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I'm close to a year late with this, but on Christmas Eve and Boxing day last year I visited Tokyo Disneysea, which has probably been the #1 park I've wanted to visit. I had a great, albeit very long day from opening till close, and then back again on the 3rd day at Disney to get on rides I had missed. https://www.parkz.com.au/parks/JP/Urayasu/Tokyo_Disneysea/ The park gets exceptionally busy. We arrived at 7am, an hour prior to opening and the entry plaza was already full. It really is important to get in early so you can get a fastpass and a first ride with a shorter wait. Because of the crowds, the park has generous opening hours. You can pretty much ride most things in one day, but you have to keep in mind you'll probably only ride everything once, and you'll have a handful of 90+ waits peppered in. Access to the park is simple. Maihama station, then a monorail loop runs around the resort, though you have to pay a nominal fare to ride, which can be done using your smartcard. At park closing time Maihama gets crazy busy, it's like what you'd see at a station here after a footy game. It wasn't so bad for me because our hotel was outbound from Tokyo (We stayed at Holiday In Shin Urayasu) General thoughts: -Superb theming, and i think there was literally only a single time where i spotted a break in the theming. -The rides are pretty much Disneys greatest hits, albeit some like Tower of Terror felt a little toned down compared to the US versions in terms of thrills, but often much better in terms of theming. -The park has a lot of stuff that is "nice" and very beautiful to look at, but not necessarily all that "fun", for example the Fortress and Aquatopia. But this is clearly geared to the local market who appreciate finer things. -The food is great, but i could never understand the lines for them. Attractions yeah, they are expensive to build, but i would have thought if all these special menu items perpetually have long queues and there are signs saying max 4 items per order, then like, open more stands? It was wild seeing lines to get into the department store. -Indiana jones was closed for maintenance 😥 -If you only had one spare day in Tokyo, go here for one day and plan your time. 1.5 days was just enough, but if you were really taking everything in, allow 2. The park entrance area is themed like an Italian harbour, but what i had never realised till now is that all the detail of those buildings is flat and painted on. I had split off to try and get a fastpass for Toy Story Mania , and in the time i had done that they had already run out for Soaring, and the standby was at 3 hours (An annoyance, locals can use the app to book fastpass slots, but that app isnt available outside japan so you have to walk to the machines, which is a bit unfair IMO) So in order of what we did, Journey to the Center of the Earth A gorgeous themed queue themed like a 1800s underground science lab with ornate equipment. You are then loaded into lifts down to the load area, again with heaps of details like the scent of metal undergoing friction, and a Galileo thermometer indicating how far you were underground. The load area is amazing, feeling like a huge underground drilling operation, with huge spinning dynamos, drills, and a seemingly bottomless pit full of green fog. The ride itself is decent, feeling a bit like an old school disney dark ride, with lots of pretty sets, albeit not too much action until the final scene. I do have to deduct points for the use of painted backdrops in some sections. The climax of the ride is accelerating in your vehicle to high speeds, test track/radiator springs racers style. The only flaw is the acceleration happens in pitch black darkness, so you lose a bit of the sense of speed. After a lap of honour around the mysterious island themed area you re enter a tunnel and unload. 20,000 leagues under the sea. Actually really liked this one. Its a suspended dark ride where you ride in submarines, though you don't actually go underwater like they Disneyland version, rather the windows are full of water and they release some bubbles to simulate the dive. The theming in the queue is similar in style to Journey, just replace geology lab theming with natuical navigation theming. The submarines have 6 seats, and you can look out the front, or left and right, with some slightly different views for each. I thought this had the best sets out of anything at the park! Spoilers : Midway Mania We all know what this ride is about, though this one has a nicer facade than the rest, themed like an old amusement park (Or rather a trolley park....in bygone years tram companies would build amusement parks at the end of the line to encourage people to use the tram) and hеntai woody over the main entrance. Once you get inside its the standard "Andys Bedroom" theming, with some huge sets. The ride is fun, with you shooting on screen targets whilst wearing 3d glasses, but if you've done other versions of this ride, there's no real reason to ride unless you are a fan. Electric Railway The park has an elevated railway, with some great views over the immense American Waterfront themed zone. It's quite a zippy thing. Worth a look just for the station theming at the NYC end. Aquatopia Aquatopia is a trackless boat ride in a shallow lagoon, with cars that just scoot randomly around the area, narrowly missing each other and things like waterfalls. It's a great curiousity, and fascinating to watch, but a bit bleh in terms of the ride experience. Transit Steam Line The park has an extensive network of internal waterways, so there are boats you can catch around the park, with some lovely views. It's pretty cool in one part where you pass through a tunnel into the middle of the cauldron of the mysterious island volcano. Raging Spirits A bit below par really. The theming is great, with a temple / archeological dig theme, but the coaster itself is crap, very slow, and essentially a clone of the Nitro traveling coaster, but with heaps of theming. Now, i fully understand thrills aren't Disney's forte, but they did a good job on California Screamin and Rock n Rollercoaster, so it makes no sense that this should be so disappointing. Sinbads Storybook Voyage Hah, this one is cute, and very long, its basically like its a small world, but through various arabian themed scenes, and things are less "toybox" looking than small world. Magic Lamp Theatre All in Japanese, this a 3D film with live actors themed around Aladdin. Imagine a family friendly version of Terminator 3d, with similar types of gags. My memory is hazy but it its basically about this nerdy magician type accidentally unleashing the genie. Nemo and Friends Sea Rider Sad that i never got to experience storm rider instead of this re-theme. A fairly family friendly and uneventful simulator, with pods that seemed about 3x bigger than what you see in star tours. The preshow has a cool gag where they demonstrate a special material that is able to be shrunk in size, shrinking a submarine down to fish size, enabling them to observe fish without scaring them. The ride is a trip around the reef, bumping into various Finding Nemo characters. I was suprised how similar the japanese voice actors were compared to the english version originals. Fortress Explorations The thinking mans Tom Sawyer island, a multi level fortress with