DaptoFunlandGuy

I think the colour scheme works well during the day, and boosts the lighting package at night. testing has shown they have kebab shop sequences, but i'm hoping that it's just for testing and we'll have it toned down for usual operations.

I mean if we're going to that degree, I suppose the splash pad needs to be counted too. A great idea but the days of the park taking over the studios for attractions is pretty much done. The studios are too busy to give over whole soundstages for park attractions. If only the park had existing "in park" space they aren't using effectively that they could repurpose... LTRR soundstage storage area Stars Cafe Intencity Showstage FN Maze sheds Heck, if it wasn't a permanent addition you could add something to the scooby queue (and enter from the fire doors near doomsday). I know some of these spots have some activity either happening or planned, but they've all sat, dormant, unused, not fully utilised, or used for back of house purposes for quite some time and they could have (should have?) used any of these far far sooner for something.

(just for completeness, don't forget the installation and removal of sylvester's pounce and bounce)

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.

If the standard is just based on opening day, then Dreamworld wins hands down. Back to reality though - I was curious about the longevity of the kids lands so I checked out the wiki for the three parks to get dates of rethemes. (disclaimer, i've just used 1-Jan where specific dates weren't given, so I realise there are going to be discrepancies). If you discount the non-IP based lands like Kennyland and Beach Break Bay, the average timespan for these themed lands is 8.9 (though WB skews that number hard, and the other two only average 7.8) and what this tells me is that Sea World's Nickelodeon land is about due for a refresh of some sort. The MW land on face value looks like it's long overdue for a complete overhaul (and honestly, it probably does need it) but on the numbers alone this is a bit harsh as they haven't really had a changed IP or theme since the park opened, but the land has had changes without a retheme over the years including the loss of LTRR, install and later the renovation of RRRR, install of JDS, Marvin and several other changes over the years (Speedy is the only original ride in it's original spot left, if i'm not mistaken) TL:DR - Kid's lands seem to average about 8 years with an IP before they should be rethemed, DW is right on target, and SW needs to start thinking about it now. MW's theme doesn't change, but the space sure needs to.

To be fair outside the big two, most "theme parks" content themselves with a logo sticker on the front of the ride vehicle and maybe a statue of the ride's mascot standing beside the ride sign... and we're already doing marginally better with that.

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 don't think it's fair to suggest that current management are like pre-2016 management at all - for starters the big implication there (which you probably didn't intend) is that current management is perhaps being unsafe, taking shortcuts or risking peoples lives - when I know for a fact Dreamworld has a current emphasis on making safety the very first and primary consideration above all others (which is why I think we do sometimes see things like pool fences etc. that maybe weren't entirely necessary). I know what you're getting at from a themeing perspective though. I agree with you that the chinese rooftops should have been taken down, but as they stand currently, it doesn't look terrible. Yes, Dreamland has given them freedom to leave some things 'as they are' with some small changes to signage, but rather than being lazy, i think that's a clever way to tackle the problem on a budget. They have, and continue to plus the area as time goes on, so while things like the chinese themed roof is unlikely to change, I don't think we can call a final opinion on the land until its... well... final. As for Wizard Of Oz, it's reception hasn't changed much from the very beginning. This land has to do a lot of heavy lifting and there are great expectations. I don't think a clone coaster is something to worry about - especially since many folk won't ride TNT in the first place, so this gives them that opportunity, and arguably it will be the better themed one - simply based on the expectations we have from "Australia's Greatest Theme Park". I think a lot of the denigration here stems from Oz being a weird choice of IP, and probably the current status quo with Village's decision making in recent times. People don't have high expectations of Village lately, and so I suspect that a lot of the negativity directed at this land comes from the default position, rather than any other park having a similar ride. pretty much.

You better believe its been a lot of hard work. Seems to be a theme in most of your posts. Hmm... a home office pod? cubby house for kids? Dog kennel? It really isn't big enough for much else. The monorail cars from Sydney found usage as private meeting spaces because they were big enough to seat several adults. These gondolas fit 2 adults who are ok with interlocking legs. Add some kids in if they're yours, but 3 adults is squish.

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?

*cough* Wizard of Oz.

