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The good thing to come from Australia’s insane fire rules is all that rock work has to be, well rock. So you won’t see the problems typical with fibreglass and hardcoat theming getting broken away and this should stay nice for a long time.

And here is my MW update, there are pros and cons. I rode Green Lantern, Hypercoaster, Doomsday, and Wild West. For starters, all the staff were friendly, park was clean and tidy, gardens well kept. Carousel is almost back together, so it shouldn't be long until it reopens. The figurines look great, the renovation is, by the looks of it well worth it As mentioned in another topic, markings are in place for the new kids ride, there is however these lines going across the path, past Taz's rest stop. Interesting. The stage around the giant tree is fenced off, for whatever reason. Sadly, this dump remains. And continues to deteriorate. Whist queueing for green lantern I noticed that the paint isn't in the best condition, I wish they would of touched this up during it's annual shutdown. Whilst I'm discussing paint, the Hypercoaster sign (old batman sign) could do with some TLC. Scooby's queue also needs some TLC, it doesn't look good, to say the least. Once again none of the screens were working, neither were the lights, in the turntable section. Wild West falls effects were working pretty good, still many things not working, and some things still out of sync, but it was better than when I last rode it. By the way, @Levithian, here is where Boothill was moved to, just follow the path past WWFs, and you'll literally run straight into it. It's currently one of the parks desiginated smoking areas. Doomsday area also was improved since my last visit, Lex Luthor spoke, Captain Cold spoke and his ice gun worked, scarecrow also spoke and had some gas effects working. Still along way to go, but it's progress. Also worth noting is the red strips on the ring of Doomsday destroyer need a touchup of paint. No progress on wizard of oz area, that I could see. Finally, at the end of the day I was speaking with a ride attendant about the hypercoaster stoppage, and was told what caused it. Drum roll....................................... It was caused by high winds. She described it, as a very expensive mistake.

Not specifically as Dreamworld simply pays for the rights, they don’t own them. Any contract for sale of DW and its impact on Dreamworks licensing would come down to whether a transfer of rights is applicable under the contract between DW & DW. Without know that however, I’d imagine Merlin or any other buyer would have to enter into a new or renegotiated agreement with dreamworks

It would’ve been so much better if they removed Speedy’s Taxi’s and made a big expansion with 1-2 more kids rides on top of this one but I'm glad atleast something is happening. I’m also glad they didn’t touch the little hedged garden area, it is a very pretty and relaxing corner

I really want a Disney park to come to Australia in some form, and while I don’t think something specific is planned yet, I feel as if Disney is starting to test their waters here with the announcement of Disney cruises coming here. tbh I really feel like we have the economy to support at least something Universal Singapore’s size, and If they ever intend on building another international park, I really can’t see anywhere else being considered, due to our good economic status and our great political relationship with the US. When I comes to Merlin buying Dreamworld tho, I believe it’s only a matter of time. It’s the perfect park for a company like that to buy, and Ardent clearly isn’t overly interested in keeping it, however I’m not entirely convinced it would become a Legoland. Mabye something similar to Chessington instead. Also, If Merlin bought dreamworld would it give them the rights to Dreamworks? cause that would be another reason for them to acquire the park.

Hi Parkz community, hope you're all well, went to both Wet n Wild, and Movieworld today. So, here is an update of WNW, I'll start another topic for my MW update. Alright, well on my visit everything was pretty good, staff were friendly, park was clean and tidy, gardens well kept. They have also done a few improvements since my last visit. Unfortunately, this remains, do the world a favour VRTP, and get rid of it. Now for the good things. Kamikaze has been given a new sign. And the old buddy site has been turfed, it looks great. I'm not sure, but I think this building and the toilets in H20 zone have been repainted. Some excavation is happening in front of Blackhole, which is currently under maintenance. The kids play structure has received some flags, and looks like it has also received a coat of paint. Constrictor's paint job is finished, and it looks great. AquaLoop is also down for maintenance, and is getting a buff. I spoke with the supervision manager in charge of the work at the loop, and he said that they do this annually, it's to not only bring out the colour, but also to clean it. He said 1 year's worth of sunscreen, sweat, dirt etc. needs to be cleaned off. The company he works for, does business with all the theme parks, and they done some repainting at WNW in the past, they didn't repaint constrictor, but they did repaint, River rapids last year, and mammoth falls 2 years ago. Hopefully tornado is next on the list. Fun fact: to completely polish and wax super 8 racer takes 6 weeks. Now with regards to Surfrider, they didn't tell me where it's going, but I can confirm that it is being moved to another park. I also have some information about Skycoaster, the reason it is closed is because you need special training to operate it, the company that they used has gone bust, and they haven't found another company in Queensland yet.

