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I waited 2 and a half hours when I was there last year. Still thought it was a really solid ride, but agreed not as good as Mystic Manor having been on both. I can see why a lot of people like it, especially if you know all the songs (I didn't, but the preshow and pepper's ghost illusion were standouts) If one is pressed for time and want to do everything, then yeah the $20 is worth it, it's an elite dark ride. The park was reasonably quiet (for tokyo disney standards) on my visit and in 1 day I was able to cram in all the dark rides except for mansion, as well as big thunder and Splash without paying for DPA once. Yeah I rope dropped journey when I went, was the number 1 thing I wanted to do (because i was very unprepared with getting timed entry to fantasy springs). Best ride in that park hands down, and my favourite Disney ride so far. The usage of the test track system is elite. I paid for DPA just so I could ride it again at night. Unfortunately as a tall fella I missed out on raging spirits because the height cutoff is strict - such is life I can't ride Superman or jet rescue anymore without slumping my lower back slightly. Have heard the Disneyland Indy is poorly maintained compared to the Disneysea one so intrigued by the preference for california.

You can't rush these things. it might take other folk 9 months to build a rollercoaster, but here at village, we'll refurbish one in 3 years if it kills us.

I would love to see what risks they did identify, because someone standing up on a character seems like an obvious one to me?

Scuse me, but that's a Parmi right there. The numbers have gotta stand out, and while theming is nice, i think what fits the theme is something brown, beige, cream, or green and those just aren't going to pop out hard enough to be seen by servers across the restaurant. We went yesterday and tried out the restaurant. Although advertised as 11:30 open, staff informed us it wouldn't open until 12. We waited around, and were the second group seated, though some of our party joined us a few minutes later. Drinks took a little while to come out (nothing too fancy) and then we all ordered food using the QR code. We watched as other groups came, ate and left. Several senior staff came in wearing their jungle rush branded button down shirts and some with dreamworld staff nametags, with groups (I assume their family) and also ate, and left. So the service was reasonably efficient. Our second round of drinks came in a reasonable amount of time given the restaurant by this time was packed. Unfortunately our food didn't arrive. Well... one dish arrived (so we knew the order had been received) but nothing else came out... We waited almost 45 minutes (we waited this long as several wait staff running food kept coming near, looking around and then returning to the kitchen, so we weren't sure if this was our food but kept the hope that ours was the next one out of the kitchen) before one of our group approached the bar to raise the missing food. To their credit, they checked our table number, went immediately into the kitchen, returned a few minutes later and advised our food was coming out the door in moments, but acknowledged that it most definitely should not have taken as long as it had. Compounding the issues they also advised they'd experienced an "IT issue" with their ordering system. They offered what was a fair compensation for the delay, but it did end up taking two hours out of our day by the time we had eaten (kids meal didn't come out with the other main meals and we had to ask another waitstaff to go check and it arrived about 5 minutes later. Putting the delay aside, the food was delicious, perfectly cooked and well presented. There was a small hiccup with salads being delivered with incorrect ingredients (one of our party specifically ordered one salad over another because the other had coriander in it. The alternate one had coriander in it but wasn't listed on the ingredients. The replacement they sent out was a different salad (the one that had coriander on the menu) but without coriander... so a little odd there, but again, resolved quickly once it arrived. I noticed Greg come through the restaurant while the bar staff were sorting our food issues. He came through chatting to folk and a few minutes later was manning the bar - nearly got a drink from the man himself but I declined his offer as we needed to speak with the staff member we'd dealt with on our food issues. We saw him moving about Rivertown throughout the day and I think it's great to see a really involved leadership team. It was clear to see the restaurant had issues, and around the time we approached the bar, the restaurant suddenly swarmed with dreamworld staff who were very clearly not the restaurant wait staff. (At a guess, I'd wager they even pulled in office \ admin team to clear plates and glasses.) Overall, while I know the restaurant had opened a few days prior, I'm happy to put it down to essentially opening day jitters. I don't believe the park has had this level of full service dining before, and the venue itself hasn't operated in over 6 years. Teething issues are to be expected, in or outside a theme park. My local had a new store open up in July this year and our first visit on opening day was a nightmare and we left after 1h20m without food - however we returned 3 weeks later to perfect food and speedy service. I'll be trying out Jane's again in a few weeks time - I suspect the team will have found their rhythm and bedded down their procedures \ ironed out any kinks. At least, I hope they do - but will update our experience when we can. ETA: I should add while all the dreamworld nods are cute, and the animatronics certainly give the place a certain life - it kinda feels jarring against the rest of rivertown. It's like it was designed by two different companies - there's a whole bunch of thematic elements that just don't fit the 'rivertown' canon. It's a great place to cool off in the heat and sink a beer by the river though, i just hope the animatronics don't end up looking like the old koalas that surfaced a few years ago - need to ensure they're maintained and kept up.

