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This morning I was invited out to Dreamworld to get a sneak peek of Steel Taipan and a walk through of the entire area. I’ll start out by saying, overall they’ve done a good job with the area. It’s very nicely presented, good aesthetic/theming elements and watching both trains in testing while in the queue/entry areas is awesome. I was able to take a few photos of the area, so I’ll describe what I captured and if anyone has any questions, I’ll try answer them the best I can with what I can share publicly. The entry signage is something we’ve already seen, but here it is up close The path leading to the queue entry A look at the entry and exit paths There is a test seat before joining the queue. The garden beds throughout have been done very nicely. Suits the theme/style. There is a main, single rider and Tailwhip queue. The queue wait time and ride safety information sign is yet to be installed, but will be positioned here. The station area is massive and allows for many people to be organised for loading to make it as efficient as possible. There are also large fans in the station and queue. The screens will show boarding information. Here’s a closer look at the train

Ahhh That moment when I remember about this place and log in again after 5 years... I learned so much, had no idea lethal weapon was gone and dreamworld has a big new coaster. Anyhow thought I'd share some of my old photos since many of the things don't exist anymore and its becoming a bit interesting... I should go again after 15 years....

The ride sign is up, in stunning 3d too!

Something like this would be the PERFECT replacement for Arkham Asylum. It's well themed, and it's actually about movies in general rather than just being Superhero themed, something Movieworld needs desperately. It also looks like something the whole family can enjoy.

I finally had the opportunity to get over to the Gold Coast after about 18 months over this last weekend and it was great to see how things have changed and adjusted as we start venturing out of the pandemic. I won't give a details 1-to-1 of everything I did but I wanted to point out some of the major things I noticed after being away from the parks for so long. Dreamworld - Friday 28th of Jan We arrived at Dreamworld around 11 AM on Friday after landing in Brisbane. Getting into the park was painless with check ins, vaccination and ticket checks. I got my pass online during the drive down and added it to my Apple wallet which meant that I could just wander on in. The staff at the front were super helpful and friendly which gave a warm welcoming experience to the park Obviously the first thing we did was wander over to Steel Taipan to check it out. There was a little bit of a line and we had some others coming to the visit us so we wandered around whilst we waited. Despite this area not being necessarily 'themed' I still found that it was presented extremely well with the taipan and Australian motifs. I likened the presentation to that which you'd expect to find in a zoo and I don't feel it's out of place for a park like Dreamworld. I wouldn't have an issue if this was the style moving forward because it's effective and inoffensive. By the time our friends arrived around midday there was a queue for Steel Taipan that was around a 20-30 minute wait and it grew behind us once we got in line. At this stage they were only running one train but it wasn't long before maintenance came over to assist in getting the second train on the track. From there the park was running two trains until close and it was a walk on for the rest of the day. Whilst some may say that this is a failure on the parks behalf, personally I find this great as you can do the attraction as much as you'd like and I can imagine that many people would prefer doing that over waiting in line for over an hour. Despite the carpark being rather full there didn't seem to be too many people in the park and most lines were a walk on. Operations were efficient and there was barely a stage where I thought that Dreamworld could lift their game expect for one staff member who dubbed a safety video as 'boring' and then proceeded to sass out guests who talked during the 'boring' video. Extending from that, staff at the park were excellent. They seemed rather cheerful and energetic which is what you want in a theme park. There were a lot of characters out and about, and in the ABC Kids area we had B1, B2 and Wags hound us down for a photo. The costumed characters were great to interact with and B1 kept on giving one of our group members some sass after he tried doing wiggle fingers for a photo where the bananas pretended to get offended. Presentation wise the park is doing pretty well. The back half of the park seems to be rather forgotten about considering that the main clientele for Wild Life are currently unable to enter the country and the mood down that way is rather gloomy with demolition and a lack of attractions, but the other half is clean, vibrant and buzzing with atmosphere with the horticulture being where the park currently shines as the gardens and greenery are lush and picturesque. Food was okay. I only had Kenny's Fried Chicken which was seasoned well but the chicken wasn't the best quality in my opinion. Others in our group had the parmigiana which they all said was great with decent value. All round I had a really fun day at Dreamworld and it left me feeling good about the direction that the park is going in. It has it's problems but it seems that its actively working to improve them and I'm excited to see this park's future. Movie World - Saturday 29th of Jan We arrived at 9:30 and met our friends near Scooby waiting for Wild West Falls where we got our first sneak peak of the wonderful world of odd decisions that constantly being made at Australia's premier park. For as long as I can remember Movie World has always allowed entry 30 minutes before park open. I don't have a big problem with this except it's usually luck of the draw as to whether you can line up for an attraction or not. They were allowing guests to get in line for Scooby but not for Wild West Falls and so there was a rush of people heading this way to ride the attraction. As soon as the park officially opened we got a Virtual Queue for Rivals whilst heading to Wild West Falls. VQ is an okay system but I don't love it because it's incredibly temperamental and get's wacky when you've got a large group. Also it appears to be geared towards pushing their one-shots which is a problem that I'll extend on later. Thank goodness we did rush Wild West Falls because otherwise it was around a 60-90 minute wait for the rest of the day. Thanks to an issue with the new boats they are unable to use the first row and what was once the parks people eater is now what appears to be an operational nightmare. From what we could gather they were only using around 6 boats with the new stop-start unload things moved really slow. The staff were making the best of a bad situation here but you could tell that it was putting them under a lot of pressure and there were not pleased about it. Next up was Rivals as our VQ was ready. It was about 10 minutes before we got on but I feel sorry for those waiting in the stand-by line because it was stinking hot and that queue has very little shade. They were also blasting mist through fans to help cool down guests but that now means that your phone is going to be temperamental with it's touch screen whilst you wait almost an hour in line. Once we were on-board I was reminded once again what a great coaster this is albeit it's definitely not as smooth these days especially compared to Steel Taipan. As soon as our VQ was scanned for Rivals we booked another Scooby-Doo. This lined up perfectly with unload so we head straight there. Scooby-Doo is still a very fun roller-coaster but my goodness is that ride in a sorry state. Multiple effects and screens were just flat out not working including the on-ride photo and the only part that seemed to be in an acceptable state was the disco room. It's still as popular as ever with guests consistently crowding for it but I could imagine that rider satisfaction would be pretty low. From here the VQ system becomes less handy and the app starts to falter. Most virtual queues had become full except for Superman which was an hour and a half wait. A lot of the wait times were wrong on the app which was frustrating as you'd reach an attraction only to find that it's an additional 40 minutes on top of what is posted in the app. After struggling to find something to do that didn't require us to be in line for a huge amount of time we decided to check out road runner and it's new trains. They look and feel great and they're definitely an upgrade. Eventually Superman was ready so we got in line and had a ride which was great as always except for being a bit headache inducing on the final bends. We noticed it was running two trains but they were constantly stacking at load/unload with little happening. Throughout the day it was not uncommon for a train to enter the station, then the staff would start organising people to the gates, then loading guests in and sending them on their ride. I have no idea why they don't start sorting guests at the gate sooner but its really awkward when the train is just sitting there and it seems like nothing is happening for a hot couple of minutes. Equally as frustrating; DC Rivals was only running one train. This is the parks premier ride that is constantly getting international praise and it baffles me that they're not just running a blanket two trains through the entire Summer season. In saying this, it makes a lot more sense when you realise that the park has monetised wait times with one-shots. Why should the park reduce wait times or add more access to VQ when they're charging $40 AUD to ride DC Rivals once? I would absolutely love to see the metrics as to how many people buy the one-shots because I feel like they'd be embarrassingly low despite putting the park in a position where it needs to decide whether it prioritises those who paid for a ticket or those who will pay in the park. We did Justice League as it was one of the shortest lines of the day and I understand why; in its current state this attraction should not be operating. The first scene has a majority of it's lightning not working so you can only see the starfish, a majority of us in our group found that the lasers just didn't register half the time, one of the screens was not working and apparently hasn't been for months, the 3D no longer works, many of the sound effects and musical queues didn't work and cyborg within the queue needs a hug as his face screams that he is in constant pain. After doing this attraction and Scooby it compounded to me unfortunately becoming very jaded to the state of the park. Many of the buildings are filthy, a lot of the gardens are unkempt, the White Christmas lights are degrading to a disgusting brown colour, there are multiple dead ends with little signage to say what is going on, the park refuses to acknowledge Arkham, multiple ride signs are degrading with Justice League legitimately having a mushroom growing out of it and the villains area near Dooms Day is basically rotting in plain sight. The park is massively resting on its laurels despite being years from its 'A' game. Compounding onto this, Main Street had four external vendors operating with pitched gazebos and banner signage. This is just generally embarrassing. The presence of a Boost Juice van, Exotic Filled Candy stall, some donut joint and a custom engraved light up stand thing makes Main Street feel more like the Royal Easter show than a theme park. I am absolutely fine if external vendors want to be in the park, but at least make it thematically consistent. The first thing you see on Movie World's website is Australia's #1 Theme Park but this statement has as much weight as their marketing campaign which touts AOS as a park. It just feels like nobody at the top really cares about this place beyond the money it can generate and it's blinding them from the problems that are plaguing this park. It's a huge shame because these excellent attractions are being let down by mediocre theme park. Sea World Carnivale - Saturday 29th of Jan After leaving Movie World we went directly to Sea World for the opening night of Carnivale. The atmosphere at Sea World as great! It was a stark change from Movie World as you can tell that a lot of the focus at the moment is on this park. The food offerings are a bit lighter this year but the breaded chicken bro buns were nice and filling. I would personally prefer some smaller and less expensive selections so that you could try more because I've always found the food to be a big draw that was under utilised this year. Entertainment was great but at times it felt like there were multiple bands fighting for your attention against the park music. I didn't see the night time dolphin show but frankly I'm against the idea. Let the dolphins rest. The new show at the front of the park is spectacular and has scrapped any story elements from yesteryears. It's a fun light show with fireworks, live dancing, live drumming and lasers but I do think that they needed an opportunity for each element to shine. Often times there was so much happening that it was difficult to know what to focus on and the pacing was basically 0 to 100 in 5 seconds where it stayed for the duration of the performance. This sort of high octane experience is good fun but can get very overwhelming very quickly. I got to experience Vortex for the first time which is good fun. It's not mind blowing but it's very intense and does a decent job of fleshing out Sea World. In saying that the queue design is awful and does not assist the operators in any way. There should have been an area for them to stage guests with a number because from what I could gather they would send a group and then wait to hear how many more people they needed on their ear piece. This lead to cycles being over 10 minutes even with 4 staff members operating the attraction. I also got to do Jet Rescue for the first time in about half-a-decade. I forgot how fun it was! We got to use Virtual Queue for this but it freaked out when our group of 10 booked as some people were ready straight away and others had to wait 30 minutes despite all booking within 30 seconds of each other. Storm Coaster at night is always a pleasure. It seems that they've fixed some elements that haven't been working in years like the storm projection screen and the video just as you enter which is nice. Operations were great on this which seems to be assisted by a cleverly designed system that can accomodate so many boats/trains. Beyond VQ it wasn't worth getting in line as they were very long. I think for paid after hours events they should be doing everything in their power to keep queues down because it could be a major selling that the park has short waits during the event because beyond the entertainment and drinks there isn't too much grand appeal to Carnivale. It's great fun as an AP holder, but I wouldn't spend $60 on the event. Side note; if New Atlantis opens by Easter then I'll eat my own face because they don't look anywhere near ready enough to open in 10 weeks. The next day we were back at Dreamworld to cap off our trip and we visited WWW as well. I don't have too much to say about this day beyond reinforcing my perspective that I think Dreamworld is doing great things at the moment. Despite being a lesser version of its former self, it really does feel like it's finally got its footing and is on the up and up. White Water World is always good fun when you just want to do a couple slides and vibe out. Ultimately all of this is my own opinion but I'd love to know your thoughts on the parks. If you've got an issue with anything I've said feel free to quote it and provide your two cents. Edit: I'll add more photos later as I'm just waiting for my phone to sync with my laptop.

