DaptoFunlandGuy

Some do it without compromising safety because it's possible to do. Your clear inefficiency? it's not really an efficiency because it isn't improving throughput. You need to identify efficiencies in your busiest days, not your quietest ones. This particular suggestion sounds like you're having a sook about having to re-line up. The trouble here is that it breaks 'normal'. When you start doing things outside of normal, you can forget things because they aren't in muscle memory. Did I properly check his restraint before his next re-ride? Can't remember. Whoops. Additionally for your suggestion on loading flow - it also breaks normal. Why? You said yourself "in many cases it's not a safety issue" but in some cases it is. So ops who run different rides have the added complexity of trying to remember which ride they're running to determine when to open the gates? I think it's a shit system, but because a ride \ some rides require the gates to be held, it is better to hold all the gates because then there is only ONE rule to follow. One of the biggest criticisms of the TRRR accident was the number of administrative controls put into place by the park to manage risks, as the operators weren't capable of maintaining so much oversight of the ride system and better controls (elimination as one example) weren't considered first. Adding complexity to a ride ops job description by giving them different procedures for different rides is a sure-fire way for someone to forget which ride they're on and do the wrong thing. The metal detectors don't change. the x rays don't change. the rides do. and this is why your comparison is shit.

Let's not. A very poor assumption at best It is clear by the math \ logic you're using that you have zero clue how to run a theme park. It was a great concept for the ride but like everything else - another set of moving parts for something to go wrong. If it doesn't get it right every time, it's better to turn it off.

it's ok, they'll save a bit of money by replacing them with a cheapo on sale at officeworks like they did to Justice League. It'll be fine.

The thing is, everyone still goes through the metal detector \ body screening. Everyone still has their baggage put through X-ray. The safety controls are still present. The equipment does most of the work. The workers are there to prevent a person proceeding if the equipment flags an issue, and to investigate further. The efficiencies you are asking for would remove safeguards. You can't do up your own seatbelt because the ride operator has to push-pull the harness to confirm you are restrained by the primary locking system rather than the secondary. We've done this to death, and airport security is not the same thing. I look forward to the next page of this thread being you arguing with everyone who takes the time to thoughtfully explain to you why you are wrong, while you ignore both everything they say to you, and every previous discussion you've had on the same topics all because you saw something you thought tangentially proved your point, when it did nothing of the sort. But hey - you keep approaching life with a "i'm never letting anyone tell me....again" because that's a great approach to the world.

Yeah see i've got sligthly different views on the offerings. Physical passes aren't really needed anymore. Everything is on people's phones and they are rarely without them. I'm more than likely to turn up at the gate and realise i've left my pass at home but i'm unlikely to leave my phone at home. Offer it as an extra for people if they like - or perhaps for kids who don't have phones so they can still visit without needing mum's phone at the gate (at an additional cost of course). I'm also apprehensive about Pins. I've seen the Disney elitism from Magic Key holders, and pin traders, and just all round PassHoles, and giving people status pins to wear are likely to be wasteful for people who don't care about them, but loathesome for those who do - I can see visuals of groups walking through the park with a lanyard full of "X year member" or "Platinum Gold Super Shiny Status" pins and using that as some sort of status symbol that makes them better than the average punter. I don't mind special edition pins to commemorate things - "i rode king claw first" and such, but the pins kind of hit the same way the Wizard of Oz coin did. Except the pins are wearable and will be obnoxiously brandished by the park tragics who collect them for status (and the same thing goes for the proposed 'points' earning system too. ) On the contrary, they've been rock bottom single priced passes for a while now. VIllage moved away from that system a few years ago, and while Dreamworld has been slowly creeping the price up it has still been the 'bargain' cheap priced pass - which it should have been given the poor cousin offering the park has had for so long. The opening of Rivertown signals the change in the offering. It's about time they tiered their offer. The cheaper guests will still buy the basic pass, while those who want a little more can pay more for it - this will let them diversify what they offer which in turn will let them target their future offers based on the tier of membership taken up. It lets them take the price up for the full pass while keeping a cheaper option for those who want less. Eg: I've never been to skypoint, but i've always wanted to. I'll be disappointed if they strip it out of the pass, and i'd be likely to buy the pass that included it just so I could go if I wanted to. When we travel we tend to buy the upcharge fastpass or VIP offering just because we don't want our day to be spent in lines. While we have dreamworld passes, we visit infrequently, so if i'm making the trip to coomera, i'm probably going to invest in whatever makes the day better - i'd like to see them introduce the old Village VIP GOLD offer (that they killed off 3 months into the program without refunding anyone) - to open the park early for shiny members and open 1 or 2 rides those days just for those members. THAT i'd pay for.