rooms themed around various bits of classical art and science, for example a room with a giant lens onto a distorted painting that would appear correct when viewed through it. The most spectacular rooms are the model solar system, and a map of the 7 seas with ships sailing around on it. It was a bit dull in some parts, eg there is a ship you can walk around on, but there is literally nothing to do on it other than look at cargo crates and other props. Fantasmic We watched this from a high walkway waiting for Soaring Fantastic flight, but i guess viewing it from side on isnt the ideal view, lots of illuminated boat “floats” and a giant LED screen mickeys hat. Was decent. I liked the Go Gator themed float. Soaring Fantastic Flight We saw the wait time was down to 140 minutes, which is still a long time, but not out of the question for a brand new ride, and it still gave us enough time to get to TOT by closing. In reality it was well over 3 hours, and we didn’t get off till after closing. Fastpass users were getting most of the capacity and were never held, blowing out the wait. With the negatives out of the way, lets get to the positives, this is easily the best version of Soarin and the best flying theatre. The queue line is done up like an Italian museum of flight in a classical building, with lots of art with things from Cherokee eagles to the Montgolfier brothers hot air balloon. The queue winds through endless courtyards and down ornate staircases around the outside of the building, till you eventually get into the foyer of the museum. The preshow is amazing, using projection mapping and paintings that seem to come to life and gain DEPTH (more realistic than the paintings in the harry potter queue!) An eagle statue ‘comes to life’ and its shadow starts flying around the room, meanwhile the eagles handler appears on a talking painting that is initially 2d, then suddenly becomes lifelike, with trees in the background appearing to be in the distance. True disney magic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfFO_ca43DA The pre boarding room safety video is done just as well, with a frieze around the room that looks like painted wallpaper springing to life and animating the instructions. The boarding area of the ride isn't just a big dark room, it has been done like a hall with a stone pillaster balcony looking out over the night sky on the dome screen, so it actually feels like you are taking off from the top terrace of the museum. The ride vehicles have been themed like Da Vinci flying machines, with faux wood framing and canvas seats/ top cover. The film is the new one, so various scenes from around the world, though a lot more jump scares compared to the original (Which only really had the golf ball), with a final shot coming in past the Tokyo TV tower with Mt Fuji behind. Spectacular, but i was well and truly exhausted by a long wait at the end of a long day. Tower of Terror The 2nd day here finally saw me getting a couple of rides on this. From memory i ran and got a fastpass for Journey, then got to this on standby, then got a 2nd fastpass for this upon exiting. This one has the best theming out of the Disney Towers, themed like a NYC hotel, owned by an eccentric explorer/collector, who has collected numerous statues and artefacts from around the world and incorporated them into the architecture of the hotel, for example there is a beautiful indian garden and wall in the outside queue, and a fireplace with an ancient mantle in the foyer. The story goes the owner of the hotel disappeared after collecting a relic he shouldn’t have, and now, the hotel has been opened again for ghost tours. In the preshow, that relic makes an appearance, before disappearing menacingly….wooooo! Instead of going out into the boiler room of the hotel like in the other versions, here you are taken into the archives of artefacts, so imagine a room stuffed with even more art and statues. You are then loaded into lifts for the tour up to the hotel owners penthouse, and of course thats where the ride goes wild. The ride itself was much shorter and less thrilling than the US counterparts, but hey at least its a pretty ride to look at. SS Columbia There’s a legit full sized ship in the park, mostly there to house Turtle Talk and a couple of restaurants, though the top deck is great to just chill out and enjoy the views. Flounders Flying Fish Coaster Basic kiddy coaster but the theming was nice....Wait, no, this features the one bit of mis-done theming in the park. 0/10. Jumpin Jellyfish The kiddy land here at Disneysea is indoors and ridiculously detailed, but hellishly busy. I had a go a jumping Jellyfish, which is a parachute drop ride on valium that went for about 30 seconds. I was able to strategically get one of the seats looking out over the whole themed area for piccies. Big Band Beat I feel terrible. I’ve visited a few of these broadway style shows at Universal and Disney, and whilst they are entertaining, the combination of long days and a warm theatre means i fell asleep, which was even worse considering the Japanese girls seated next to me burst into tears because they were so taken by the show. Food As far as i can recall, this is what I ate. The food here is very good, so I grazed. -Gyzoa Dog Pork Gyoza that was like 5x bigger than a normal gyoza, with a thicker more bready exterior like a Bao. Tasty. Located in Mysterious Island. -Tiger Bun Steamed bun (Again like a Bao or what you get at 7/11 in Japan) but this one was orange with food colouring, and had curried chicken inside. Would recommend, can be found in the Arabian area. -Teriyaki Roll Was ok, but not a must get. It was a piece of chicken thigh, but a bit of extra skin was wrapped around itself to make it a neat little thing. I was expecting bread, but no just chicken, and a bit too much fat on it for my liking. Found in the NY area near the docks. -Casbah Food Court Curry Had dinner here on the first night waiting for Alladin to start. Standard curry, not that spicy, with a nice warm bit of naan. -Little Green Alien Mochi Everyone instagrams these, its basically a lump of custardy ice cream in a skin thats like a chewy icing. Each was flavoured separately, strawberry, choc, vanilla. Yummo. Found opposite toilets next to TOT. -Demi Glace Churro Normally churros are sweet, this was a savoury one but with a dash of gravy in the middle, I liked it, it was more or less like eating meat pie/ sausage roll pastry. Found in Mysterious island. -Pizza stick / Choc Stick I forget the actual names of these, but they were from a stand opposite Raging Spirits. Kind of like a breadstick meets churro, one was choc with choc sauce (average), another had a cheesy pizza sauce type filling (again, was okay) -Curry Popcorn / Black Pepper Popcorn Both pretty nice, but i wish the flavour was a bit stronger. Why did they use Comic Sans on the box though? In the waterfront area they had a garlic prawn flavour one i didnt try, and it smelled so realistic i thought there was an actual seafood grill in the area. Oh, and the one ride I completely missed was the Venetian Gondolas, and in fact I didn't even walk through this section until my 2nd day. And thats Disneysea. Feel free to ask any questions or anything you want more detail on, heres a bunch of other photos i liked, but there are plenty more if you follow the link to the parkz database page for Disneysea