Yeah the land behind Maloney's Corner is still state owned and still utilised by Citi rail as an important marshalling yard for trains. Its also a very important walking corridor around Lavender Bay and is highly used. LPS tried to get the zoning for the land that they use as picnic grounds and overflow seating to allow rides and attractions and submitted a DA to allow this. The independent member for North Sydney Council, Ian Mutton ( a real douchebag when it comes to LPS) led a chorus of residents against the proposal and LPS instead of fighting it, quietly withdrew the application and so it remains what it is. Ian Mutton is also the main voice behind converting the railway line to a highline walkway all the way back to Wollstonecraft station. He has been lobbying the state govt for this for a number of years but the fact remains that Citi rail still require the land and the line so this is not happening anytime soon. There is zero chance of LPS getting any of the land behind Maloney's Corner due to a lack of political will and fierce resident objection plus the fact that the land is still currently in use and not surplus to demand by the railway. My ideas for how to expand LPS would definitely cost more that $37 million ( which if we are being honest- is not a huge amount of money if we are talking about reinvestment of attractions) but I guess any of my ideas could be done in stages. They are just ideas and form part of a plan on what I think would be great for the park- plenty will disagree or hate what I propose but at the end of the day they are just my views and ideas. The original poster who said that the top of the carpark is the only real available space left to expand is 100% correct. Currently it is a green space with soil, grass and seats but this could be easily removed. The soil and grass would have some weight to it but another factor we would need to check is safe load bearing for this area and if it can handle the weight of any attractions that would be placed upon it. It may mean that it will require some extra bracing and reinforcement to attain the safe load bearing structurally but I am sure that this could be easily done. What I first propose is to move every single kiddie ride and attraction to this central point. This includes all 6 kiddie rides from Maloney's Corner to be reinstalled here. This includes the Freaky Frogs, the Silly Sub, the Cloud Nine, the Loopy Lighthouse, the Bug mini Ferris Wheel and the Little Nipper Rollercoaster. This would then form a kiddie precinct with all the kids rides available in an accesible space. This then could be themed with sails and plenty of seating for the mums and dads. To access this new kids precinct, there would be a need to erect a walkway and accessible ramp with lanes for up and lanes for down. It needs to be big enough to accommodate prams and wheelchairs and its important to note that there would also be an entrance to this area located on street level at Alfred Street. This pedestrian ramp would be built in front of the current ticket office and shop at the front and would snake out so that it starts in the middle of the midway, allowing for access to the ticket office and shop underneath. Of course it would need to be themed and Luna Parkified and the below pic is just an illustration showing the concept. Now that we have room in Maloney's Corner we can think about what attractions we can add that would give value to the mix. IMHO, I feel that LPS is currently heavy in kiddie rides and then thrill rides. There is not a lot in between so I think that some rides that the entire family can appreciate would be in order. First order of business I would move Hair Raiser from its current position to inbetween Boomerangs Helix- making much better use of the available space. This would then free up its current space for a new attraction. In the space that is currently occupied by the kiddie ride Cloud Nine, I would install a Gerstlauer Sky Roller 16. This is a mild thrill ride that the entire family can enjoy and its thrill factor can be upped by how far you want to roll your gondola. This would fit well into the current available space and would not be too high so that it would interfere with the Luna Park Planning act. In the space next to Boomerang and what was formerly home to the Little Nipper kiddie coaster and The Bug Mini Ferris Wheel, I would install LPS's 5th roller coaster- an Intamin Vertical LSM coaster. The designs for these coasters have small, medium and large and they are promoted as being highly customisable. If Intamin can design and fit a Hot Racer coaster into where the Big Dipper is situated then they can surely fit one of these into the footprint that is available. I did consider the Zamperla Heart Coast or a Premier ride Sky Rocket II but I feel that given LPS's good relationship with Intamin this would be the best option. Not great capacity for a new coaster but given what is available and the land we have to work with this is probably the best we could see without taking out more rides than you are adding in. I would then remove the Dodgems from where they currently reside and build a new Dodgem Pavilion where the Silly Sub currently is situated, along the back wall of Coney Island. I would theme it to be sympathetic to the Coney Island aesethetic, The below pic is meant to give an illustration of what the new Dodgem pavilion "could" be like. In the space where the Hair Raiser currently sits, I would put in a family attraction that has a great throughput, is thrilling but fit for the whole family and would give much needed kinetic energy back to the midway. I am referring to a Fabbri Flying Carpet ride, which would fit in nicely in this footprint adjoining the ice cream parlour building. They have a high cpacity with 40 riders per cycle and up to 960 riders per hour. Where the Loopy Light house currently sits I would install another great family attraction in the form of a Zamperla Nebulaz. These are fascinating to watch and add great amounts of kinetic energy to the midway but I have heard they are fairly forceless. Still they are visually excellent and a unit would fit into the footprint perfectly and its a great ride for the entire family to experience. My plans for the space that is currently filled by the dodgems would possibly be controversial. With the dodgems removed to Maloney's Corner, this allows quite a large space to be utilised for a dark ride to be returned to LPS. I would envisage that this footprint could be expanded in 2 ways. There is a redundant ticketing office situated at the side of the front of the dodgem footprint that could be used and the footprint could also be extended to come out into the midway as far as the Big Dipper bridge which would also give back some space for the footprint ( please see below photo to see what I mean) Luna Parks Main toilet block for that end of the park is behind the redundant ticket office so that part of the footprint could not be utilised. Still this would give a decent space for a dark ride of some form. What would I like to see? Well I would return the Ghost Train back to LPS. Yes some would say that this is quite triggering but there are a few things as to why this could work. Firstly I think that the dark ride would work well as shooter with some scare elements attached to the ride. The shooting scenes could utilise props or screens or a combination of both. The concept is sound and is one that Luna Park had explored before- the park did an excellent in house scare walk through called Mystery Manor which was so popular that it stayed for longer than was intended. Lastly, the return of the Ghost train was planned in the early stages of the refurb for Maloney's Corner. A dark ride is needed at LPS and this plan would give the space available for the park to have one again. I think it would be an asbolute winner. Time to call Sally Dark Rides methinks! The final stage of my plan is also quite contoversial and one that I have mentioned here in years previously but i still see it as having merit. I would replace the current Ferris Wheel with a new unit. Specifically an Intamin Coaster Wheel. This would be unlke no other Ferris Wheel in Australia and it would cater to all members of the family- rides on these are quite thrilling on the swinging cars and there are also the static "normal" cars on the outside for people who wish to have a normal ferris wheel experience. This would be a win win in my opinion and you could theme it approriately with an excellent lighting package. Call it The Moon Wheel. So there you have it- my musings on how LPS could expand their ride and attraction lineup. This would give a total of 6 new rides - 1 new thrill coaster, 4 new family flat attractions and the return of a dark ride to LPS for the first time since the 1979 fire. Also you would have reimagined Dodgems and a "new" version of the Ferris Wheel. This would be quite an expansion for the park and it would certainly give the park an overall "Grona Lund" feel.TGis would round out the parks attractions , adding much needed capacity and would also flesh out the day for any visitor to the park. It also leaves the Big Top and the Crystal Palace intact for their functions side business which is hugely important to the overall LPS business plan. $37 million would not really cover it but lets all remember that they spent $15 million alone on the Big Top and Crystal Palace Immersive experiences.

