Slick

My crystal ball says days - they're definitely burning the midnight oil to get this running.

I had no idea we had enthusiasts in such a remote joint - that’s a solid two plane trip to get here!

I'd say that was due to the recent storms.

It's fine I guess - it doesn't at all hold a candle to the old facade - I dunno who thought white panels was going to trump a Disneyland facsimile facade - the facades they demolished still appear in many of their photos and it's as iconic as the entrance plaza - but there you go, not my business I guess. The shade design is the best bit - it should be the icing on the cake but right now with the white panelling I think it looks like it's missing something. As a theme park, white walls is just not good enough, as a building design, it's just not good enough, as something that's going to remembered as a potentially iconic turning point for a company, it's not good enough. Recently I visited New Plymouth in NZ to checkout Mt Taranaki and the Len Lye Centre. In regards to the Len Lye Centre, my thought there is that if a regional town over the ditch can create an iconic aesthetic to their museum's facade then a multi-million dollar company like Ardent should be striving to do better. Especially if the benchmark's already "it used to look like a Disney facade" who are basically the defacto global standard in theme park quality, and especially if every shopping centre's dining precinct (like the one across the road at Westfield) does it better. My advice if someone from Ardent is reading? I'd actually take inspiration from the Len Lye Museum and replace or treat the white panelling with a very thin sheet of coated aluminium mirror sheeting. Instead of bland white facades, they'd have a mirror finish which would reflect the sky and thus tying the "soaring over the sky" subtext of the ride experience much more closely to the real world design. It'd be a relatively minor design change that wouldn't be too expensive to implement and would bring up the look of the ride to something very, very premium and iconic. It'd also make the design look more like the original concept artwork. Len Lye Centre above. Other mirror-finish facades. As I said - you can get the aluminium cladding down to a fraction of a millimetre thick and delivered on a spool.

Someone left the door open.

Word on the street is that both Buzzsaw and Escape from Madagascar are both open now, leaving Hot Wheels and half of Wipeout as the two last closed attractions.

Really great footage buddy however might I suggest doing the capture again? The amount of dropped frames makes it a real tough watch. Awesome otherwise.

So Dreamworld gets favour for costume characters whilst Movie World doesn’t?

Are you referring to Wags, Feathersword and Rosey?

Needs more love. If you want to skip the below i'll simply say that it seems that it seems like it's still very much a work in progress. Lots of technology used and lots of it still needs refinement (and a bit more coin spent) to bring it up to either what they're selling in their TVC's or up to the standard it was at previously. Main queue line hall is still very sparse - black walls where there was facades previously plus the same behind the scenes reel is still showing. If it's "next generation" i'm sure it's worth the money spent to put something new or additional on the screens because without much else to look at all eyeballs are on those screens. I suspect something unexpected happened there with the main hall facades and am guessing it'll return soon, so not a big deal. Strobes are missing from load. Are they still there? A lot of the dark ride component is as it was which is great to see - new facades do blend in well and it's hard to figure out what was actually old and new. Great job there. First sign of newness are two gigantic screens in the dark ride section (not project mapping) with videos of the purple gargoyles trying to jump at you. It's fine but a bit meh for my liking. It's definitely missing something (like a facade to project map onto, methinks.) Second newness you see happens as you approach the swinging swords - there's a giant green screen that sticks out like a sore thumb that's used for a big projection screen effect that succeeds the mirrors - essentially more purple gargoyles seem to appear from behind you and try and attack you. Again, it's okay but with a bit of love and refinement of the timing between cars and effects would mean you wouldn't see that green screen and the illusion wouldn't be ruined right off the bat. I think personally taking the super old school approach of something like a simple pepper's ghost effect would've been way more effective, but to each their own - at least in this situation it's an easy fix so not a big complaint from me, and if it can be improved upon and refined it'll be great. TV Screens line the lift. Great idea, but needs way more love. One car (and i'd say only the front row of the front car) gets to see Scrappy, with the rest seeing two screens that are out of sync with the front screen's faux-rock wall graphics - meaning when the lift hill moves it's not only out of sync with what's physically happening but the screens are out of sync with each other. Again, just needs love to get right. High zone (party room) is strange. The turntable is a...thing? Is it a mirror room now with kebab-shop LEDs? Is it a breaking mirror room because of the car entering it? Is it supposed to be a laser and i'm being zapped? It doesn't make sense and I don't get the story being told there. It's from here through to the end where I become really lost - one laser was working in the high zone but there was plenty of random props on the floor of the high zone. Just seems off. Cool strobey lights and effects for the drops along the track but neither seemed to be in sync when the train zoomed past. Again not a big deal, that'll take time to get right, so no complaints there, but the cool, epic track was missing (is it supposed to be playing?) and with one laser it just seems flat now. Not hard to get back to being super awesome, just needs someone with the right expertise to spend a bit more coin to bring it up its former glory. The last scene with the faux drop has more projection screens. I much preferred the faux drop being hidden by plenty of haze and a laser cutting across. At this point there's been so many gargoyles randomly jumping out at you with the volume set to 11 that the novelty of the jump-scare has worn off. I'd maybe try something different, or fun, or novel, or something with the screens to round off the story. Ends back in a Tiki room theme along the brakes with a jump scare at the end which I will admit I liked. TLDR - I walked away kind of lost of words - i'm not sure I like it yet - it feels rushed. Is all hope lost? Nah, it's salvageable with some more love, which I hope it gets and it's what i'd like to see in the future - it's fine for the summer break, and then come February, having someone spend a bit more time getting the timing bang on, spending some time getting the screens (and some real project mapping) happening and even getting a specialist in to do the lasers right will make this ride epic.

