DaptoFunlandGuy

Why do you think they've kept intencity shuttered for the past 3 years? The maze is still sitting there.

it's sad to admit this is just part of the vernacular now. I do hope somewhere along the line MGM \ Turner \ WB insist on certain quality standards, similar to what we saw with Dreamworld and Dreamworks.

Last week I had another opportunity to get on Taipan a few times and planned on staying for moonlight markets after close. I was watching the queue and although the general queue was pretty low, there was quite a few people with Tailwhip wristbands. I found it odd that they closed the general queue at precisely 5pm, despite having several tailwhip cycles to run (I'm pretty sure they have to redo all restraints on a train before dispatch) and because they had both trains on track, they were literally dispatching the non-spin train entirely empty every second cycle so that they could bring the tailwhip seats back into the station for the next group of two. Several cycles ran empty, or with only the tailwhip seats occupied, and this just felt a bit flat - there was a small group of riders stood around the area watching these two trains cycle repeatedly for solidly 10-15 minutes until all the tailwhips were done. I know park management read the boards, so this is more directed at them than for general discussion (but hey - add your 2c, i'm not fussed) - but I wanted to throw it out there that either Dreamworld needs to: Ensure they don't oversell Tailwhip in the final hour, or: When it reaches 5pm, Spiel to the queueline that the ride will continue to operate until the tailwhip queue has been cleared, and they make no guarantee anyone joining the general queue after 5pm will get a ride. Heck - give a 'queue marker' to the last person to enter before five, and just post a sign. I just feel like the guest experience could be plussed here with very little additional effort to give a few last rides to people on trains that are going to be dispatched anyway...

I think the Taxis increase was appropriate. When you consider they have no ability to be 'co-piloted' by an adult for younger drivers (whereas Junior Driving School can) and if you've ever watched the painfully slow progress riders make when a smaller kid is in the lead car who can't drive \ steer \ reach the pedals properly - and has to be assisted all the way around by the ride op - it's a disaster. While the height increase has disappointed some kids who rode the previous year, that will quickly resolve itself in short order, but it was necessary for the efficiency of the attraction. Speedy's does still have a place, even beside JDS - though for how long I'm not sure. As for Road Runner vs the new coasters, agree that these will offer more for that "mid-level family" demo that has been lacking, so I don't think RRRC will become irrelevant - just less so than now.

increased to $10 a ride after the first year.

clearly it has to be some sort of rocket. or a space modulator. but probably a rocket. Marvin's theme is space - so either a dumbo\dronkeys flyers style ride themed to rocket ships, or a kiddie 'swinging ship' or similar shaped like a rocket.

The intimidation factor is huge... but as someone with a 6 year old who only just reached the (increased) Roadrunner height requirement earlier this year - THIS is a big problem: These new rides will be able to accommodate smaller kids well before they are tall enough to ride Road Runner. The intimidation factor might play, but I can tell you, plenty of kids can't wait to be tall enough to ride all the big rides, and many are keen to ride as soon as they're tall enough to go. Road runner will still have an audience, but it is going to get smaller. And we all know what happens to rides when ridership levels decrease.

The Mack Wilde Maus series (according to RCDB) has been operating since the mid-90s. Scoob went in in 2002, and is entirely indoors and so isn't subjected to the usual weathering either. I think Scoob has a while left, but agree it would be the perfect pivot to do a dark ride either tied to WOO, or maybe they can even do a chocolate factory vibe since its a WB property also?

INB4 woodie beside wild west, something something mad max, something matrix, something something river ride, dark ride, use the whole LTRR show building, get rid of HWSD and replace with better show, use showstage for an actual show again. miss anything?

Agree. Every time the PLC stops the ride, LIVES ARE IN DANGER WITH PEOPLE DANGLING IN THE AIR FOR MINUTES AT A TIME!

I refuse to acknowledge their pathetic use of the 'P' word and will continue to refer to it as WOO Land.

I mean, maybe Village Roadshow have been cleverly laying the groundwork for the past 5 years by subliminally marketing WOO land to us? This is the longest rollercoaster teaser campaign we've seen since Leviathan!

