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GoGoBoy

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Everything posted by GoGoBoy

  1. I hope the fact that the city will be busy is the reason you guys do not want to head in there... not because you're worried about homosexual men. Surely everyone here is more open minded than that
  2. Unfortunately it's true... I would imagine the majority of Wonderland's guests are blissfully unaware that Demon is a crappy old coaster. Most Aussies would still be quite impressed with it (boy are we ever behind the times!). Therefore, Dreamworld could probably get away with it. However, the fact that they have already bought a second hand coaster from another park in Oz which was highly publicised may be an issue for them. If they add ANOTHER one to their collection they might start getting a bit of a dodgy reputation. I'm sure DW would be aware of this. Don't do it Dreamworld... say NO to Demon! My guess is that it's heading off to Kuala Lumpar as the 'brand spanking new' attraction at Sunway Lagoon. They don't seem to know any better over there either
  3. No way Gazza. I think IF Dreamworld was to buy the Demon (I truly hope not) it should be re-themed as Tsunami... exactly as it is in your ride concept drawings. That would be perfect
  4. Richard you are absolutely spot on. The CEO even said something to that effect during the staff closure meeting. He talked about the various improvements that had been made to the park over the last few years and how they were almost entirely funded out of Wonderland's own operating revenue. Oh Sunway... how little respect I have for you
  5. Oh no... not Dreamworld! Please no more 2nd hand coasters. The thing that is annoying now is that Wonderland is starting to become packed out with visitors every day because everyone wants one last visit before it closes. So Sunway get to reap the benefits of 2 full months of a totally busy park and then sell it for a nice profit. It's all good for Sunway. The way I see it is that people should really be boycotting Wonderland... not giving them a nice cash bonus before they close. I guess everyone wants to go for one (or more) last trips to say goodbye. No new attraction could bring in the sort of numbers the theme and wildlife park is getting now that it is closing
  6. Well if you think about it Sunway paid only around $50 million originally when they bought the WHOLE of the Wonderland property. This property included all the land surrounding the main driveway and car parks. Sunway has been selling these parcels of land off seperately for various prices. The $52.5 mill that everyone is talking about is just for the specific land that the theme park sits on. So therefore in total they have made well over $52.5 mill. When you think about it that way, Sunway hasn't done too badly at all. It's also worth noting that Sunway will continue to have a financial interest in some of the land as not all of it was sold completely... part of the business park is going to be a joint venture with Sunway. By the way... welcome back Daniel, we missed you. Forgot to say that before. Where were you?
  7. The shot Richard posted isn't actually a shot of the main entry facade, it is a side view of the building. I absolutely loved the ride when I was a bit younger. It is well themed and filled with lots of atmosphere. There are parts of the ride where you feel like you are floating along an actual jungle river at night (it is quite dark). The only problem is that it seems to have deteriorated quite a bit over the last few years. It is definitely not quite as good as when it first opened (like most attractions I guess). I also don't mind the fact that most of Movie World's dark rides are in 'aluminum sheds'. The sheds are designed to look like sound stages/movie studios so I think the park can get away with it. It is better when they actually create a proper facade out the front of the sheds though... like they did with Scooby Doo
  8. Just noticed that your pics disappeared Gazza... I'm guessing because we transferred over to the new forums. Can you re-post them? I was just thinking now how perfect Tsunami would be for Dreamworld considering the Demon may go on sale for a rather cheap price. It would fit so well in Ocean Parade. As much as I hate the Demon and don't really want to see it continue it's life in Australia... if Dreamworld totally re-themed it with all the elements you have in your pic including the massive wave and water sprays... I would be excited to ride it again
  9. That is such a cool idea Gazza. I swear you have some of the best ideas for ride designs I have ever seen. Whether or not they would always work perfectly technically doesn't matter 'cause it's all about experimenting and trial and error until you get the right design. All of your theming ideas compliment the rides really well too. I hope you are going to study engineering or something similar at uni so you can make a career of this. We need people like you in the industry
  10. No one has given me an answer regarding my request for another date. Does that mean it's a no then?
  11. Oh no! Does it have to be 7th March? How about the following Sunday? I know you guys have kinda locked it in but would anyone object to the following week? I'd LOVE to come but can't make it 7th March. Pleeeease. Even the previous Sunday would be okay (29th I think). Just not the 7th!