Current progress

Hot PR tip for the person managing the social media account: If you're explaining, you're losing. Everything in that statement prior to the last paragraph should never, ever be said publicly or privately to a paying customer. They do not care about why the rides are closed, planned or not. They care about the fact that they've paid $110 to enter the park to watch HWSD2 while eating $20 chicken nuggets and possibly getting a ride on WWF, if it's open. They care about the disappointment they're experiencing for paying so much money to effectively enter an overpriced, extremely limited shopping mall. Movie World's failures are not the customer's fault - even if scheduled maintenance is listed on the website, people expect the majority of rides to be open, not one ride for part of the day. Acknowledge the unplanned stoppages and then direct people to guest services and tell them that you want to make it right. Don't say that guests are going to be 'well informed and an outcome achieved'. That's effectively code for 'Go F*** Yourself, no refunds'. Just acknowledge the disappointment, acknowledge the unplanned stoppages, acknowledge that this is not how you want guests to experience the park and then direct them to guest services because you want the chance to make it right. That's it. What guest services offer can be tailored to what the guests want, but don't blame the visitor because Movie World can't keep on top of ride maintenance enough to keep even ONE roller coaster operating. Right now, you're taking a bad situation and making it worse.

2 hours here and i’m calling it - movieworld is now the worst theme park in the country, by a decent margin hopefully Oz and and a reopening Scooby make a difference but there is no magic left here

I'm no engineer, but can't they just get Superman to push it around the rest of the track? He does it all the time with the other coaster.

Some pics from today! Zoom in and you can see some rockwork in the queue Two new statues! (one pictured). Much much larger than the current one near Vortex. Crates of 'Split Bluestone Tiles" Edit: Not sure if this is new or not but Levy and Trident now appear on the map in the app! Looks like they still may be planning some kind of theming on the bottom right

Statues that make up the rides entrance have now been installed, this looks a letter better then i was expecting. source; Bikash

About time. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 As of 17th Dec, folks need to be fully vaccinated to enter Queensland anyway so it'll affect a whole lot of 0% of interstate travellers. As for Queenslanders, if you're part of the tiny fraction of folks who think vaccines are bad, speak to a trusted GP and get vaccinated. Vaccine hesitancy and vaccine mandates aren't a new thing. All in all, i'm very doubtful it'll impact business in a meaningful way, and these kinds of mandates have shown to increase vaccination rates, which is a really good thing.

Sheds are an iconic part of Australian Roller Coasters. Please don't disrespect our sheds. DC Rivals - Shed with backdrop. Green Lantern - Green Shed. Storm Coaster - Very Big Flooded Shed. Jet Rescue - White Shed with shade covering. Demon - Black Shed. Gold Coaster - Suspended Shed. Superman Escape - Theming until you look up then Shed. Scooby Doo - Same as Super Man But Spooky Shed Arkham Asylum - Batman Shed Sea Viper - Wooden Shed The Bush Beast - Wooden Shards Buried Under An Industrial Park Shed Road Runner Rollercoaster - Orange and Red Wooden Shed Feat. Children. The Orphan Rocker - Rusty Shed. Abyss - Spooky Statue Outlet Warehouse Shed. And many more Sheds.

Here’s a look at what’s left in the car park Anyone know what this part is for? Station update Do you think they’ll build a retaining wall along here for the train track? Because I’d imagine they would have removed it if they weren’t going to use it Track updates

It's big!

This is my interpretation of the layout. I made a GIF to help explain. In regards to the ability for the layout to be run forwards and backwards: if the train leaves the station travelling forwards, and performs this exact layout every single time, then the train will always re-enter the station travelling forwards. If however, they choose to program the ride to do the green/red loop twice then you'll get the train re-entering the station alternating backwards/forwards. The choice to do the green/red loop an infinite number of times (as others have stated already) is the beauty of this new mechanism and layout. You could potentially run a longer cycle during off-peak, and the shorter cycle on-peak.

Notice the logos on his back for each ride More Trees Looks like he's about to invade Bikini Bottom Testing! It was loud and could be heard throughout the park

That really sucks. I know he's had his health worries for a while now but doesn't make it suck any less. I've been thinking a lot about DW's history lately, and one thing that has occurred to me is how rough calling his DW a 'Disney knock off' is. I'm sure I've even been guilty of making that point somewhere in the past. It's true that the influence is there to see, from building designs to the Paddle Steamer to the Matterhorn with a ride in it, to the animatronic animal show to so much else. It's there and it's not a secret. He wasn't alone in it; there are a lot Disney knock offs out there The thing about John though, is he studied it understood why it worked, and took that understanding to make his own totally different and unique thing. Look at all those Disney knock offs that have sprung up in Asia (or even the entire Chinese amusement industry as a whole) and tell me the people behind them understand what makes a park good. John not only understood why Disney worked, but was able to craft it into something else entirely, an Australiana version, that was really charming and amazingly good. That's an effort, I don't think there's any one else that could have done it. There are a million other things he did, but that will always be the one that made the most impact on my life, RIP mate, see if you can book a chat with Walt while you're up there.