Good. I've said it before. Put simply, those who don't buy them will be offset by the increased price of those who do. But the tiered offerings mentioned above lessen the blow of that even further. Keep your $159 One Pass. Hell - keep charging less for Locals One Pass - just don't give away the gate with it. The base price for both chains should include entry to parks. nothing more. no night events. no discounts. no fastpasses or photopasses. Maybe even block them out for Peak periods (and then don't give in to the whingers who complain, like they did with the non-VIP-GOLD passes years back).... So, your average family can still have their average access to the parks. They just don't get the upper inclusions unless they value them - and the price difference should be competitive enough to encourage that. For example, if the next tier up includes White Christmas and Carnivale (or whatever the hell they're doing now) for an extra $50 - some people will see value in that. Charge another $50 to include Fright Nights and Spooky Nights. So now you've got another $100 just to attend the night events. Chuck in a free drink on the night to sweeten the deal. Make exclusive merch to encourage spending. Go up another $50 from there, and for that price, remove block out dates, and allow fastpass reservations on the app (1 ride at a time) - that's got you up to $309 for what is essentially a premium product. I'd pay that. For my whole family. And I know others that would too. There's probably quite a few people here that would as well. And the lower tiers with block out dates wouldn't be choking the parks during peak periods, making the holidaymakers and one-time visitors experiences even better. Bring it on.