  12. djrappa - very well said. Channel seven news did a great segment on Wonderland tonight. They showed the CEO crapping on and on with his list of tragic world and local events which have affected the park.. all an obvious cover up. They made him look like a fool (which he is for the way he is handling this). They also showed the CEO saying only that there had been "an expression of interest" in the WS site. The report then went on to say that the site has actually been sold to ING for $52 million for industry purposes. He was therefore lieing to the staff last night when he told them that he "did not know" what was going to happen to the site. What a disgrace. Congratulations Malaysia - you have made some serious bucks out of one of our treasured assets and turned it into a pile of factories. Thanks again
  13. If you wouldn't mind, save the Luna Park questions for the Luna Park section of these forums. I don't want to sidetrack from this important topic. Even though I guess it was inevitable for Wonderland to close considering the way Sunway were doing things... I am still amazed that we are even discussing this. It is all very surreal don't you think? I can't get my head around it. They day has actually come. No more WS. So, so weird. Richard - looking forward to your thoughts on this...
  14. That's one of the things that makes me so angry with Sunway. All the previous owners of the park sold Wonderland to other companies rather than shutting the place down. Sunway is not going to do this. Why is that? My guess is that they want the land to sell off and develop for the business park. Come on guys, we all had a suspicion that this might happen. It wouldn't make sense building an ugly business park so close to a theme park if this wasn't the case. The CEO avoided this topic by saying he had not been told what was going to happen to the site. He did mention there was some interest in the site but this could mean anything. I can guarantee to you right now that the site will NOT re-open as a theme park. If this was going to happen Sunway would have made sure they sold it first before announcing its closure
  15. Richard - is there any way you can change the title of this topic? Now that it is confirmed I think it needs to be something more appropriate like 'Wonderland Closing - It's Official'. It is such a MAJOR issue afterall. I have managed to gather some info which has come direct from this evenings meeting. Some of the points the CEO made are as follows: *The CEO said that he could not guarantee that the park would actually stay open until the end of the April school holidays, although he is going to try. He said he would play it by ear as it depends on how many staff actually decide to stay around until that time *The park was in financial difficulty when Sunway first purchased it around 8 years ago *Sunway were able to spend some money refurbishing and upgrading the park but were not able to spend any large amounts of capital due to the state of the parent company (thanks to various factors like the asian economic crisis). Because of this, no major new attraction could be added to Wonderland *Wonderland was apparantley badly affected by all the recent negative world events which is supposedly a major reason the park is closing. He felt that in the last 5 years however, the park had greatly improved and thought it was an effort to be proud of. He said the park had been able to fund much of its improvements and refurbs from its own operating revenue (or something to that effect) *When Wonderland would have a good year the CEO would promote this fact to the board of directors at Sunway but the board would say to Stephen "we just can't keep doing this anymore (loosing money)" *He mentioned that the parks in QLD are in a better financial position compared to Wonderland and are generating profits which is why they are still open *A small number of staff will remain in the park after it closes to perform various jobs. Wildlife staff in particular will be required to stay on for some time to help with the transportation of the animals to other venues etc. *The CEO also said that once it has closed, the theme park will remain as is until further notice. Apparantley the board of directors has not given him any information regarding the future of the site but there was some "interest" already expressed in the site (ie. the land) My personal opinion remains the same as it has always been. I truly feel that things may have been different if the Malaysian company Sunway had not taken over. Sunway was not able to (or reluctant to) invest the necessary capital to truly boost Wonderland's performance. They have allowed the park to close without any thought as to how this may impact on Sydney. The fact is they probably don't care. Wonderland is a Sydney and Australian icon. I believe that Sunway have had their sights on that parcel of land that Wonderland has been sitting on for some time. In time, I'm sure they will redevelop the land for the expansion of the business park. As I have always said, this will mean almost instant profits for them. Unfortunately they are just not interested in investing any more time nurturing one of Sydney's most loved assets
