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Dreamworld’s CEO Greg Yong will remember victims of the Thunder River Rapids tragedy and how its past is building a better future A familiar tune filters through the loudspeakers of the theme park. “Take a trip away from the every day …” While the audience of guests – predictably thin on the ground this mid-week mid-morning – hurry on to the next thrill ride, the lyrics hit home for Dreamworld CEO Greg Yong. After all, the 41-year-old first came to the park when the Coomera attraction was still reeling from the Thunder River Rapids tragedy that saw four lives lost in 2016. Arriving from Village Roadshow to Dreamworld as chief operating officer in 2019, before being named CEO last year, he was confident he could steer the park to better, brighter days. And then came Covid. For the last three years, it’s safe to say that every day has been anything but a holiday for Greg. But rather than hiding from the park’s history, Dreamworld is owning it. And that includes its darkest chapter. While details are yet to be released, Greg confirms the park will memorialise the victims of the disaster. “Something is coming, we’ll be announcing it soon,” he says. “We will never try to hide what happened, we have to own it. Sadly, it is part of our history forever. “We’ll never get over the heartache of it, but rather than hiding from it, it drives us to move forward.” In fact, acknowledging its past is part of Dreamworld’s grand plan when it comes to facing its future. Not only has it remastered its famous 1980s jingle, it’s restoring some of its heritage rides and attractions. Greg says nostalgia has become a huge drawcard, not just for Gold Coasters, but for people worldwide who crave the comfort and safety of the past compared to the roller-coaster years of the pandemic. And his plan seems to be working. While this summer was not the post-pandemic season of his dreams thanks to Covid regulations and the virus itself, Greg says the park still posted good numbers and is now looking forward to a bumper Easter. “We’ll be releasing those shortly but January was especially good,” he says. “Our guest scores were the highest they have ever been. “Throughout all of these troubled times, we have really felt the support of Gold Coasters – and Australians – who want us to succeed. And once they were really able to come out and see us, they did. “I think we’ve finally reached that point now where we have officially turned the page on those tough times and we’re focused on moving forward. But part of that does mean acknowledging our past. “Even with our theme song, we had some marketing experts come in and pitch new tunes and they were great … but really, you can’t go past the one-day-holiday song. It was perfection then and it’s still perfect now. “There are so many things that Dreamworld has done right and we’re embracing that. That is our identity.” That embrace includes the renovation and refurbishment of the nostalgic train the Dreamworld Express, which even has its own appreciation page on social media, that will include making the ride wheelchair-accessible. The park’s signature Giant Drop tower is also set to be completely repainted and topped with a permanent lighting display come mid-year. But the future is not all about the past, with Greg actively working on the park’s “next big thing”. “Every second day I’m talking to someone in the US or Europe about the next big ride we build,” he says. “We haven’t made the final decision yet, but we know it will be something in the family-friendly zone that’s world class. It’s going to be more in line with Sky Voyager than Steel Taipan. “I’m also still actively pursuing the development on-site accommodation for the park. We came close last year but the package we had just wasn’t the right one. “We’ve known for 15-20 years that this is what this park – and this area of the Coast – needs, but we’ve never nailed it down. I’ve got the hammer ready.” While these international Zoom calls require Greg to work odd hours, that seems to just be part of the job these days. The father of three daughters – aged 17, 14 and 8 – is at work early in the morning and in the office until late at night, often seven days a week. He doesn’t have a personal assistant or secretary but is hands-on around the park, from greeting guests at the gate to taking photos for tourists to operating rides himself. “That’s just where we are at right now, that’s what the park needs. After the tough times we’ve had, it’s literally my job to know what’s happening at every level and to be there to talk to people. “It’s also just the way the world is right now, no one has the luxury to just do their one thing … we’ve all had to economise and learn to work efficiently as we can. https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/dreamworlds-ceo-greg-yong-will-remember-victims-of-the-thunder-river-rapids-tragedy-and-how-its-past-is-building-a-better-future/news-story/230f489547b7ceaff742491822fe6200

Station repaint is coming along nicely and I’ve loving the new colour scheme so far, much more traditional

While it's not the original green color which I think was the best color scheme, I am honestly really digging this new color choice. I am really glad that the current management are going back to basics a bit with the color schemes. It looks so much classier and less tacky than the in your face bright colors. I'd love to see the rest of the main street buildings get a similar treatment in the near future. It's really good to see the park spending the money on little things like this that make a big difference in the overall experience.

I'm pretty certain this fenced off area to the right hand side of the staff entrance is signposted as a HLS - although admittedly its been a few years since I went down that end of the carpark. The top right corner of this view shows a Windsock: And here's the google streetview, although there does not appear to be any signage indicating that it is in use, the windsock suggests it's still relatively active: