DaptoFunlandGuy

I thought they'd taken that screen out of Pirates?

Can confirm the kids area (I can date it at 1994, but not sure when it was removed) had a mountain\volcano or similar with steps and small slides molded into the mountain itself. There were also floating crocodiles in the pools. My mind is saying "buccaneer bay" but I feel like that was the next incarnation of the kids area before WNWjr that we have today.

That I can't answer from the Park's point of view. If I had to speculate, the current area stops at the vehicle entry gate, essentially in line with The Claw's fence. Back of the napkin math says the currently used area is around 8000sqm. Adding in Tailspin and Shockwave (and you might as well add in the bathrooms that are between the two and the claw) would add a further 6500sqm of space which I can tell you from experience isn't set up for regular night events from a safety point of view. The entire area would need to be set up for night lighting on a regular basis (not just temporary event set ups). It also takes you from 4 possible 'exit' points into the rest of the park, to 7, essentially doubling the task of your security team. You have a much bigger custodial task - you're cleaning virtually double the area, as well as toilets (and the addition of alcohol means you're inevitably going to end up with people overdoing it). Then people will argue that dodgems should be open. or gold coaster. or the splash pad in summer months. and the tigers. and koala cuddles. and where does it end? And beyond all that, do you bring in more food trucks to fill the bigger area? will that piss off the current vendors who have their income divided amongst more vendors? Do you keep the ssame number of vendors and spread them out, making it harder for power distro, as well as the entry and exit procedures? Or do you not put food down that end, just keep it as rides, and completely change the energy from 'night market' to "a few dreamworld rides at night" I'm ok with the current footprint. You're right about SV - I only included it because it was adjacent the current footprint, suited *most* age groups, and could potentially be spun off in a sponsorship deal. I disagree on claw. alcohol = puke = smelly mess = nobody likes you. (90's teens will get it). I can see a night market where claw operates, but only as the event grows. That's step 6, not step 2.

Susprisingly, yes. Here's a timeline for you: 02/07/2020 - Surfboard is still installed on Surfrider 01/08/2020 - Surfboard appears on the South Western side of that particular maintenance building 16/10/2020 - Surfboard disappears - not visible near any maintenance building nor on the grounds of WnW (as far as I can see) 10/07/2021 - Surfboard reappears on the South Western side of that particular maintenance building 13/11/2021 - Surfboard is moved to the North Eastern side of the same maintenance building

First up, nobody is spending money on a ride for the markets. This is a new ride for Dreamworld that will return a lot of kinetics to main street - something it has needed for a long time - and because of it's convenient placement, and family friendly appeal, it makes sense to offer it (as a first step) as part of the market offering at an additional charge. When moonlight first started up, I thought the lack of rides offered was a missed opportunity, but i've heard Greg speak about some of the ideas, and it makes sense to me: The markets were an idea to get people simply coming back to Dreamworld. They intially didn't offer any rides because they didn't want to 'give away the gate' so to speak and cheapen these multi-million dollar rides by offering them for $2 entry, or pay-to-play Now, all things considered, Taipan is offlimits. At least for now. The only other rides within reach of the Market area would be The Claw (which is both high thrill, and restricted seat sizing), or Sky Voyager. Now - I can see a world where Sky Voyager runs during the markets. Perhaps, if they can changeover the programming easily enough, they could run a sponsored program #advertising space that is only available during the market so you don't get what day-guests paying a higher price get, but I don't think Claw is the right sort of attraction offering for the demographic of the Markets. No, a Wave Swinger, right in the middle of the action, with an impressive light package for night ops and designed with night operation in mind - that is perfect. It caters to a broad range of guests, and is a simple fun family ride for all. It's a one-two punch, giving the park a good quality flat ride, great main street kinetics and an impressive weenie as you enter the park, as well as adding to the night market offering as Dreamworld slowly builds it into something bigger than they started with. I look forward to markets progressing to a point where the park legitimately operates at night - something we've all called for on the GC for ages, and this is just another step towards realising that.

Yeah, I pointed this out on several occasions during Nearmap updates - it's been there a while.

And you thought it's capacity sucked before!