Emerald Park, 24 August 2024 After much encouragement by @Noxegon I finally made a quick (Well, if you are already in Europe) hop to Dublin for a weekend to visit Emerald Park. Guess I've wanted to check it out since they built Cú Chulainn Coaster , but then they announced the two new vekomas, they were in development hell for a while, covid, and they finally opened earlier this year, Fianna Force looked awesome and had rave reviews....Okay okay, I'm coming Time to see what cheap flying around Europe is all about. Dublin is great actually, Ireland is the last of the main Anglosphere countries for me, so it was fun hearing the random banter all around after a week of being in Austria and Poland with less chance to chat to locals. It doesn’t feel like a huge town, I’m struggling to think of a comparison. Turned up to Emerald Park in time for opening. Decided to start off on the two family coasters, which is probably a good strategy since they had posted waits of 60 mins later in the day. Flight School is a Zierer with the same layout as the one at Legoland Billund, so along with helices it has a couple of sections of slaloms which are pretty fun and generate a few giggles from the kids. The theming was well done too, with the station and queue in a large curvaceous modern building clearly inspired by Dublin Airport T2, and the airport theming is spot on, eg the ride photo counter looks like a check in desk, they have departure screens, the queue rails are tensabarriers and you even go through a faux metal detector, and the drinks at the shop are expensive. The other one is Dino Dash, a Vekoma with a new layout that is a bit more curvy (so a little more kick and more dynamic) than the standard model you see everywhere. Theming wasn’t as good on this one, they apparently had a Dinosaurs Alive type exhibit and they got a 2nd lease on life here, except they are falling apart. I do feel they could have leant more into the theme, eg the fencing should be more industrial galvanised mesh or faux electric fences like on other dino themed rides instead of the standard heritage green they seem to love using literally everywhere in the British Isles. So then it was time to take on Cú Chulainn Coaster, a huge wooden coaster that is akin to a spread out version of our Leviathan. Theres a nice bit of Celtic theming near the ride with a giant statue of the man himself, but otherwise it a standard open air cattlepen in the middle of the ride. Very good. Levi still pips it, this one feels a little more drawn out, but perhaps has a few more floater airtime moments (Which are probably the smoothest parts of the ride. It’s definitely more enjoyable towards the front, so aim there if you can. The main feature is the overbanked turn, which i was surprised to find is so tight it feels like it is right at the limit of what the train can do. The train hilariously bounces through the element, like a learner driver bunny hopping. But yeah long, fast, and it loops back on itself in interesting ways, so it feels more interesting than your typical up and back, but not batshit crazy like certain GCIs. The two new Vekomas weren’t open so we headed over to try out Ladybird Loops. Ridden speedy beetle at LPM? Good, then I dont need to review it. The kids area had heaps to do, but the presentation was a bit eclectic, you had giant toadstools next to wild west next to circus themed parachute towers. Someone looked at the SBF Visa catalogue, and said “yes”. Still, the greenery is very lush (A common theme around this part of the world, stuff just grows) Ok, time to head back to do the other coasters. But nope, interjection. Apparently Viking Voyage, their super flume ride gets massive waits, but it had been down all morning, putting paid too our plan to get it done early. But right as we were going past they opened up so we turned on our heels and go in line. The queue is very elaborate, with lots of Viking huts. And it was that day I learned that Ireland had some Viking history, its not just a Scandinavian thing. I’ll digress for a moment. You can begin to see some synergies in the park, eg they have a Viking themed flume and a Cú Chulainn themed woodie, so you have the makings of a themed land, but then in reality they have a random Zamperla spin n spew in the middle breaking it up. Or they have a Flight School themed kiddy coaster and a Zamperla Air Race, you could do something like Aviators landing at Carowinds, but again, theres some log cabin themed buildings in between and other stuff, so the opportunity to market themed lands in addition to rides is missed. I’ve noticed some of the Parques Reunidos parks like Bobbejaanland and Tusenfryd have started re-theming and renaming rides to create thematic zones, so something to focus on now the park has Matured and proven itself a success. So back to Viking Voyage, the original boats were replaced with the same boats as WWF though with this massive cross bar at the back to deal with the wider trough, and with similar throughput too. The ride has a couple of drops, including a backwards one, and one that has a wild mouse style turn halfway down that gives a lot of laterals (See the flume at Powerpark also) both very wet. The first lifts pass through a central mountain twice. After the 2nd drop we came to a halt on the turntable that straightens you out, and then sat, and sat. Could this be my first evac? Yes it was. A rather convenient affair given the catwalks in the turntable area (Actually, it looks pretty industrial inside the mountain) We were given exit passes for any ride due to this. We could have used them to do another lap and finish the full circuit and final drop, but given the wetness, i was happy to save my exit pass for another lap on Cú Chulainn. So, time for the last 2 coasters. Fianna Force, still not open, but The Quest, just had. Channeling some energy from Tripsdrill, they hadnt quite finished the theming on the precast concrete station for this season, but they had at least painted the internal walls, though anything around the back was left bare. Yes, I like this model (Have done Saven at Farup and Light Explorers at Energylandia), its nice and spread out, with lots of dips, turns and hills, so you finish a long way around the station instead of looping around a compact area like Boomerang at LPS. The station has the impressive feature of the zero g roll for Finanna Force passing overhead too. Given people hadn't quite realized Quest had opened, we looped around for a 2nd lap and were on 5 mins later at the other end of the train. By the end of the day, waits on this had blown out to 70 mins, so like the other smaller coasters, do this first. Yay, time for one of my most anticipated coasters of this trip, Fianna Force. Battlestar Galactica was somewhat of a false start for Vekomas new gen STCs, Hals Uber Kopf opened a couple of years after I went to Tripsdrill, and ever since then I've wanted to experience one of these you beaut inverts with lapbars and smoother trains and interesting elements. The queue is great, winding up and back most of the layout along a meandering path, even with a cool deck over a pond close to a point where FF and TQ interact. And they run this so well. No secondary belts, so they were easily sending a train every 70 secs, meaning a neat 1000 riders per hour, which is impressive for an independent park that hasn’t been around too long, but to be fair, even average parks in Europe usually have decent ops. The queue takes you into a themed room, where a well presented projection of a blacksmith/warrior tells the story of the ride. There was something about smiting a dragon, but to be honest, the audio is too quiet to be heard over the chatter in the queue line, emphasised by the flat walls causing a lot of echo. Time to ride, a speedy lift takes into a steep twisting first drop reminiscent of Oziris. You are just sent hurtling towards the ground into a trench. You pull up into a inclined Immelmann meets overbanked turn thing. Imagine Gumbuyas TNT, amped up, and if you've ridden you’ll know how fast it all happens. Next comes a strong pull of G’s down in a trench, followed a huge corkscrew, made better by being high in the air and going over The Quests rather large station building. A nice panoramic turn over the Quests outdoor queue before doing a long zero g roll through the station. Next is another hard pulling helix before rising up and doing another drop into a trench. From here the rides identity completely changes, with alternating quick turns, transitions, almost like an inverted version of Maverick. No chance to grey out or fill sick because the forces are always changing. And then there are even a couple of legit airtime hills that give pops of air, which is really rare on inverts (I can only think of Monster that also does it) With plenty of speed you smoothly hit the mag brakes. Whew, one of the worlds best inverts, and actually one of the worlds best coasters full stop. Moderately intense, fast past, great fun, and heaps of variation in the layout, which gets a big win for me. If I were to change anything, maybe a 3rd inversion right at the end as a surprise would have been cool. I took the opportunity to do lots of re-rides, given it never really felt longer than 20 mins, despite the long looking queue. And the presentation of this area at least they got done, fully landscaped too, lots of stonework. Looks like it has been in place for years. As for the rest of the park. Had lunch at The Lodge. Did you know in Ireland you can have a chicken curry served over chips instead of rice? Yep, you can. The place seemed popular, you could get plated meals like at the Ikea buffet. Wish a park here would do this, every Euro park has this. It’s nice to get something quick, but not a burger. Only other ride I did was Endeavour, basically a floorless version of an Enterprise. Well, I didnt get sick at least. Forgot what these were like, I only ever rode Reef Diver once. Youre not really pinned in your seat continuously, rather the g forces rise and fall with each revolution. It’s hard to describe, but your inner ear seems to interpret this as the flight path feeling like a pringle shape rather than a circle. Weird, but I dont think I’ll ride one of these again. They also have an animal park, and I saw bits of it, but to be honest, I can see zoos locally so didn’t care too much about missing it on this particular visit. They also had this celtic spiral mound you can walk up. Now that’s what I call crowd management. A park actually got me to consume 5 minutes walking in a circle and theoretically relieve pressure on other attractions. So overall, a good park, well run, and has quite a good mix of attractions for a park of its age. Considering greater dublin has 2.1m people and 670k a couple 150km away at Belfast, it demonstrates that you dont necessarily need a massive population to support a good park (7mil on the whole island, and I doubt many from the UK would bother coming over, its all local support, and they are on track to break 1mil visitors in a couple of years) Bad points. Ok, so when the park first started, they were doing a lot of small park things like ziplines, slides, cheap small rides (Im amazed Ladybird Loop wasnt the first coaster ahead of Cú Chulainn, but good on them for taking a gamble) and to an extent they are stuck with some of these things dotting the park, but since closed due to being unworkable in a high attendance environment. They really should demo these things and fully graduate into acting like a major park. Presentation varies, some stuff like Tir Na nOg and Viking Voyage are great, some like the kids area and zoo are fine, but there is a lot of bitumen, with rides and queue fences straight on this, so it can feel like a fairground in parts. Doesnt have to be this way, break out the big saw, cut out some garden beds from the bitumen, plant some stuff, and they’ll probably have a dense forest in like 18 months anyway. Also just nitpicks like replacing signage in older parts. Im sure they’ll get there, and Tir Na nOg set the standard, so if they keep doing areas like that, it’ll become one of the great parks of Europe. I guess in theory I caught them on an ‘off’ day for reliability, but they prevailed in the end and everything ran smoothly. On a closing note, such is the nature of the land holding, there’s an actual publicly accessible cemetery surrounded by the park on 3 sides. But aside from some noise, you couldn't tell there was a park next door (And when in the park, you cant see any of it either.)

I’ve yet to ever visit when it’s on single-train operation and never been disappointed. What differed between the 2? Whether on single or dual train, the experience shouldn’t differ that greatly really. One circuit backwards , one circuit forwards ?

As soon as Dreamworld gets that one-two punch coaster lineup (they’ve already got the two—Steel Taipan—just need the one), I think Movie World will really need to rethink what they’re doing. Anything on that survey about an app? I didn't receive it. I think that's something the park is missing, I cannot wait for the days when I don't have to walk across the park to find out how long Steel Taipan or Giant Drops waits are, or when I don't have to fiddle with Apple Wallet to get my pass at the front gate. The park map on the website is built using https://attractions.io/maplayr which in theory should allow for an app.

It was a general RACQ perk for tickers purchased via them at one point, one of my old passes purchased via RACQ at the time has “Early Entry” printed on the physical card.

The one thing I've always found with pretty much all of the Top Spins was the stopping constantly for several seconds before doing another flip. I find it really kills the pacing of the ride in my opinion. It was one thing that Wipeout did well for the most part (Apart from the stop before the final locked flip, which could be argued that it was done for suspense) Sadly it's not just limited to the HUSS variants either, the Moser ones do it as well. Still really gunning for a screaming swing for Movie World.

I did say I'd get around to this eventually. Let me preface this by saying - I went with my family. Ages 6-67. I was more interested in enjoying my time than taking 1000 photos, so there aren't many photos that don't have family members in them. If I have some photos to share of a particular thing I will, but otherwise I’ve included photos found online and attributed wherever I can. I'm going to cover off on more than just Universal itself, but i'll try to group things logically. This was our first post-covid trip out of country, so i'll include some details there too. This is pretty much in ‘itinerary order’ and it’s what we found worked for us but happy to answer any questions if you’re planning a trip as we did loads of research before visiting to decide what we did (and didn’t) want to go to. Travel We departed Brisbane on September 12th - a trip postponed by 2.5 years (originally planned to go in April 2020). Our bookings were made while Singapore was still quite heavy on restrictions for covid, however almost all of these were dropped days before our arrival. Masks were required on public transport and in health settings and that was about it. We travelled with Qantas, and received frequent communications in the lead up to the departure date on what we needed to do. Singapore's immigration requirements needed us to upload our covid vaccine certificates, but you could only do so 3 days before travel, which made it stressful with not much time before departure if something went wrong (but nothing did). On arrival, we breezed through customs and straight into a transfer service to our hotel. Just be mindful advertised prices for these services don’t include some additional fees if you pay by card, taxes, tolls in some situations and so on – so make sure you’ve got a bit more available than what it says on the sign at the airport! Accommodation (No, we didn't stay at Raffles) We went through many changes to our accommodations - Singapore has long been a transit hub and while some hotels were shuttered due to low occupancy, others were being used as quarantine hotels for unvaccinated travellers and so the options available were minimal. We originally found a family-friendly hotel with adjoining rooms not far from Orchard (the major shopping district), and while it was close to the MRT, everything we wanted to do was easily 30 minutes transit each day. We really wanted to spend a lot of time on Sentosa Island (more on that later) but the only hotels open were the ultra expensive luxury style resorts, most of which didn't offer adjoining rooms for families, and charged full rate per room. We eventually bit the (very expensive) bullet and booked Hotel Michael, part of Resorts World and steps away from Universal and all of the Sentosa attractions on the island. Hotel Michael was a bit more expensive than we would have liked, but it was worth it to not face losing 60 minutes minimum per day to