webslave

@YLFATEEKS thanks for the tip. I do often wonder/worry about this type of thing from attendants, given I'm usually pretty good at looking stuff like that up before I go and would naturally be unhappy to find them making it up as they go. I was actually just checking whether our parks offer 'parent swap' like most in the US seem to. It worked out very well for us at SFMM since we were in a group of four plus the little guy. The thing I found most interesting about it was that in some cases as the first group of us would get off the ride and move to the exit we'd walk the little guy through the coaster car itself to get him to the group now waiting at the exit. It wasn't a problem in the least, but I somehow couldn't have imagined the Aus parks letting us walk him through an area considered part of the ride envelope...

Yeah, you're not wrong! We're hitting the place the week before schoolies, and will do the parks mid-week, so I think that will give us the best chance. Of course, I've just worked out though that it means Tail Spin is going to be down for maintenance. That's a shame, because I was probably most curious about that. That's certainly a good point. I'd not considered that there would probably be taxis at either site that would fairly happily shuttle you between them (short trip, but chances of another fare are high). We're weighing up the pro's and con's of transport at the moment - with me championing the cause of "Let's just grab a GoCard and get on the TX*", and her championing the cause of "Wait, we're getting a hire car aren't we?". Certainly. He will be about to turn two (so the timing is actually more about the last time I'll be able to put him on the plane without buying him a seat to tell you the truth), so he's probably going to be fine on most things so long as he's with me. The Mrs and I to be honest aren't really too concerned with stuff for us (well, I am more than she is - but mostly because of my connection to the industry) in part because we did SFMM just over six months ago, but ordinarily I'd agree with you. I think we're keen to experience stuff with him for the most part, and then when he has his nap in the afternoon for a couple of hours we use the time to pick and choose a few rides that interest us. I think if we are going to hit WnW it will probably end up only being for a half-day since there's not a lot there that's new to me, and given my wife and kid's low enthusiasm for water parks. Who knows? I may go there while they hit up PC since I'll have probably had enough animals by that stage. We're covered on a water play area for the little guy by the resort we're booked at for the most part. In thinking about it, without Tail Spin being up it probably (in terms of stuff I actually want to ride) weights things more heavily to VRTP. Knowing what I now do from you guys with regards to PC I'd think you're right - PC basically evens things up with Dreamworld on its own, with Sea World being an added bonus. Certainly your suggestions and commentary are right-on. Apologies to anyone if I accidentally turned this into a discussion on my trip planning for a bit - my intention was simply to use a real-life example to evaluate the parks themselves against our market.

Probably OT, but I'm curious - is it any good?

I think you're being a bit generous in saying that I need a reason to look like a dick, @YLFATEEKS

Certainly, I like your contribution and don't propose to denigrate your work at all. I understand precisely where you're coming from, and agree that it's your personal call to take photos or not based on whatever criteria you choose - be it arbitrary in the eyes of some, many, all or none. Just as others are free to make the same determination for themselves.

Sorry for the noise, admin-folk!

Ah, of course. In the financial results thread!