Yeah $957 AUD per person for a 5 day Park hooper with Genie + Is pretty ridiculous haha I mean i'd pay it if i was forking out for a trip to the US.... but that initial outlay would hurt for a family....

I just checked that info it was $550 AUD for 2 day park hopper at Disneyland, but omg I never remember it being that expensive! I went three times between 2011 - 2019 and tickets never reached more than $250 AUD for the 2 day both parks, so I’m guessing there’s been a lot of Chapek Markups being done since the Pandemic, which is never a good thing thing. But when I comes to Disney in Australia, I feel it’s more of a Aussie Disney renaissance that could last several decades, that hopefully leads to park being built here at some point in the future. For now I just hope that Ardent sells Dreamworld relatively soon, to a company that encourages themeing at the park, so we can at least have a park in the nation with a good dark ride or so mixed in with quality coasters

Jaysus! I was wondering how you got it to add up to that, but yep, 2 day park hopper with genie plus (yep you pretty much have to suck that up since they took away free fastpass)

Floor markings are in! Looks like something will indeed be happening

It would take Ardent selling the land, the government being the buyer, clearing the land of anything Ardent couldn't sell, and then trying to court the mouse into town, presumably by offering more land (bye bye sports fields?), a butt load of tax incentives and offering to pay some of the building costs. I don't see a version of this where Disney calls Ardent and are like 'How much?'

Even if (and it's a massive if) the business case for an Australian park stacked up, I can't see Disney buying Dreamworld instead of doing a greenfields build. On the other hand, Dreamworld becoming Legoland Australia is entirely possible, as Merlin have "converted" parks before. There will absolutely be more Disney cruises coming to Australia. They seem to have sold very well, and it wouldn't surprise me if one or two of the older ships are permanently based in the Western Pacific to serve Asia and Australia going forward.

Look, I don't think Disney is coming, but if they were to build here, the Sunshine Coast is an option. Plenty of land and also technically an international Airport (that would need major investment, but thats part of the Disney draw), otherwise Western Sydney with their new airport isn't a bad shout either. I can't see VIC, SA, NT or WA getting it over NSW (major population/tourism) and QLD (Tourism).