transport. Then - with mere weeks before we were due to start our trip - we received an email from a mailing list we had signed up for 3 years ago - that the hotel we had booked for April 2020 - Village Hotel Sentosa - would reopen just in time for our arrival! (and it was about 30% cheaper than Hotel Michael, and a lot more modern!) Village Hotel Sentosa (A view from one of the two Infinity Pools overlooking Singapore Straits) Village Hotel seen from the Sky Helix While not as close to the big attractions as Hotel Michael, Village Hotel was 2 minutes walk from the Imbiah Monorail station or a downhill 5 minute walk to Resorts World. The hotel also had their own shuttle bus departing every 30 minutes, and stopping at Beach Station, Resorts World, and VivoCity (mainland shopping centre with connections to MRT and Buses to practically anywhere you wanted to go). Village offered adjoining rooms in two different family friendly sizes (standard and deluxe), and with the hotel first opened in April 2019, it's barely aged having spent two thirds of the time in mothballs. The hotel was bright, fresh and clean, not suffering the usual damp smell associated with air conditioned hotels in a tropical climate. The hotel shared it's space and facilities with several other hotels operated by the same group including the Barracks (old school style) and the Outpost (deluxe adults only resort), with a very generous 5 swimming pool zones (including a lazy river!), two of which featured an infinity pool edge to the Singapore Straits. Both of these pools overlooked the Sentosa beach show 'Wings of Time' offering an exclusively private in-pool view of the show and fireworks each night. The courtyard surrounding the pools was full of lush tropical plantings and also featured fish ponds full of lily pads and small fish right outside our window. Additional chillout, gathering and play spaces, a steam room, poolside\in pool bar, a snack truck fitted inside a Kombi van, and more than enough places to sit, lay back, relax and chill out. At night, they showed poolside movies on a big screen, and set up coloured bean bags for people who didn't wish to enter the water. I mean, I know i'm going on about this hotel, but when we considered the facilities at the other hotels we'd looked at - this resort was amazing. Kids also got their own checkin desk and received a welcome pack upon 'completing checkin' which included a stuffed toy mascot for the hotel they could colour in themselves (markers provided) and their own branded robe and slippers to keep! The hotel staff delighted in surprising the kids with little gifts every now and then - a hotel branded rubik's cube, mini ice creams and snacks, all sorts of little surprises to keep the kids in constant awe. Each day the hotel lobby had something fun for kids too (though we had little time to do them all) including facepainting, balloon animals - even free caramel popcorn! The hotel also had a snack trolley where every day a constantly changing array of "childhood snacks" from Singapore would appear, free for guests to try (I think i've tried every possible layer cake combination that ever existed). We did have some minor issues with housekeeping but these were quickly resolved by the front desk team. Their concierge though were amazing - when trying to make a last minute booking, our credit card required a text message authentication code - which of course we couldn't receive as our Aus numbers weren't set up for roaming. (I'll include some info on this stuff later) - After explaining what we wanted to do, and them realising that none of their other options would work, the concierge personally paid for our tickets on his credit card, and added the exact cost to our bill, and then had the tickets forwarded to the hotel so staff could have them printed and delivered to our room - a process that surprisingly took several hours, that they completed well after midnight to ensure we had our tickets for the next day. Village Hotel Sentosa rating - 10/10. Even with minor annoyances with housekeeping, I'd be happy staying here every time I visit. SEA Aquarium Ok so enough about the hotel - Our first full day was spent at SEA Aquarium on Sentosa Island. We figured this would be a shorter day for us if we were still suffering the effects of the flight, and ease ourselves into things. The Aquarium is part of the resorts world group, and ticketing is handled on the same website (so you can buy all your tickets in one transaction and play with your shopping cart before you checkout if you're on a budget). The group operates Universal, the Aquarium, Waterpark and also a separately ticketed Dolphin Island interaction, which is sandwiched between the waterpark and aquarium, which allows them the opportunity to upsell a dolphin experience as part of the other attractions. For these reasons, we were able to price up a package that included a dolphin experience with our Aquarium tickets by booking a VIP Tour of the aquarium. Surprisingly this was well worth it, with the tour guide offering a lot of informative info about each of the exhibits and answering questions. The VIP tour also gets behind the scenes access at several points in the experience - including private experiences with sea jellies, poison dart frogs, and even iguanas. The Aquarium opened as the world's largest, and is only beaten by Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. The Open Ocean exhibit is huge at over 18 Million litres including 3 giant Reef Manta Rays, and one of the world's largest Queensland (Giant) Groupers. The Open Ocean exhibit has a giant panoramic viewing space with raised grandstand seating for an uninterrupted view of the exhibit. It also features a wrap around 270 degree viewing area, which also has overhead windows too. A restaurant is situated on another section of this exhibit so you can dine right by the Open Ocean - and if that isn't enough, they also feature deluxe resort villas, with an underwater bedroom and your own private viewing window. (Though, do remember the public aquarium viewing window is directly opposite and you can be seen!) SEA Aquarium rating - 7.5/10 Dolphin Island Around lunchtime, we moved from the Open Ocean up to Dolphin Island by a private elevator and were introduced to our dolphin trainer for the experience. The included experience is 'out of water' though you can do premium 'in water' experiences too. You spend a not insignificant amount of time with a dolphin and trainer just for your own private group, and several photographers positioned around the pools capture some great candid shots during the experience. Be aware that these photos will be some of the most expensive photos you will ever purchase (and I say that having paid Wedding Photographer prices at Sea World), with the only package offering more than 1 or 2 photos from the experience costing well over $200 (though admittedly for this price they give you every single photo plus a leather bound display album). We were satisfied with the experience but overall the attraction has been quite controversial. A family friend used to be a trainer at our Sea World so we have previously spent a lot of time with SW's dolphins, and I just didn't feel that the same care and attention into the animals was present - they were circus performers rather than exhibiting natural behaviours. It's hard to explain exactly what it was about the experience, it just didn't feel 'right'. Animals that misbehaved were scolded and rebuked, whereas at SW the poor behaviour would simply be ignored. There were also open wounds clearly visible while still working the animals in the same routine. Rightly or wrongly, my feel on this experience was sour. The 6 year old absolutely loved it (and that's who it was for in the first place) so I left conflicted. I would not recommend. Why didn't we do Sea World? We had planned to, but as this opportunity came up while booking tickets, it seemed a no-brainer inclusion whilst on holiday, rather than a separate GC trip, and Singapore's weather was always going to be better for a poolside experience. We do know better and i've already resolved to book with SW for his next birthday. Dolphin Island rating - 3.5/10 Wings of time This is a ‘world of color’ style show done over water on the southern beachfront of Sentosa. Projection onto water screens, dancing water fountains, pyro effects and a few other surprises. I caught ‘Songs of the Sea’ back in 2010, and this show was a bit more polished and a bit less cringe-worthy corny