Skyra

Wow, that's an interesting one. Certainly not true. But interesting..

As far as the mushrooms, I've not a clue sorry. WWW has always been a fascinating one for me and I believe if I'm being told the right info that it is going ahead, there are just some approval processes to finalize first. And lastly, the Tower of Terror's speed has decreased and they seem to be doing this more regularly and the generic answer by the park will always be that the speed is 'optimal' for a wider range of guests. Of course the ride CAN go back to its potential speed; its whether or not Dreamworld decide to do it or not.

Hey Gary wow, an impressive list of questions! 1. I do not for one second believe that it was something they forgot to do, I sincerely think it was pure laziness and cost cutting. If one thing at Dreamworld always failed to make it to the top of the agenda every time, it was theming. The proof is in the pudding I'm afraid to say. 2. That baffles me as much as it does you. If you are referring to Pandamonium (which is the only 'thrill' classified ride in that area of the park), then it stumps me. I don't know whether it was just the right size place to put the ride, or whether they felt somehow the theme of the ride fit loosely into the theme of the area. (Red and gold is all I can think of). It was honestly the worst ride placement I've seen in a long time and now we have another thrill ride about to go up where the Reef Diver was - it is really as if Ocean Parade and the Dreamworks attraction are merging, and I don't know if I'm a fan of it or not. 3. I do not know. We got informed that it was closing and it wasn't reopening, but the reasoning behind it is something for management to know and us never to truly know. 4. No. I think for the most part it was seen as a bit of a cop out and the management knew it would backlash as a 'cheap and nasty' fix instead of buying and developing our own rides. 5. Cost cutting. Initially it was announced it was as a 'tribute' to the ride but we all knew it was really that no one wanted to go to the effort of organising a dismantling. I must say though, that with a little bit of effort they could have possibly pulled off the tribute thing, it wouldn't have been hard just every now and then to touch the chairs up and keep them looking nice. 6. I don't believe so. Dreamworld don't have any short term or long term development plans for the mountain. I can guarantee if it wasn't for the fact that it backed onto shops and other attractions, it would've been pulled down. (This also gave them a chance to realise just how good it was as a storage space). Funny, really. 7. The train was replaced to be more child-friendly, I'm not even kidding. They felt that the new train was more colourful and vibrant and would attract more riders. Was this the case? Not at all. But it was worth a shot. 8. There are bits and pieces of the Thunderbolt in the Eureka mountain, and also in the main storage area under the Tower of Terror. They aren't by any means nice bits, or even still-together bits, but there are bits. 9. As a long term strategy I know that Dreamworld wants to divulge into the roller coaster arena as much as possible - it is the one area that with some improvement could see a massive rise in attendance and ride choice for guests. Now, when I say it's a long term strategy, that's purely down to interpretation as to whether that means it's going to happen soon or if it's going to happen at all. The land near where the Big Brother house is was once supposedly having designs and blueprints for coasters being developed, but because they chose to bring the show back, it got put in the out tray. 10. I don't like the chances. If there's one part of Dreamworld that needs some work and quickly, it's that damn cinema. I would just like to see it maintained and become more of an attraction before I worry about whether it will go 4D - I also don't think they want to enter that competitive space with Movieworld knowing full well that MW has a much tighter grasp on these types of attractions.

Hey T-bone 1. Always been a grey area of rumour and hear say, however with all the different little tidbits I heard over the time, I BELIEVE they are going on show, one in Main Street and one in Gold Rush. They have sat rusting away for so long though that I don't know whether I trust my own belief on this one. 2. There is god knows what tucked away in storage. I know the original TOT car was sent away, where to I can't be certain but it wasn't kept in the park long. The old horse carriage is in the mine ride, along with various parts of the original thunderbolt theming and probably 2 or 3 log ride pods. It could all be sold for a fortune to Dreamworld fanatics. 3. This is a funny story - depending on how you see it. There was some type of plumbing issue and it was never rectified. It was on the maintenance checklist for about 6 months before it was wiped of actioning and they just never repaired it. It is silly, really, but then the water restrictions came into place and I think Dreamworld figured it had an excuse. 4. The whale I haven't seen for years. It's whereabouts I can't tell you unfortunately. I know it was in the tour office for a brief period, then moved to the storage area under TOT, and from there I've no clue.

Hey! What's inside the mountain is a lot of junk to be honest. Bits of the old mine ride, bits of other dismantled rides and attractions, chairs, tables, poles, cables - just a lot of trash really. I really think it needs to be renamed the 'rubbish tip' rather than storage. And in terms of the removal, we all watched it happen, we all talked about it, and they never told us what was going on. It was really annoying when Dreamworld did anything like that - there were so many instances in which things would just 'happen' without explanation and you just didn't ask. In reference to the second point - it really looks as if they are focusing on the rejuvenation of the park. So many rides are on the list for a retheme or refurb, it's awesome to see and I don't see any major announcements being made anytime in the near future - but rumour around the park insists there is a big announcement coming in the future. For Rocky Hollow, I've been told it's going to be a pretty intensive redo, and it's well deserved too. And sorry, no, I never operated the train I knew someone would ask that and of course I can't say.

I don't believe it will be done until after the next round of school holidays, if history is to be proven true.

