[Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster Overhaul]

This thread is an interesting read that's for sure and I appreciate every body's opinions.

For me, something isn't right here.

It feel like they only just finished that really long "refresh" which felt no different in reality to the unassuming rider. Smoke and mirrors.

Now an into 2025 re-opening.

You could plan, build and open a DC Rivals in this time.

I hope it's a genuine massive overhaul.

I hope the overhaul is really evident from the rider's experience point of view.

I hope capacity / loading speed is an outcome.

I hope it's an end-to-end overhaul.

I worry this is a monorail / time delaying / money saving / budget line marketing exercise.

You can't fool people in 2023, yet here we are.

[The New Atlantis - Construction Updates]

A week later same three cranes but from the other side...

[Ticket scanning at the gate]

Thanks everyone. I totally forgot about photos being taken on first use. Cheers

[Ticket scanning at the gate]

Happy New Year everyone.

Does anyone have knowledge of village roadshow digital ticket scanning at the gates? With respect to annual child tickets, how do they actually know (or do they?) if a different child is using the ticket? Do ages or genders show up on the screen? If I have six tickets in the app I imagine they’ll just scan them and then let six people walk in to match no dramas?

Thanks

Phil

[Village Roadshow sells Wet'n'Wild Sydney to Parques Reunidos]

Having not been there, curious... what are the design, capacity and operational problems since day one?

[Thunder River Rapids Incident Coronial Inquest]

1 minute ago, RabbiJody said:

Best I can put together so far: One of the two water pumps shuts down, causing the water level at the top of the ride and around the end of the conveyor to drop. This water level drop is not noticed by ride ops.

An empty raft comes off the end of the conveyor. In normal operation this raft would float a few meters until is stops at the unload station. But because the water level has dropped this empty raft stops directly after the conveyor, resting on the submerged metal frame. The stopped raft is likely not noticed by ride ops. A sensor to detect a raft stopped here either doesn’t work or is not noticed. The sensor should stop the conveyor if a raft is stuck here for ten seconds. 

The accident raft approaches the end of the conveyor. It then contacts the empty stuck raft. The moving conveyor (modified with 2/3 of its slats removed) is pushing on the accident raft making it tip.

In the court hearing there are discrepancies as to whether an e-stop was ever pressed by ride ops. A alarm to notify if a pump failed had been turned off. 

Appreciated, thank you. So in theory every other time the pumps failed (dozens / hundreds of times)... luck / observant staff / more experienced staff intervened in time.

[Thunder River Rapids Incident Coronial Inquest]

Genuine question... sorry if it has it been covered here... do we actually know what caused this? We know how it played out but all this talk of pumps and water level... was it that that caused it and if so how exactly... or did the front raft not get released when it should have to create space... or did the back raft not get stopped when it should have to allow time? I might be wrong but I think I recall being on the raft when a kid on the conveyor belt and the belt stopping when it needed to to buy time / give space? The inquest is of course identifying two dozen items that were dodgy, but what literally caused this do we know?

[Dreamworks Trolls Village]

On 3/24/2018 at 2:47 PM, Roachie said:

I really, really want to support Dreamworld - i've openly and publicly defended the park up against the likes of the Daily Mail in the past, however this whole project in particular really hits home in regards to the anguish I feel about Dreamworld whenever the park comes up in conversation these days.

Even with the pennies to the dollar that Ardent's giving Dreamworld to build new attractions, somehow we're still ending up with ultimately flawed concepts like this one, which is literally just placing a bunch of Dreamworks troll themed stuff, that's not actually connected to the other Dreamworks stuff, right smack bang in the middle of an ocean themed area. It's this same logic that makes placing a car attraction in Ocean Parade a great idea, or that demolishing the waterfall the train goes through instead of just maintaining it properly a great idea, or that a diesel train instead of a steam train would be a great idea, or the Log Ride with roofs would be a good idea, or modifying the Shockwave restraints would be a good idea etc. etc. etc. etc.