live-acting, but I feel the 100% digital show was lacking that physical element that made the stage ‘three dimensional’. The live actors in SotS connected the audience to the screens a lot better. As mentioned, you could see the bigger parts of the show from our hotel pool so we caught the finale a few times, but did see the show in person and it was worth the visit. Hot Tip: try to pick a seat towards the back of the seating area. Look for the giant “rocks” with the very badly hidden speakers and don’t sit directly in front of them. The show’s sound system relies on a few large drivers instead of smaller spaced out speakers around the ampitheatre, and the volume for those directly infront of them is uncomfortable at best. The island is still recovering from Covid shutdowns and does not offer all attractions every day. While WoT operated, many of the food options immediately outside the venue were closed as we went on a Tuesday. During busier times – eg: Thursday to Sunday, the WoT ampitheatre is also open during the day and admission is free with food purchase from the vendors nearby. This gives a spacious seating area overlooking the Straits, and a ‘day show’ dancing fountain operates to some quiet classical pieces. The show’s duty cycle shuts down the fountains briefly each hour, at which point they operate a standalone 40m+ water cannon similar to what you’d see in Canberra at the Captain Cook memorial in lake burley-griffin. Wings of time rating – 7/10 Singapore Zoo The zoo and several other attractions appear to have been grouped under the ‘Mandai Wildlife Reserve’ banner since my last visit. The complex houses 4 attractions including the ‘day’ zoo, the ‘night’ zoo, the River of Wonders, and down the road a ways was the Jurong Bird Park. Ticketing for all can be arranged through a single portal, though the combinations on offer made choosing tricky. In the end, our decisions were made for us as we had chosen to do the ‘day’ zoo and River of Wonders, only to discover that River of Wonder’s signature attraction – the Amazon River Quest (a ride system similar to a log flume \ looney tunes river ride) would be closed for maintenance. We had decided against the night safari given kid’s stamina (it was a damn long day) and the Jurong bird park not being co-located made same-day trips unviable. So we ended up just doing the zoo, and having a less-rushed day all round. Travelling to the zoo was easy – hopping the North-South line to Khatib and then boarding the $1 shuttle bus to the zoo had us there pretty quickly. The entire complex is currently undergoing significant development (though I didn’t take the time to research what this was for) so expect a lot of construction for the near future. The zoo itself was mostly unaffected by this, and most exhibits operated normally. The habitats were well laid out both for natural simulation as well as easy viewpoints. I think we did one of our biggest ‘ walking ‘ days at the zoo, though there are trams to take you around the park, they only have designated stops which can be a long walk back if you pass something you wanted to see. The zoo itself is a must-see in Singapore in my opinion, though the experience compared to 10 years ago had lost some lustre. I do hope that the development sees great improvement in the overall offering. I have minimal criticisms for the park other than to beware of all the walking (and hills) involved! The lack of a printed map (online maps available for download don’t help when you have no printer – phone navigation was extremely difficult) is probably my only disappointment here as we very nearly missed several key attractions because of multiple diverging paths, so we had to keep re-checking the map for the correct pathway to backtrack to catch the part we missed. The zoo has an on-site KFC situated within a kids zone, featuring farm animals \ petting zoo etc, and a huge splash pad \ tipping bucket area with plenty of space surrounding – which would be critical on a hot & busy day. Singapore Zoo rating – 7.5/10 Universal Studios Singapore We finally got to Universal, despite literally staying across the road from the park, as it is closed midweek as a consequence of covid. Like any good enthusiast, we tried planning as well as we could to be aware of what would be open \ closed, under maintenance etc. We’d figured out we would be missing the Halloween events, though with a 6 year old that was probably for the best, but as far as we could see, everything except the vintage cars in the Mummy land would be operating. We knew the park could be busy and didn’t risk it – we had express passes pre booked from the start. How. Wrong. We. Were. Madagascar On arrival, Crate Adventure was boarded up and being demolished. We knew it was due to start soon, but hadn’t heard they’d already begun. All online park maps still showed it as available, it wasn’t listed on the maintenance page as unavailable, and the first news we had it wasn’t open was when we saw the hoarding (though in-park maps were all modified to cover the ride up). The hoarding around Madagascar land made accessing the carousel a one-way path, and the building it sits in makes it an odd place to get in and out of. The entrance to Far Far Away was likewise closed off, and access by the narrow lakeside pathway only meant the park choked up quickly in this area with a crowd. Far Far Away After Carousel, we moved to Far Far Away and quickly lapped Enchanted Airways a few times while the crowds were low. We moved to Shrek4D only to find it hadn’t opened yet – technical difficulties. Donkey Live was shuttered (another covid casualty), and so we moved onto Puss in Boots – which was also having technical difficulties and wasn’t open yet. We did go back to Far Far Away in the afternoon and got both Shrek and Puss done, and while this is arguably the better Shrek4D, they skipped the entire animatronic pre-show and went straight into the theatres. While one could argue that it was a covid safety measure, we’d all just queued in the enclosed queuehouse for 10 minutes, and then were herded into the enclosed pre-show room for another 10 minutes, before sitting in the theatre for the entire runtime of the show, so surely skipping the pre-show elements wouldn’t have made a difference – just poor show. Puss in Boots was a standout attraction for us all, it was fun, the story was well told and made sense even if you hadn’t seen the film, but unfortunately the outdoor animatronics and characters were all chipped and peeling paint everywhere, so while the ride was fun, it presented very poorly. Waterworld Also not operating. Also due to Covid. Given this was advertised as an included perk on their VIP tour, I felt this was really poor. It wasn’t listed as a closure online and again we only discovered it was closed when we arrived. Jurassic Park Canopy Flyer was a big target for our group as it was something everyone could ride and most hadn’t been on this style of coaster. Back in 2010, the express pass was valid for this, as was a single rider line, however neither of these were available on Canopy Flyer (it is one of the only exceptions to the express pass advertised). Still a great unique attraction, if somewhat too quick for the wait time. The Jurassic spinner was operating at capacity with a full queue, but Jurassic River Rapids was also closed – for long term maintenance of several months (something we also hadn’t seen on the park website prior to our visit, but something clearly known in park as all the maps in park had this attraction blacked out like crate adventure). The land did have a ‘meet blue’ experience for photos and interactions which was pretty cleverly done, but definitely did not make up for the loss of Rapids. Food So far we’ve made it through three lands and I haven’t mentioned food – and that’s because there weren’t many options actually open. The park has several large dining facilities including a huge Jurassic visitors centre, but most were closed. A few carts operated serving very basic cart-style fare, but for meals of substance, choices were mostly limited to Mel’s Diner back at the front of the park. This is, again, another covid casualty. Attrib: Resorts World Sentosa I tried the 'Mel's Rendang Burger' with a Rendang curry mince sauce, which - while messy (and not exactly the best choice of food for a hot day) it was super flavourful and delicious, and would definitely recommend if you don't mind a bit of spice. (Attrib. Entree Kibbles) Egypt We moved onto Egypt, only to