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I think the issue is that the park does so many things that folks say "why on earth would they do that" and there is no other reasonable, logical explanation forthcoming - so the conclusion is they must be doing it intentionally. Perhaps if they communicated openly to guests what their woes were, instead of saying "welcome back, we're ready to welcome everyone in!" then the public at large would at least know what they were getting themselves in for. As for Qantas and Airports - yes of course, let's listen to Alan Joyce blame the customers, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the large numbers of staff they sacked during the pandemic, as well as things like baggage handling that they outsourced to the lowest bidder - no, none of that cost cutting had anything to do with the airport delays, and it's all the customers fault, right? Yep. Everything on facebook is made up. Zero possibility of there being any truth to the matter. We should never believe anything we read, hear or see. Everything is a conspiracy these days. Hand me my foil hat! Yes they should have. As has already been said on this thread several times - the park capacity is not capable of as many people as it used to be. The park is the same physical size, but the number of rides, and the number of guests each ride can put through per hour is far lower than it was when the park's capacity was determined. 10,000 guests and 4 hour lines on a ride that has been open for 5 years now outside of the xmas-NYE hell week is beyond ridiculous. If they don't have staff to handle the max capacity. If they don't have the trains to handle the max capacity. if they don't have show crews to put on enough extra shows to handle the max capacity. Then. They. Shouldn't. Let. That. Many. People. In. The. Park. Disney has been routinely maxxing their parks out. They shut the gates. They offer appropriate alternatives to passholders and single-day ticket holders. They refund people who have no other option. Its the trolley problem. Are you gonna reject 3000 guests and upset them, offering refunds, complimentary passes, or some other form of customer service, or are you going to let that 3000 in, and in doing so, upset 10,000 who all have a miserable fucking day getting 1-2 rides while spending all the time in a queue? Closing the gates is a realistic solution. it doesn't require extra staff - there are already staff at the gate and ticket booths. And it doesn't create 'as much' negative backlash because the folks who did get in have a much better day and the folks who didn't have an opportunity to get compensated - a refund, or a return visit ticket, or some other thing that means they didn't waste $100 per person on one fucking ride. And not shutting the gates shows intentional contempt, or obliviousness to the fact that the park wasn't able to cope with it's former "max capacity" "because covid" doesn't wash when Dreamworld up the road was a pleasant day. "We're ready to welcome you back" is marketing, but its also total bullshit. I think your alternate reality is baffling everyone else here. This goes back to the fact that the park's theoretical maximum capacity was most likely determined when you had a studio tour, BATRide, PASS... etc etc. Even these numbers are very generous. Rivals dispatches when i've been in the queue, outside of peak times, with two trains or one are more realistically closer to 5 minutes. GL dispatch times assume the grouper isn't also the loader, which is very common, and like superman on the regular, they don't group people to the doors while the ride is running. Does west still dispatch every 30 seconds when it isn't continuous load? I think MW's current "comfort" capacity sits closer to the 5-6000 mark. 8k is an extreme and is going to start putting pressure on some rides (because the above numbers also ignore popularity and just consider bums on seats. I've never seen every seat in Roxy full, for example)

I just can't imagine what would give the public the impression the parks were ready, willing and able to welcome back the public... I mean, the messaging has been all about "we can't wait to welcome you back" and "it's great to have our parks open and firing on all cylinders again", rather than "but not too many of you because we don't have enough staff to cope". If you know you're running thin and you don't have any levers to pull to increase capacity then you either choose to collect the cash and let people have a shitty day, or forego the cash and look after the customers. Being turned away at the gate for one reason or another (in this case because the park is full) is something that the park knows how to handle, and is a one-off disappointment to a customer (that, I might add, you could probably do something about in advance) compared to letting those customers in and having a full day of misery that you present as the genuine experience.

Decided to run some rough numbers on what capacity the park has based on what you witness in the park on a smooth running day. By my reckoning, when everything is at full capacity you get a total of 8164 guests per hour across all rides. This means with 8124 in the park, you could expect to get on 1 ride per hour. scoob 960 8 person double dispatch every 30 secs jl 480 4 person car every 30 secs bwss 320 16 person launch every 3 mins gl 480 16 person dual dispatch every 2 mins dcr 440 22 person train every 3 mins se 400 20 pers train every 3 mins wwf 960 8 person boat every 30 secs rrc 400 20 person train every 3 mins kids zone 1000 guestimate of all rides roxy 640 320 cinema every 30 mins hswd avg 642 1500 person show * 3 per day / 7h doomsday 384 32 person ride every 5 min showcase 1000 guestimate 8124

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you're not really getting a lot of support here for your point of view. The customers seem pretty upset about it too. Maybe - just maybe - you might be living your own reality on this one? I know you love to defend the VRTP properties but this one is a bit of a stretch.