I think the reason Dreamworld has lasted the distance so far is because of the reputation it acquired through the high standard it set for itself back when it first opened, to which I then wonder at what point do enthusiasts and the collective public say enough's enough with the "frugal" spending and constant hacking away at what made the place so great in the first place? Isn't it beyond obvious they're cramming in an "attraction" into the cheapest, easiest piece of real estate they have? 

Ultimately, it's just really, really sad to see the park treated with such contempt, and I think that's because the park used to be held to a much higher standard, and I really would like to see that standard back before Dreamworld's story ends the same as Wonderland's did.

You're absolutely right. One that really grates me is Mick Doohan in the bush setting and not up the end in the Ocean Parade area. Breaks my heart too that the whole Australian bush theme was destroyed with the vintage cars moving, the paddle wheeler closing and the unique bushranger show gone. Hate that ABC / Wiggles is squished into where it is too. All that should be in the larger kids area in Madagascar. On that, Pandamonium is out of place there. It should be up in Ocean Parade too. The massive waterfall off the Wipeout Wave was awesome but didn't last long after opening. And the list goes on! Dreamworld used to have tightly themed areas, and space between those themed areas, adding a sense of leaving one / arriving at a distinctive place. Now's it just one big shopping mall where every spare space had a kiosk added. If Dreamworld were a Westfield, we've got a butcher next to a clothes shop and dentist next to a fruit shop. The really sad part is that there is just no practical way to ever fix these poor decisions and lack of planning and vision #fml

Ps I also hate that ToT runs through the park, killing the vibe and tranquility of Every. Other. Area.

Pss Hated Buzzsaw being added to Goldrush... never felt right. I guess they wanted something to advertise to the carpark and highway but by doing so they disrespected the park further. Buzzsaw should have had a different theme and been up in Ocean Parade too. The old Thunderbolt area could have been nicely filled and themed.

[Dreamworld sits in a state of limbo following its toughest year ever]

9 hours ago, mission said:

My initial thoughts are that it's going downhill and likely won't recover while owned by Ardent.  There has also been some very questionable management decisions:

- why they persisted to repair wipeout.  It's now been closed over 12 months... has there been any indication of opening it again? If it does reopen, will the public trust it after such a long time being repaired and the fact it's still near 30 years old.

- reopen the mine ride? A ride that basically reached its use by date 10 years ago, and was very average to start with....

- no water ride for the summer? assuming it doesn't reopen by then. Granted there is a water park next door though..

There has been so much bad publicity etc that the Dreamworld brand is probably damaged beyond repair.  I also think a lot of people hold Ardent responsible (irrespective of legal proceedings) and therefore aren't willing to support them.

If it was sold off and opened under new management and ownership I think the public will respond differently.

 

EDIT: just checked their website, it says 30 November for Wipeout reopening... we'll see...

Last weekend when I peaked through fencing to the Wipeout, and excuse my lack of technical knowledge here, the big left cog looked all rusty and old, and the big right cog looked shiny silver, brand new (with cling film like plastic over it eg when something is new).

[Dreamworld - 2017 "exciting" "experiences"]

8 hours ago, themeparkaddict said:

Today must have been the worst day for anyone going to Dreamworld.

Plus:

Backside of Giant Drop

Upstairs of ball playground (the fun part for hitting people)

Merry-go-round

Of course the log-ride and all of Gold Rush country

One daily show at Tiger Island and most other shows

No face painters (have three young girls)

Flow-rider (I think)

And the Tower or Terror II and Mick Doohan's Motocoaster were both closed on the weekend when they weren't listed as such

20 minutes spent (wasted) getting pass photos taken

Plus all the closed rides listed above

Piss take much?

 

[Dreamworld - 2017 "exciting" "experiences"]

Long-time lurker, first-time poster in many years.

Went to Dreamworld yesterday for the first time in two years... it would have been quicker to write a list of the rides and shows actually open (seriously).

Quite an eerie no-people-around feeling, which to be honest I didn't mind.