My family is currently in the process of planning another trip to the Gold Coast. For demographic purposes you would have us as; Male, 25-35, thrill preference; high, water-park interest; med-high, animal interest; low. Female, 25-35, thrill preference; med-high, water-park interest; med, animal interest; med. Male, 0-3, thrill preference; low, water-park interest; med, animal interest; high. We will probably spend five nights up there. It's enough time to do Sea World/Movie World/Wet n Wild if we want to do that. Pricing It looks like it will set me back $80/park for the VRTP group, or $100 for all three plus something called Paradise Country(?). DW on the other hand looks like it will set me back $95, or $99 to push it to a 3 day ticket with access to SkyPoint included if we wanted to do that. Verdict: VRTP group Time Since we will only have five nights timing becomes a factor to think about. I know that we can get around Dreamworld in a day, most probably including Whitewater World. That's not so bad - it'll save us some time. The VRTP parks are pretty-well single-serving (eg; I don't consider Movie World to be a full day park, but doing WnW and Movie World - particularly without a car - in the same day sounds like a recipe for pain), so that's going to eat a bunch more of our time. Verdict: Dreamworld Rides Starting at the thin end of the wedge I'm interested in working out what my little guy is allowed to go on. He probably comes in on the 90cm mark. At Sea World he can do; the Carousel, Boots' Banana Boogie, Bikini Bottom Crosstown Express, Patrick's Jellyfish Frenzy, (maybe) SpongeBob's Boating School Blast, (maybe) Donatello's Ninja Flyers, Battle Boats, Sky Fortress (best case 8 rides). At Movie World he can do; (maybe) Justice League, (maybe) Junior Driving School, {nb: I'm sure there's more here but they aren't listed on the site (best case 2 rides). At WnW he can do; WnW Junior, Calypso Bay, Wave Pool, Whirlpool Springs (4 areas) which gives us a total of 14 items across 3 parks. At Dreamworld he can do; Dreamworld Express, Mad Jungle Jam, Log Ride, Vintage Cars, (maybe) Big Red Boat Ride, Big Red Car Ride, (maybe) Tea Cup Ride, Dronkey Flyers, Carousel, ABC Kids World Fun Spot, Maze, Pirate Ship, Art Room (best case 13 rides/areas), and at WWW he can do; Wave Pool, Wiggle Bay (2 areas) for a total of 15 rides/areas. The stuff that my wife and I haven't done before and is of interest is; Shockwave (?), Wedgie, Little Rippers, Triple Vortex, HWSW (previously did Cyclone), Buzzsaw, Pandamonium, Tail Spin, Storm Coaster, Jet Rescue, Constrictor, Doomday Destroyer, Justice League. Verdict: Dreamworld has slightly more to do for the little guy, and even better it's in the one park. For us there's probably more we haven't seen at Dreamworld. Shows/Animals Starting at MW there's the yawn-worthy HSD2, which is unlikely to keep the little guy interested (much less mum and dad...). There's the main street parade that he might like and we would tolerate. Looney Tunes 4D exists, although I doubt he's doing to be too keen on the glasses. Doesn't to much for mum and dad, either. At Sea World things are very different - he might like COTD, would like Polar Bear Shores, would like Seal Harbour, would like Affinity, would like the penguins, and would like the sharks/rays. He'd probably also be keen on the jet ski show, and the fish detectives show too. At Dreamworld he will like Tiger Island, like the ABC Kids World stuff, like Corroboree, and like Wiggles World. With Sea World having to do all of the heavy lifting in this regard the question is does Sea World stand alone well enough to get it over the line? For us we'd stick with Dreamworld on the basis that it's in one park, the more akin to what the little guy is interested in. Verdict: Sea World/VRTP. Which park(s) are we going to go to? I have a funny feeling it's going to be Dreamworld. No doubt the wife and I will argue it out a little more. Have I forgotten something? Talked about something that doesn't exist? Got something wrong? Do tell!

https://www.dreamworld.com.au/things-to-do/dwvr Has anyone had a crack at this yet? Surely it can't suck much less than the vanilla ride experience?

So, to summarize; if you feel like the park does or might do something exceptional for you then you're probably going to be more inclined to do what they say as a quid pro quo, in much the same way as many blogs/websites/journalists may choose to run a puff piece on an advertiser/sponsor or turn a blind eye to their transgressions. If, on the other hand, your interest is purely the hobby or the parks don't do anything special for you, then you're more likely to be focused on getting the story/picture since you have no masters to please. Clowns to the left, jokers to the right, please

That's my point - even in an environment where some other attractions are closed Superman is often enough of a carry for people to recommend the park over Dreamworld. There's a lesson to be learned there for our parks, for sure.

It's amazing how much Superman carries Movie World in these types of discussions.

You wouldn't be allowed above 120m anyway, and even so I'd be extremely hesitant to fly there because of restrictions concerning 'populous areas'. Is there still a helipad at MW? This can have area restrictions also.

I dunno, TopGolf looks pretty cool... http://vitalvegas.com/topgolf-las-vegas-will-make-you-fall-in-love-with-vegas-all-over-again/

You may well find that's not the case. Most of the manufacturers have kits at a couple of price-points, and the more expensive kit is often quite upgradable, whereas the cheaper is not. If they happened to have purchased something that was nearing end-of-life and was not the top model it's quite conceivable that it was aging rapidly, whereas the rest of the M9 fleet may not be. This will vary anyhow, since different outlets have been seen running different gear. @The Original Belinda Brown - you're doing a great job on your responses. Really, quite impressive.

