Slick

Threading the gap between @DaptoFunlandGuy and @joz here - in poker terms, I don't think you want to show your hand, nor do I think you fold and show nothing. I think you just need to have a plan and continue to have a conversation about it. No "ooohhh masterplan coming soon" and no "here's Atlantis... loljks." Disney as per usual does well in leading the pack in having a plan, drip-feeding a project, letting the project open and succeed, and then moving on to the next project. In the case of Dreamworld, i'd have the next five years mapped out with five key milestone projects (coaster, ride, family, slide etc.) and literally just say "we have a ride coming every year for the next five years!" and then drip feed the milestones out. 11 months out, here's the concept art for ride #1. 8 months out, here are the facts and a first look. 6-2 months out, here's construction, get excited. 2 months out, here's the ride in action. <1 Month out, get your tickets, we're doing a launch party, woo. Then let the ride do it's thing all summer, then come February after the holidays, rinse and repeat for ride #2. Interlace with a bunch of seasonal events that you're constantly building upon year over year, and you've got yourself a money-making machine and a way out of the post-2016 hole. It's why Disney parks will do up a scaff with a fake castle print overlay when they're working on the castle. My biggest gripe with our parks, and it's a line i've beaten to death now, is that whatever succeeds something should be better, no exceptions. Our parks (all of them) fall short of that mark quite regularly. You only need to look at Village's new signs to know that we take steps backwards everyday. Disney is Disney because they're forever adding and plussing things, and, eventually, that becomes an experience that's greater than the sum of the parts. Disneyland's opening facades were fractionally better than Dreamworld's opening day facades, and over the 7 decades since, they've continually refurbished, touched up and added to them, and now they're epic. Dreamworld has constantly been a case of slowly removing, whether it's been smaller touches like colourscape, flower boxes or big touches like replacing custom-carved old doors with glass sliding doors or entire facades for Abu Dhabi Airport. Keep cutting some more, no barbershop quartet, no sound of a steam train in the distance, add a modern roof down one end, add a LEGO store in the corner with a bunch of white walls.... I feel like i've been waiting for over a decade for that to feel true with Dreamworld. Same for Sea World currently too. The removal of the chairlifts and the SBNO'ness of the Log Flume really makes it obvious.

Have to agree. It’s WhiteWater World’s most underrated advantage.

Sage words for wisdom for those who get upset over other people’s opinions.

Okay then. Don’t believe me, it’s all good. 😂🤷🏼‍♂️

Huh?

If you’re gaslighting someone online about the semantics of name-calling, I’d dare say you’re not on the right side of the discussion. I think we’ll move this chunk into chit-chat later. 🍻

You’re missing the point. There are things that folks who work in or near the industry can elaborate on, and some things they can’t speak to, let alone wink/nod/smile about. It’s a secretive industry in Australia due in part because it’s so small, which in turn makes it very cutthroat, and then in turn causes the aforementioned mates dobbing in other mates just to get ahead. Fact is though, you only have to look at any of the dozens of forum threads covering ride construction over the last decade to know that Parkz (and to a lesser extent, OurWorlds) have an understanding (and in turn have earned great respect) on how to thread that needle so that relationships and careers are respected above all else. As a result, most folks that have been here for a hot minute know to trust community leaders, and if we’re not being transparent there’s usually a good reason why. It’s not to feel superior or because we have a god complex, we’re simply protecting sources or ourselves. 🍻

Transparency kills careers in this industry. I know this all too well - when I was made redundant, I had shared my experience privately with a small group of mates. One of those mates (one that I had known for 15+ years, had photographed his and his family’s weddings) decided to dob my private conversation into my former employer in order to curry favour for their own fan site. I wasn’t proud of what I said while I was hurting (who is?) but I felt the integrity move was the right move and owned what I said immediately. Meanwhile, this friend continued for months to gaslight me and other folks in the community, going as far as to create fake accounts/emails and even blaming his own fan page admins, tearing a group of mates apart in the process. That mate has still yet to own his impact. What a top bloke right? TLDR; I don’t have a relationship with my former employer anymore, purely because a friend capitalised on my heartbreak on a dream job ending prematurely. That’s why I say “trust me” and why I just don’t care anymore if you (or anyone) thinks it’s wankerish.