spare trains for most full size multi-carriage coasters cost well over $1 Million. While I don't have the exact costs, if we assume even $1M per train, for a coaster like rivals, 3 trains is pretty much 10% of the budget - and the $30-odd million pricetag given for rivals was shocking to most enthusiasts who hadn't seen a park blow such a wad on a ride in a very long time. I can imagine it stretched the budget - especially since the original ride was on a lease arrangement, so money was tight, and blowing another million on a third train that had no place in the ride footprint just seems a little overkill. If you've got the space, the money, the ability to run all three in your busiest times, the extra transfer and storage track to have them all within the footprint - and above all, the attendance and earnings to justify it - then sure. Thats why those big overseas parks run multiple trains - because they have the money to do so.

They're also considering a tiered access pass, which is the logical next step for their pass program

I mean it's not like a major world changing event happened less than 12 months after that that may have seen some organisations cancel future investment plans...

There was a time when I would have said that Bikash's departure from Village would be an opportunity to celebrate. I don't know his reasons or his terms, so unsure how Clark and the rest of the leadership team feel about this - but I don't think Bikash is the only person for whom responsibility for the current state of Village should rest. However he departed, the fact that we find out from his personal statement, and a media article, rather than a statement by the company \ park outlining his legacy and also his replacement only goes further to make me feel all is not well at Village Roadshow.

It doesn't require admission, has its own, separate website, and is outside the park fence. I'm drawing attention to the wishy washy rules. I still stand by my previous statement

SE staff aren't necessarily trained on rivals. if they'd staffed and rostered rivals for a weekday 1 train op, they can't just decide to put on the second train without the trained staff to match. We also don't know the state of the second rivals train in order to put it on track (though it's incredibly poor form for them not to have both trains available during school holidays. Winter school holidays would be the only time i'd consider giving them a pass on it)

maybe busy weekends. if the train is in one piece. and they have the extra staff. and they rostered it correctly. and they dont need the extra staff deployed to other rides because others called out. there's a lot of ifs - they aren't new... nor are they nice TBF they never sold it as a duelling coaster. and in many circles, twister was marketed as "one ride" - so having half shut down doesn't change either of those experiences. KT is still operating. it's building redundant coasters to report higher uptime, right?

ok, so it has to be owned by the theme park company? pub style food, alcohol service... so does AOS count? If I have to sniff the establishment it seems like the rules might be a bit wishy washy. what if i've had covid and can't smell? Your thread, your rules I suppose but for me if it isn't inside the gates, it's not a theme park pub. ETA: i've just checked and Skypoint has a Parmi, and it's owned by Coast. Clearly it wins on views, it qualifies for a passholder discount on F&B, it offers 21 beers and ciders and everything has theme park pricing. If it's allowed to be outside the gates, then this qualifies and is my vote.

^standard village M.O.

I mean if we're counting Dockside's counter service, then Dirty Harry Bar gets a mention too. If we're not limited to the gate line, then my favourite theme park pub in Australia is TGI Friday's at Surfer's Paradise. It's not inside the gate line but clearly any sane visitor would eat there in preference. /s

In my opinion, the guest experience is a much higher priority at Dreamworld than down the road. Might not be much of a standard compared to the world stage, but for the local area, Dreamworld is shining.