Thank fully it was a day for the little kids and every ride they went on was "next on / no queue" and some you could just stay on.

Feel sorry for the place. They're at a cross-roads... they need some serious investment from people who get themeparks, or from I saw, the future looks bleak.

[Pure imagination: Dreamworld ads feature fake attractions and misleading experiences]

I wouldn't be too harsh, I think their approach is an appropriate shift, and their creative licensing is OK.

I don't have an issue with Lynx deodorant in that every time I use it hot women don't appear and throw themselves at me.

[Dreamworld's 30th]

Big News!! A new arrival yesterday at DW but unfortunately no one but managment and maintenance know's what it it.

New arrival as in a few boxes of coke and chips or new arrival as in 38 shipping containers? :-)

[Sea Viper - New Ride]

I find this whole Sea Viper affair highly embarrassing for Sea World.

[Cairns water park seeks approval]

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/10/2...local-news.html $3b theme park dream revealed Thomas Chamberlin Wednesday, October 28, 2009 © The Cairns Post PLANS for a $3 billion US film studio, water park, extreme sports complex, resort and hotel precinct have been unveiled publicly on the eve of a Cairns Regional Council vote on a separate water park proposal. Designed to mirror projects in Los Angeles and Florida, the theme park and film studio from proponent Tropical Resort Developments Pty Ltd would be the centrepiece of the development, due east of Edmonton. Organisers say the project would cost about $3 billion and be completed by 2027 in three stages, starting in 2012. Tell us what you think. Does Cairns need a theme park like the one proposed? Post a comment or vote in our poll. But the matter will not go to the Cairns Regional Council for approval. Earlier this month, Queensland Co-ordinator-General Colin Jensen declared the plan, in development since 2006, to be a "significant project" requiring an Environmental Impact Statement assessed by the State Government. The proposal is on behalf of Melbourne-based TRD Consortium Holdings Trust Pty Ltd, which includes members Paul Davies Film and Television Enterprises, Housing Industry Promotions and Tom Blair. Mr Davies is a past director of marketing for the South Australian Film Corporation who has produced Australian feature films, television mini-series and telemovies. He is also the founder of the Entertainment City Consortium which included Paramount Studios US as the major entertainment partner. Mr Blair was the senior project manager for Disney’s new Grand Californian Hotel in Anaheim, California, and has other connections with Viacom and Paramount Pictures. Their proposal lists an association with the Cunningham Group, an urban and community architect and design firm which works with the likes of Disney, Universal, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe said a significant project declaration was not an indicator of government support but signalled the start of a whole-of-government environmental assessment process to be managed by the co-ordinator-general. The development is an area zoned R1, utilised for growing sugar cane, between the MacAlister Range (to the west) and Murray-Prior Ranges (to the east). Advance Cairns Chairman Russell Beer said the project would be a boost for the region and a great opportunity to diversify the local economy. But Cr Paul Gregory, who represents areas south of Cairns, was sceptical of the project going ahead, saying it would have a "large number of obstacles to get over" because the proposal was in the rural landscape area of the Far Northern 2031 regional plan. Former Cairns mayor Kevin Byrne said a similar proposal came before the council in 2006 and he thought it had "very little chance" because it appeared far from Cairns and needed a large amount of government environmental approvals. "We need to be very careful at the moment about embracing proposals because some proposals are achievable and other proposals are frankly not achievable," he said. Meanwhile, the council will today vote on Paul Freebody’s plans for a $35 million water park at Smithfield, which council officers have recommended not go ahead because of flooding, environmental and planning concerns. Mr Freebody said it was "fantastic" there was now another proposal similar to his, but he was sceptical about its size.

[new stunt show a real let down!]

Oh. my. god. No one has ever made that connection before!

Because I am new on here I can't quite tell if you are being sincere or sarcastic... probably the latter :-) Haven't had a chance to read all the different posts yet and catch up...