find the Vintage cars (the only ride advertised as being closed) was in fact open, so the little guy went and had an adventure while we tackled The Mummy. The fire scene on this attraction is still very impressive, though the lighting and reveal is somewhat spoiled by dim ambient lighting that gives the game away before the showscene triggers. I don’t remember it being like this back in 2010, but heck, it was 12 years ago. The queue is suffering with a lot of damage to the plaster walls, but this is the price you pay having walls so close to bored guests with phones stored in lockers. While in Egypt, a street parade came through with all sorts of characters on a truck \ walking beside, handing out Halloween candy to guests as they passed. This was mini packs of skittles, mentos and other non-melting premium branded candy which I thought was pretty impressive. They did many circuits throughout the day culminating in a main street show at closing time. SciFi City This was my Eleanor (for those who get the reference) – Every opportunity I’ve had at a duelling coaster has been thwarted, including this one when I rode in 2010. The seat hanger incident happened weeks before I arrived last time and in the years since, it had been down every time I’d started to plan a trip. Thank goodness we’d bought express passes because this is where most guests were (in hindsight, starting there would have been smarter, but 6 year old). I found it a bit odd that the entrances and lockers were so far removed from each other, it was quite the journey to get into the queue for this. Metal detectors \ wands were in use (understandable given the ride zooms over major pathways) and we were off. The express pass paid itself off in spades here as people were literally sitting down on the stairs as we zoomed past. Both sides of the ride ran very well and ops did a great job to have dispatch timed well for maximum duel. Unfortunately, the ride’s design was based on the larger, heavier trains, and the differences in the lighter trains showed, with the timing between the two trains out of sync after only the second element. Still a great ride, with Human an enjoyable coaster and Cylon a balls to the wall experience. (I'm sure I don't need to add a stock image of Battlestar.... so here's the view from our hotel!) IMG_4380.MOV We took on Transformers, which the little guy loved, but not much different to the Hollywood version for us. The ride and queue gives definite respite from the heat, so it was surprising more people weren’t riding it. New York We had missed Lights Cameras Action on our first visit so it was great to finally see it in person. The holding area prior to the experience was a bit drab (and hot) and I can only imagine how bad it must be on a busier day, but thankfully the queue was short and not crammed with people. Although we had seen this online the experience wasn’t what we were expecting, but it absolutely wowed the little guy and that’s all that mattered. Another great opportunity to cool off from the heat (and maybe get wet). The sesame street spaghetti chase is also in New York, and while not a big Sesame Street character fan, the little guy also loved this experience. A ‘peter pan’ style attraction, done decently well, with great theming and use of characters. Main Street The main street is a series of merch stores and a couple of quick service food carts, but the choice and variety of merch was fantastic, and we happily spent over half an hour (and a lot more on the credit card) picking up great unique souvenirs from the park. Universal Singapore rating – 6/10. I think this is fair – while the park was still in ‘covid recovery mode’ there were a lot of things they could have achieved for minimal effort (such as updating their websites, given they had custom-made stickers covering the ride closures on the park map). The park could have done a lot more, and I feel that some of what was lacking was done out of convenience – a case of “blame covid, not us” when there really wasn’t an excuse for the current state. Adventure Cove Waterpark We booked a cabana for the day which came with towels, a “safe” made out of plastic, and some chairs with a fan and some other small comforts. It made a great base camp for the day and was close enough to all the action. The Wet Maze was closed (another covid thing) and like Universal, most food options were also closed, with only one major food outlet in the park. They have a sort of ropes course over a pool with water jets and other interactive elements, but this was also closed. View from our Cabana These aquariums were actually part of the Lazy River (Second Photo Resorts World Sentosa) The park’s standout attractions include the lazy river, which circles around the outside of Dolphin Island. Due to the design and layout of the various attractions, the lazy river has two clear Perspex sections as you cross into the ‘Dolphin zone’ which goes over the top of a large drainage canal. These canals are apparently where they store water from various tanks while they are closed for maintenance. The dolphin island section of the lazy river is also home to a small stingray and turtle exhibit, and an ‘underwater’ tunnel with sea life swimming all around you, and you can come face to face with these guys while floating by. The lazy river also has a wave generator (not switched on during our visit) and floats you around the entire park, including some underground sections with small fish tanks embedded in the walls. Some outdoor parts also had animal enclosures next to the path, but these were empty and closed for maintenance. I was amazed at how intermingled everything is in this area - The Dolphin Island attraction is on the right, the lazy river enters bottom right, curves around the stingray exhibit upper left before exiting upper centre. SEA Aquarium was below some parts of these areas. Another highlight for the park was a free-to-use reef snorkel – after a quick briefing, guests rinse under a shower to remove excess chlorine before donning flipper and a snorkel mask to swim in a roughly circular saltwater lagoon home to a massive array of sea life similar to Sea World’s reef snorkelling experience, but the price was the best part. Attrib: Resorts World Sentosa They also have a hydrocoaster style slide, with loading occurring at the bottom (so you get a long, uphill journey lying feet first while staring at the sun) but the ride was damn quick and we caught air on almost every hill. The wave pool was solid, and relentless, making it hard to stay upright if you sat in the shallows. The park had colour coded life jackets available in every size so swimming ability was less of an issue. The one downside to the park is that they are extremely restricted on rider numbers and weights. Many slides needed two riders, minimum heights meant the little guy couldn’t go on very much as most started above 120cm, and maximum combined rider weights meant the two adults couldn’t ride together, but as the little guy was too short, none of us could ride. This left most big slides (except hydrocoaster) unavailable. All in all though, the lazy river made up for this in spades and we spent at least half our time circling the park in a tube with an occasional dunking to cool off when things got too hot. The park had plenty of shelter and shaded path areas to walk on, and while lacking in some variety, the quality of what they had certainly made the day worth it. The restrictions are not park imposed but are a manufacturer requirement, so it isn’t fair to argue that as a fault of the park, although the designers of the park planned this poorly to not have middle-of-the-road options as the other attractions stepped very steeply from a splash pad \ tipping bucket tower, to the big slides with heavy restrictions. A couple of nice body slides might have filled this gap nicely. The theming of the area was great. The park was lush, deep tropical plantings, with faux rockwork caves, statues and other elements. Real sandy beaches entering the lazy river, plenty of life jackets for poor swimmers (there seemed to be a lot who weren’t great swimmers and I guess we’re lucky in Aus to not have this issue) Adventure Cove Waterpark rating: 7.5/10 Sentosa Sentosa Island was celebrating it's 50th birthday Sentosa Island itself has so many different attractions, but this was our itinerary plan so we hit everything on the same day. There is just way too much to do and so this is not an exhaustive list – I’d encourage you if you’re