I am the evidence. 😄

You’ve misread. The island can be developed, the river can’t.

🍻

The land can be used, the river can’t be filled in.

100%. I've long been an advocate for surge pricing, especially when it comes to school holidays.

Individual lap bars make me super un-easy on a boat ride. I think Cedar Point’s defunct boat ride is the canary in the goldmine on why you don’t do this.

I’d take the white over a texture. Matches with sky voyager and will outlast any colour. Also, I really hate multi-coloured shade structures.

@themagicianbringing in the goods as always. Cheers mate! 🍻 Will be interesting to see how this visually connects with the rest of the park from the highway once built.

I’d say they’re not going to put anymore money on major capex until Steel Taipan has made some money for the park. Whilst fiscally sound and prudent in theory, it demonstrates a lack of understanding about the current climate and the nature of the industry. That is to say, theme parks require constant investment, it’s an unavoidable reality, and in a post-Covid world, everyone’s buying rides, lead times are getting longer and the longer you wait the longer you’re back behind the eight ball to recovery - again.

Agreed. What would you like to see instead?

That’s insanely optimistic given the circumstances.

Just after the incident, NewsCorp did a hit piece on Dreamworld being a "ghost town" and distributed it amongst a bunch of online outlets. They used images during odd times of the day to show the park "empty" and I did a counter-piece which highlighted how phoney their photos were. That article went on to get a few hundred thousand hits in the first 48 hours and helped to shift Dreamworld's initial re-opening narrative. My point then is that both individually and as a collective, we can say and do things the parks themselves can't and people value that level of authenticity and credibility, especially when they're doing research and deciding where to spend their money. It's why Trip Advisor reviews are so important to the parks, or why the YouTube clip I produced two years that speculated on what coaster Dreamworld would get still has more views than Dreamworld's last four YouTube clips combined, despite all being about the same thing. Independent voices matter. Most industries get this. Apple doesn't pull The Verge's or MKBHD's credentials just because a review wasn't glowing. Sony doesn't ban the Rolling Stones just because an artist's album wasn't received well etc. etc.

Eyyyy 69. Not opposed to this at all. Jolly good.

But then again if you're going to do the event every year do you invest in the stuff you need now to make it a success long term? Maybe the answer is somewhere in the middle.

I've been thinking about how I feel about this event today and this is where I'm at about it... I think it's a great idea on paper. If I were an exec I don't think i'd realistically do too much different, the continuing of the premium selection of unique foods is great, live bands is great, showbags, sure, gotta make money, the farmyard, well, marketing something they took away as brand new sure is a vibe, right? I think really what has the potential to let it down is the execution. These days local shopping centres throw as much energy and money (if not more) into seasonal events like these. If Westfield said they were doing live bands, farmyard animals and some pop-up stands it's pretty par for the course. Then you throw in the fact that a lot of these premium foods will be in the Troll's area, a walled in patch of astroturf that's devoid of personality or, heaven forbid, theming, and the concern then will be that it'll miss the mark. If they're opening up the Farmyard again, why not re-open the rivertown restaurant as a nice place to drink a beer and eat some of the premium foods on the way to the farmyard? I'd love to have a beer on the balcony upstairs. You get people out of that concentrated hub that's now Ocean Parade and it's a great use of existing amenities that are lot better than being walled in by spring time facades that scream nothing Dreamworld and everything phoned in. I'd do the same again for the farmyard itself, there's a brilliant space between the farmyard and the river you could pop a few tables in and then make that another place for food and beverages to thrive. Get. People. Moving. Around. The. Park. @Richard may inevitably hide this section (which I can respect, it's his site after all) but I feel it's worth sharing that when it comes to larger parks, we almost always share press releases on the site. But Parkz (or OurWorlds for that matter) didn't receive a press release today. When it comes to the forums, we share our opinions not because we hate one park over another but because, like so many, we're passionate about the industry and want to see those in it succeed.

Seems to be a bit of confusion tonight on the news if it was County Fair or Country Fair - hell, when I went to go update the title, I edited it to say "Country Fair" because Ocean Parade was originally called "Country Fair."

It hurts to be reminded about how good the tower used to look.