  16. I don't know if you would be able to call that a good start. If you ask me it would be just another CHEAP Wonderland attempt to try and incorporate their Marvel relationship more. If they are going to do that it should be with new rides or else re-theme the entire Transylvania area to Marvel (not just select sections of it). I hope that does not happen though as I like Transylvania as it is - it has some of the best theming in the park in my opinion. Also, they should save the 'Spiderman' name for one of the bigger and better rides. They would also need to remove all the current theming around the actual wave swinger (dragon's flight) gondola as it is very flowery and old fashioned... not so suitable for Spiderman
  17. I have to say that I really like the sound of Dreamworld's refurbished Wildlife Experience. I like the fact that they have separated the area into different themes (each representing a distinct Australian environment). Afterall, it IS a THEME PARK. I would be very impressed if I was visiting from overseas... much better than Wonderland's very basic Australian Wildlife Park (it is in a particularly bad state right now). Congrats to Dreamworld for all the great recent refurbs! On another note, I was looking over DW's owners corporate website and reading some of their reports. It noted that attendances have continued to increase during the second half of last year and the first half of this year. It also mentioned that the temporary Tomb Raider exhibit was very well received and that this proved that DW was able to 'prudently manage its capital investments'. I am concerned that DW may feel that it is not neccesary to add expensive new rides when they are able to add temporary exhibits and still gain an increase in visitation. I also read that DW's 'intensive 3 year capital investment campaign' has come to an end. Do you still think it is likely that DW will continue to add major new permanent attrations on a regular basis? How sure are you Richard that a new RIDE is actually coming this year? I may be just reading into it all a bit too much
  18. Interesting to read your thoughts on the petting zoo Richard. I hadn't realised that DW was similar to WS in terms of the large number of asian visitors they get to their wildlife park section. Does the Australian Wildlife Experience have a separate entrance similar to the Australian Wildlife Park at WS or do visitors have to pay the full DW entry price? Also, what is the wildlife area like compared to Wonderlands? (from what I can see they both have similar shows - sheep shearing, koala displays etc). I find it strange that the petting zoo is going to be an extension of Nick Central rather than the wildlife area. Is it anywhere near Nick Central? Do you think it will have any of the same theming? I can think of much more appropriate minor expansions for Nick Central than a petting zoo. However, if it is actually going to be designed as part of the wildlife experience then that makes more sense to me (as it would be appealing to the asian tourists as discussed earlier)
  19. Hey Slick... for someone who loves Dreamworld so much you should know that it is simply branded as one word - Dreamworld. There should be no capital W in 'world'
  20. I'm surprised DW is adding ANOTHER animal exhibit. Any more and that place will be more of a zoo than a theme park
  21. Thanks joz. I can always count on you to appreciate my wonderland-related discussions. I would love to take over Wonderland's management but I can tell you right now there is no way I would do it if Sunway were still the owners. I just wouldn't subject myself to that kind of frustration. I can imagine that every proposal I would put in to the Malaysian directors would come back with a big fat NO (especially if any money was involved)
  22. What type of 'fight scenes' do they have up at Movie World? And what is involved with the Matrix stunt performers that I have heard mentioned a few times?
  23. I think a theme park with various related businesses surrounding it isn't a bad thing. I don't think a bungee or 'carnival' rides area would work well outside Wonderland's main theme park though. What would have worked well is the hotel, golf course and wave pool which was originally planned (as discussed earlier in this thread). It would have been perfect for the hundreds of asian tourists that visit the wildlife park on a daily basis. The resort could have been set over quite a large area and utilised the native Australian bush on Wonderland's property to give it a real Aussie theme. The asian (and other)visitors could stay a few nights, make use of the golf course and then head on up to the Blue Mountains. With the waterpark expansion Wonderland would have been able to change the Beach into a stand-alone attraction. This would mean people would have had the option of just paying for entry to the Beach or buying a Wonderland and Beach combined ticket. I really feel that these facilities would have complemented Wonderland perfectly
  24. Actually a few years back Wonderland had definite plans to build a bungee style attraction over or near the main lake. It was so close to happening that even the staff were officially told about it. Not sure if it was going to be an up-charge or not though. However, just like everything else Sunway has planned for Wonderland it did not happen. Other things that come to mind are the wave pool, golf course and hotel. These ideas were scrapped and they decided to build a business park instead. For Sunway it will mean a faster return on investment. Such a pity
  25. Haha very funny joz. Sorry, I am a bit slow today. I think I needed to see one of those smiley faces after it to see it in the right context. It all makes sense now. Never mind me
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