It confuses my why Movie World would choose to downplay this by stating two rides, when there are three distinct tracks, but the enthusiast in me is satisfied that the Parkz database entries tagged in the article show the boomerangs as "unknown...1" and "unknown...2"

Can agree with this. The concept art shows they seem to be retaining much of the Lethal \ Arkham ride building including the maintenance bay and cinema (or at least the exterior facade, if not everything internal). The rides themselves don't make use of this except what appears to be a queueline \ pathway. They mention some projection mapping and this is the only place I can imagine they could be doing it. That space is a fairly decent chunk of real-estate that could permit later additions of some very small flats, minor food outlets or merch spaces (heck the Lethal store is still standing behind that facade too). But maybe they could shoe-horn a dark ride into that space with some creativity. It'd be a big stretch and very custom. I'd just love to see them connect this area to West behind the showstage. that opens up that area to possibilities later including a western \ oz themed dark ride (could use the current FN maze buildings) or even take showcase out in favour of an actual real life stage show, or other dark ride possibility. That'd also create a loop in the park rather than the maze of dead ends it currently has.

Only if the Wizard of Oz is delayed by a few years, or it'll be ready too soon.

It was closed during the winter school holidays and looks all but abandoned. I don't want to de-rail this thread but Dreamworld's website now lists the retail store as "seasonal", which is just disgraceful. I would have thought the theme would be quite simple - the twister that hits kansas. Only if the turnstiles allow for it.

I don't know what we're all worried about - it's been open for 10 months now... Seriously though - the website still lists 'opening september' so I guess we can all hold our breath on another opening date! (how many have we had so far?)

TL:DR - Return To Oz is owned by Disney and it's unlikely you'll bring those characters to Movie World. If you don't want to read a century long history of the land of oz, skip the rest. If you want to read a page long rambling summary of the even longer Wiki article then settle down and read on... (Don't complain and say you weren't warned. If I could still use spoiler tags I would have.) All of the original L Frank Baum stories entered the public domain throughout the 80s and up to 1995, although several other writers have written Oz based works later than that, 27 of them (including Baum) are now public. There are still 19 different stories released later that are still protected by US copyright, with the last to expire owned by a still-living author, which won't expire until 70 years after they die. All that said, since the original works are out, so long as you stick to the concepts presented from the originals, you'd be fine, but any imagery from film adaptations that is a trademark of the film may still be subject to protection - which means no Green Wicked Witch, and no Red Ruby Slippers. (it's why Winnie The Pooh can now be used by artists at will, but not if he has a red shirt, which is a disney trademark still protected by law). The first films for Oz were silent films, all of which entered the public domain by 1954. Imagery from the MGM 1939 film (Judy Garland) was renewed in 1967 for a 95 year term, so won't expire until 2035. The Disney film 'Return To Oz' mentioned above wasn't even the first sequel - as 'Journey Back to Oz' (1974) was an animated sequel loosely adapted from one of Baum's original sequels. Disney owned all the film rights to Baum's books (except the original Wizard Of Oz). Like many of the current live action films we're seeing produced by the mouse house, the Return to Oz film (1985) was an attempt at extending their rights to the stories by producing further derivative works. It was a critical failure and so they abandoned further Oz films. Disney even used Ruby Slippers - which aren't in the original Baum story, but were a creation of the MGM 1939 Judy Garland version, but by 1985 the Ruby Slippers were so synonymous with the story that they paid MGM for the rights to portray the ruby slippers in their film. Likewise the Wicked Witch of the West is portrayed as a particular shade of green, despite her not being green in the books. (And interesting side note, but I learned just recently that the Margaret Hamilton character was portrayed on an episode of Sesame Street - I think back in the 70s, that aired once to much controversy and was buried by the childrens television workshop, and it has only just recently been released to the public after almost 50 years locked in the vault.) As for the James Franco 'Oz the great and powerful' (2013) by Disney - it was billed as a 'spiritual prequel' to the original 1900 story and loosely based in the world 20 years before the 1939 film. Disney had no permission from MGM or the rights to use the still-protected works or imagery - so the film retained a copyright expert to ensure that the wicked witch's green was distinctly different from the protected shade used by Margaret Hamilton. The Emerald City had to be distinctly different also. While WB and Disney didn't directly battle it out over this film, they did file rivalling trademarks to the name 'Oz the Great and Powerful' however the US patent office suspended WB's attempt as Disney had filed a week earlier. I know. it's tenuous at best but I knew the Disney film was still protected and off-limits to Village for use in the park, but in researching and fact checking this I found a far more interesting story with very complex rules and dates for various different written and film works, and I find this interesting, and thought i'd share it in case others found it interesting. If you did actually read this far - let me know by a reaction to the post! All that said, clearly the park has licence to the characters in main street, but as we've discovered, IP rights in parks can vary, and roaming characters, and ride themes, and shows can all be very different licences. The copyright on the film adaptations (those for which MOVIE world would likely want to attach) are a little complicated, so I would suggest which characters and what elements are used within the rides and theming would be very carefully curated and controlled.

