Joe

Hi all, I went to an evening function at Movieworld on Friday 16 September, the night before Shrek 4D opened. Pretty interesting - perhaps not quite as exciting as we had hoped for, but good all the same, even though the wind started howling and quite a few people got pretty wet moving between venues in the park! But more about that later... We arrived at the park on coaches around 7pm for the "ATA National Awards Ceremony Dinner" - we all had Printed Tickets (link to image) which had to be flashed at the entry gate. There were a couple of characters hanging around, took a quick glance at the new Superman track in the darkness at the entry (looks AWESOME), then up the main street to gawk at the Roxy Theatre, which looks very much the same from the outside - it would seem they have no plans to change the "Roxy" facade, although major changes may have taken place inside. The doors of the theatre were open, just a red queue rope across the door - Shrek 4D posters in the poster frames on the outside (one of them was wide open!)... It looks kinda themed inside, a smell of fresh paint, but I didn't get to see too much. Everyone was heading up to the "Spooky Castle" (queuing area of the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster) where we all had drinks and canapes. This lasted about an hour, but there isn't a whole lot to look at in Spooky Castle really. So we quaffed a few beers and enjoyed some of the snacks being served by the staff in there. Getting back to the characters, they were pretty thin on the ground - there was one guy dressed in 20's gear that looked like a newspaper reporter or something with an old style megaphone; a cop from the Police Academy Show who stopped people and searched them against the wall "get against the wall NOW M'aam"; and a zany hairdresser type with a huge wig on, who commented on peoples hair and fashions (this was a black tie event, and some of the women had pretty formal outfits on)... After this hour, we were taken into the old Maverick/Magic Show arena - not sure what they use this for now? There were about 400-500 of us, so we fit in here nicely. The stage was all set up and the awards part of the evening took place. (Unfortunately our company didn't win). Then we could hear the rain driving down on the roof outside. OK - so here is the disadvantage of putting 500 people in Maverick and then expecting them to get across to the Rick's cafe area in the pouring rain... hehe... So they gave out 500 poncho's and everybody puts on the ponchos to run across Movieworld in the dark, to the function room near Ricks... follow the crowd! I'm not sure what the room was called, but it was off a courtyard, and was set up with banquet tables (a pretty tight squeeze) to feed all 500 people in one sitting... It's after 9pm, and people are pretty hungry... So here is a Copy of the Menu (link to image) that we ate... It wasn't too bad at all - certainly plenty for everyone, and heaps of staff working to keep the drinks flowing. Some people had staggered in completely soaked - there were still some major downpours happening. After a short time, some people had discovered these colourful elastic fabric things used to hold the chair covers on, and in no time at all there were men using them as bandana's or g-strings, or boob tubes... It got pretty wild there at one stage - I think someone even tried to remove a sparkly red tablecloth... OK, enough is enough, we scoff some nice cakes for dessert and head back outside. The evening slowed down at this point. Spooky Castle was opened up again, and a band had been set up inside - quite a few people headed back into there. They also opened Dirty Harry's Bar across the street where we all hung out and had a good chat. All wine/beer/softdrinks were incl. but spirits (rum & coke) were $4.95 which isn't too bad. We were in no mood for dancing, so we kept the barkeep busy in Dirty Harry's until the function closed around midnight. We piled back onto our coach and headed back to Jupiter's Casino for a little pokie fun! My conclusion - in organising a function at Movieworld you get what you pay for! This function utilised very few characters, and no rides at all, so it was basic in that respect, but still far, far better than an awards night in a hotel ballroom or something like that... I know Movieworld have many, many options which include rides, etc. but obviously they cost 000's of dollars more, and that cost has to passed onto the participants ticket cost (unless your boss is a millionaire!). The food, drink & service level was very good. A very enjoyable evening overall. Cheers, Joe.

Not sure if there are any trip reports, or photos from gala events/functions at Movieworld on this site, so I will try and do what I can..... a "different" side to Movieworld when the sun goes down !!! under the influence of alcohol !!

black tie event is basically the national call centre awards.... they are having a conference at jupiters casino for 2-3 days, then all finishes off with the gala dinner and awards at Movieworld.... just trying to figure out which venues will be used, as I can easily see this going to 500 or more in banquet style...... have no idea where they put the super huge groups I think probably not Roxy, but anyway..... just depends whether any rides/shows are also built in as part of the night... we have no idea, and of course they don't give anything away.... but we know it will be very good !!!!

I'm going to a black tie event at MovieWorld (for the call centre industry) on the evening of Friday 16 September !!!!! I just wonder (and pray) if we might get some special preview.... surely not ??!!! or at least we get to take a look at the Roxy from the outside.... I know some presentations will be part of the night, and I don't know where they will be held in MovieWorld.... Anyway, will get a good opportunity to take a look around I hope... Cheers, Joe.