Wasn’t sure if I should create a new thread or not so I’ll just put it here. But trident is on site. It’s great to finally see some progress. Seeing as though they haven’t started the foundation yet it might be a bit till it goes vertical. Thanks to themeparkqueen_au on Instagram.

Saw one of the Trains on the track today getting moved into the maintenance room!

Howdy folks - here's the latest nearmap overview taken last weekend - 6 days old and hot off the presses!

Also, I’ve been accepted as a rides attendant tonight for Luna Park! Training starts soon! Ever since I started playing RCT3 and watching Theme Park Review on youtube 13 years ago, I never imagined it would be this real! Dreams do come true guys haha!!

I was out for a drive yesterday and stumbled across more of the Taipan. Got the drone out and did a quick video, nothing exciting, first video I've ever uploaded so go easy lol. It's an industrial yard out the back of Yatala.

I’m so glad that, even 8 years on, a post that was up for a single day still gets remembered 😂 I live in London now, but I’m back in Australia for a holiday in 3 weeks. I’ll see if I can get some behind the scenes photos What’s the worst than can do? Deport me?

Hey all! I saw the video released by Sea World's official Facebook page of the Leviathan completing its first test run and heard that testing commences later at night, and went to have a look to see if I could witness it in action! There was nothing from the Leviathan in terms of test runs, unfortunately; but here are some things I saw! The operators were testing the lighting that was projected onto the timber structure. The lighting has quite a few options, with colour, transitions, and some pretty interesting modes. Of course, all of this was being manually changed by the operators. One notable mode was where the lighting follows the track around, almost as though the train is lighting up the track as it traverses. Very interesting to watch! Thankfully, there was some testing going on, I wasn't expecting it but I noticed these flickering white lights behind the Leviathan. This turned out to be the Trident completing some test runs! You can see the chains connecting from what looks to be a three-personed carriage on each section of the chain. They tested the Trident once every 5 minutes, adjusting the height and the bank at which the chains are swung. Even though there was no sighting of the Leviathan completing some test runs, I witnessed something quite bizarre. I noticed that one of the two 12-car trains was resting on the chain lift. You can see the 'tail' as well as the backwards positioned seats as well. Unfortunately, there were no signs of movement when I was watching as quite a few contractors were scouting the track and presumably inspecting the structure and rails. I was determined to watch the train go around and assumed they wouldn't leave the train sitting on the chain lift overnight, but I never saw any movement. So I returned today to see if the train had been moved; to my surprise, it was gone! I will return another day and grab an update once I see it going around. Maybe even this night! Cheers! Liam

Your ad hominem attacks don't make look you right, they make you look desperate. Honestly at this stage Movie World may as well have killed people because their response post accident is embarrassing. The park is on the decline and it's sad. I wouldn't have gotten engaged in and worked with the staff on Village property if I didn't deeply care about those parks so don't assume that just because I like some things about Dreamworld that I'm a shill or that I think Movie World should crumble. If I didn't care then I wouldn't point out the problems that I experienced. The Dreamworld Incident had detrimental implications for the industry as a whole and it's a valid point that some of the problems that we experience today is a flow on effect from that event. The previous ex-management were exactly what you said and literally nobody is arguing against you in that regard. However, that's not how you decided to interject and instead of refuting the central point you thought it best to come in guns blazing whilst slinging thinly veiled insults for no other reason then it seems that the conversation wasn't going in the direction that you'd like. Unfortunately some theme parks will never embrace certain features of rides and immersiveness and efficiency again because some very dangerous people who ran things at a single park gave them a scapegoat. It's not the actual problem; it's the perception. The entire park is in an awful state of presentation and this is from somebody who hasn't been to a proper theme park in over 18 months before coming there so my bar is pretty low. Do you think that instills confidence into the general public that don't care for the enthusiast discourse? If I see a rusted old car hanging out in a parking lot my first assumption is not 'well it must be squeaky clean and operationally sound under the hood!'. Instead I think 'if this is what they want to show me then imagine what they're not showing me.' This was literally my exact argument that you decide to reflect with an ad hominem attack. The Dreamworld Incident is likely a fraction of the problem affecting Movie World's operations. You can't blame Dreamworld for Doomsday operating on 10-12 minute cycles, DC Rivals operating one train during Summer, Superman bizarrely operating two trains with not enough staff allocated to utilise it efficiently, and Wild West Falls only running 6 boats. Dreamworld also didn't force Village to implement an app which directly benefits from extended wait times and therefore incentivises the park to take things slow and underperform to push more people towards One-Shots.

