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Volcano Bay https://www.parkz.com.au/attraction/volcano-bay A couple of weeks ago I finally got to visit Volcano Bay in Orlando. Got a pretty good run at the place, the weather was rainy, but it was also warm and humid, and the water is kept at a perfect temperature, which was fine for this South East Queenslander. The net result was a dead park, and walk ons for almost everything. I was in and out in about 4 hours, and that was with re-rides, a lap to take some photos and mucking around to have lunch. Entry to the park is a bit of a pain in the arse if park hopping. You have to walk right to the back of the car park, where they have built a bus station, for shuttles to the park. Nothing screams tropical getaway like this? IDK maybe they could have built a shutte train from Citywalk itself and called it the Pineapple Express or something? But they make up for it when you arrive because its legitimately one of the nicest park entries anywhere. Overall impressions, has one of the most impressive slide line ups anywhere, and I guess what sets them apart is they are typically much longer than other installs. This means much longer climbs to the top, but it also means you get quite a lengthy ride every time. Theming is nice and has been beautifully styled, but for me it's still fundamentally a water park, just with all the signs and handrails etc better themed than usual. None of the slides really had any additional theming or SFX on them. There were lots of nice details to spot if you keep your eyes peeled. Most of the technical wizardly is reserved for the various interative Tapu Tapu things you can activate with your RFID wristband. This ranged from interactive fountains to underwater features, right through to light shows in a cool little walkthrough hidden inside the volcano. This wristband is also used to make ride reservations, though given the non existent crowds it went unnoticed, though you still tap in on each ride, so i guess they get super accurate guest flow statistics! The Punga Racers Body Slides and the 'normal' lazy river Kopiko Wai were closed for annual maintenance but I didn't really care, and of course the Runamukka Reef (get it? run amok) is just for the kids. Onto the slides. Ohno and Ohya drop slides Drop slides that finish a few meters above the pool, with some nice waterfalls. Fun to watch and quite attractive. The nicest feature was the interative kids pool next door with big spinning fountains that would throw water in a giant spiral pattern. Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides I'll get my one moan out of the way early. Yes there are a couple of attractions with catchy sounding names, and I can see they were trying to keep to the theme with these tribal sounding words, but for most of the rides the names they have are just not memorable. Which of these slides was Maku and which was Puihi? I dunno? It's not like something such as "Perfect Storm" or "Mammoth Falls" or "Summit Plummet" where at least its kind of fun and catchy and gives you an idea of what the ride might be like. I guess thats why they have given them captions like "Round Raft Rides", anhow, whinge over. The one that is the big saucer type slide is actually pretty good, even if the saucer is a visual gimmick, since this was quite a fast slide and you rode up on the walls a fair bit on the turns. The double tornado slide is the 36ft model, so its Smaller than the 45ft Tornado at Adventure Park Geelong, but bigger than the 24ft Tantrum Alley at at Raging Waters Sydney. Despite this, it might as well been as rough as the 24ft ones, but didn't really have all the extra turns and helices that come with it, so it felt quite short, but also lacked the signature tornado airtime. ehhh. Te Awa - The Fearless River This is a high speed lazy river, so fast in fact you have to wear a life jacket, which you'd never see in Aus lol. This was great, its fun to power swim along, and there are some big waves, including a huge surge of water that gets released periodically, and happened to go off right as i was in front of the inlet. Woosh! Waturi Beach Bit of a miss. Looks great, but the waves are definitely underpowered. Typhoon Lagoon reigns supreme as the best wave pool in Orlando. I did like how they had a spinning dial on a tower that would rotate to show a wave icon when the waves came on. Taniwah Tubes Take the Temple of Huey from WWW and make it 3x higher and this is what you get. What is also nice is the way rafts have a conveyor, which land on a mezzanine below the start deck. So you only have to carry your raft one flight of stairs, and there is none of that muck around with queuing separately at the bottom for a raft. Another minor grumble, all 4 slides were running and had water going down them, but they only had 2 of 4 open, and yeah they are pretty similar, but one had this intense looking double helix I wanted to try and of course that was the one that was not available and they weren't rotating. The green one was standard raft slide stuff, but the blue ones had a bit more kick, with Proslides Explosion Curves, which are like their take on the constrictor, so you got a little head spin on each helix. Krakatau Aqua Coaster Again, like Supertubes at WWW if you made it several times longer. Im not normally that big on water coaster type slides, because to be honest straight gentle drops in a raft just aren't all that thrilling (though the uphill slighty bumpy LIM launches are fun). I guess i just prefer slides that wash you around a bit and feel out of control. Give me a tornado or a wave any day. These slides just repeat the same trick over and over. Somehow, my head was just at the right height to get hit by every single sprayer that wets the surface, so the whole time I'm squinting trying to avoid chlorinated mist in my eyes. The one big thumbs up I'll give this is the completely over the top theming of the station and the beautiful landscaping around the first couple of drops. Why did they do such massive safety fences? They almost treat it like a real roller coaster in terms of safety. Ko'okiri Body Plunge The biggest and baddest, it's a straight trapdoor drop from the very top of the volcano. This has the fun gimmick of transparent sections a the top, and again at the bottom where the slide passes through a swimming pool, so people can swim right up and apparently watch as you shoot past. Aaaand of course you get water in your face the whole time so can't really see much, and half the drop is in darkness so perhaps you lose the sense of speed a bit. Gave it a couple of goes because that intial trap door release is still pretty cool. The bit passing through the pool is nice on paper, but doesn't really work in practice because physics. If you keep your head above water and try to look at the tube the refraction of light means you end up seeing shimmering instead, though if you put your head underwater and open your eyes then yeah you can see a split second splatter when the rider goes past. Kala & Ta Nui Serpentine Body Slides Also from the top of the Volcano are a couple of turbo tunnel slides with trapdoors (again only 1 was open). This was the only ride where I was given a return time (The whole of 10 mins). The climb up the Volcano is very cool, with the staircase zig zagging through the tangle of slides and supports. The ride down has a bit less water in your face and consists of several very fast turns, so you cover a lot of slide in short space of time. Only did this one once. Honu ika Moana - Turtle & Whale A couple more decent family raft slides. Again with the naming, the blue slide is apparently the Turtle and the green one is Whale, so try and figure that one out. The Green one is mammoth type slide, without any gimmicks, and you know what it was legitmatley one of the best slides the park, it was long, it was fast, you got good wall time, and the straights in between actually work well because they give the rafts a chance to wash around. The double tornado wave is really good too. These rides are heaps of fun to begin with, but having the 2nd drop following from the first is a bit of genius because you get this scary moment where it feels like you could go airborne. Of course its all highly calculated and you get two big airtime moments. Worth a couple rides, especially if you can get a fully loaded raft. Overall, yes I'd recommend the place, especially if you have a multi day ticket to Universal since if you get bored you can go sit on Hagrids or Velocicoaster for the rest of the day. The slides are all mostly better versions of your favourites.

