Guest 239

Such a great long-term business practice they've got going there. Really shows the forward thinking of the company. "Let's reel them all in and then severely disappoint them. It's their fault that they're deciding to come to our park!" This is a fast-food tactic. Show an amazing, incredibly crafted burger and then sell an awful mass produced mess. I expect that from a company that sells $2 cheeseburgers not a company that sells $89 day passes.

Atmosphere was dreary at Movie World today. You could tell many families were disappointed with their visit and I've never actively heard children complaining about being in a theme park because they're bored until today. Village really dropped the ball on managing expectations with this one. You really shouldn't roll out the carpet and celebrate reopening when half your park is basically a construction zone. It would have made much more sense to quietly reopen with a focus on local community attendance whilst aiming to really ramp things up for the next holiday.

Cheers for the heads up Jordan, appears as though I don't even have as much insight into the situation as I thought! This is legitimately good news. I do wonder how they will address the multi-day passes.

Because not everybody is as informed as we are. When the average guest sees that Movie World or Sea World has reopened after a few months of closures then they're going to expect everything to opened and ready to go. VRTP has only mentioned that parks will be at 50% capacity but have mentioned zilch about what will actually be open within the parks other than 'social distancing will be required'. The problem that arises from this is that many of us have season passes and once Sea World reopens next week I can guarantee that the passes will start ticking over again. Though if you're not feeling safe or don't feel value in going; too bad so sad. You're still paying for it whether you like it or not because technically the parks are open and you can go. It's like being charged for a gym membership but not being allowed to use any equipment though you're more welcome to wander the building. Also they're not going be generous and provide discounted day passes so imagine the poor sod that buys a one day pass to Movie World when it reopens and gets to enjoy a handful of attractions for the same price as they could have pre-COVID. If Dreamworld isn't opened then they aren't charging anybody for an inferior product by having half the park closed and nobody is out of pocket because their season pass isn't being wasted.

I’m emerging out of my cave for a little bit to post this because I feel it’s relevant. The reopening of the Gold Coast parks is going to be a logistical nightmare if rushed. It's one thing to get guests through the gates but once inside there needs to be enforced efforts to ensure the safety of guests and so far Ive seen nothing publicly that suggests that the parks are ready for this. If the parks want to use their position as leaders in the tourism industry which they’ve been boasting they should also be laying out their own framework to the public and other establishments for how their reopening is going to occur and what measures will be in place to ensure guest and employee safety. If a single outbreak occurs within those gates consumer confidence is going to plummet and it'll cause a cascading effect to the wider tourism industry. The global industry is adapting to this situation and many companies are laying out proactive plans for their reopening that go beyond the necessary guidelines to instil confidence in the public eye because without that confidence it doesn't matter what your capacity is if people aren't willing to attend the venue. I want to see the leaders of the Gold Coast tourism industry lead in this situation and provide clear demands not only on what they require to operate safely whilst still being financially viable but also outlines on what will be in place when they are operating to ensure safety of staff and guests. Opinions are my own.

We cancelled our Shanghai trip to go to Japan! There is very little to worry about. https://tdrexplorer.com/coronavirus/

I can't see any wacky wavey men on the island.

Agreed that it adds atmosphere to the park. Whenever I visit Dreamworld and TOT isn't running it feels like something is wrong because hearing that metallic whoosh every 5 minutes really drives home that you're at Dreamworld.

That's some confusing placement. Why is it in a sneaky corner?

Interesting decision. Wet'n'Wild is a household name and even as an enthusiast I was too aware of Raging Waters. I feel they're going to need to do some heavy marketing to keep this in the public eye.

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is probably the best for young families in my opinion. I know you've both been, but I think with kids it'd be new again. A couple of pros: The park is basically never crowded but still has all of the magic that you expect from Disney. The resorts are within walking distance / very short shuttle trip so you can rest during the day without missing anything. You don't need to wait long for shows, entertainment and parades so you don't really need to worry about the kids getting restless. Character meet and greet experiences aren't insane so you've always got the opportunity to meet the fan favourites. Flights from Australia are SUPER cheap if you can score a good deal. If anybody asks me this same question, I always direct them to Hong Kong Disneyland.