Yeah we've known it was going to be a clone of TNT for quite some time now. Reality is they operate in different markets. Six Flags used to be like 4 of the same ride and chuck them down all over the US (and move them again in a few years to build a 'new' attraction elsewhere) but it's not as if it's Dreamworld and Movie World building the exact same ride. The GC and Gumbuya are far enough away from each other that the two markets will have little crossover.

As I understand it, Aqualoop is not long for this earth either, though i'm not sure that the reasons for removal would be the same. Wedgie was always a poor cousin. It was rushed onto that slide tower as a way to try and win one over WNW, but the tower \ stairs never had much room for it, and especially after covid, things like distancing just made the shared queue ridiculous to manage. High staffing levels and low capacity - honestly good riddance.

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.

The issue is few people are actually willing to put their money behind it. The Wonderland History crew fundraised to purchase the coaster trains and although quite a few people chipped in a few dollars, the bulk of the cost to purchase, transport and store the trains were primarily funded by only a handful of people. (I do hear there is progress on their current home - so probably some news about that next year sometime). The person selling the gondola is trying to recover the money they paid for it, and its unlikely a museum or similar non profit would be willing to spend that much. Museums tend to rely on items being donated by generous benefactors, not purchasing things at the asking price. The person obviously bought this post-closure, while the hype was real to 'get a piece of wonderland'. In this market, it's a big ask to pay what they're asking... it's highly unlikely it'd get purchased for the purposes you suggest.

lol. i see what you did there. I was conscious of that comparison when I was saying it, but even so, the ridiculousness of it is that Kickback doesn't really have a lot of shade to sit in either.

When they opened Dreamworks Experience, it was all in one go with (almost) everything ready (from memory some signage pointing to various parts of Dreamworks wasn't ready until the day after opening). They're still promoting Dodgems as being part of Dreamland though. They really need to get their shit together.

By the looks of things, they've got enough props. Still better than a Zacspin. Ball*. Just one. Not plural. I'd prefer they open it fully complete and with a wow, but they can't really afford to keep rides shut if all they're waiting on is themeing. Only regular visitors will see it open in stages anyway, and they've seen it during construction so not a big deal I guess. The interstate and once a year visitors are the ones who will get the wow... assuming that all the themeing is in place by Christmas, it's not really any harm or foul. I do think K&B Dreamland needs more shade, and a place for parents to sit while the kids ride (at present only the ballpit has this) and rather than just shadesails everywhere - i'd love to see a tall metal "tree" that is the basis of Kenny's Forest, with branches \ leaves set to shade some of the pathways... one can dream.

Yeah, truth be told, Dreamworld socials goofed a while back and referenced the Deep Sea Dodgems as part of K&B Dreamland, so they probably aren't even sure themselves. They have painted themselves into a corner a bit by extending Ocean Parade, it's a bit of a weird spot when you look at that map above. Perhaps they could keep the sea theme, but theme dodgems, splash pad and serpent slayer as 'under the sea' whereas shockwave, claw, goldcoaster and tailspin are all 'above the water'...

out of interest, which precinct boundary do you mean? If you mean Dreamland, the entryway near the food court is quite distinct, the bridge, the water squirting characters... and the other end of dreamland isn't finished yet. Given the construction of BRB coaster will be the boundary to the land - they've erected a pretty tall block wall across the splashpad, so it certainly seems like they're going for a distinct boundary... we won't know until they clean up and finalise the floor covering in that space... Also - the word precinct still triggers me. it's a damn land. Wish parks would just call it a land.

Is it good to see them continue to 'plus' things, and presumably the builder of the additional elements had a longer lead time than DW was happy with and so they decided to open the attractions without these elements to minimise downtime. While I applaud them for keeping the attractions open as much as possible, I can't help but feel that some of the 'wow' factor was lost. These additions, while "great" are with minimal fanfare and will probably largely go unnoticed.

I swear one of these pops up at least twice a year. This one is in pretty good condition all things considered. What most of these folk don't consider is the cost to transport something this big and heavy.

Agree, I can't imagine they'll go vertical in the next 4 weeks. A lot of construction tends to wind down around christmas. I think we'll see track builds start early next year - though i'm happy to be wrong if they decide they want to start earlier!

Here's an (almost) one year on comparison:

Nearmap's latest flyover was only 10 days ago and is now live. The last shot, which was mid-september, was pretty flat - the scenery has now changed significantly, and you can start to see quite a bit coming together! (And just as a comparison, here is what it looked like right before Arkham Demolition in June 2022)