Is this an actual new attraction or are we just rebranding Brisbane? After all, Brisbane features life size versions of many of the locations in Bluey.

Walls are down around Flyer. Credit: Jaggs Journeys

I think (/hope) there’s a few key reasons as to why it’s opening 2025: - They were planning on keeping it open into late 2023/2024, but issues arised & they decided to close it early. - Mack has a fabrication backlog, so the new track/trains can’t be done sooner rather than later. - They’re reversing changes made to, and updating the existing, theming as to be more in line with the expectation they’ve set with Leviathan/WoO (hopefully). - The location is adjacent to WoO’s, so it could be the case that they’re only starting Scooby after WoO. As for capacity, the trains & ride computer *should* help that immensely.

The filthy general public, shouldn't be allowed into a theme park until we have had our fill. Or at the very least, we need our own queue to keep them away from us.

It still looks pretty good, if you ignore the shuttered food outlet that was turned into a photo redemption kiosk, the 'rollercoaster viewing area' that used to be the entrance to a ride that is now half just turned into storage space and an employee break room, the former ride space that is now a parent's room, the old marvin facade, just opposite the new marvin facade, the stencilled concrete that is in bad need of a pressure wash, the rotting timber garden beds, the opening day attraction still limping by with some absolutely ridiculous capacity, age, and minimum and maximum height restrictions, the ride queue that also doubles as an arcade (since they shuttered their actual arcade) - oh and don't forget until recently the first aid hut that was simply walled up with a vinyl wrap for several years. Sure, Dreamworks looked shit towards the end but I feel that's because they knew the licence was ending and since they knew they weren't renewing, they just let it go a bit (which isn't acceptable, but why spend money on something you're about to tear down \ renovate?). WB Kids has no such excuse. The IP is here to stay (unless they drop the entire WB name) and there's no excuse for the state of it as it stands today.

Flash’s LSM’s have now all been installed, i wonder when we’ll see the train on the track. credit: Jaggsjourneysau

Dreamworld has done immense progress in 1 year and the park is looking great and things are moving quickly. VRTP cannot relate.

Friends only limit your coaster count potential.

They've already got one for you - it's called Single Rider and it will keep all those horrible people who have friends away from you.