I visited Orlando in October 2003, and went to Disney & Universal - saw Shek 4D, Mickey's Philharmagic (which was awesome), Jimmy Neutron?, Mission Space (unreal!!!)..... Now it's not that I doubt Movieworld can pull it off, but I will "believe it when I see it" if they are doing a "complete install" of all the theatre effects required for Shrek 4D.... If they are doing it as well as Universal have done, then it will become a HUGE attraction at Movieworld... And yes, the queue feature leading into the theatre at Universal is excellent, but will Movieworld be putting this in? The whole reason for the lobby queue show at Universal is that Shrek 4D seems to have a constant queue throughout the day at Universal.... will it be this way at Movieworld? Will it be constant shows, or timetabled shows like they had with Martian (or am I wrong about that? haven' t been for a while)........ For some strange reason, I just kind of feel that Movieworld just do things a little half baked sometimes.... I can see them putting the fx chairs in the theatre, showing the movie on the screen and not paying for the super fx in the lobby..... Oh why do I think that...? Because the Batman and Lethal Weapon intros are the same.... they are ok, but not quite as detailed and luxuriant as our US cousins where they spend millions just on the queue lines.... but then they do get literally millions of people through their theme parks every year. But I must say, even if they just show the Shrek 4D movie with no extra fx, and have the new rollercoaster, these alone are huge drawcards for Movieworld this summer, but it was about time they got some new attractions..... now all they need is a clone of Mission Space, and I will buy an annual pass for sure..... Your theme park tastes just get jaded after going to the US a few times, and Movieworld just never tastes the same way again! Joe.

Well, what can I say about Fright Night... It was a small, so small (but promising) start into this type of event for Dreamworld. Living in Brisbane, but as a 'veteran' of 2 HHN (Halloween Horror Night) visits to Universal Studios Florida, the "Fright Night" concept can take hold here - I AM ABSOLUTELY SURE... But for next time, here are some ideas of what Dreamworld can do: 1) MORE LIGHTING, MORE FOG, ADD SOME FOAM! 2) MORE, MORE, MORE dressed up scary/horror characters... it was so good to see all the kids having an awesome time with the scary clown, the undertaker, the African voodoo guys, etc. but they were so lonely kicking around the huge empty spaces in the park... Next time, put at least 20-30 characters into the park....get them to jump out of bushes...get some REAL scares going !!! 3) Put the scary music (FROM THE ENTRY PLAZA) ALL around the park. 4) how about merchandising more alcohol - the Big Brother cafe was a pretty sad kind of hangout, serving rum and cokes and beers with a REALLY loud DJ parked outside, and a couple of people flipping out to dance music.... if the alcohol is going to be on, then MERCHANDISE it... how about a "STOLI" wagon selling mixed drinks... Dreamworld needs to decide HOW to market this night to people - is it for kids? young adults? should it promote alcohol or not? From HHN experience, Universal sell AS MUCH ALCOHOL as they can, from fluro alco pop sticks to plastic bottled vodka drinks, etc. It was also interesting to note the heavy security everywhere... are Aussies just bad drinkers, or were Dreamworld expecting trouble makers.?? Security in USA theme parks is much, much more discrete..... 5) OPEN UP MORE RIDES..... AND AT LEAST 1 WET RIDE, JUST FOR KICKS... 6) If they are going to get serious, need at least 2 haunted houses.... with the all movie making experience/skills in the Coomera/Oxenford corridor, there is no doubt that the skills are there to put together a couple of excellent haunted houses, and in the bush setting of Dreamworld, they could be kept well away from day crowds. Also, plenty of good actors/volunteers to be SCARY people in hanuted houses.... man, SO MUCH POTENTIAL here for the future..... ... According to the entry sign, this event sold out, and the price was $20. Fair enough. and that was with HARDLY ANY PROMOTION at all in South East QLD. Nothing like the amount that HHN advertises in Florida (and the East Coast of USA)... to get their crowds. There is SO MUCH POTENTIAL in this whole type of event. Next time, do it better, raise the price, and people will still come. I have every confidence in Dreamworld - next time, just do it better... Well done for a great start..... Oh, and next time, pick like Friday the 13th, or around Halloween time, attach the event to some sort of time frame...... This could become a prime, prime annual event at Dreamworld, and attract people from all over Australia to the Gold Coast. Hell, my last trip to Florida was designed ALL AROUND visiting HHN at Universal.... these type of events, if done well, can attract people from a long, long way and create a huge following........ phew. Now I have ideas for my own Halloween party. Cheers, thanks for listening, Joe, Brisbane