Noll_57

Knowing what the park’s awful management is like these days, it’ll probably remain where it is now permanently.

Nah, they were in the other tunnels on the walls (and possibly under the track as well, it was hard to tell when travelling through there so quickly).

Fair enough, I never noticed it back then. It’s definitely much more of an eyesore where it is now.

You mean Pico Play?

Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s pretty awful overall and definitely gets in the way. I would much prefer that it wasn’t there. I’m just saying it seems slightly better compared to how it looked in earlier images. Yeah, the cable running to Speedy Taxis has been there for a while now. The tree has had a bunch of electrical equipment in it for years, but has never had any noticeable wires running to it. I’m thinking something’s gone wrong with the underground cabling and the park has done this as a quick/cheap solution.

I’m not sure if this is actually new, or I just haven’t noticed it before. But during my visit the other day it seemed like they’d added a few more figures and bits of theming around the (previously blank) interior sections where the coaster enters/exits the building.

That fencing lasted until the early 2010’s, when it was replaced by the first generation of the pool fence. I remember being there in 2009 and staff were constantly yelling at people to stop climbing and sitting on top of it. I believe this is the case. When the original pool fence was installed, the park’s presentation standards were a lot higher and they still showed care for maintaining immersive theming. I doubt the management back then would’ve installed a generic black fence if they weren’t forced to. I’d say WHS required the fence to be in that style and to make it as noticeable as possible to create a “strong visual barrier” around the ride or something like that in order to meet their particular requirements. After seeing the fence in person, while it’s definitely not great, I have to agree that it doesn’t block the facade as much as it seemed like it would in earlier photos. Another less than desirable visual change I noticed during my visit though were these ugly electrical cables that are now being flown through the Loony Tunes area. They extend all the way from a tree next to Marvin the Martian to the big tree near the entrance to the land.

I remember hearing that Merlin were interested in potentially buying Dreamworld a few years ago (around 2018/19) but I doubt that’s still on the cards considering the financial difficulty the company is currently facing and the significant cutbacks they’re making at their existing parks. I really hope Coast hang on to Dreamworld as long as they can as they’re doing such a great job under the current leadership.

I’ve heard through the grapevine that the park hasn’t seen the return on investment they were hoping to get from TNT/PZ. That combined with the low visitation during non-peak times has (I believe) led to this decision. It’s a shame as it was the only all-year park in the state. As someone originally from Melbourne, this is 100% true. Melbournians really don’t like going out in cold/wet weather, especially to venues that are primarily outdoors. What other phases have the park announced? The only one I’m aware of is the on-site hotel complex they were talking about a few years ago.

I identified a few IMAscore tracks playing at the entrance the other day. They definitely add so much to the atmosphere and are far better than the generic top 40 music that used to play in the area. I’m so glad Dreamworld is starting to move towards using proper themed audio instead of just relying on typical pop music. I know I talk a lot about music at parks, but it’s such a vital part of the whole experience and I feel as though our major theme parks have never really been great at utilizing themed audio in an effective way (apart from old school Movie World back in the day, but they have turned a lot of their background music off in most areas of the park now). At least DW is making an effort and doing a great job. It would be fantastic if they could gradually replace the remaining pop/dance music in the park with more thematically appropriate soundtracks though, as that would really help to elevate the overall guest experience IMHO. That would be fantastic, thanks (and thanks for creating the terrific in-park playlist too)! BTW, do you know if Dreamworld has ever considered commissioning IMAscore to produce an original composition for the park? They have composed so many iconic soundtracks for a number of European parks and it would be amazing to have specially composed theme music of that quality to compliment one of our attractions here in Australia!

I agree. For me, Movie World still had some magic left in it in 2019, well after many of the thrill ride additions and the transition away from the behind the scenes “movie magic” theme. I just saw it as a shift in focus, rather than a downfall. MW was still fairly well run and maintained for the most part in my opinion (or at least the public facing side of things were). The park’s decline is a more recent phenomenon and didn’t really start until BGH took over and staff like Greg left. In my view, it was a sudden, sharp decline that really became noticeable in late 2021. Many of the big problems the park faces today started popping up around that time. I do agree with several points made in the video and I too do miss old school Movie World. But to suggest the downfall started all the way back in 2005 is quite ridiculous IMHO. I also wouldn’t say the park is ruined, it’s just going through a rough time at the moment. All the foundations of a good park are still there, it just needs better staff and management to turn it around. It can easily be done with the right people.