The next park on my list in Scandinavia was Tusenfryd (Thousand Joys) https://www.parkz.com.au/attraction/tusenfryd Initially I wasn't going to Norway at all, but it turned out a couple of things I wanted to do on a planned day in Gothenburg were closed, so I got a cheap flixbus ticket and got on the bus at 5am for a day in Oslo. The bus had me in Oslo by 9, that was enough time to grab a quick brekkie then backtrack to Tusenfryd. A regular urban bus goes there, only took about half an hour and the bus was quite frequent, so no problems using public transport. The park is stretched out along a hillside with rocks and boulders....very Nordic! In fact the hill is so steep some escalators take you up to the park from the entry gates. So my first ride was Speed Monster. Remember back in the mid 2000s when everyone was getting Intamin hydraulic launch coasters, including us? Tusenfryd got one too. It's the best thing here and I did several laps throughout my visit due to the good throughput. The launch is powerful as you'd expect, straight into the pretzel like Norwegian loop, which has a good flick and twist at the top. The pace continues as you make a big turn through some trees, before a good ejector hill. The finale is good too, with a corkscrew and a couple of good twisted airtime hills that have some good laterals. The next ride was HuriHuri, which opened this year. It's a zamperla spinning coaster and could best be thought of as a slightly more sophisticated version of those SBF spinners. Mild family thrills. Throughput was terrible. The gates at the end of the platform were not automatic so the op had to go close them manually. It reminded me of the op having to attach the plastic chain on sea viper....x4! You can see the queue that built up after I exited. The other big draw of Tusenfryd, a Vekoma wooden coaster that has had both GCI reprofile it and now has Gravity group trains. Looks good on paper, long drops down the hillside, big camelbacks, fast pace. But it's absolute trash. Gave it a go front and back, in the back you can literally see the cars full on bouncing up and down and shuffling like crazy. Bahhhhh Continuing into the park I headed down the hill into the Viking themed zone, which had 3 big rides. No real wait for SuperSplash.....a Mack super splash. It wants to be a water coaster with its camel back, but it's more like a shoot the chutes. You ride in a huge 16 or 20 seater boat. Lift hill, small dip, gradual U turn, and then the main drop and floater hill Mack water coasters are known for, with a splashdown that gently spritzes you. The other water ride is Ragnarok, a Hafema rapids ride (They built the rapids at Universal Singapore, and at Phantasialand) It has a bit of Viking theming but it's all foam and not that well maintained so it's peeling The rapids themselves are great, some good turbulent sections, a whirlpool where you pick up speed as the track goes around a spiral before a curved drop out the middle. There's also a 2nd drop that's damn steep too he 3rd ride in this area is Thor's Hammer, a 4d motion base dark ride by ETF. It had a good vibe walking in because the whole thing is underground. The motion is pretty gentle compared to the Six Flags JL rides, Spiderman, Transformers etc. I couldn't really follow the story, imagine a few screens with Viking guys battling. The media on the screens was top quality, like Hollywood standard, but I guess because the screens are so small (think smaller than JL at MW) you didn't quite get that sense of awe. That and the fact its not in 3D. The intermediate scenes were nice enough too, there was one nice bit with a troll forest. So in conclusion I think to work these motion base rides need to have huge sets to really envelope you. Lunch was down in the Viking area too, they had a stand sponsored by the local dairy company, selling flavoured milk and toasties....Was like being at the royal show/ Ekka! Moving on, they had Western Express, a Roadrunner clone but it was on a metal base frame. Yep yep yep. I wandered up the back of the park and saw the foundations of the Gerstlauer suspended coaster. I was too big to ride the world's smallest coaster, Dvergbanen. Took one look at the upcharge haunted house and couldn't be arsed. They had a couple of other flat rides such as a space shot and another zamperla giant discovery called spinspider, but wasn't in the mood for a nauseating flat. I finally reached the last coaster, Loopen, an older Vekoma loopscrew, so called because it has both a loop and a corkscrew It has a fairly compact layout, but the fan turn was so jarring on your back. A graceless ride I do not remember fondly at all. Spinemelter 3000: ******************** As for the park, before my visit I was told it was Six Flags Norway and it is true in a way, it was a bit run down in places, a lot of bitumen pathways and chain link fences. Have a look at SF Saint Louis in comparison and that's the vibe I got. They are in the midst of giving the park a facelift, with two new themed zones, Route 66 and Expedition Lost Kingdoms. In amongst all that they also have a bit of a Viking Zone, and a Wild West zone, and a bit of fairytale kids zone, but the wierd thing is they dont actually have names for these area, or promote them on the website like they do for the other two areas. https://www.tusenfryd.no/en/oppdag-parken/planlegg-ditt-besok/temaomrader It mostly seems to be new signage on some attractions, and some face lifted buildings, but I Think because all the in between spaces are all bitumen and chainlink the intended vibe of the zone doesn't carry through. Eg in route 66, where are all the American road signs? I finished up mid afternoon with some more rides on Speed Monster before taking the winding path downhill instead of the escalator for some interesting photos. (And the photos of this park can be viewed here https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/tusenfryd ) And then back on the bus to the Oslo city centre to spend the remainder of my day, eventually getting a coach back to Gothenburg at 11pm, just as the sun was setting)