I've always found the term 'broken down' to be an odd message. Just the word 'broken' isn't really the image I want to have thinking about rides. Even Airlines use 'maintenance delay' or 'technical issue'. Given its a movie themed park, and movie broadcasts used to have a 'technical difficulties' standby slide - i would think it would be on theme to use 'technical difficulties' rather than BROKEN DOWN which IMO just makes it sound like the park is poorly maintained.... #ohwait

It may have changed since I last visited, but last time I ate at Dockside it wasn't table service. It was a sit down meal with a beer, but it was all counter service \ collect at the window - which I wouldn't call Table service. I wouldn't have considered Banana Bender to be 'in a park' considering it is outside the gates and doesn't require admission to dine there. I'd apply the same logic to Scenic World - and also agree the food isn't anything to write home about (that place doesn't really need to try - the attractions draw the people and there really isn't anywhere else to go for food while you're there). So out of the three (or four), Janes wins by default (but would win regardless for food quality and service anyway).

Some might say they're just remembering the park's golden years.

Yeah at this point with the number of and degree of explanations and imagery provided, i'm going to go out on a limb and say @oofy is a troll being deliberately obtuse and should just be ignored in all future discussion

This one came out in 2023. Probably just came out of the new release overnight hires and into the weekly shelves - apparently Africa was the first in a 12-part series for the flying theatre, so I look forward to seeing them all come out eventually Brogent takes IAAPA to Africa in their new Flying Theatre movie – DRdb Hopefully we get the full ten minutes and they don't skimp on the lemon dishwashing scent.

those bamboo style fence panels have been there since before the ride opened. I'm pretty sure the rock wall pieces were too and may just be waiting for them to finalise the other water feature elements prior to install.

yep - 0% market research on new \ returning attractions and 100% 'what can we post that people will like / comment / share / subscribe to'

Much of the elements they could do would require themeing in the area, which wouldn't wash during the day time.