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary have announced they’re opening a new permanent nighttime experience called “Astra Lumina”. It’s essentially a walkthrough multimedia show with various lighting installations and projections around the property. It will open on Wednesday the 5th of March and run every Wednesday to Saturday night from 6pm. https://astra.currumbinsanctuary.com.au/?_gl=1*pr2cj1*_gcl_au*MTk1NTE4OTQwMy4xNzQwNzIxNzc3*_ga*MTIyODQ0MDI0MS4xNzQwNzIxNzc3*_ga_K4ZMNQNL77*MTc0MDcyMTc3Ny4xLjAuMTc0MDcyMTc3Ny42MC4wLjA.*_ga_0BG99XZ1LD*MTc0MDcyMTc3Ny4xLjAuMTc0MDcyMTc3Ny42MC4wLjA.&_ga=2.134048008.744302085.1740721777-1228440241.1740721777 I was at the park today and noticed them testing some of the new installations.

I really hope so. It would definitely be a positive thing if they are. Though most of the AV techs/electricians the park currently employ seem to mostly just focus on shows and events rather than maintaining the smaller systems around the park such as those within rides, the background music systems etc. The park used to make an effort to maintain those things, but again, not since BGH started running the show unfortunately. Anyway, getting back to the topic, VRTP put up ads for attraction maintenance technicians fairly often. There’s actually a couple of positions for “Mechanical Fitters” at Sea World and Movie World listed at the moment. Both roles involve ride maintenance and the ad states that all potential candidates require a Cert III in Engineering - Mechanical Trade, while also mentioning that someone with hydraulics qualifications would be very desirable. https://careers.villageroadshow.com.au/en/job/501694/mechanical-fitter-sea-world https://careers.villageroadshow.com.au/en/job/502246/mechanical-fitter-day-shift

I’m pleased to hear the park is interested in bringing back the animatronic Bunyip. It was an iconic part of the Big Banana and I’ve seen quite a lot of interest and discussion about it online. I do wonder if the original Bunyip is still sitting in that lake? Last time I was there, I noticed what appeared to be the old control hut for it still standing beside the lake, along with a bunch of pipes and wires running into the water.

I’m pretty sure those audio visual systems haven’t been touched at all since BGH took over, considering how many don’t currently work (and haven’t for years).

I noticed the old Claw feet are currently sitting behind WWW, so I’m guessing they might be reused as part of King Claw’s theming.

Dreamworld have just sent out an email explaining the lore and backstory for Rivertown in detail.

I heard from a staff member (working on the Dreamworld Express) the other day that they’re hoping to have the full circuit reopened by May.

I visited Movie World today and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” has already stopped playing along the entrance to OZ. Now there’s just dead silence. Same in the FOTWW queue, no audio or atmosphere whatsoever. The majority of the greenery that was in the Emerald City plaza on opening day has been ripped out and the fake flowers in the water feature have decayed even more. Although the park was relatively busy, OZ was absolutely dead with very few people in the plaza area the entire time I was there. Despite this however, FOTWW still managed to get a 50min queue. This was mainly due to the ridiculously slow operations (the time between dispatches passed 10 minutes while I was timing it)! Speaking of terrible operations, Green Lantern was dispatching one train roughly every 7 minutes! I thought it was closed at first due to the lack of trains going around. What a disaster this park has become. I know I tend to criticise Movie World and VRTP quite a lot and I really don’t want to be overly negative, but it truly is unbelievable how far this park I loved so much has fallen. Remember, this is a park that offered the same level of quality as Universal back in the day and it truly was world class. Now all the magic it once had is long gone. All my criticism comes from my long held respect for the park. It still has so much potential and could be turned around with just a little more effort and care.

I love all the custom themed oil cans hidden around the Murrissippi Motors station with references to Kenny and Belinda as well as other Dreamworld attractions.

That’s brilliant! It looks as though they’ve painted some of the interior walls too.

When I was at the park a few days ago, I noticed what looked to be additional theming for Rivertown/Jungle Rush sitting in the former Rocky Hollow area, including what appeared to be themed rubbish bins.

Some photos from today…

That’s already been gone for a while. They removed it about a year ago.

Was at Dreamworld today and while they were still only running one train on Jungle Rush (with the longer ride cycle), the ops were fantastic and despite being very busy, the wait time never went over 30mins. Must have just been a bad day yesterday.