[Do you think they will close batman adventure the ride 2 soon]

I like the ride actually. But to improve it: 1. much bigger TV screen in the library 2. better acting from the staff on microphone in the library instead of some Gen Y punk just going through the motions in an almost sarcastic manner (in fact I would prefer an old guy playing Alfred) 3. it is obvious where the "secret" library door is going to open up at because there is a red rope there instead of the gold railing, suggest putting a gold railing there to make people guess more and that part of railing can just lift up and fold back 4. the mechanical Batman in the lamest part! Firstly you can see Batman's ears wiggling before he pops up and then when he does there is just really lame jerky movements... very C64 5. funk up the batcave a bit... smoke, cold air, water, bats flying around, bats eyes in red, something, get creative

[new stunt show a real let down!]

from what ive heard, its not so much money thats an issue, its just poor decisions along the way which havent helped. Underestimated the wear and tear on the vehicles is a big one, if they had a chance again they probably would have gone with full tube frame chassis like the stunt car built in reverse. Would have made repairs much easier and could have swapped out the drivetrain to something else that will cope a little better. It really is a show that could have 3 or 4 sessions a day in peak periods because its over so quickly, but the reliability suffers greatly when you amp up the amount of drive time. Its a trade off, the more indepth the show is, the longer the cars are out on the track which increases the chances of a failure. Police academy was such a good runner because the human element took just as much (if not more actually) stage time as any vehicles part of the show. In saying that though, the driving quality is excellent. Some really hard stunts performed, made it seem effortless. Wonder how many cars were binned during pre production though

This attraction is a copy of this one from Hollywood Studios http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/hol...eme-stunt-show/ But the Hollywood Studios one is MASSIVE compared. The grand stand for the audience is around 3 times the size, the stunt area is easily twice the size in every direction and there is a water mote between the crowd and the stunt area which includes jet skies and boats in the show.

[NEW IDEA'S FOR MOVIEWORLD]

"a little coaster track with dips and turns" What would you suggest? Sounds like a wild mouse to me...

Ok you have a point. All I was suggesting is that a good addition to the Wild West area in terms of theming would be an awesome mine ride and where as the SDSC has a very open / warehouse feel, a mine ride could / would feel much tighter (like the Dreamworld feel / layout but bigger and better), a similar raw ride yes but quite a different experience due to theming and proximity of walls to track etc. Anyway, I would love the Spiderman ride tomorrow if I could wave a magic wand. Although the Spiderman ride cost around US$100 million but part of that cost, I think around US$15 million was for software development. 7 minute duration too - awesome!

[NEW IDEA'S FOR MOVIEWORLD]

A mine ride, which is a wild mouse just like SDSC... hmm, I think I would pass. However, I'd love an indoor ride like Indiana Jones or Spiderman!

Wild mouse - eeww... yeah imagine if all the fluro lights were turned on in SDSC - yuk! But no, a little coaster track with dips and turns with mass theming would be cool. A more sturdy ride with a few more thrills.

[Movie World Halloween Fright Nights]

Are you sure about them not disclosing? This is what it says on the website. Which is all the rides that close at 9pm. If the train held 80 people it would be 20 cars long. But it's only 8 cars, so 32 per train: http://www.parkz.com.au/photo/US/Orlando/I...ero_G_Roll.html I think the issue though is that for day to day operation, 3 train operation and those sorts of capacities are simply not needed. Disneyland needs high capacity stuff like Indiana Jones that because they get 14,000,000 guests per year, which is over 10 times what MW gets. But I mean, with Superman for instance, everyone knows it's perhaps the fastest moving thrill ride queue on the coast, and possible to ride as much as you want, even on busy summer days, so the choices they have made are adequate. But it probably isn't worth the extra cost in construction and ongoing maintenance to have 3rd trains etc that only get used on 6 or so nights of the year. If they could get permission to run everything till 11pm, then that would be the simplest solution, and would spread ride crowds across the whole night. The other thing to do is to have more mazes. That's actually a really good idea. I hope for next year (Or next week if they are ambitious) they could at least figure out a way of running the effects in manual mode (So someone up in the projection room could set off effects at will)

