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For a small $40 upcharge, you can buy a one-shot virtual ride* (*Village Key members only)

So, a safety mechanism performed exactly as designed and stopped all motion upon detecting a fault. Sounds like front-page news to me.

I'm glad Jaggs Journeys took the initiative to finally fill it in himself.

Please don't shit on the rides.

It's a shame that they got the mermaid the wrong way. It should be fish on top.

There will always be travelers that only have a single day at the park that will pay to skip the queue. They will still sell out during peak periods because even with dispatch times cut in half, the wait is still long. Faster operations would increase the revenue from backward rides (if reasonably priced), and from on-ride photos. Any time there is an up-charge for a ride or attraction, it will always be more lucrative to maximise the opportunities for more people to pay. It would also increase guest satisfaction, which increases park spend (happy guests spend more money), encouraging repeat visits and one-pass purchases.

You're wrong. A Huss Topspin is a crap ride that is uncomfortable and provides no thrills. It doesn't belong at either park. Sea World should have brought back a classic Pirate Ship and added an Intamin Coaster Wheel (which provides both mild and wild gondolas) Movie World should get a Mondial Avalanche which looks crazy but is fairly tame. Something for people that want moderate thrills.

The only way to 'play' is to ride Leviathan OR get a friend to pay $25 for Village Key. I feel like this isn't so much a 'quest' as it is increasing the wait time on a signature attraction. It seems... lazy. Also, a whale watching tour for four people seems like a better prize than 2 nights at SWR with a roller coaster 'tour'. But, a real opportunity to do an amazing treasure hunt with an educational experience has been missed here. Imagine if you had to collect items from around the park to build a nest for your egg - from Castaway Bay or Nick Central, and then 'capture' different fish etc. from Shark Bay Castaway Bay or Jellies illuminated to feed it. Find it some dolphin or seal friends at the shows/exhibits and get to know the animal's names. Village Key is clearly for locals. It should try to make a park visit more interesting and exciting for locals, to encourage repeat visits. You could fill out an entire day doing things that you might otherwise miss or overlook, taking you into the corners of the park you rarely visit, and building a more intimate connection with the animals by getting to know them better - plus, keeping the kids engaged for a full day with a proper 'hunt' for things. Use the App and the Village Key to encourage people to explore the whole park, not just ride Leviathan. It really wouldn't take much to execute something like this. A few QR codes to be scanned, some 'Atlantean' symbols or phrases around the park to be collected and solved to find the next item on the list. Some animations or photos in the app, a bit of a story to wrap it all together... it could have been simple enough for kids, but fun enough for adults. Then again, I expected the Villains Unleashed bracelets to allow people to collect 'points' at movie world for interacting with rides and shows, that would unlock cool things in that area and they never did that. I feel like Dreamworld has a solid opportunity to do a digital experience right with the opening of Jungle Rush. Hopefully they read this post and learn. (I would happily design something for them if they asked).

and then not actually host a funeral service

This is not new. It's no different to Morgan modifying an old Arrow coaster, or S&S turning a Premier Rides water coaster into a steel launched coaster. Zamperla have hired a bunch of people from Intamin to build out their roller coaster division.

There's already a twist in the forward drop after the top hat. Why have two of the same element?

You don't need a light door, just a light trap. The ideal solution for Leviathan would have been to build a tunnel out of the station to the overpass that crosses the lift hill, and a tunnel at the end that turns 90 degrees into the brake run. That didn't happen and likely never will. Doors can be made fail-safe with a gravity driven, counter weighted design and ratcheting anti-rollback mechanisms that need to be powered to release. But that's more maintenance and any failure would result in the current experience, so it's not really worth it. The passive tunnel design would be the way to go if it were to be done at all. It would also solve the small sight-line issue of the white shed walls visible from the brake run which break the immersion when the rest of the ride/station is so well themed.

But shade sail poles obstructing a pathway is a VRTP tradition.

Or they just wanted to move as much expenditure as possible into the 22/23 financial year to reduce their tax bill, with the up-side of early construction being that they can install the new components as soon as they arrive - possibly leading to an earlier opening date - while avoiding construction conflicts with Oz. IMHO, there is a lot of pointless speculation about why it is taking a long time, and it doesn't matter. It's not like you'll cancel your annual passes because the ride isn't ready before Christmas. They've announced it and given it an opening date which is more than they usually do. I'm just going to appreciate that they're putting an old ride to good use in an appropriate park, filling an ugly, unused area with something good, and spending the money to effectively build a brand new ride (apart from the track itself) which should help prevent some of the reliability issues MW is facing before they can begin.

