Guest 239

Great points and I absolutely agree with everything you say here, but in a way I feel it only shows further that locally our parks have no idea when it comes to rich, themed experiences. Integration, story, execution, etc. were all fumbled with the project and those can't just be simply palmed off. I still have no idea why they made some decisions like the facade when they could have just as easily made it look like a Victorian airline hanger that would fit the land and themed it to the early days of flight in Australia that leads into what the current film, but instead we got a modern airport baggage claim facility? I like Sky Voyager - It's a fun, solid experience once you actually get to riding it but nothing about the themed experience is inspiring. I've said it before but if our parks really want to move forward then they need to stop competing domestically and start having their eyes set on the world stage. A lot of people regard the early days of Movie World as being the peak of themed entertainment in Australia and it makes sense because it was designed by C. V. Wood who was the chief developer of Disneyland. Thanks to Disney getting trigger happy with their layoffs there is now a ton of really experienced designers, engineers and artists who are floating around waiting for their next opportunity and if one of our parks wants to get the leg up they should be scooping up that talent, or at least embracing the already brilliant creative minds that exist within Australia instead of executives feeling like each project is their personal clay pot that they need to mould. On that note, I think the painted concrete is nice. Don't @ me.

I'm referring to Australia here. It's been a long time since our theme parks have shown interest in anything beyond thrills except for Sky Voyager but even though its touted as 'Moderate Thrills' with an epic up-beat trailer on their website which shows you that they don't have faith in the themed experience of the attraction alone https://www.dreamworld.com.au/rides-experiences/family-rides/sky-voyager/ I feel VRTP and Ardent got stuck in a race to the bottom when they were competing for world records back in the day and that just set the trend for the industry. Even if you placed something like Mystic Manor in Dreamworld they'd have a really hard time selling that within the market they've created and I feel the lukewarm reception of Sky Voyager also shows this. As do I. It's why people decide to travel internationally for a richer theme park experience, but within the domestic market you're basically just stuck with thrills.

Ah, I getcha. I did fumble my words a bit so I understand that you're confused. I'll elaborate; what I mean by this is that in the current thrills dominated market it's going to be very hard to dethrone rivals based on theming alone. If, for whatever reason, Steel Taipan is bad then no amount of theming will save it. If it's objective is to compete with rivals for that top spot then it's going to need to achieve that within the ride experience alone. Similarly, because that trend has been set, you're going to have a really hard time pushing anything like a dark-ride or slow-moving deeply themed experienced for the top spot because it's just not what our market is after.

My post had nothing to do with the ride, just the theming? Also a better dig would be CraptainLazyGuns.

I'm really excited for Steel Taipan because I haven't experienced BF or it's clones before. I'm a sucker for launches and depending on the day can place SE above DCR, so I can see ST taking over as my personal favourite coaster in Australia. Also it will be fun knowing that Dreamworld will have the best and worst launched coasters in Australia! Nifty reveal, but also seizure warning. https://fb.watch/v/3zPq4ix0L/

If you've gotten into legal trouble for this exact problem in the past why even risk this? You can't feign ignorance if a park comes after you again when you've already been slapped by a lawyer once already.

I don't mind the approach of combining modern architecture with themed elements. Yes it's a cop out and yes its not what I'd prefer, but our parks have set their own standard for what gets people through the doors. Rivals showed that the bare minimum of a themed integration (aka printed flats) will not deter record crowds and rider satisfaction. Going overboard on theming would ultimately be a waste of money in this market unless you did something so mind-boggling good that it set a new standard and dethroned rivals as Australia's best attraction.

One ride. Two ride. Red ride. Blue ride. This one has a little star. This one has a little car. Say! what a lot of ride there are.

The Dreamworld Resort already exists if you close your eyes and wish hard enough.

As much as I hate seeing ride counts declining, I won't miss Buzzsaw. It was always that ride you just kind of did cause you we're at that part of the park and there was guaranteed no wait. I hope it's removal represents a departure from Dreamworld's era of cheap thrills.

That first drone shot make's the coaster look damn impressive. I like spaghetti coaster's where you kind of need to stare at them for a bit to figure out exactly where the go. Content wise it wasn't as interesting as the last video and the questions were a bit generic. I know it's something you kind of need to plan from the start, but I would love to see a deep dive into this whole process. Going from start to finish about how they finalise their ride decisions, who they bring on-board for construction, how logistics are managed, etc. Even explore some of the challenges that have arisen with COVID as well. Almost like a mash up of 'Mega Constructions' and 'The Imagineering Story' with an honest look at the industry.

Great news! It's exciting to know that there's an Olympics that I'll actually be able to remember this time around. I wouldn't be surprised if the local and even federal government committed some cash into promoting tourism both around Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The World's Fair saw some big additions to the area, so I'm sure the Olympics will be no exception. However If there was ever a time for an international operator to get involved with a project in Australia, now would be the time. It'll bring a lot of international tourism and attention to our quant corner of the world!

Great point and I agree with what you state. I didn't really consider it that way and you're right that it'd be very different if they came on here and said huge things are on the way.

Interestingly this message was for the enthusiasts because it was originally posted in the fan page group. You're pretty much lighting a cigarette in a fireworks factory by making any sort of announcement directly to an enthusiast circle.

