Slick

I've been following it up with the journos who wrote the article. It's well worth reading the Twitter exchange that's transpiring currently. I'm not interesting in dragging Dreamworld through the whole TRR thing, having to go hear all of the inquest findings was mentally exhausting to say the least, but I will say that if I see news reported incorrectly in this particular case i'm going to pursue it. By all means folks, if you find information that says the other raft had folks in it send it this way.

Came here to say the same thing, glad you're on it too. It's pretty classic Daily Mail really - i'm not surprised they ripped off other journos' work as they're known for it in the industry - what's amusing is that what they ripped off is factually wrong. TLDR; Daily Mail sensationalist garbage article, please don't click the link and give them ad revenue.

Having spoken many times with Longhurst and asking him point blank why he sold it (and subsequently writing about it) I can tell you that's not it. But you are correct in that focussing on one thing shouldn't come at the expense at the other - in Dreamworld's case, without a large roller-coaster it's a little bit like re-arranging the deck chairs while the Titanic sinks.

I'd love to see executive-level management sweat the small details again like their predecessors did. Back in the day, both Longhurst & Menzies would roam their respective parks looking for the little inconveniences that inevitably added up if left unresolved - in Longhurst's case he'd sit in the IMAX Theatre and watched throughput when the film finished, he'd jump on the train and listen in on the narration whilst checking how clean the trains were and would be so fastidious about how well kept the gardens were that people would come to Dreamworld just to see the flower-beds. In Menzies' case, it's somewhat well known that he would go to the parks with his wife on Christmas just so he could see the parks without anyone hassling him. Basically it's all about fine-tuning every possible moment of the customer experience. Until you've sat in every seat at Green Bean, you won't know how many table-sets are in the glaring hot sun or which tables are too close to the speakers. Until you've lined up as a guest for Tower of Terror, you won't realise how hot, sweaty and smelly the queue line stairs are. Until you've walked up to the Aquaman Exhibit as a punter, you won't realise how the entrance is very un-inviting etc. etc. etc. etc. It's such a simple thing to do and yet no one does it often enough.

Nope, these are photos I took in 2004.

Me when Sky Voyager was announced: Me when Sky Voyager opens:

For clarity - I believe the article incorrectly reports that they were in the raft that bumped against the doomed raft - in the inquiry it was established that the raft just after the conveyor belt was indeed empty. As such i've reached out to the reporters for comment. What I believe is more likely is that they were on the raft that was in the station being unloaded and somewhere along the exit.

I too had this exact same thought.

But it'll already be open so those who have got time off or travel interstate will be going up regardless...

Won't that interest come regardless?

Why? And why wait until April?

That's kinda the point of soft opens though.

This is what is the most interesting to me - by all accounts, the ride's ready to rumble, and yet it's still closed.

So the tractor's fine then?

Definitely worth considering that our parks have gone through what Craig Davidson (former CEO of Dreamworld Ardent Leisure Theme Parks & Attractions Division) would describe roughly as a "once in... history sort of thing." There's been more rides down for extended periods of time from both Village & Ardent than any other time previously. Suffice to say, once when Sidewinder pops out of unexpected, extended annual maintenance, I think that'll be the last of this frustrating out of the blue maintenance. With that in mind, there's probably not enough to justify specific ride threads about maintenance, but maybe "just" enough for a pinned thread about Movie World & Dreamworld with the rest lopped into a general maintenance thread. At the end of the day, i'd just like the parks to be accountable - the days where you get to do dodgy stuff and think no one's watching are over.