The area highlighted is used as crew parking for various productions at the studios. When the studios have multiple productions happening at once, there are hundreds of cars that need to go somewhere. In 2022, Ticket to Paradise, Irreverent, Young Rock 2 and Nautilus were using every single building on the VRS lot. The buildings just under the highlighted area are Special Effects workshops, set construction buildings and other offices for production-essential companies. This would effectively proposing to split the studios in half. While I agree that BOH areas should stay BOH and shouldn't interrupt attractions or guest flow through the park, the theme park support facilities also shouldn't occupy Studio space at the expense of the Productions.

You're the perfect Village Key customer and exactly the person that they were hoping would buy.

No spine because it's the brake run. Same old track, new brake fins and a shiny white paint job.

Here is the news story referencing the $20M, and the 'ride within a ride': I'm guessing the $20m includes the initial purchase price/commissioning of the ride at WnW, plus the move to/refurb/re-theme/recommission at MW. Probably also includes marketing costs for both. Weird way to make an announcement - especially with a 2024 opening.

VRTP, Luna Park Melbourne would like to have a word with you.

ABC engineering is owned by Intamin, so it doesn't matter which company they used to design it, it is 100% an Intamin ride. Zamperla are one of the world's largest and most respected ride manufacturers. They have build thousands of reliable rides that handle greater forces that TTD. Designing and building new coasters from the ground up is a more difficult task than adding a spike, a switch track and an LSM system from Indrivetec (the same supplier Intamin uses). They're perfectly capable of modifying Dragster. Their lightning trains are also aluminium, not steel, so they can build longer trains with 25% more capacity - which is going to matter when you're adding a spike and extending the duration of the ride. That alone might be the only reason the spike is possible at all. Intamin might have proposed what everyone initially expected - a simple update from Hydraulic to LSM launch and a retro-fit of the same trains. Zamperla's lighter trains might have been the thing that made the spike possible from an operations/capacity point of view.

Because Intamin only produce 100% reliable rides with no downtime like Doomsday Destroyer.

If you've only got one spare day, do Lotte World. You can get to JAMSIL station on the Green (Line 2) or the Red (Line 😎 Subway. You'll want to head in early, it's a bit of a walk through the shopping mall to the entrance of Lotte World. Also, have breakfast before you go. There's not a lot open at that time of the morning between the station and the entrance. Get there before opening and go straight for ATLANTIS on rope drop. This ride attracts the biggest queue and will be over an hour wait by the time you get off the ride if it is the first thing you do. The park stays open until quite late and the rides are open until closing. You can pretty much spend 11-12 hours there and ride everything a couple times. The lunch time parade is usually fairly average, but the night time parade is absolutely amazing and should not be missed. It's genuinely better than the Disney parades I've seen. You'll want to get a good spot somewhere in front of the castle which sits above the Ice Rink (up the Pirate Ship End). Get there a little early, because people often get 4pm-close tickets just to see the parade. Don't be deceived by the short line for Comet Express - the line outside is just the overflow for the very long line underground, so hit that one up right after Atlantis. There are a lot of smaller hidden attractions (simulators, shooting theatres, shooting simulators) scattered around the place, and the kids area is also incredibly themed, again, Disney quality. If you want to go ice skating (I recommend doing this on a different day possibly in the evening if you have one spare), they typically do 30% off for Foreigners if you have your passport with you. This is roughly the equivalent of free skate hire. You need to wear gloves while skating, but they sell knitted ones for really cheap at vending machines. If you have friends in Seoul, have them try to find discounts. Samsung often offer 40% off entry with their credit cards. I once got $15 all-day entry with a free Pizza slice. Good Times. Also, TAKE CASH. Lotte know that foreigners travel to their shopping centres and theme parks, and they will try to get you to say 'yes' to a 5% currency conversion fee on every transaction - even if you have a fee free travel credit card like the 28Degrees Mastercard. The message will often be in Korean, so if you can't read it, you won't know what you're agreeing to. Sometimes the staff will just hit 'yes' for you. But it will show up on the digital signature pad. Everland: It's a pain in the ass to get to, and there is a lot of walking, but T-Express is amazing. If you've only got one day, I'd recommend skipping this one and heading back to Korea for a holiday. Seoul Land: This really is a beautiful park. You don't go here for the thrills, it's more for a chilled day with some old-school rides. You can often find discounts for entry after 12pm if you look online. The coasters are pretty old and difficult to fit into if you're taller than 6ft. But there are some great attractions and really good, cheap food. There is a really great western themed shooting dark ride that is possibly one of the best I've ever experienced. No screens, just physical targets. It's a lot of fun. But if you're into the rides and only have a day, Lotte World is your best bet.