Entry has always been free for passholders and anyone that is already in the park at 5pm, so the entry fee only applies to non-passholders coming in after park hours for the food trucks. And it's only $2, so not much more than a token fee anyway. Waiving the fee on buskers night is a good gesture as anyone who hasn't paid entry will feel more generous towards tipping the buskers, which is how they make their money. And its win win because I do find in it's current state that the markets don't offer enough entertainment to let people linger - literally just the movie screen for kids and the stage under the roof. Once the wave swinger is operating though, this is gonna kick the markets into gear. can't wait to see it run with a modern light package at night!

Looking at this particular spot, it looks to be right at the start of the launch. The yellow paint is also worn in that one spot which looks to me like the evac position in case of rollback. So in short, this track is on average the most used section of track as all rollbacks end here. It's also a high stress point as the train is accelerated from 0 to 100, so you've also got the highest friction point.

Superman fans all come out after hours on a thursday? I call shenanigans!

Nearmap generally does 6 flyovers of Movie World per year. Last year they didn't quite get that many due to the disaster response imagery they were doing elsewhere, but the last Movie World flyover was October, which is pushing 4 months ago, so we might get lucky and get some in progress shots there. Looking at past years though, they do most of their flyovers in the second half of the year, with only one flight between January and May... so who knows?

Just shy of two weeks. Sounds like the 1000km first service for them to make sure everything is wearing as it should. Given the difficulties they've had in opening on the regular, I do wonder whether there might be any changes planned to the control system that might improve capacity or operational tempo?

Paradise Country Farmstay counts, and I'd wager its about as close as CMI is. Wonder what the latest is on the VIllage hotel?

It's chicken and egg though. Do the groups book when you can't offer them a fixed price meal inclusion, or do you hire and train the staff, develop the menu and stock the fridge, and then sit around and wait for the groups to book? You'd have to have solid intent from tour companies to warrant the expense, and you'd want ongoing regular bookings to sustain it to be worth the risk. Billabong's last incarnation servicing tour groups had eventuated organically from a time when sit down restaurants were common, and patronised. You could just as easily substitute the fixed price restaurant package with a fixed price voucher to be redeemed at nominated food outlets within the park. Heck you could do pre-orders and have it bulk catered in advance. No, billabong should be lift in peace.

The building against the motorway would appear to be the coomera motor inn.

Honestly the world has moved on from stuffy sit-down buffet style restaurants. There's a reason Sizzler is gone, and why there's only about 4 Dine-in pizza huts in the country left. Rick's Cafe only opens in peak times to take the pressure off the counter service joints too. Opening Billabong now would be like opening a brand new restaurant from scratch, and you'd be better off utilising that space for something else. Maybe a dark-ride expansion of Rivertown down the track after the initial land-hype wears off?

Well holy shit @TBoywhat a matchup you've got there! As of this morning we are FIFTY SIX VOTES IN and the results are 50/50. You have completely divided this community so far with this one - it's gonna be tight for sure!

Neither did Movie World. What happens to that park if you pull all the coasters out? My impression from the announcement was that K&B land would have ABC and Wiggles 'in it', not that ABC land would be separate to K&B. Like maybe Kenny and Belinda just like The Wiggles? stretching the truth a little there Joz.

Ive seen their impressions of Pandamonium, and lamented the outcomes of that on these forums previously... its not ideal, for sure - but a cosmetic overlay to remove indicia that they're contractually obligated to remove being done at minimal cost still fits in the vein of not blowing the budget on the respray job when the engine still needs rebuilding.

Oh, but it was - I asked it even before Baconjack's question. But even Baconjack's question asked for a Family IP, and while Bluey sure is popular, it doesn't really rise much above the pre-schooler age-group in appeal. It's a discussion forum no? Like - feel free not to contribute if you feel your opinion should be paid for - but you weighed in on your own. Putting a price on a rebuttal is a bit of a cop out. Wait what? MW literally uses IP in everything that they do. Even the generic RIO BRAVO got a brand slapped on the side of it prior to opening. They've got historic ties with studios and distribution houses world wide, and while they may not necessarily be current, they've got a lot of history in that regard. Prior to Nickelodeon, much of Dreamworld's attractions were generic, or own-themed. I don't see why they suddenly have to have an IP to compete (and to be honest, I don't think they ever could compete on IP given what the property down the road has access to), so why bother? Why is an IP so essential to a kid?