The coaster really does look a lot better, especially from WWW. That queue will be a lot better now it’s opened up too

Rest assured, everyone (including me) who has access to Nearmap have Nearmap Alerts set up for the parks. If there is an update, we know when it happens, and generally one of us uploads new captures within a day or so. Nearmap doesn't do monthly flyovers, and sometimes you only get one or two a year. We got an extra this year as I figure they probably had extra flights with the airspace so clear. You probably won't see another one for a little while. Please stop asking for nearmap updates!

It seems like they’ve been doing similar works that were done to Sea Viper (before it closed). Not suggesting JR will close, but they’re doing similar works. Every time I’ve gone since the park reopened, nothing has really changed and I haven’t seen anyone on site. Maybe they are waiting on new parts/track pieces

The food starts coming and it wont stop coming, fed to the kids and they hit the pool cramping

Went back to DW again this morning, to check out the rest of the park and to visit WWW. WWW looks fantastic. A much better park to be in compared to WnW right now. I love they have all this storage at every attraction too I noticed outside Fully 6, it appears there is a food outlet or something. Can anyone confirm? Nice big blue wall at the back of the park too I finished my walk around DW too. Ventured back into the Corroboree area. With it being a dead end, it really ruins this area of the park. There wasn’t any music or atmosphere on the walk back here, so that didn’t help. And when you get back there, there isn’t much going for it. It feels like a budget zoo that you’d find in a small town. And walking past Rocky Hollow, it’s a bit of an eye sore. Hopefully they don’t leave it sitting there for years like some of there other rides On my last visit I mentioned the eye sore that was the back of the ice cream parlour. Here it is I noticed the Tiger Island signage has been removed And pandemonium is under maintenance

For our non-Queensland members who can't reach the parks at the minute and can't ride Sky Voyager, I found the backing track for the ride today. Enjoy.

What you describe makes it sound like they'll never leave the $99 price point. But price increases are inevitable. Scenario 1 Village: We're charging $99 for a yearly pass! Everyone: Sold! Scenario 2 Village: We're increasing the price of our yearly passes! Everyone: I AM OUTRAGED! Scenario 3 Village: We're keeping a $99 pass! Everyone: YAY! Village: but you get a little less. Everyone: Awww. Village: but you can get a little more if you pay a little extra! Everyone: Hmmm. I'll consider whether I value those extras for the extra cost, but I guess I can still pay what i've always paid for a YEARS worth of entertainment if I don't think the extras are worth it! I haven't attended fright nights in at least 4-5 years. I've been to white christmas once in the past 6 years. I went to the first Carnivale. So night events aren't really a big interest for me right now. But i'd still be spending $309 on the top tier in my previous post for the value and inclusions I mentioned earlier - even if I didn't go to night events. The point is, just because YOU don't think other people will see value in things, doesn't mean they don't. Because to you, I am 'other people' and I see value in it. Pre-2008, clearly that pricing model worked. 2008 was GFC time. The parks needed to drive visitation. But they waited too long in the race to the bottom that everyone got used to the idea and now they're stuck there. The only way to get out of the hole they've dug is to lift it up again despite whatever backlash they get, until people get used to the new normal. Do the bean counters rely on government grants to build infrastructure and attractions in all theme parks these days?

That's what gets me with these discussions. The bean counters at the various companies know what they need to charge to keep the lights on and make a profit. Certainly much better than the enthusiast community.