Yeah I can't prove it but the website has been updated since 3 weeks back is my opinion. I'd say they have already had complaints or someone noticed the omissions. And yeah I stuffed up with the Hulk ride rows... thought it was normal coaster row length (or more)... maths stuff up. But yeah, you get my point. Even Dueling Dragons is 4 seats across and there is two of them. I guess I have never appreciated the full demand of US theme parks because when I have been to them (9 parks in total) it's been in the US winter, non-holidays and during some average weather so I have enjoyed relatively quick lines on everything.

[NEW IDEA'S FOR MOVIEWORLD]

A soarin type of attraction was touted for the Park but Superman won over it.. It's believed MW acquired the IMAX projection system from southbank cinemas to develop an aussie version of soarin - I personally would still LOVE to see this happen at MW and think the old Maverick/show stage area would be an ideal location.. AGREED! The western area of the Park is lacking a major attraction and with such an addition, it would certainly better balance the crowd flow throughout the park

Soarin is a great ride. Fun, broad appeal and quite a thrill for young and old. Been on it at California Disney and Epcot. Also semi good capacity. I really miss the mine ride at Dreamworld, in a way my favourite ride there. A bigger and better mine ride could tie in nicely to the Wild West Falls area. But a large indoor, high capacity ride like Indiana Jones or Spiderman would be awesome.

[Movie World Halloween Fright Nights]

I have an issue that the WBMW website was not fully disclosing all the rides that would be closed and close at 9pm. All they mentioned was Superman and Batwing but when you get there you find that at 9pm Superman, Batwing, Lethal, and Wild West Falls close, Shrek isn't showing at all and the replacement horror movie DIDN'T UTILISE THE SPECIAL EFFECTS CINEMA / CHAIRS AT ALL (perfect opportunity for spiders and snakes running over you, blood splattering etc), the kiddies boat ride didn't open at all and the Stunt Driver show didn't operate at all either. That's a bit like ordering a steak sandwich and chips and getting it all except for the steak and chips! Some high capacity rides that spring to mind are Indiana Jones (west coast Disney Land) and Spiderman (Islands of Adventure) where capacity is upwards of 50 per minute. Or the Hulk Coaster (Islands of Adventure) which has 3 trains running at once, 4 seats wide... 80 people per train, 240 on track at one time.. beats Superman's and Lethal's 20 odd per 5 minute cycle. Yes Movie World is the best of the coast but compared to US standards it's like going to a school fete! Yes I am in a bit of a bitter mood tonight!

[Movie World Halloween Fright Nights]

I went the other week. I got in for $10 as a myfun member. The low cost is probably the only thing that saved it for me. THE GOOD - the themeing really was awesome... the lights, lasers, smoke everywhere, costumes, atmosphere etc... it really was haunting cool... very good theming... well done THE BAD - WAY too many people (crap it was crowded) - ALL big rides including Lethal shut at 9pm because of noise... they only advertised Superman and Batwing as closing at 9pm but all big rides did, which is basically all rides bar 2 - even with all the big rides open before 9pm there were way too many people so come 9pm it just went crazy - all I got through was the Batman mansion, Scooby Doo (45 minutes) and Wild West Falls, oh and the stunt show which wasn't the stunt show, rather just the dirt bike show from the Ekka with some really lame horror kidnapping story line - the ending live show at 10:45pm, sorry, was lame as... SUPER lame - post 9pm they had staff walking down all lines advising that the wait time was around 60-90 minutes - driving there the freeway exit off the M1 south bound was CHOCKERS... really bad light sequences Everyone was lining up for Shrek not realising that Shrek wasn't showing (including me) rather some really LAME 10 minute horror film. Heaps of people walked out, namely those with young ones. WBMW really needs some large capacity awesome rides and CAP these events! Having paid $10 I give it a 3/10 as an over all experience. 9/10 for theming. 1/10 if I paid full price!