GoGoBoy

Thank you... I love these updates. Very impressed with just how transparent the Aqua Loop slides are. We've never had a slide of this type in oz before, despite WWW's claims

I'd agree with that... HOWEVER sound stages do not have white canvas roofs held up with big poles. So in other words it looks nothing like a soundstage roof

Can someone remind me again what that roof was for over Main Street? It just looks SO bad. What is the point - unless you are going to cover the whole park with a roof and make it an indoor park? Why does Village do random stuff like this with their Aussie parks? It totally ruins the feel of a 'main street' in a Hollywood backlot and I notice the poles even block some of the building facades

Jobe you might have missed the article I saw. Here is the relevant quote: 'The good news is that the operations of the actual amusement park seem to be ticking along well enough, with revenue up 7 per cent and revenue from events improving by 9 per cent.' Here is the link to the article - http://www.smh.com.au/business/famous-faca...1202-18i8p.html We don't want people thinking this is yet another Sydney theme park failure when in fact the amusement park component of the business is running well. It is my belief that theme parks can definitely succeed in a big way in Sydney if run properly, as we will soon see with Wet 'n' Wild

I would doubt (although don't know for sure) that financial troubles would prevent them from getting in more temporary rides for the holidays. I mean it is a pretty inexpensive (and dodgy) way of increasing your ride line-up. A new major permanent ride would cost a few $$$ but these carnival rides - maybe there is some kind of profit sharing arrangement? Anyway just to clarify the newspaper article stated that the actual amusement park is doing well with revenue up over 7% last year. The financial troubles relate to the amount of debt the company has and the refinancing of that debt

Call me skeptical but I can't imagine Sea World creating a ride as incredibly high standard as Bermuda was in its day again. It truly was a fantastic attraction - certainly Disney standard in my opinion. Unfortunately I just don't see them putting in the necessary effort and cash to create something as good

That's probably because they realised the Superloop wasn't much of an attraction all on its own (ahem, Dreamworld's Wedgie)

Ahh yes, I did have a funny feeling Movie World may have announced their White Christmas plans ages ago but couldn't be sure. Thanks for clarifying

Interesting that Movie World appear to have taken this 'snow/winter wonderland' idea from Dreamworld after seeing what a success it was. I truly think Winter Wonderland proved to be a big hit at Dreamworld in terms of drawing the crowds in. However, DW apparently stuffed it up with their poor execution

Why? You had my hopes up when you mentioned 'footings'. Haven't heard that for a while

Yes I noticed that too. Definitely reassuring. I was also thinking that I have probably been too tough on Dreamworld for not adding a major new ride this year. Afterall, they did add both the Wedgie and the refurbed ToT 2 this year (both fairly minor but better than some of their other smaller additions). I suppose it would be a bit much to also expect a new ride. But in saying that they need to WOW us next year and for the next few years really

I'm assuming this will replace the Oakey Creek show? Can't see much point in having 2 farm shows. This new woolshed sounds similar to what they had at Wonderland in Sydney... it certainly used to pull in a good number of asian tourists

Even with no motion seats but just special effects like wind and sprays they could still advertise it as 4D and make a big deal of it. Strange that it is being marketed as 3D though and just a part of the overall show line-up. I guess we will see. I very much doubt that this is the BIG thing for the 30th. Afterall, Ardent did say they were embarking on a 3 year program of major capital expenditure. I don't think shows require too much capital. Of course if I am wrong and we don't see a BIG thing next year I will officially disown Dreamworld and sell my Ardent shares

Sounds like a good line-up. Nice to see a bit of effort being put into the summer season. I like the sense of Dreamworld history they are putting into some of the shows too. My only question is about Spongebob 3D. Isn't it supposed to be Spongebob 4D as it is in many parks overseas? Or are they not planning to install any of the 4D effects? That would be a bit of a shame if they didn't. If they did add the full effects, this could have been advertised as a new attraction in its own right and I'm sure would have drawn a few people in

This is a joke right? I'm assuming they wouldn't build a big coaster over and around the animals in the wildlife park

^ I certainly hope so because if the new and improved 'Oakey Creek Farm Show' is going to be Dreamworld's only attraction this Christmas, their attendance and revenue are going to drop even faster

It just seems to me like Dreamworld doesn't have any big drawcard planned for this Christmas besides a couple of average shows? Unless they are going to re-advertise ToT 2 again. I am also surprised that there is going to be no more Screamworld's for the rest of the year and they don't have anything planned for NYE. Is there something else going on or are they just not trying? Surely they'd be trying to get as much revenue as possible considering how Ardent has performed over the last couple of years

From the Ardent Leisure AGM today - "the launch of the new Tower of Terror II ride at Dreamworld in September is the first in a series of capital investments expected to build on the leading position of our theme parks in the thrill ride market" (Ardent Chairman). Still sounds promising

It'd be nice if they actually went ahead with the planned expansion rather than just adding single new attractions. The park desperately needs an expansion and a significant size increase to get the public more interested. At the moment it rarely comes up on anyones radar as it is just considered as WnW's much smaller/poorer cousin

This is fantastic. Sea World is looking great. I'm confused, what's happened? Do they actually care about the park and its appearance again? I really like all of those small theming touches - at least from my point of view they make a big difference. Now if only they'd put a similar level of care into Bermuda and the park would be well and truly on the right track again

^Double agree

That's a shame to hear. Because the only thing that slightly legitimised that ride was the water sprays. Otherwise it doesn't belong in a waterpark at all. It is now a dry ride for a dry park. Move it to Sea World

Oh no I didn't realise Tower and Rock n Roller coaster were part of Hollywood Studios. Looks like I may need to increase my allocation of days at the parks afterall! There's just so much! During August, is one day at each of the major parks likely to be enough? Just how long do the lines actually get at these parks? Will we be able to get through the major attractions in one day? Is it worth buying 'fast passes' or whatever they are at all of the parks?

Thanks so much for all the info so far. I knew I could count on you guys! At first I was really just thinking about doing a Disney holiday only (say 4 or 5 days at the different Disney parks) and considering my knowledge of overseas parks is not all that great I had forgotten Orlando is actually theme park capital (shame on me I know). Thank you for reminding me just how many amazing parks there are. Although it is going to make deciding where to go a bit harder. I definitely don't think I want to do it all. Even I might get sick of never ending theme parks. I was thinking of saving a few days to check out other parts of Florida. For me personally I much prefer good theming to huge thrill rides. While I definitely appreciate a big coaster, I do find that as I hit old age (late twenties!) I'm starting to get a bit of motion sickness if I go on too many thrill rides. So well themed dark rides definitely appeal to me more. So keeping this in mind maybe I should ditch Busch Gardens and Sea World. I'm also thinking that Disney's Hollywood Studios could be scrapped in place of doing both Universal parks. Still more research to do before making any decisions. In terms of hotels for the Disney part I will def be staying in the Disney resorts (especially after reading the replies on here). I'm thinking about spending the extra $$$ and doing one of the top resorts like the Contemporary or one of the others. For the other part of the trip where we do Universal etc. I think we will stay in one of the hotels opposite Universal as joz suggested. djrappa - at this stage we will probably be going around August 8th as that's when my holidays are. I can always try and get a swap if that's a really bad time

Ok all you overseas park experts... I need your help. I am thinking about a Disney World trip next year (I've only been to Disneyland) and need to know your professional opinion on which are the parks I MUST visit in Orlando and which can be left out. Also, do you have any recommendations on where to stay? I think I'd prefer one of the Disney resorts but interested to hear other opinions. Thank you and let the excellent advice begin!