- Popular Post
Richard
-
Posts
4,591 -
Joined
-
Days Won
55
Posts posted by Richard
-
-
That sign is wrong. The original Eureka Mountain (as the link @Adventures With JWorld posted indicates) was a steel-tracked Schiff mouse, not a wooden mouse like Blackpool's. For what it's worth the Schiff design was built at several Butlins parks across the UK in the 50s and 60s, which is possibly where Dreamworld's originated.
-
3
-
-
The flat bottom and low displacement makes all flume rides unstable by design. This problem is taken care of with the depth of water and ensuring that the wheels on the boat bottom out long before a critical angle can be reached.
The idea that the frame has anything to do with capsizing or preventing something like Thunder River Rapids needs to stop now because it's pretty dumb and ignores the basic design principles of flume rides.
-
3
-
-
Not sure how that happened but the article somehow got set to hidden yet this topic wasn't updated/removed accordingly which happens automatically when articles are hidden.
Everything should be fixed again...
-
Those pipes were always there, connected to the original slide tower. I tried to find an older, clear photo of it but the best example is actually Google Maps:
I believe they've been in place since Shark Bay was built... the logical conclusion is that they are infrastructure unrelated to the old slides (or the new area) that needed to remain.
-
38 minutes ago, webslave said:
I guess what I'm asking is; can we really take it as a given that these parks are relying heavily on exhaustive market research and external consultation?
OK I'll rephrase in slightly more definitive terms: one of the Big Four was commissioned for a full-scale review of VRTP pricing strategies.
I don't think anyone needs convincing that I'm a skeptic when it comes to our parks, but there's little doubt in my mind that this is a course correction that might hurt in the short-term but is the right play long-term.
-
10 hours ago, RossL said:
Already the VIP magic pass is down to $169 on groupon...
Look at the Groupon deal again. It expires in June 2018 and has none of the add-ons. It's a completely different pass... and not much of a deal at all.
-
6 hours ago, webslave said:
It's a foolhardy business that allows that type of thinking to creep into the business.
It's wrong for a business to select their target audience and price themselves accordingly? Beyond that, it's a bit hard to believe that this decision was made without exhaustive market research and external consultation to back up such a sudden shift.
-
The following quote from Craig wasn't included in the final published interview.
QuoteThat area there is a new Dreamworks mini precinct that we hope to launch early next year. We haven't publicised it yet because we're still finalising the details with DreamWorks. [It'll have] a life span of about twelve months so it carries through Christmas next year.
[...]
We're working with DreamWorks but also Universal Studios as the parent so the requirements they have in terms of how the brands are portrayed are high.If you're reading between the lines, it sounds like they were originally aiming to launch this Christmas but it was knocked back by Universal/DreamWorks. Certainly they wouldn't be so far advanced with construction if it were always planned as an Easter addition.
-
After years of seeing theme park industry observers questioning Ardent's ability to operate theme parks (a major component of Ariadne's argument for board representation), it was interesting on Monday to hear a bowling industry expert criticising that arm of the business too.
It's clear that Noel Ambler takes a traditionalist view of tenpin bowling; the business model he espouses is one that probably just can't compete when Strike Bowling and Ardent's own Kingpin capture the youth and corporate crowd. Certainly these two businesses are all the proof you need that bowling is a popular activity and a viable business.
The real question would be why haven't Ardent been remodelling the decrepit AMF chain and offering something more akin to Main Event that can compete with other modern family entertainment offerings people can choose -- everything from modern cinemas to escape rooms to trampoline centres like Bounce Inc. The answer is familiar of course... they're starving their Australian businesses and throwing everything at Main Event in the USA.
-
2
-
-
59 minutes ago, Skeeta said:
TP is not a glorified driving range. Nobody is going here to practice their golf swing.
The ground level is essentially a typical driving range aimed at hardcore golfers. This is definitely a significant part of the market for Topgolf despite the attraction being about much more.
I think there is validity to questions about its location. Look at Topgolf in the USA: locations in tourist towns like Las Vegas or Orlando are reasonably close to the main strip. 5-10 minute Uber/Taxi from most hotels. Then look at other cities, where the Topgolf audience is more corporate. They are built away from the CBD where land is cheaper, but the difference is most USA cities have significantly better highway systems.
I have every hope that it'll be successful but getting folks there is definitely going to be a challenge:
- Theme park guests are tired at the end of the day.
- It's not an easy trip there and back for tourist staying at Surfers.
- It's not an easy proposition for after-work drinks.
I see it being quite lucrative with conferences that can bus guests out and back for a night of drinks. I think it'll work with a certain type of locals too but at $35 million it is very clearly banking on being a tourist attraction.
-
1
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
2 hours ago, Levithian said:The problem lies in what happens after everything settles down and if your business is strong enough to recover following an incident. Im very much in the camp that dreamworld is, and that some people are seriously out of touch for expecting everything to be back to normal, or even improving 12 months on.
Dreamworld as an entity is certainly capable of bouncing back. The real question should be, is Ardent Leisure in a position to facilitate this recovery? How do they justify the tremendous capital injection this will require over say the next 3-5 years, when they're neck-deep in an aggressive Main Event roll out across the USA. Why would they divert funds away from a business that is capable of delivering ~30% ROI?
The two year recovery that Ardent Leisure touts is a pipe dream. A year (or even two) from now I don't think even VRTP will be back to where they were before the accident decimated the industry.
