth - poorly-placed attractions and mis-matched themes are the result of bad management, not a lack of funds. Same goes for rides that continue to be down with little to no communication on why or when they'll re-open. Same goes for letting iconic facades get knocked over, spray painted and then lets design aesthetics be ruined by a dozen and one poorly integrated conduits, crap paint jobs and air-con boxes. You folks tell me - looking at the pictures below that were all taken in the 80's and 90's, has the park really improved?

The castle is undergoing a repaint. You can really see the difference in the last photo. And the rides information and safety board is gone too.

Either that or someone put one of those toilet cleaning blocks into the fountain..

Don't think they are using the show stage this year but who knows. I mean, with SDSC being closed, they could use the queue area for a maze. Wouldn't be the first time they have done it.

Why are the 2 sets of BBQs just before the mammoth falls stairs still accessible by guests? One set have covers over them, and the others can still be used and there is no seating out. Also - the buggies are out back now, as seen through the mammoth falls queue Zero change to Mach 5. one thing which I noticed is that slides which had duel slides seemed to have pumps operating the whole day despite not being used, this was confusing as it doesnt seem like a good way to cut costs. Despite black hole being shut, its pumps were operating the whole day which looked to be full water levels.

Oh, the “we almost had a DW moment” spot, except that was before the whole TRR thing so it would have been the other way around. Then the industry really would of been f....

I love that it is now free, but the way they present this system now just isn't at the standard the whole area is it at

plastic cards have been there for months now. I don't have too much of an issue with it, apart from the fact that they look really cheap and tacky.

@T-boneWhat else would MW connect it amenities to but the fountain? MW are big on recycling turds. HWSD, HWSD2 & soon to be announced HWSD Next Gen. >/Sarcasm.

The attraction is still on some of the park maps, but all signage in and around it have gone

TOT2 has just done 5 test runs within a 10 minute period

Construction has begun

Update from this morning

Ahh, yeah you did... And that makes as much sense as...

I believe it was for the Australian International Movie Awards on Wednesday* night as it was a blue themed party but could also verywell be usd for the Pj party.

That is a true statement. The problem I have is I'm at MW having a blast and my daughter wants to go home but If I took my daughter to SW besides getting to enjoy a flat beer I wouldn't last that long before I packed up the bags and left. MW & SW using each other to fill the cap for their own short comings is the problem. SW would be a better park if it competed with MW and vice versa. Give me a reason to go to MW and give me a reason to go to SW. Not this nice hogwash of this year you can have carnival. I think it’s idiotic of Village to think for me and my daughter to both have a good time in the same day we must sit half an hour in traffic and travel between parks. No! we should both enjoy ourselves at MW and we should both have a great day at SW. My super problem is Village have 2 theme parks but treat them like one. Back in the days we had 3 parks on the coast. Now we have one theme park plus something that once represented a theme park called DW. I understand Village cross sharing certain resources is a good way to save money but cross sharing attractions is shit.

In July I went on pretty much the same trip you've done here. Good to see some Nemesis love. The UK enthusiasts I was with told me over and over again that Nemesis is overrated, but all I've ever heard about Nemesis is that it's overrated to the point where I'm not sure if it's really overrated at all. It was a phenomenal ride, I don't buy the "most intense ride experience" line (The Smiler is more intense), but it certainly is my favourite coaster I rode in the UK. I didn't share the love of icon to the same level as the others in the group I was with. Sure, it's a fun coaster, and insanely re-rideable, but I found it not as good as Nemesis or even the Smiler. I want to be able to explain it logically but it's really difficult to. Icon had some amazing moments, (top hat, immelman, the roll, and a couple of the airtime hills) but Nemesis' layout just destroys it as far as I'm concerned, even if it has a much shorter ride time. Perhaps riding DC Rivals killed Icon for me. I know they're quite different coasters but both rides have twists and airtime bunny hills, icon's were lacklustre in comparison, (as you'd expect when comparing a mack multi-launch with a hyper), yet they make up the majority of the layout. The unique elements that icon has were its standouts, perhaps it should have focused more on things like that. When thinking about it though, at a park like blackpool the limitations on what they could design must have been really difficult to work with, I think they've done an incredible job considering the circumstances. Nemesis just had an incredible layout, it's like nothing else I've ever ridden. The way it dives multiple times into the terrain and picks up speed as it continues rather than having one big drop at the start and slowing down afterwards like most coasters do was an amazing feeling. I think I annoyed people with my opinion on it compared to my opinion on icon, maybe they're so used to nemesis that they don't realise how good it is.

I'll absolutely concede (and did in the article) that the sheer breadth of rides and hip IP in one place aimed at young children is unmatched. Quality and presentation is another matter, though hardly relevant to a four year old so long as they're on something that spins or hugging a character they recognise. When looked at through the prism of a two-park (DW/WWW) versus three/four-park (MW, SW, WNW + PC) annual pass I do firmly believe the offering for every age bracket doesn't stack up in quantity nor quality and at the end of the day, but of course there's a lot to be said for for the geographical/all-in-one convenience of Dreamworld. The main question is whether there's a sound business model for a theme park of the size of Dreamworld to only be pretty good with young kids' attractions. I think there's a misnomer that these are family attractions; in my view they appeal to young families and little else, and there's a reason you don't see Disney or other operators relying heavily on them... because they're not money spinners in the same way that true "3 to 93" family attractions are.

At a random guess it might be where they're plonking parts for the i-ride.

I hadn't been to WnW since April and thought it was time to head into the park and see if anything major had changed. And in summary, no. But here is a quick update of some things I noticed around the park. Surferrider has finally reopened after being closed for the majority of the year The bar that what next to the wave pool has been removed The spas are closed for maintenance. I personally think this is a wasted area for the park, where a good slide, or something a bit more exciting could go Apparently the Kamikaze is still new. Despite never operating, the ZipLine is still in place and used as a shelter for the staff working in the food carts The bridge/waterfall in Calypso Beach has been completely removed, with only the framework remaining.

I don't reckon there is anything wrong with the plastic cards. I think the area is much better now it is all free.