The on-board audio for GL and the on-board video/lighting for DCR are both powered by L-ion batteries. If you've been on those rides, you've been locked into a coaster near Lithium batteries. Most people are pretty happy to get into a sealed, pressurised tube that travels in the air at 800km/hr with hundreds of Lithium Ion batteries, that also has explosive kerosene in the wings. They'll even wear the batteries in their pockets, on their wrists and in their ears because the risk of an adverse event is extremely low. GL almost killed people and it wasn't because of the batteries. Mechanical and structural failures can happen for a vast number of reasons - even with good maintenance. L-ion batteries are not inherently more 'unsafe' than any other mechanical component at risk of fatigue, fracture, wear or failure. They're designed into the ride with appropriate electronic and mechanical shielding. In the Objectif Mars incident, the fire was extinguished by staff, and two women were treated by paramedics. Their injuries could have been from inhaling smoke or from them panicking when exiting the ride, not from the fire itself. Nothing about their injuries was reported so we can't know for sure. We do know that they were treated by paramedics and not sent to hospital.

A few things that people should probably keep in mind: The area isn't finished. Let them put in all the theming and rides they have planned before making judgements. The theming inside the area is far more important than a sign you'll just walk past. A reasonably generic sign allows for unlimited theme and ride changes within an area of the park. With a Dreamworld owned IP, they can theme rides to whatever they want inside the land, add and remove rides as they need to, and build their own IP. Kids in that age group do not care about ABC Kids as a brand. They care about specific characters and shows. A fairly generic sign also allows for seasonal and event theming at the entrance to the area which could be far more visually appealing. 'ABC Kids World' is additional licensing that Dreamworld would need to pay for. Personally I'd rather they sink that money into new rides rather than new signs which can be changed in a few years anyway. Linear television is dead. ABC Kids & ABC Me branding will eventually all just merge into ABC iView branding which is where most people are watching ABC Kids shows anyway (on SmartTV or mobile devices). Investing in promoting 'ABC Kids' as a brand or a themed land doesn't really serve Dreamworld or ABC in the long-term, particularly since kids are already experiencing the ABC brand as iView. This isn't my opinion, this is what Libbie Doherty - the head of ABC children's has repeatedly said at industry events. After 20 years of bad decisions and outright neglect, Ardent are finally investing some money and attention into the park. They've hired the right people to do it, but they don't have an unlimited budget. Sure, we'd all love to see incredibly themed areas, particularly with what was lost in Madagascar Madness, and Gold Rush, and the absolute abominations of MDMC, SkyVoyager and the mess of land-locked waterslides crammed into the front of the park. Realistically, our parks do not, and will never get the daily attendance required to build and maintain sprawling themed lands with licensed IPs. MW couldn't maintain the DC villains area and have struggled to maintain WB Kids. Every element of detail and theming on every ride, every themed building, character statue, sign, speaker, screen, fountain, shade sail, queue rail, garden bed and path is something that is going to be exposed to the harsh QLD sun and storms and abused by millions of visitors a year. It all costs money to paint, clean, maintain and replace. Every dollar that is spent on repairs and maintenance is a dollar that isn't spent on new rides and attractions. Baking those hard costs into your designs up-front is not a wise business decision, and is not sustainable unless you're Disney or Universal. A fibreglass 3D sculpted sign for a kids area is not going to increase visitor numbers or increase in-park spending. Improved theming/painting/lights on the GD will. New rides and attractions will. Personally, I think the sign is fine. I think using Dreamworld IP in K&B is smart. I think DW is making a lot of good decisions, the best being to bring back Rivertown and move all the kids rides into one themed area.

This ride would go perfectly in that spot. They could theme it to the ocean and put a big wave behind it which the queue can go through.