aaronm

It’s all speculation at this point. Arguably CF/SF merging helps them compete with Disney and Universal, hopefully we won’t see another Geauga Lake situation but even the closest competing parks (CGA/SFDK, KD/SFA, Knotts/SFMM) are over an hour apart do essentially serve different markets. Still a wild move, that all-chain season pass will be amazing value going forward.

Very interesting. No doubt worth a few ‘rare’ points on coaster-count.

While onboard lighting is usually cool, I quite like that sections of the track are unlit at night. Definitely adds to the sensation of speed and surprise.

There’s a balance between safety, practicality and aesthetics to be sure. Based on those photos the ride seems safe and loading will be practical, but the floor looks ugly as hell. Perhaps a shallower pool with a thigh-high fence would have worked better? I guess we’ll never know.

I’ve been on it, the ride platform is only as big as necessary to load/unload the ride. The water is fairly shallow and they basically operate on the assumption nobody would be dumb enough to step in.

I know it's not finished but that metal mesh is nasty, hopefully the completed ride looks a little less industrial. Seems like there's plenty of space outside of the ride load area so it's weird to cover the entire 'pool'.

We gave Trident a go on Friday night for the first time, took the crew five attempts to get everyone locked in because the seatbelt sensors weren't triggering properly. No wonder this ride struggles for capacity. Perhaps they can retrofit manual key-style locks in the next maintenance period?

Peeking between the construction fences on Saturday, it seems there is plenty of 'fountain' infrastructure going in. Even if this isn't as impressive as Phantasialand it should still look nice. Orientation of the queue/op buildings is weird though. I would have thought the open section would point towards the entrance rather than the chicken restaurant. Ride looks good this just seems an odd choice. Glad to see they have retained the 'classic' Main Street design with the buildings, hopefully Sky Voyager gets a new facade one day to bring it all together.

If past trends are anything to go by, VRTP management can always find a reason apart from their own poor planning to justify mediocrity. I'm waiting for the day when multiple major attractions are closed "as a result of guest feedback" 🙃

$179 for a single express pass on seven rides, ouch. Most thrillseekers won't care about Road Runner and Doomsday is typically down or has no queue, probably cheaper to just buy one-shots for the major rides really.

An S&S Screamin' Swing would have been a better fit for that spot than Vortex. Doomsday should be replaced, I'm not sure Vortex is the right fit for that area. Maybe a Zamperla NebulaZ would work well? In any case the Villains precinct is overdue for some love, all those broken effects are pretty sad.

Isn't that Fast Track? I can maybe see them adopting a demand-based pricing model so it's better value off-peak, but this only works when most of the rides are actually open which is a problem unless it's school holidays. Maybe they'll start pushing the one-shot fast tracks more...

Does removal of VQ reduce the standby (I hate this term) wait time though? I doubt the removal of VQ is going to push up fast lane sales as it was mostly used by locals and those "in the know". Presumably there will be fewer people using the priority lane now which should make the regular queue move more quickly. At least that was my takeaway from the Defunctland FastPass documentary. Edit: to be clear, I am not defending the quiet removal of a feature which was clearly an advertised benefit of tickets and passes, just speculating about its impact on queue times.

"Entertainment precinct" sounds like code for cinemas and some restaurants, maybe a bowling alley. More Downtown Disney than Disneyland.

So Fright Nights “Redemptions” are still available. A last hurrah for members or something else entirely?

If DisneyQuest was still a going concern, I'd maybe believe one of those gets built in Australia. But a full-size park will never happen, the market is far too small and the population density too light. The only "big name" park we're likely to see here would be a Legoland, or at a stretch something along the lines of what Universal is building in Texas.

I’m all for Dreamworld doubling down on Kenny & Belinda, partly for nostalgia reasons but also because it gives the park a unique personality that isn’t dependent on someone else’s brand. That said, ABC Kids is also a great fit for the park. Hopefully that relationship continues long-term as well.

I struggle to believe an Intamin Surfrider is a $20m ride, even including site works and theming. Although technically a coaster, it is essentially a glorified flat ride. If VRTP management have spent that much on this ride they ought to be replaced immediately.

April next year? VRTP clearly trying to outdo Disney for glacial project completion.

I suppose they could also spend enough on maintenance so this sort of endemic downtime doesn’t happen. I can’t think of any other park that has so much trouble keeping its rides open.

The template VRTP response would be that the park offers much more than just rides, with entertainment and magical experiences for the whole family... I wonder if they actually believe this? The bare minimum would be to have some sort of "buy one day, get another day free" offer when this many rides are down.

I have no hard data but would guess this ride has been inoperable for around 50% of the time since it opened. A complete dud purchase. Time to sell it off and use the space for something that will draw a crowd.

I don’t have an issue with the locals pass but I think they’d be better off swapping out the postcode restrictions for blackout dates (i.e. school holidays) to help manage crowds during peak periods.

I have always received a response to feedback from VRTP, but it's generally been in the "thanks for the feedback, here are some excuses" format. I doubt they ever actually take anything on board and make changes based on what they hear from park guests.

The party was fun while it lasted but was never guaranteed to last forever. Clearly they want everyone to move over to a One Pass instead, this is a bizarre way of doing it though. The messaging is also weird: "There has been a change in the Debit Success underlying payment and software terms and conditions with Village Roadshow Theme Parks, and as such your terms and conditions will also be amended from 1 July 2023." Is this reasoning supposed to justify the changes? If so I don't see the logic. While customer service has never been VRTP's strength, a better way to shift members over to a pass would have been to tell them the program was ending and offer a discounted new One Pass as an incentive. The lack of Fright Nights inclusion doesn't really bother me, the mazes aren't of a high standard and now that the Ultimate Terror Tour is no more it's an event I don't mind missing out on. Coming from Melbourne, Singapore's Horror Nights is much more attractive (and not all that much more expensive these days).