It's been answered already but just want to make sure it's clear - no ride safety features prevented this incident from being worse than it was. It was pure dumb luck - nothing more. Yeah, nah. The ride vehicle could have ended up in the creek had the failure occurred at a different point in the track. The fact that the car was leaning inwards towards the failed bogey is the biggest factor. Buddy it's very clear from your knowledge of the ride and it's operation that you don't know the full details. Had there been a death on GL and a coroner's report released, there would be plenty of information out there to support the statements being made. I don't often like to 'pull rank' but take a look at the history of the people who are saying GL could have been a lot worse. Consider the possibility that there is more to it than you currently see. You see, the problem with making this argument is that Village used to operate another Flume ride, and in 1993\94 it closed and was refurbished \ rethemed into probably the greatest themed attraction we've ever had on the gold coast. Even Disney Imagineers were gobsmacked over how much they'd done on such a little budget. (For those who don't know, Bermuda triangle was a retheme \ refurb of the old Lassiter's lost mine.) This proves that it can be done - it's having the vision to do it, rather than cave and just buy an off the shelf product, slap a logo on it and call it a day. Universal manages to work this with their Hollywood Backlot. I know we're on different scales here, but the studios could be negotiated around. Granted, USH recently tore out their animal and SFX stages to build a rollercoaster, so there's merit in what you're saying - but it doesn't mean they have to move away completely (I could see showstage easily showing some sort of SFX show the likes of what USH previously had) Sorry - no. 8 rides in a day is a metric used by the biggest in the business and plenty of research has shown that guests who have achieved that number of attractions in a day will leave a park feeling satisfied... As for wait times, worldwide, the longest wait times consistently reflect Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea and Movie World. (I'll give you a hint though - one of those parks is not like the others!) Now, I can't quote attendance figures for MW, but I know that collectively TDR handles more than 27 Million guests per year. They routinely have 2-3 hour queues for their most popular attractions, including soarin' and Beauty and the Beast. While they do queues better, there are still plenty of 'outdoor' relatively plain queue areas in these rides too. But you can also see cast members working hard to get people through quickly. The wait time isn't 3 hours because it takes 7 minutes to dispatch a rollercoaster - the wait time is 3 hours because there's 6,000 people in the queue. However, as i've recently shared in another thread - we still achieved 20 attractions in a day when we recently visited TDL - and while we had some advantages, I'll guarantee we still got into double digits without those advantages. On the flip side, I can't remember the last time I got 8 attractions in at Movie World. Being obtuse as usual, but you are technically correct on the back of what Gazza said. I think the issue is Disney sees those 1-2 hours waits on the big headliner e-ticket attractions, but there are still plenty of classics with great capacity that round out the day - one can visit Disneyland and ride a bunch of D-and-below ticket attractions (and older e-tickets) and still have a fantastic day. If you go to the park to ride the big shiny thing, you go knowing it will have a longer wait than the rest of the park. When the 20 year old accelerator is also pushing 2 hours, and the family wild mouse, and the space shot, you start running out of other tickets for your guests to go on. MW's problem is they all have shitty wait times, not just the headliners. Sorry - didn't Morgan Ross (vomit) or the assistant come out at the beginning of HWSD in that getup? A director with a bullhorn needs licensing? fair suck of the sav mate, you're reaching. As for WB logos, the group already licenses numerous indicia from the company. I'm sure they could ask? Let's not rule out the possibility of building a studio water tower with the WB logo on it because it would need permission for use? (cough DC Comics cough Wizard of Oz cough Scooby Doo cough Looney Tunes cough) I for one have been quite vocal about supporting the parks increasing their prices - with the caveat that there has to be value in the pricetag - specifically because I would like to see them able to operate with higher prices and lower attendance numbers. Unfortunately they've gone with higher prices and higher attendance... I watched the video a few days ago and the specific details escape me, and i'm not about to rewatch it to capture the specifics, however I remember thinking during the video some of the suggestions could be easily implemented. Many of the future attraction things would need to be 'as needed' but a couple of cheaper flats could be factored into the budget fairly easily and would boost attendance even if not as much as a big thriller. Doomsday was meant to do that, it was just unfortunate about the chosen ride. But doing things like involving your senior operators in the ride manual, getting suggestions and considering improvements and that sort of thing don't really cost you anything. Case in point: There's some great suggestions in there, and most wouldn't cost too much but would be welcome improvements. There should be no reason for ops crew to have to shout at guests either while grouping or providing safety spiel. Pre-record the big spiel items, or give them a PA system... actually, do both anyway. Two caveats though - I'd heard about there being an issue for mist fans and some concern over legionnaires disease. It leaves me wondering how other businesses get away with it, but if that's the reasoning for it then I can't argue too loudly. Second, Scooby Maintenance - I think they took it away for a while and people were turning up and complaining because the ride (which they knew existed from previous visits) wasn't on the maintenance list so they had assumed it would be open and were disappointed. It needs to be shown how it is now to ensure returning guests are aware it isn't open. And that's the devious mindset that deserves to see them castigated online. The other parks around the world with consistent 2-3 hour wait times you pointed out earlier are also parks that provide water and shade in the queues. The infamous disneyland opening story about a plumbing strike leading to a decision to have water fountains or toilets, and them choosing toilets because people could buy pepsi cola is the tough, but understandable decision you make when faced with a crossroads. But you don't then open the park and go "well, people didn't get water fountains on day one, so they don't need them and we won't bother to do it at all" - you get those fucking water fountains online as soon as you possibly can. If the budget has been crunched - it means one of two things happened - either, you didn't budget properly in the first place (and you're incompetent and should be fired) or you allowed another part of the process to run over budget without allowing for this contingency or requiring the partner that caused the overrun to pay for it while happily making the decision that guest comfort elements which were originally included in the budget because they were deemed necessary are suddenly deemed unnecessary. In which case you're a devious asshole, and you're also incompetent and should be fired. Since Covid? or since BGH? i'm having a hard time separating these two events and their cause and effect.... if it were covid - why aren't other theme park companies suffering the same basic issues? Hint: it isn't "since covid." You're 100% right when you earlier talked about their EBA, pay and conditions are a huge part of attracting and retaining good staff... but pay is only 50% of that equation, and conditions aren't just what's written into the agreement - it's also how staff are treated on the ground. ETA: this was written yesterday but due to the server dropouts it kept failing to post, so apologies if the above has already been put to bed.