Forward

I'm hoping Jet Rescue won't get retired. Because it's my favourite ride in the park. 😟

But it's outback of movieworld

It was a bit rough, and had overbearing OSTRs (Bulkier than the old ones on Lethal Weapon) Thankfully had single rider so only took about 20 min to ride.

I've seen Rober's video, and its a great analysis. I find the word 'scam' to be a little distasteful in the scheme of what he explains, but his findings are accurate. If you go to play the carnival basketball game and expect to hit every shot like you do from the free throw line, you're not thinking clearly and need to have a lie down. When I said 'they aren't rigged', I didn't mean to imply there isn't any 'deception' as such - obviously if it were just an ordinary basketball hoop, then basketball masters would clean out the operators on every visit. Much like a casino, the odds are in favour of the house. What i meant by using the term 'rigged' is that they aren't 'impossible' to win. Things that require skill (like - get a ball to land in a barrel, basketball hoop, etc) can be done with the correct method (or luck). The unstable ladder is a great example of that. Then there are 'luck' based games - like laughing clowns, or landing a ring around the neck of a bottle, and that is hard, but it is doable. Then you have multiplayer games - like the water gun races, where there's always a winner based on the number of players essentially 'paying' for the prize each game. The only ones i'd steer clear of are those where the operator can truly manipulate the winners is things with electronic elements - such as the high-striker 'strongman' hammer, which can be digitally manipulated to adjust the strength required to win (and the heat of the day affects these too - it is better to play this during the day when the sun is on the air hose than at night when it is cold). That sort of game also has multiple start buttons for the operator so that they can reduce the strength required for a win for kids (or just not let anyone win until they want someone to). Back to the 'skill' based games, as I said, anyone can do it with the right method or lots of practice - which is why attendants will usually demonstrate how 'easy' it is to do it - because they have lots of practice. Watch these attendants very closely for the secret to how things are done, and you too can win. (ekka showies hate me, by the way)

Oh FFS - I can't leave you lot alone for five minutes! Everything on the gold coast is a theme park. Everything in Perth is shit. Onwards, having just come from the outback, PC is definitely not themed to the outback.

@Gazza I did the version of raging spirits at Disneyland Paris. There the theming was also pretty good (but to Indiana Jones), but the ride was very rough and uncomfortable (especially if you’re tall). How was the Japan version in that regards?

According to the park map, they do still exist

Woah, calm down there DW

So I attended Halloscream on Saturday and had to check out the Tumble Bug. im not sure if it has been mentioned already here on this forum but the fencing around the ride had been removed. It appears to have been cut using an Angle Grinder. This looks like it may be the end of the ride

Here’s a full look at the new burger place

This is what the entrance currently look like. You can also kind of see what the queue is going to look like.

Definitely some good and fair points. I guess if the park is busier then you're going to second guess whenever you jump into a line which leaves you open to more opportunities to purchasing upcharges, food and drink whereas if you blast through the park because it's quiet then you're going to leave earlier or go off property for food.

I would say Block Hole is closed indefinitely because of delays receiving the new roof structure And the whirlpool, they’re crap and very unpopular so they should close

Based off VRTPs track record, these slides are done for

All 6 slides are now fully complete

Probably also the reason why they installed that fencing too around the pathway

Still a developing story but it's being reported that a woman has fallen from a ride, possibly a "hangover", in Cairns at Showfest. Mixed reports saying that the woman has died and that she is still fighting for her life. Local reporters who are on the scene are saying that the woman has been transported to hospital in a critical condition. I'm more inclined to believe their reports than the likes of Courier Mail and 9News I'll update with any further details as they appear. https://www.tropicnow.com.au/2020/october/24/person-dies-after-falling-from-ride-at-cairns-showground Courier Mail is now reporting that the woman is trapped https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/a-woman-is-being-treated-for-critical-injuries-after-falling-from-a-ride-at-cairns-showfest/news-story/a109a5bfdf9e9ddf413b4519a5dca583

Another incident to further tarnish the already struggling amusement/themed entertainment industry in Australia. So sad.... Just over a year ago, at last year's RMS, there was an incident on the "Fury". It occurred 4 days into the show, and then was SBNO for the rest of the event. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/terror-of-a-ride-fury-shut-down-after-young-girl-injured-at-show-20190925-p52ut3.html

Jet Rescue delayed again until December 5th Storm Coaster added for 4 days of closure, possibly related?