Absolutely agree. One of my favourite shirts is a Sea World 'corporate' Polo I bought from there a couple years back. It's a very similar design to their Village Roadshow workers uniform which is strange but I really like it. I'd love to see attraction specific Polo's in the same corporate style. Overall though I don't mind Australian theme park merchandise. It's understandable that they they're not willing to take a risk on expensive & exclusive merchandise like you see at Disneyland ($100 attraction specific spirit jerseys for example.) but what they offer still allows you to take a little piece of the park home with you.

The show seems to be well received by the general public.

I've been Dreamworld about five times in the last couple of years and I actually never got A chance to ride Wipeout. It was either closed unexpectedly or under refurbishment. In all honesty, am I missing out?

It was mentioned earlier, but California Screamin (or sadly, Incredi-coaster) does a great job with their scream shields. I'd like to do a see larger roller coaster put into Luna Park to help put it on the map.

Okay, noted. I got caught up in the emotion of this thread and I apologise if I've come across as rash and rude. @Richard I highly respect the work you do for the Australian theme park community and I'm disappointed in myself for letting emotions get the better of me instead of furthering the discussion that you've striven to create. I was frustrated at the stance many people take towards Dreamworld. It's entirely justified and fair that people have this stance because they genuinely haven't shown any interest in improving their property outside empty promises. However, I have a personal attachment towards that park and you could say it makes me bias. It's not my responsibility to help people think of Dreamworld in a different light and I'll leave that to their PR team. Even though this community can sometimes seem like the front lines of a war zone, I know that there are genuine individuals willing to further add to the discussion and excel the conversation. If there are any stances or points that you don't agree with that I haven't provided a sufficient response to just let me know and I'll clear it up. I realise that this thread will probably show me in a certain light. I won't take back what I've said, but I will learn from it.

Patiently waiting with your big stick?

I appreciate your response @joz. I'll throw my opinions out there to help further the discussion and get the debate going. I'm always happy to be proven wrong, even though I can be rather stubborn on my stances.

@AlexB Thank you for respecting my stance and opinions. In regards to your final comment, I think I know where it comes from. Many opinions on here aren't debated, they're attacked. I'm happy to have a discussion but in response to @Richard questioning why I haven't provided a rebuttal to some arguments it's because my words are picked apart and dissected to consistently keep me on the back foot and that doesn't constitute discussion in my opinion. A lot of people don't have the patience to deal with that sort of behaviour and you end up with a community full of twitchy people with big sticks ready to whack whatever comes into sight. I could respond in gifs, short sentences and 'lists' that entirely focus on one side of the argument but language was invented for a reason and I choose to use it.

I think I've confused everyone by mixing up my wording on one-off and temporary. One-off, as in unique attractions, are excellent especially for a parks identity. One-off, as in temporary attractions, are not welcome in world class parks in my opinion. Sorry for the mishap! Citation needed. Though I agree with most the rest of what you say. Well said.

More disappointed than anything. This community perpetuates a negativity bias. It lusts for failure and drama. Threads and articles regarding positive outcomes, announcements, and successes are quickly snuffed by negative bickering, snarky remarks and the dismantling of others opinions that don't match the echo chamber. Please, prove me wrong.

Sorry, I think I misinterpreted your response.

One off rides shouldn't exist in world-class theme parks. Because they could have followed the current expectation of just building a roller coaster that even two years on still gives Movie World praise. We have nothing like this in Australia.

We can only blame ourselves and the public for this. We want additions, we want them big and we want them now! Therefore theme parks go with the safest additions possible for the minimum price and maximum impact. Look at Dreamworld for example. They took a risk with Sky Voyager and they're paying for it. It's been delayed a couple of months and the theme park community doesn't care about the attraction; they just want to see heads roll. Other parks around Australia will look to this an example that if they take a risk that doesn't pan out then it's just not worth it. Put in a multi-million dollar virtual flying theatre that's delayed? Scorned. Chuck a temporary travelling carnival ride in the centre of your theme park? Praised.

I guess you're all right. Dreamworld has had a slump in later years and therefore moving forward we should expect the worst from them no matter what they say or do. I will join the enthusiast community in constantly reminding the public of their sins of the past and to further bring us closer to Wonderland Sydney 2.0. I'm not fussed because it'd make a great history video on ReviewTyme.