Kids still know WoO, it’s got much more staying power than Gremlins does. And, though it isn’t a massive ‘trend’ right now, I’d be rather surprised if a modern tie-in movie releasing more-or-less alongside the themed land, especially one that’s starring Ariana Grande, doesn’t change that.

Did you read any of the previous replies that have gone into great detail over the slab size and shape, and their previous master planned attractions, and the location based on that master plan? Or did you just look at this one previous reply and chip in your 2 cents for the sake of making a reply?

March 2018: Fourteen years post-operation at Wonderland, the trains found their final home at Artisans Park in Bathurst. Here, they are undergoing restoration and will be displayed permanently. Artisans Park is also constructing a station and a section of track to enable the trains to be rolled out for photo opportunities. - From the Wonderland History FB page

Space probe TVC was filmed prior to the ride being built. It was all done on a soundstage set up. I'm sure they've got plenty of spaces at their disposal that they could mock up if they wanted to, but I agree a lot is likely to be character interaction \ parade. Given the timeslots, i'd say the early morning would be the in-park shots, and the middle of the day slot would be the soundstage filming.

Did you, by chance happen to provide DW with suggestions for replacing Wipeout? I'm asking for a friend.

Given the mast elevates, does this mean we have an upwards seating pit?

To gather opinions. Whilst we know what is best for every theme park everywhere, unfortunately they'll likely gather additional feedback from the filthy general public to make an informed decision about the sequence.

Reason for closure. "After surveying our customers, we have found the customer prefer rides to be under maintenance then operating" //s

I was thinking about it recently and this is what I would to to KWB: Split the area into three minilands similar to the previous Dreamworks: the lands would be Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and Flintstones. The Looney Tunes area would consist of the carousel and Road Runner with some updated facades The Tom and Jerry area would consist of a rethemed Marvin/Cages, with two new rides replacing Speedys and Railroad The Flintstones area would consist of a rethemed JDS with a play structure

Giving road runner “love” is putting it very lightly they bought new trains, ripped out a third of the rockwork and replaced the cool old sign with a boring 2d one straight from their sign printing machine. Apart from doing that (which nerfs the ride and doesn’t improve it) adding Marvin & driving school and getting rid of the hut what else have they done to that land? It’s been 15 years (and even longer for most of it given how much of the land was built in the 90s) I would flatten that section bar road runner & Marvin and start again from scratch. Bring back the looney tunes village name, get rid of junior driving school and put an air conditioned dark ride back in that building, put speedy Gonzales out of his misery & the other rides in that left section that are quickly approaching 30 years old, then start over again

Is this meaning that you’d have preferred a Dune themed dark ride over WoO, or that you’re expecting a post-WoO dark ride that’s themed to Dune? Yeah, it’s really gotta change, Mad Max tie-in or not. Hopefully with new stunts/effects, though, or at least bringing back some of the cut ones from HSD1.

Scooby has always had this If they’re keeping the seperate load/unload stations (I really hope they are), then storage boxes are unlikely. If there are lockers, that won’t make wait times or loading worse, if anything it might help a small amount

called it

What about Nickelodeon Land and Castaway Bay?

“It’s a kids area” is not a valid excuse to explain away abject laziness because there’s no longer licensing standards that the park is bound to. People will walk past that ocean parade section to get to serpent slayer & tiger island it’s not just kids. Neither is the “not Disney” excuse our parks in the 90’s did what Disney could for half the price. I suppose Nickelodeon Land doesn’t exist either and you’ve conveniently forgotten that

I doubt kids are walking around pointing out the roofs. It's a kids area and still the best themed one in Australia. Remember this isn't Disney and the key demographic they are targeting is kids.

Two of the three rides I mentioned have already been replaced (indirectly but that’s beside the point) Thunderbolt - gold coaster (if punters on Facebook think that despite them running next to each other for a couple of years then that is what goes) Tower - Taipan Wipeout - chairs, yeah you get the point on that one. Obviously you’d avoid thunder river (or anything in gold rush country for that matter) with a 10 foot pole but that goes without saying. It’s a good opportunity to make some extra cash though you’re not spending much to make shirts. Though the case is strong especially when the current batch of investments are complete and there’s not so much of a gap in the lineup anymore. If dreamworld is happy to change their logo back to the 80s one then I think they’d be happy to make some thunderbolt shirts.

With such a massive hole in their lineup with the losses of so many of their big attractions, perhaps retro throwbacks to old rides in Dreamworld might not be the image you want in the public's mind? Of course, then you have the big issue - obviously you have to NOT produce thunder river merchandise, but then it's absence leaves a hole in the product lineup... what to do.....?