I'll have a crack while you're asking 1: It seems there's a deliberate strategy around getting the overall standard/presentation of attractions to a high level at the moment - what sort of factors or data lead to the decision to prioritise iteration of existing attractions in preference to new attractions? 2: Is there a concern that potential visitors don't value the upkeep of existing attractions as highly as they value the installation of new attractions? 3: If so, what strategies are in place to manage this? 4: The park dedicates a significant proportion of its footprint to areas which are not guest-facing, yet seemingly not utilised (such as the river/island, Big Brother Studios, ex-Blue Lagoon). Many of the other parks are quite restricted in the availability of footprint - how do you see Dreamworld utilising this competitive advantage? 5: There's been much discussion on these forums concerning the launch power (and achieved height) of TOTII having been reduced over the years, and while it's accepted that differing launch weights and atmospheric conditions have an impact it's generally understood that the experience now is considerably lesser than when the ride initially opened. Are you aware of what has changed, and why such a change has become necessary over time? 6: Does the park sell more single-park passes, or more world passes? 7: The refurbishment of the Cyclone is one that has been generally positively received - were there any tasks or ideas that you can share that the park would have liked to have implemented prior to the re-launch of the ride that didn't make it? 8: If there was one 'world' within the park that you feel is in the most need of resources (money, people, etc), which do you feel that would be? Appreciate your time and candor!

I for one am nothing but trusting of 'businessmen' and their entourage when they carry on like petulant teenagers that are confused as to why nobody will pat them on the back for achievements they haven't achieved yet. See, folks, that's how you get ahead in business.

Just checked it out because I was aware there was a park in Perth which I visit a couple of times a year with mates for business - the website might use a couple of small tidy-ups. There's a lot going on here on my screen - lots of scrolling without any obvious cues to let me know how I can pause the scrolling to read the text - and some of the text is obscured by other page elements. Specifically: Abyss page has images full of text in the scroller - it scrolls way too fast to read them and some are cut off at the top. As they are images search engines won't find them either. Opening hours page suggests you're closed May-August this year. Is that right, or does the calendar just not go that far yet? On the main page there's three horizontally scrolling elements visible at once that scroll automatically at different speeds/times. Since this is the first page I hit on your website this is where I'll spend the longest to get a feel for your layout so that I can navigate. Having it constantly switching under me (and large amount of it that are content links) seemingly at random really makes me have to concentrate to be able to get where I want to go. On the main page two of the links in the main content link zone are for merchandise and corporate bookings. Unless these are a really large part of your market you might consider swapping one or either of these out with a link to attractions. Visiting your site for the first time I was keen to see what you have in the park, but that's not an option presented to me prominently. Oh, wait, I just saw that there's a list of rides directly underneath this zone (but it was partially off-screen at the bottom). Partially disregard the above point, unless that's something you're not looking to achieve. I like the list of rides and their names below them, however the list looks like it's meant to scroll off the right of screen (I can see part of an image of another right hanging off the right), but there's no button for me to click to see what it is - only a link above for 'more', although the 'more' is sort-of in a strange area, but I assume the 'more' relates to rides. I've just clicked through to your rides and attractions page. I like the images, and I know I can put my mouse over the tiles to see the names, but I'd rather see the names presented to me first. Just a personal thing, probably. Also, the rides don't really seem to be in any sort of order. Thrill level order might work for me, but if you're looking for the family demographic you don't want them thinking it's an all-thrill park I suppose. I'm a little unclear - are you primarily a water park? Is the water park separate? How, as a guest, should I best manage my day as I wouldn't think you'd want me on the rides if I'm wet? Anyhow, please don't take these as criticism, but more as observations by someone with an interest in attending your park. Free market research I suppose.

Actually, boilers tend to follow a bathtub curve of failure - a new boiler is at a higher risk of failure than one that is, say, 20 years old. I reckon ol' Sunlander might have you on this one, Alex.

I think you'll find they are claiming the cup as 'at reasonable cost'.

" The Liquor Regulation 2002 makes it mandatory for commercial hotel licensees, community club licensees, commercial other (bar) licensees, licensees catering to a commercial public event and any licensee who trades after 12 midnight to provide cold drinking water free of charge to any patron who requests it, at any time the premises is trading. All other licensees must make cold drinking water available either free of charge or at a reasonable cost to patrons when the premises is trading." So - perhaps go looking for the new burger place?

lawl http://www.starnow.com.au/racheljoseph/ BeatBox by JB World Events : Simulated DJ/Dancer, Gold Coast, Australia

Yawn, spare us. 1: You can't breach a policy you don't subscribe to. 2: Who the hell cares.

Look closer, Lenny.

Maybe we will see a comeback?