*Excuse me while I swallow my indignation. Not on you at all* Yeah I get what you're saying. I'm one of the people who has banged on in this thread about them providing more customer service - and despite my soapboxes, I do know a thing or two about customer service... I just see a system rife for abuse, and those abusers make the customer experience worse for everyone else... THE VIP GOLD EXPERIMENT - On the one hand, you put your finger to your lips and quietly let them in anyway. This is what happened with the VIP\VIP Gold (at least, after the first week of people complaining about the blackout dates they obviously knew about when they purchased them). - System Failed. THE JOZ SUGGESTION - Or you give them a talking to, tell them not to let it happen again, and let them in - *every time* - word spreads of the workaround, abuse is rife - System failed. THE DAPTO KNEEJERK - Or you stand by your terms and conditions and refuse entry on the basis they actually agreed to at signup. - System success, piss off people who didn't read the T&Cs. THE MIDDLE GROUND - Or you give the system teeth - make it more than a paper tiger - actually record that they've been given their one free 'i didn't know about the dates I obviously agreed to at checkout' and don't ever let them do it again. This strikes a good balance between doing your guests a solid, and not just bending over every time someone tries to screw you. I acknowledge this has administration costs associated with it if the annual pass system doesn't have a method of recording notes that is visible at the gate, but assuming the ticketing system can maintain a register of blockout dates, it should be able to display a simple message about whether the guest has been warned or not - System success - guests given benefit of the doubt in good faith, but no second chances. I also still say they should offer an at-the-gate upgrade price if people legitimately don't want blockouts and are willing to pay for them but didn't realise what they signed up for.

I think one thing that doesn't help is they don't really have a calendar that says hours in advance, so the assumption is open at 10 close at 5. Now with Covid seemingly done, they could really be planning this stuff out months in advance, and mark in special events, extended holiday trading, and even shorter weekday trading in winter. I'd prefer that tbh, and would help with visitors planning visits. Eg if the hours are longer you know it will be busier.

Point is that with things where it was at the weekend, MW being reactionary wouldn't have helped here. They also have started doing a bit more extended trading over the past couple of years, but it's not there yet. A reason to stay is valid, but again, it's not as straight forward or simple as that. Also with Block out dates: What you could also do if you want to avoid angry guests is lie a bit, and say very loudly "There's a block out date on the cheapest passes!", but if someone shows up, send them to another turn style, explain the tickets have block out dates, and that they aren't valid today. Admit them to the park anyway, saying 'Because you've came all this way, and we're sure you just didn't know, we can let you in today. However, we'll put a note on the passes and next time you won't be admitted. Have a great day!'. If they come back another time when the passes aren't valid, do the same song and dance. If you naturally discourage a thousand of the cheapest people from coming in peak season then that'll do!

If it was a patch test for paint I would be surprised. Most likely a repair job on the fibreglass at the highest loading point to be honest.

Parks have closed the gate in the past. White Water world and Wet'n'Wild Sydney have both done this. It might not be the most popular of things but it shows some level of care towards those in park already. If you're going to get in the park then do almost nothing all day versus coming back another day I know I'd rather wait for another day when it's quieter. Single day tickets should be flexible with dates for this reason.

Well, pretty easily given for the last six months the industry has been advertising for people to do just that. If you advertise for it to happen, and then you sell tickets that would suggest people are going to do what you advertised to get them to do then it probably isn't on the punters. After all, we do not tolerate a hotel selling rooms that they do not have, we do not tolerate restaurants taking bookings for tables they do not have and we do not tolerate cinemas selling more tickets to a film than there are seats in the theatre. The expectation from a consumer is that their tickets will be fit for the purpose they intend. No consumer intends to spend all day in line and be able to do two attractions. At some point you need to stop selling rather than blaming the customer.

Haven’t found a horse that fits in the lift yet but still a good angle to view below all the same.

Yeah well that’s a piss poor, privileged attitude if ever I’ve seen one. A theme park isn’t a restaurant, nor do you spend 7 hours at a restaurant. Anyone with enough money to blow $6 for a packet of chips that costs $1.20 at Coles - they can spend their money on it - but most people can’t. tbh you sound like an entitled moron with that comment. So people that don’t have much expendable money are cheapskates? You got kids? A family? Mortgage? Or do you just sit in your one bedroom apartment on your high horse looking down on people?

I don't think that's what people are accusing them of. Instead they are variously accusing them of incompetence, laziness, and money-grubbing at the expense of the bigger picture. Can you really, honestly say any of our parks haven't ably demonstrated each of those in at least the recent past?

You don’t have kids do you? Haha 8am is a sleep in. whilst I agree extended hours should happen in school holidays, being at a park by 9am is not encumbering for the last majority of their target market