Hanna Barbera are a WB owned product.

I too have heard this rumour, though the enthusiast scene is pretty small so it could all filter through the same grape vine and this doesn't confirm the source at all. I'd hesitate at labelling that factual, but it does provide a very simple explanation as to why the ride has been plagued with delays that are for the most part unexplained by the park. This is one of the few things you'd want to explain publicly as it would undermine the public's confidence in the attraction entirely. I'm quite sure in this age of safety and accountability, and especially in this jurisdiction, i'm confident if there is any foundational issues, they'll be rectified and certified before it opens. I'm pretty sure that Rivals had foundational issues discovered not long after opening, no?

Well holy shit didn't that all explode overnight! I don't think the public has elected you their speaker - and it's probably for the best. Do remember, MW made a 'big' announcement a little while ago, which turned out to be an online merch store. So big, like everything, is a relative term. Despite your opinion, big doesn't have to be giant new ride. Big can just be an entirely new themed land, or three new attractions in one go, or an online merch store... its whatever you want it to be. Are we thinking BGH gives a shit about long term? I had very similar thoughts, but don't close the superman entry - and reopen the scooby entry too. Yellow-brick-road the heck out of all three pathways and lead them all to the main land area. In addition to the rides though, they need a shop \ outlet - something more than just the ride and a viewing area to keep people there \ give them a reason to go there even if they aren't riding. Theme the chinese alleyway to Munchkin land. Plant some legit apple trees. Emerald City one of the sound stage sheds. Heck the possibilities keep going - you could drop a small carousel in there for the little kids with standard horses - and just paint each one a different colour. (Trust me, nobody riding a carousel cares that the park has more than one). I genuinely hope they have plans to redo chinatown alley - and that they put even the most basic effort into making it fit the overall theme. As pointed out, different area. Chinatown alley sits between bakery and the bank, though there is another alley to scooby. As part of this expansion, perhaps there is potential to run a pathway between the lethal plaza and wild west, allowing them to incorporate their maze buildings into the park's footprint and utilise them at other times of the year for various things too. Or, as pointed out in a recent video I saw on youtube - does the attendance spike just prove to them the best thing they can do is ensure their one-shots are profitable?

Now that depends on the speed of operations and the queue time. I'm not sure how often scenes update but the wait time over the past couple weeks has been 45-75 minutes pretty much every time i've checked. You'd be hard pressed to get 6 rides in a day, let alone a row.

Just to clarify, a 'cycle' is a ride, from start to finish. I think what you're trying to describe is what i've referred to as a sequence. I can honestly say that I still don't think i've seen every combination, and it's pretty hard to tell unless you're intimately familiar with the fixtures and show programming. I think I notice something new every time I ride - and with a kid at 116cm, there isn't too much else we go on. While I have been out of the industry a long time, i'd be willing to bet that it's more likely you just didn't notice everything that was operating, that it felt 'darker than usual' and you've concluded that that meant it was broken, most likely because you haven't seen that particular program before. JMO.

Height restrictions are (for the most part) based on restraint designs. In theory you can totally put shorter kids on rides - provided you redesign the restraint to suit them (see Motocoaster, for example). Roadrunner was previously a 90cm accompanied rider height, and changed to 110cm without any changes to the restraint too. Higher material and labour costs as well as the 'Australia tax' not to mention purely the cost of shipping everything overseas tends to add a lot more to the base cost to construct in Australia than overseas.

Everything you said is appalling, and there is no excuse for the state of these attractions - but in the case of Disco room, not all the lights operate in every sequence. The sequence changes periodically and you may have just gotten a darker looking sequence. I'm not the expert on this, but you'd have to do a couple cycles to see it all working from what i've seen of the install.