I understand that the next ride to receive the royal TLC is Rocky Hollow

So since I've left Dreamworld and am no longer too concerned about the repercussions of 'inside info', is there anything anyone would like to know about the internal operations of Dreamworld, be it the park, rides, attractions or anything else? If anyone missed my hello post, I worked at Dreamworld for 20 years - 10 of them as a ticket taker, attraction operator and backup ride assistant, and the following 10 as a ride operator. I still have an awesome range of contacts within the park and I'd be happy to share the inside info or try to get it for you all! Cheers, Mark

Got off the phone to one of my fellow operators in the park - the plan was to reopen today but the ride failed a critical speed vs mass test. Usually signifies a 1 or 2 day closure and testing on any other ride, so if the test goes right tomorrow they may open Monday.

Since the management takeover rI can tend to agree.

It's really interesting that they haven't opened the ride.

I actually have to fix that reply because it doesn't involve a B&M.

They might be opening this weekend but they are going to have a meeting at the start of next week to discuss? "So guys, should we open the ride two days ago or leave it until today?" If Dreamworld are smart they will open on what is historically the busiest day of the week (a Saturday) to ensure awareness of the reopening and word of mouth. If nothing else, to give the guests as few reasons as possible to complain. From past experience when I was working at the park, rides need only a day or two for testing - especially when it is just a refurb and not a restructuring or reprogramming of the ride cycle. I would be a little taken back and possibly a little disappointed if it wasn't open tomorrow.

Correct. Dreamworld has approval from the council and local authorities to use the water. (I should have said 'had', because up until now the water has been long gone.

Without giving too much away a huge announcement is underway from Dreamworld!

It's a shame really as there was a commitment park wide to maintain the theming of all the new rides prior to BuzzSaw being opened, and it seemed to fall on the back burner (as we should have expected). I operated the Saw for a week or two and people just didn't 'get' it. The recipe was there, but the ingredients were all wrong. The TVs went on the blink, the queue line was revamped and the sound was changed to standard radio, and it was highly infuriating for people like me whose primary role was to exacerbate the atmosphere and heighten the theme of the ride. You had all this half-done theming mixed with blank TVs and top 40 music, and none of it made the ride click. In fact, it all made it just that - a ride. Not an experience, as my management was always so keen on telling me it was supposed to be. TOT could do with a refresh of the theming but still holds it's own as one of the only rides with a hint of a 'theme' left, however even saying that is for lack of a better word. Rides like the cyclone and the giant drop are abysmally themed now if it all, and it lessens the mood and uptake of the guests. They are just 'waiting in line' as opposed to being put in the moment of the ride. I have always said the queue is the most important part of a ride and I will defend that endlessly. Without a decent setup or theme for a queue, you just have a line and then a metal ride. The Claw in particular has really needed a revamp for some time, but when stacked up against some of the other Big 9 (oops...Big 8!) it really is still satisfactory at the moment, even though the standards that I am using to judge something as 'satisfactory' aren't exactly the best things to go by.

Wipeout was designed to have water in the base - and we were always told the main reason was water restrictions. The gradual deterioration of the ride only helped the cause to drain the lagoon. It started to look like water in a ugly-shade-of-blue plastic base.

One thing that never made sense to me was getting rid of the water underneath the ride. We were told on numerous occasions it was for 'water conservation' reasons while other times we were told anything and everything under the sun - from the 'vomit in the water' idea to the 'mosquitoes' reason. I don't think even Dreamworld really knew why it was done after it was done - I mean, there must have been an initial reason, then it was actioned, then it was up to time and anyone's guess as to why. So many stories have been told over the years in the park by various staff and whenever it came up in meetings and things, it was just one of those 'ha ha ha, let's move on' topics.

I would assume for the weekend yes based on other peoples' reports that the fencing is down and testing was done.

It's with regret I agree here - I spent 20 years working in the park and I slowly watched the 'themes' disintegrate into..well, in all honesty, a bit of a sloppy mess of rides here and there. It was always supposedly on the cards, but no-one ever actioned anything - especially Gold Rush and down around the Wiggles World/Tiger Island/TOT area. Unfortunately, the theming problem is as vague as the entire park and as specific as queues - take the Cyclone or the Giant Drop for example - there is no atmosphere whatsoever anymore. People just aren't as pumped as they used to be. The queue is an integral part of the experience and the only ride I ever felt came close to offering that atmosphere was the TOT - although the skull never really made sense and it was often a talking point of staff.

Well, if I was to mention all the rides that had planned refreshes, we could cover 90% of the attractions. No offence to my wonderful former employee! However, it was honestly almost as if there were always rides that were going to be touched up - and they picked a piece of paper out of a hat to decide on which one. The only refreshes that I am under the impression are going ahead are (were) the Wipeout and the Rocky Hollow Log Ride. :-)

Just to rehash - ride ops can't manually control the Cyclone especially in the return to stop phase - something that annoyed me sometimes especially on busier days - but it's just one of those things you sort of just go 'well, it's not that big of a deal' with.

I overheard a conversation a long time ago that they were going to set one up in Main Street as T-bone said for photos etc. One thing I learnt from working there though was never to take anything you hear as fact. So I guess we just wait and see.

I think it's awesome that the Wipeout got its refurb - it's been overdue for one for a long, long time. The general consensus in the park, not just from the guests but also from a staff vantage point - was that it was extremely dilapidated and needed some work done...some heavy work. It's good to see a proactive step from the park to makeover the ride and get it back to what some might call its 'former glory'.