That's great and all for the little kids, if you want to replace Wiggles and ABC, but what about the older kids that Dreamworks appealed to? Yeah i'll pay that. (And everyone else will too because they could never afford it) but something along those lines would be fairly simple to theme, and would be inoffensive enough that it would appeal to all ages, or at the least, not be unappealing. Maybe Roblox as an independent with a similar age group appeal would be ok. Despite this, it doesn't avoid the issue that licences are always going to cost money, and it's potentially better they put their funds towards new experiences, rather than paying licencing fees to retheme old ones.

Firstly, this really belongs in the other thread. I've no doubt this will all get shifted at some point (sorry mods) But i'm here now. Your car broke down. You take it to the mechanic, and he says 'yeah, she's pretty bad. To get you back on the road, you're going to need to rebuild your engine. Also, your paintjob is fucked and needs a respray. ...but you can't afford both.... so what do you do? Respray it, but have it sit parked on the side of the road because it can't run without an engine... or do you get the engine done, and paint it yourself? I'd like them to have a nice IP to make their kids area cool and interesting for kids - but kids don't care about the character if they can get spun around at slow speeds and scream and laugh to their hearts content. But I don't want them spending money they can't afford to spend, in lieu of the big ticket items that will actually contribute to the park's recovery. Now - and listen very carefully.... TWICE you've been asked what IP they should bring in (three if you count Baconjack's latest reply in the other thread) - what exactly do you suggest they should have themed their kids area to, if not their own internal characters?

Rethemes aren't likely to generate the same return on investment as new attractions. I'm sure Arkham Asylum didn't really return much beyond Lethal Weapon - the thrill ride was a thrill ride regardless of what sticker was on the front. If you have X money, and you can spend it on a new ride, or you can spend it on purchasing permission to put different stickers on your existing rides.... i know what i'm choosing to do (and I know what's going to bring more people to my park) Did Six Flags really suffer when they dropped Terminator in favour of the generic Apocalypse? I'm interested to know what other IP besides Dreamworks, and Nickelodeon that you think they should have gone with? (bearing in mind that the market mix between little kids and bigger kids means ABC Kids and Wiggles isn't going to wash for the older demographic, but you need something that includes both of those)

Yeah I don't think Doomsday mentioned it's store during the initial announcements \ plans released. I think Merch is a given, and while I don't think we'll see a full counter service location with it's own kitchen, i think a bakery or something similar where products can be pre-prepared and then just final touches put on prior to service would be just peachy. I do think that the arkham queuehouse has a lot of space inside of it for them to fit in some amazing 'emerald city stores'. there's a difference between multibillion dollar attractions that our parks could simply never afford, versus producing a photogenic $7 pastry and a $12 loaded milkshake. Heck - if Betty's Burgers can do it, there's no excuse not to offer that sort of thing in today's IG world. Well grab hold of your ears so you can listen - A 10 year old IP (actually most of the properties are older than that) is not bringing anyone new to the park. Retaining it, at some unknown but likely stupidly high expense, at a time where the park is in flux, and needs it's money for reinvestment in things that will actively draw more guests to the park, it's a no brainer to drop the licence. On the other hand, a brand-new-land coming to a park that isn't struggling through a recovery, whose whole premise is 'movies' should be actively trying to theme this new land around a central idea - which they are doing - with a product that continues to be relevant, while economising by using IP that is out, or nearly out of copyright and therefore is likely to cost far less than sticking the latest superhero on it.

Imma stop you right there though - The original novel was written 123 years ago. L Frank Baum wrote 14 full length books, and the universe didn't end there - with dozens of other, canon-recognised sequels, with books still being written and released in the 2020's. A quick check of Wiki shows 40 canonical books in total, with the most recent one published in 2017. It shows theatre adaptations spanning 1902 to 2018 (and Wicked is still touring). TV and Film adaptations continue to be made to this day. The universe is very much alive, and it doesn't need only the original story \ judy garland film to keep it alive (although that is the most recognisable). I think the biggest, smartest move in choosing oz, is that it is familiar, an easy story to relay to kids to get them invested in the universe, and all of the original Baum stories are out of copyright meaning licencing the universe isn't a problem (unless you want to use indicia that are still covered). The items that are subject to licence are WB properties though, so their existing agreements probably permit their use.