I don't see anyone expecting Dreamworld to be back to normal. No one is calling for investment in new attractions right now nor expecting business to be going gangbusters. But there is plenty to suggest that Dreamworld are floundering and throwing inadequate resources at too many inconsequential projects.
Physically the park is in worse shape now than it was after it reopened and went through numerous audits... there's no logical reason for that.
2 hours ago, Levithian said:If you hedged everything on one attraction turning your fortunes around instantly and returning everything back to normal, we might be in for a rough couple of years for both parks.
The strategic benefits to Rivals will be seen over the next decade or two. It was always a long-term play and the ride was locked in well before the accident. At the same time however, I think there's plenty to suggest that it has been a jolt of energy that changed the narrative for Movie World and will perhaps help them bounce back sooner rather than later.
-
6
-
Those sections of track out on the grass are the maintenance track that ran between the ride's lift hill and the (now exposed) brick wall at the back of the cinema.clear the area around the mountain.
I wouldn't get too excited about them being out in the open like that, they've simply been moved to get it out of the way while they take down the mountain.
-
On 11/2/2017 at 1:16 PM, AlexB said:
Typo is my guess. theres a bunch of others with the same 'coming these holidays' message, which would be interpreted as xmas holidays. i'd say the october tagline is just an error. none of the other 'coming' attractions list a month for opening.
They stated October in their late-August investor presentation as well. The odd thing is that it was pretty clear in August/September that this was never going to happen yet all formal mentions of the attraction around this time said the same.
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, themeparkaddict said:
Message them on facebook about how dumb it is. They will pass it onto management for review
Or, y'know, they could also post it on a forum that management reads very regularly. You do realise that "we'll pass it onto management for review" is corporate jargon for "k thx bye", right?
@AlexB I'd assume the main coffee shop inside the park is open first thing.
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, Theme Park said:
VRTP's and Movie Worlds copyright information must be really out of date to be lying about having some form of legal theme park rights to harry potter.
You're not asking yourself what the hell Splashtacular, SWNR Scout, SAW, Ice Age, The Polar Express or The Walking Dead are doing on that page as well? It's clearly out of date. If Movie World had any legal rights to the Harry Potter universe, you don't think they'd use it? It's a remnant from the old themed shop.
Lying? It's stating that Harry Potter belongs to WB and JK Rowling. No more, no less. You posted this same non-story six months ago and were thoroughly debunked at the time. It's an out of date page buried on their website... probably time to give it a rest.
-
Honestly this is an utterly absurd debate. No question that you ticked every box by way of fair dealings and copyright law. You took a whole lot of amateur content and and re-purposed it into something new that stepped on no one's toes in any meaningful way.
Chalk this up as yet another display of thuggery and short-sightedness from those still clinging to Wonderland.
-
5
-
-
Hey folks, we don't want or need a mega-thread to talk about this.
Feel free to head over to Parkz Nights and start a topic for each specific event.
-
You want proof that a relatively low budget roller coaster doesn't have a feature that exists on no other comparable coaster before or since?
The only thing unique about Superman Escape from a design perspective is the length, speed and heavily curved nature of its friction tyre section. You feel it immediately upon dispatch because it cranks up to full speed right off the bat so there's a lot of friction. You feel it leaving the station in the front rows more than others because the main tyres are located at the front of the station.
You feel it throughout the curved sections because Intamin places tyres on curved sections of track, which means there's some side-to-side skidding because the trains don't travel over them perfectly straight on.
Rhythmic and timed? It's almost like it travels at a constant speed with tyres placed at equal distances? Crazy I know...
-
1
-
-
There's not a chance this vibration/rattle is intentional. It's a bit rough because it's... a bit rough. You've got a fairly rapid speed tyre-driven section through a series of tight turns. There's going to be vibration.
It's just a happy coincidence that it contributes to the theme.
-
This is more than a month away. No need for a placeholder topic.
-
4 hours ago, Glubbo said:
...do they state the number of guests for this record-breaking day?
Our parks rarely ever release attendance figures broken down like this.
And at any rate, if they had given a figure... say 11,000 for the day... would that mean anything to anyone here?
-
1 hour ago, Glubbo said:
I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m so fcking sick of the media showing the photos of the remains of the victims.
Showing the floral tributes would be much better.
But no one is getting charged for floral tributes?
It's confronting, but no more confronting than the car crashes or house fires on the news every day. It's relevant footage to a newsworthy story.
-
3
-
-
It's not a noise rattle @AlexB, it's a very noticeable physical vibration towards the back of the train. It isn't really uncomfortable though it does distract, if not detract from the overall experience.
Because it varies from carriage to carriage, it's hopefully just a wheel alignment issue that can be addressed in future maintenance.
-
2
-
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
Want to ask if it's operating today? This is the place... no guarantees you'll get an answer though.
If you are at Movie World and can report that it's running, delayed, temporarily closed, how long the queue is or if it's one or two train operation then please share... even if no one asks.
-
6
Log Ride "cage" photos
in Theme Park Discussion
Posted
Commission a reputable ride manufacturer to modify the existing boats? Commission all new boats? Rebuild sections of the course deemed troublesome? Replace the entire ride with a modern flume?
The option that they settled on isn't just cheap and noticeably DIY, but also something that no other theme park has done.