Sea World's dormant beast: up close with the Leviathan wooden roller coaster Sea World's Leviathan is looking more and more like a fully realised roller coaster as it inches closer and closer to its delayed 2022 opening date. Click here to continue reading

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQqUs6JMrsg/?utm_medium=copy_link

And I counted 15 track pieces left in the car park to be installed

Vertical construction on Boomerang has started and Bug looks basically complete

Seems that Roadrunner is getting new trains...would explain the extra downtime. Taken from Vekoma’s Facebook page.

The first supports for Jungle Rush have arrived at Dreamworld. (from auscoasters on Instagram)

I don’t think the intention is for one new spin and spew to bring in the crowds, I think the intention is to offer a bigger, better overall experience at the park, more rides, more kinetic energy, more atmosphere, and a fuller day of experiences. I have been going to the park regularly for 6 or so years now, and I do believe that the average attendance day to day is increasing, even more so in just the past few months. I think they’re in for a pretty busy summer actually. It’s not the fact that it’s just one new ride, it’s the fact that there are multiple new rides to open within days, the park is looking brighter and fresher than ever and just feels better value/quality due to the addition of a ‘spin and spew’

It begins! Like with the Surfrider track this can be seen on the road to Paradise Country

[[SPOILERS AHEAD]] Just got off my first walkthrough/ride of multiple today, so I’m far from an expert on the topic, but I’ll try my best to cover the bases. Theming The whole theming of the area is great, for current-day Village. There’s still some pretty open areas, and as the concept art shows, it could use some more trees to make it feel less empty. Garden of Cyphers is a nice place to sit down, but I’d imagine it gets loud, due to… Leviathan The queue for Leviathan is split up into 3 distinct sections: Queue (the blue shade structure inside of the helix), a sort of Holding Zone, and the walk to/station. There is no single-rider queue, and a mention for a disabled entry, but it isn’t the main queue or the exit. Starting with the Queue, it’s pretty and is mostly enclosed in the helix. I’m sure this will be fine once it’s been open for a while, but it’s certainly caused a lot of overspill now. As for its theming, it’s surrounded by faux rock & plants on all sides, with the ride itself being just above said walls. It’s certainly good looking, but I can’t help but think it’s a bit too short (and, just quietly, the ride isn’t quiet, and people were already getting irritated at the near-constant ride noise from being surrounded by the coaster). The Holding Zone is pretty self-explanatory, after being advanced from the queue, you’re put into a little hallway and wait to be allowed into the station. If you’ve been to Fright Nights, it’s basically just the wait between the queue and entering the maze. If you haven’t, it’s a mixture of Scooby Doo’s post-warehouse queue, and the second boarding row in Steel Taipan’s station. Not much to say about it’s theming (it’s just a hallway), but I noticed there are names on the bolts on Levi’s supports, which is cool. Last queue section, the walk to/station. Seeing as this is completely indoors, it’s definitely got the best theming of the 3. You enter through the sliding door, and are surrounded by faux rock and cool blue lighting, as you advance up the staircase to the station. The station is where it shines, smoke-filled with faux rock blended into the advertised screens, where Leviathan swims around and tells you off from time to time. This is, by a decent amount, the best theming I’ve seen in Australia. (Sorry for blur in the photos, it was completely indoors and I had to keep moving) Now, the ride itself. As you dispatch, more smoke billows out in front of you. Small dip, lift hill, Leviathan says ‘Ride With Me’, then you’re in the layout. Being a wooden coaster, the layout is (as expected) far less forceful than the likes of Superman, DCR, or ST. Thus, it’s more fun and rerideable than insane and physically tolling. Also, being a wooden coaster, it’s not the smoothest thing ever, but it’s luckily far from uncomfortable. I didn’t notice any big potholes, nor did I feel scrambled after riding like you would on Cyclone. It’s a great, rerideable, fun, family-thrill ride, from the drop to the brakes. I’m not skinny by any means, but I’m not the heaviest person either, and it was a bit of a squeeze to fit, so if you’re overweight you might have some trouble getting your restraint locked (and there’s no test seat, so you’ll have to queue before you know). In case you’re interested, here’s its vertical and lateral force graph. Once done, Leviathan tells you you’re worthy and you exit through a similarly-themed staircase to the one you entered through. Then you’re spit out into a maze of tight painted work walls, walk through the ride photo booth, past the main queue area, and are spat out the way you came. Vortex Vortex hasn’t changed since it originally opened, so if you went on it then, you know the experience. If not, it’s just a decent flat, a worse Wipeout with rather generic ‘ocean’ theming (though it fits in more now that the whole area is open, ofc). Also, they may have dulled its squeaking? Idk, but I haven’t heard any. Trident As discussed elsewhere, Trident wasn’t open due to high winds, but the ride experience is pretty predictable if you’ve been on a swingchair before. The theming is a step above Vortex, with a colosseum-style ride platform, some nice murals/detailing work, and Big Man. All in all, the details are good (but the trident at the top should’ve been larger).