Hyping up things in theme parks is basically playing with fire. Very rarely does it actually pay off because there are so many variables that factor into ones individual outcome beyond just doing good things and yes, people have wild imaginations. Whilst I do feel like a fool for getting hyped myself thinking that really big things were on the horizons because of the wording of the message, I think this is why most international operators usually keep their mouths shut on upcoming attractions and let out very calculated bits of information that tapper expectations. VRTP hyped this up to be huge and it's all nice additions but it's nothing outrageous and the general vibe from fans seems pretty lukewarm. Though up the road Dreamworld has been keeping their cards close to their chest about snek coaster and the other day when they dropped that it had a themed tunnel you could mistake that as the second coming of Jesus. I hate to go down the route of VRTP vs Dreamworld, but you can tell they're being very careful about what comes out. Perhaps it's a Greg thing because I remember DC Rivals wasn't even announced when construction started.

"The most advanced roller coaster in the world. The biggest, the fastest, the greatest thrill ride ever built." I get that it's marketing mumbo-jumbo but its not exactly their first rodeo when it comes to these sort of announcements. I imagine it's something that if you know it's wrong then it mildly annoys you, but if you don't then you find it very impressive. Considering that the people who know are a very small percentage, it sort of weighs in an operators favour to stretch the truth. It does get me excited about Wet'n'Wild again! Whilst I've visited the GC a lot in the past few years, I always miss WNW because its personally a hassle. I remember having fantastic days there, but if I need my water park fix I usually just tack it onto a Dreamworld day and head over to WWW for a few hours.

I have no idea how they're going to fit lines in this space unless they go for a virtual queue? Though then again I've never seen huge lines at LPS anyway so maybe they're banking on that?

Entertainment is hard to get right, and the easier route for a park is to just dump their millions into a flat-ride or rollercoaster that can operate during the entire day, has visible appeal and has guaranteed results. I'd love to see VRTP focus on enhancing their entertainment because I'm also not a fan of HWSD2, but generally it's fine for the families that visit once in a while and always packs a crowd.

I hope we can see a more formal outline in the future because as much as I'm excited by this development, I also have my personal concerns. This hotel will really need some major draws to pull me away from Surfers. As much as I love the parks, I can't justify staying out at Coomera with one of the sole reasons being the neat novelty that this will be attached to Movie World. There is just way more to do out at Surfers and I can continue my night with multiple bars, arcades, etc. in the city. Whilst MW has Top Golf, it's very expensive and too limited in capacity to carry the area's nightlife. I wouldn't be surprised if the restaurant precinct that they've proposed will have a couple themed rockpool dining restaurants such as the Bavarian which would definitely be fun. Though the number one thing for me with staying on-site is convenience. If a park day finished at midnight after getting up at 6 AM to beat the crowds, then you bet I'll stay on-site to get some extra sleep, but considering the parks close so early I don't really see this having that value. Also what are the options if you want to visit Sea World? Will there be a shuttle? Can I stay at this hotel and then the next night stay at the Sea World Resort and have my bags transferred? However it is interesting that they could swing this as being the resort to stay at when you're visiting ANY park out that way, not just VRTP properties. This will be just down the road from Dreamworld and White Water World, so it could be an enticing alternative to the legendary and coveted Coomera Inn. VRTP would effectively be making money off their competition. Though I just can't help feel like VRTP know something we don't in all this, and I wont be surprised if this is the start of multiple announcements. Disney hotel guests are almost entirely in the parks so there is no real problem with noise considering that those who would be complaining are the ones making the noise. The exception are those leaving the resort or just arriving from travel, but they're often hyped further by the activity of the park so it's not really a problem. I don't mean to be rude when I say this, but why? Seems like a nifty novelty for out of towners, but unlike the themed amenities provided at other international resorts that have their niche appeals, I can't see the benefit for locals.

Thrill rides are mostly scary because of cognitive dissonance in your mind. In a nutshell the mind is battling between rational and irrational thoughts. On one hand it believes that the attraction is completely safe through rational deduction: This ride runs multiple times a day, every day, for years without fail. The engineers who built this know what they're doing. I'm harnessed in so I can't do something stupid. etc. But on the other it believes that you're in some kind of danger: What if this time it fails? What if my harness flies open? What if for some reason I have a medical condition that I don't know about and I die!? etc. Basically what might be happening with you is that over time you're no longer casting doubts on whether the experience is safe because through experience you're answering all the questions that your irrational mind is presenting. It's similar to when you first start driving and everything is terrifying but after a few years driving is literally nothing. I have the same fear as you that once I conquer the Giant Drop then I won't find anything thrilling anymore because my bar will have been raised so high that I'll need to take @AlexB 's suggestion and jump out of a plane. Because of that I usually leave riding the giant drop to the end of a Gold Coast trip and spend my entire time working up to it and psyching myself up for the ride.

I'm actually really surprised that they managed to get in the country this year. Europe is absolutely falling apart at the moment in terms of COVID and its wild that ride engineers are considered an essential service worth the risk of bringing them over. Definitely good news for the theme park community though.

WNW has always been a miss for me when visiting the GC. I remember having a lot of fun there but considering it seems that VRTP forgot it existed they just haven't really done anything to bring me back in. I don't really feel the need to spend an entire day at a water park considering we have WNW: Lite in Sydney but if I want to sate my slide urges I'll just duck over to WWW whilst at Dreamworld. Good to see it's finally get some attention and I hope we get some well needed upgrades and additions.

I'm a little late but I really like the new colour scheme of the Gold Coaster though I'd definitely say it's on the way out in terms of longevity. My assumption is that once they're done with Orange & Brown: The Coaster they will likely look to decommission the Gold Coaster.

Definitely some good and fair points. I guess if the park is busier then you're going to second guess whenever you jump into a line which leaves you open to more opportunities to purchasing upcharges, food and drink whereas if you blast through the park because it's quiet then you're going to leave earlier or go off property for food.

I like that colour scheme and design from what I can see. I don't mind that it's using 2D flats unlike this monstrosity