I think that style of ride would be great, similar system and well themed. But I don’t know if the gremlins theme has much relevance anymore.

I observed up to one in ten runs would get a 3rd backwards freefall, usually it catches on the 2nd run and slowly sends the train back to base. Not sure if its really a issue, seems weight related and how far the train falls back up the track after the first pass through the loading area. Thought it was awesome ride can't imagine why dreamworld booted it maybe.

I've been saving that joke for 6 years. ☹️

Even the offering for participating in filming has dropped. It's now a single day pass, used to be an annual pass.

Looks like they're slowly adding more theming to the Kenny attractions, which is nice to see. I'm curious though, do you think Dreamworld is better off taking their time to add more immersive theming rather than rushing rides open? Seems like it could improve the experience long term if the area really feels like Kenny's world.

Was working on doing that a bit ago, but I’m on mobile so it’s more scuffed than that which is above.

I've overlayed TNT from Gumbuya World onto the nearmap thanks to @DaptoFunlandGuy. @mattcrombie you were almost correct!

We were invited to the opening of The Lagoon, this week. The new pool area looks great. There are a few cabanas in this area as well as The Deck, which can cater for up to 40 people. The new Gage Roads Bar there is called The Pool House. There are also free pool loungers there as well as reservable ones. The pool, itself, is only 1.2-1.3m deep. It’s a great addition to the park and considering the heat wave we’re experiencing at the moment, it’s very timely.

Motor coaster needs to be re-themed to Monkey Coaster. That way we can continue to call it MC. //s New spinning trains with crazy monkeys causing havoc.

And heres the balance. Jardin D'Acclimation https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/jardin-dacclimatation Right in the middle of Paris, it's part of a large public park, part of which historically has been used for amusement rides. A very attractive park, and reminded me in spirit of Tivoli Gardens, just a lot more spread out and less emphasis on concerts and restaurants. Lots of nice old buildings, lakes and manicured gardens. Loved speed rockets, one of the best family coasters out there, with a fun zippy layout. Their family spinner is good too. Nigloland https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/nigloland I've heard this described as a mini Europa Park and its true, not just because most of the rides are Mack, but just because of how nice the park looks, how spotless it is and how good operations are. Their mega lite type coaster Alpina Blitz is the sort of thing you can ride all arvo, and their water coaster actually gets the coaster part right with a decent level of force. The African boat ride with the "spraying' hippo was a laugh. Their indoor rides are good...Spatiale experience has quite a long track, and their ghost train has none of that small park tackiness. Must do park imo. By the way, a few behind the scenes pics of Alpina Blitz in the gallery too. Walygator Parc https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/walygator-parc The city of Metz is gorgeous, but the park was meh and a mixed bag. Their 2nd hand B&M invert is good, and a couple of bits of the park have been recently rethemed, but large bits of it are run down. OK Corral https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/ok-corral A cheesy wild west park near Marseille, with a couple of interesting coasters. Pioneer has half the train straddling horses and the back half riding in normal seats in a chuck wagon. Their family shuttle coaster is not a dead end shuttle but a full loop. So instead of going backwards forward backwards, you actually go backwards forwards forwards backwards. Huge range of flats, some look tacky, others like the bear themed Disko thing look 10/10. Parc Saint Paul https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/parc-saint-paul Actually a pleasant surprise. An amusement park with a couple of parts with good theming. Like OK corral a few of the flats look tacky, but on the whole the park is nice. Their compact Timber Express coaster is great fun and worth many rides. Also got to ride the Russian built Wild Train coaster, which is pretty wild for a family coaster and looks like it was designed by a NoLimits rookie. Le Pal https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/le-pal Superb. The rides area in itself would be a solid park in its own right, with good themed zones, but the zoo is really high quality, up there with Dubbo western plains zoo imo. Has a Mack spinner, a very intense family launch coaster named Yukon quad. They actually had to reduce the launch speed after it first opened but it's still more full on than Jet rescue, and 1km long! Finally got to ride a huss king kong, it was about as intense as a lift in an office building. The mushroom themed shooting dark ride was bizzare. Check the pics if you want to see behind the scenes of Yukon Quad Naturlandia https://www.parkz.com.au/search/photos/location/naturlandia Adventure park in the mountains of the principality of Andorra. Has ziplines and ropes courses but the draw is Tobotronc, the worlds longest alpine coaster 5400m long, 400m elevation change, 15 mins to the top via 4 lift hills, 5 mins to the bottom. And those 5 mins are a workout, simultaneously hunkering down pushing on the levers and leaning into the turns. Once was enough!