Got to visit the park on Saturday 12/11/2022. Wow! Truly amazing to see rollercoasters of this scale finally being built in Victoria - it's been a long time coming. Construction is progressing very nicely, but still lots to be done before the Dec 23rd opening. The excitement from park goers was tangible, lots of people taking a look at construction. Below are a few construction photos of TNT. Will upload Project Zero construction updates later today. Lots more TNT construction photos can be found here: https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/unknown-suspended-family-coaster

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

Did somebody say block brake?

Hey everyone, so I just wanted to reply to this conversation I started, today I went to movie world. And the staff were sooooooooo friendly and helpful. At the entry I asked the lady from looking at me which rides did she think I wouldn't fit on. She was so friendly and explained where the harness fits on each ride. She gave me tips for Scooby doo and told me to ask for a harness check for Superman. So the verdict, I did what she and others said and I sat in the back row of Scooby doo, as I sat down I pulled the lap bar down so it clicked and then adjusted myself under it. It was tight but got a green light straight away no issues. Hyper coaster was closed today, and the lady at the front said green lantern would be a no go, so I didn't try. For Superman, I saw the lady at the end of the queue and asked if I can try a harness, she radioed the other member of staff and she said it will just be me and the member of staff and the empty kart so no embarassment. They take you in the exit back entrance wait for the current riders to get off so it's just you on your own and then she tried two seats, the front row is slightly bigger but I fit both. Again everyone was very friendly and I never once felt embarassed or like I was a hassle. The Wild West falls, I got on and the lady clicked the bar down, it did hit my stomach, she asked if I was comfy and I said yep. She was happy and so was I. Overall a great day! My advice is don't be afraid to try, and don't be embarassed to ask, the staff were more than happy to help. 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

I will post a full video tonight!!! But sledgehammer had its first test

Good Morning everyone. And welcome to another exciting update of the construction. On Tuesday, I was looking from the Harbour Bridge on the train home, and I went. Oh goodie! A ride that will make me throw up! And that's the Sledgehammer... When I came back today, the poles that were there last week are now assembled. All that's left is the seats, and the loading platform. They've been replacing the boardwalk from Coney Island to Luna Land. This is in preparation for the new gate and sign. Which also looks a bit cartoony. That seems to be the coherent theme of this area. Because of the spot that Luna Land is. It's easier to change the theming. This can be seen in lots of parks around the globe! There have been no other rides put in other than Sledgehammer. They are doing some last jobs on Cloud 9 and Freaky Frog. And are gonna start testing Boomerang. Little Nippers is done. If you are wondering where these photos are taken at. The close up photos are taken at the Boardwalk and Peter Kingston Walkway. The 'Railway View' is taken on Cliff Street. The 'God's Eye View' is taken at the LPS Office on Glen Street. And views of the Big Dipper and over Coney Island are taken from Harry's Park on Glen Street. (Named after Harry Sidler.) That's all for today! Next update will be whenever I get there!