Was in the park and snapped these on the way out. Still think the original facades looked a million times better, but it's not the worst thing in the world. Will say i'm now excited to jump on this thing in a week or two - bonus points to Dreamworld / Cutting Edge if they pull a Soarin' at the end of the ride's film and the fly-over ends back in at Dreamworld. Switchbacks are all in. Sails look nice. Not sure about all the white. Bit boring. With the huge barriers down it's much easier to see now. It's a tight fit. (THATS WHAT SHE SAID) The connection between old and new is... interesting. 😕 Note the switchbacks on the left - i'm guessing for Ride Express? A closer look at the main entrance. Three stories? Signs. There was another sign near Billabong which shows something different as well. It definitely wasn't always going to look this way outside. Big ol' white bum with a lot of exhausts. A wider look at what's going on. And some panos for the pano folk.

I foresee that space to get a giant LED screen as you can see it all the way down to The Claw. You heard it here first.

I actually don't care how valid or invalid their argument is, intending to ruin a sick kid's day is horrible.

And folks think @Richard drinks the Village Kool-Aid. There's plenty in that POV that's awful. If a park touts incredible, revolutionary project-mapping and a whole new experience and after a year of closures all they deliver is just just meh graphics on a screen, I think people have every right to be disappointed.

Yep, yeah... nah thanks.

When it comes to hot button topics I’m inclined to agree here. Let’s keep things civil in the interest of not reducing the debate’s integrity.

I think that argument's a little flawed though - I know of a circus lion that does the rounds that receives fantastic veterinary care, but I don't think his life is at all dignified or enriched in any meaningful way. I'm all for captive breeding programs and the use of respectful entertainment to raise awareness to conservation, provided the exhibition of whatever animal doesn't cause stress and a decreased lifespan, and more-over, has an ability to live an enriched life in captivity. When we stop deforestation, global warming and figure out what to do with that giant floating plastic island AND all the animals are no longer being endangered by poaching, then i'll side with the activists for an end to all large & exotic animal captivity. Until then...

Yeah, this is the only thing i'm really on the fence about.

You know what would've fixed this ride? Having a projects team again.

It's a ride that millions of people have already been on, there's no need to be butt-hurt about a few extra projection screens, especially when it's marked as spoilers.

Bloody gorgeous TVC and super well produced but it sounds like the ride itself doesn't hold a candle to it which is a real shame.

After countless months of closures (nearly a year total?) and both the park and its managements pushing a full opening today on social, there's absolutely no chance they should get to suddenly start walking it back saying it's still in technical rehearsal just because reviews aren't favourable.

@pushbutton two thoughts - does it seem like it now makes the space feel cramp? And what's your thoughts on the white?

What I wrote was corroborated with pictures and reports from multiple folks. To be clear, I said folks were pushing in front of others, not pushing each other. My point about the outside queue in the pathway still stands - whether staff eventually organised the queue to stand to one side is pointless when there's a shaded queue line specifically designed for this they never used.

A couple of folks have kept me up to date who are down there for the opening & suffice to say they've absolutely bungled the opening of a much hyped "new" attraction. Firstly, their website still lists the ride as under maintenance. Despite this, they're very much marketing it as open. Not a great start from a communications perspective. So how has real world operations been this morning? Literally no crowd control prior to that section of the park opening. Folks were pushing in front of other folks trying to get to the front of the "rope drop" to line up for Scooby. Scooby is still not open (as of 11:07am) and wasn't open when guests tried to enter the ride after "rope drop." Staff were turning folks away & not allowing guests to form a queue outside the ride which i'd imagine would be super frustrating for those who turned up early and waited. The exit shop opens shortly after 10am and was telling folks it'd be open in the next 30 minutes, adding to the confusion of if the ride will open at all and when. Staff put a "ride closed" sign at the top of the Scooby entrance and an awkward mess of people stand at the front of the ride. No staff accompanying the sign sending more mixed signals about the ride. Despite Scooby Doo having an outdoor switchback queue-line that's mostly in the shade, as of 11:10am staff are ignoring guests and a messy-huge queue line is forming in the middle of the path. Staff haven't updated guests as of 11:15am despite there being a staff presence. Despite this, there's a staff member handing out Fast Photo passes. IMO - how do you stuff up the most basic level of crowd management on opening day? 99% of other theme parks have their supervisors create a plan of attack to ensure every guest is looked after - hell, even retail outfits like Apple hand out water and speak to every customer individually to ensure everyone's in the loop, but here we have Village saying it's open on social, but it's not on the website, but it is in park, but maybe not if you talk to some shops?! I really hoped they learnt from when they bungled the Rivals opening. Guess not.