planning a trip to do thorough research on what is available and what appeals to you. Beachside Trams – Sentosa runs a free tram service along the southern edge of the island, stopping at most major attractions and all the southern facing beaches, with the main station directly under the monorail (and right outside Wings of Time), so one can save quite a bit of walking around this way (although the walk is pretty good if it isn’t too hot) Mega Park – Mega Park includes a bunch of attractions under the ‘mega’ banner including the MegaZip line, which goes from one of the tallest points on the island all the way to Siloso Beach. Tandem rides are available for smaller \ lighter riders, and a high maximum weight limit means this attraction can accommodate almost every possible shape and size (but check their website for specifics). We timed this one well, as it was lightly raining in the morning, and the skies absolutely PELTED DOWN as we made our way from the landing zone back across the beach. Other attractions within their group include a high ropes course, a para jump, a rock climbing wall, and a bungee trampoline. Fort Siloso – an historic attraction dating back to the invasion of Singapore, with many historic elements, buildings and stories, this was a great walkthrough, though there are several spots with uneven stairs and steep stair climbs or ramps so anyone with mobility issues may have problems with this. Last time we visited the hills \ ramps were both ways, however Sentosa has since introduced… Fort Siloso Skywalk – An elevated walkway through the tree canopies that takes you from Siloso beach straight up in an elevator to the canopy level, with a flat level walkway offering fantastic views both south over the beaches and north over the mainland and ferry terminals, it was great to not have the uphill walk to reach the fort! Luge – An old favourite from our last trip, the Luge offers four different cement tracks down Imbiah Hill, and two chair lifts to take people back up to the top. The chairlifts and each luge track has on-ride cameras, and these are coded into special RFID chips embedded in your helmets, making it easy to view your photos by scanning your helmet (though do check them after each lap as it ‘forgets’ the photos after a certain time). The whole place has taken a huge step forward since our last visit and is far better organised and safety conscious (though the maze of pathways at the top of the hill leaves something to be desired). Unfortunately for us, the Dragon track (the fastest \ longest \ most advanced of the four) was closed for maintenance and work was visible from the chairlift with large sections of concrete being jackhammered for removal – not an easy feat on the side of a mountain! Sky Helix – A Relatively new experience that only opened December 2021, the tower is situated at the top of Imbiah point, and rises a further 35 metres from the ground for uninterrupted panoramic views. The Sky Helix replaced the Tiger Sky Tower which was a fairly run-of-the-mill observation tower ride with an open air floorless platform. Riders board seats akin to a coaster, and are seatbelted in. Drinks are allowed (including cocktails) and a host controls the attraction from the centre of the gondola, entertaining guests with commentary, comedy and taking photos once you reach the top. This experience was 100% well worth doing as something different and highly recommend. Imbiah Lookout also had a butterfly aviary exhibit (closed and boarded up) and a Madame Tussaud’s in a wartime-era barracks\Hospital building which we skipped after doing Hong Kong’s MT’s and being underwhelmed. Imbiah (and Siloso Beach for the Fort access) can be conveniently accessed from Resorts world by Cable Car – however the cable cars are chargeable per journey and only sell return tickets, so jumping in for the ride up and walking downhill isn’t an option. Having done it once I can definitely recommend you do not try walking up the hill from Resorts World, however the luge chairlifts offer a much cheaper way to the top. Mount Faber Cable Car – We did end up taking the cable car on our second trip – and did both the Sentosa cable car and the mount faber one, which is quite a distance away from Sentosa itself! Mount Faber Cable Car also offers special experiences onboard the cable cars including dining experiences, and while this was interesting for us, neither the website, nor anybody at the ticket counters could tell us what the food options were for children in these experiences (a separate kids menu was mentioned online but no information on what it included) and the only answer we could get was “call this phone number to book and maybe they can tell you” so we opted out of this experience despite building it into our itinerary. The ride itself is nice during the daytime, and not as hot as you’d expect for the climate. Cars were pretty much the same as the Disney World cable cars, so not much else to mention. Resorts World – One could spend days outlining everything available at RWS. Other than the attractions already mentioned, there are a number of hotels, a two level open air shopping district (including food) and a casino. You honestly could spend a week at Resorts World and not see and do everything they have, and they are just one small part of the island. For us, notable was Hard Rock Café, the Candy store and the Lego store. The Sentosa Merlion was under renovations and covered in scaffolding, and a new building was being constructed right next to the RWS cable car \ monorail station. I couldn’t find info on what this is planned to see, so we’ll find out on our next visit I guess. Overall, Sentosa gets a solid 10/10 – not because everything was perfect, but because there was something for everyone to do (if you’re willing to pay for it). There were experiences and hotels for the super rich, but also more budget conscious offerings and plenty of free things to do (or “free with purchase of food\drink”) and you were never far from a nice place to sit and enjoy a coldy with a good view of something – there were countless restaurants and food offerings – the island is really designed as a playground for all ages and it is hard for anyone to be disappointed with their visit. If you plan to do a lot on the ‘mainland’ of Singapore, staying on Sentosa does complicate your travel plans, but if your itinerary is Sentosa-heavy, or primarily intended as a relaxing holiday, then Sentosa really is worth the premium price you’ll pay to stay there. Other Mainland Attractions Raffles – Ok, it’s one of those things you gotta do at least once, right? So a Singapore Sling in the long bar done and dusted. Well overpriced but you get the history and experience. I learned something new about the development of the sling (ladies couldn’t be seen drinking in public apparently) and threw peanut shells on the floor as is tradition. The hotel is the epitome of opulence and stupidly expensive though I’m sure it costs a lot when you’re still making zen gardens out of the sand in the ashtrays, and half your staff are required to be sikhs in high turbans to complete the look. The place wasn’t easy to get to, but we did it, and it’s done. 6.5/10 Gardens by the bay – Wow. This was in development on our last visit and it’s amazing what a country can do when they have a mandate to have greenspace available to every resident. All of the domes are worth the visit individually, the rest of the gardens are worth a full day. We unfortunately only had the best of a rainy afternoon, so we whizzed through as quickly as our eyes could appreciate it. The domes are air conditioned and offer welcome respite from the heat (are you picking up on a theme here?) and all are superbly presented. They were in the process of installing a new Avatar themed element to the cloud forest which should open soon in good time with the sequel. The Supertree show was well done, albeit a little simple in today’s modern intelligent lighting era, but entertaining all the same. We goofed here and didn’t allow enough time to do all the things we wanted and I’ll say it again, allow a full day for gardens by the bay. Beautiful spaces, and I’m envious of those who have this a short drive from their homes – 8.5/10 Singapore Flyer – missed this last visit, made the walk across the bridge from Marina Bay to ride. Singapore was setting up for the formula one while we were there so navigating some of the roads were a little tricky, but got a great view of Pit Straight from the flyer. The attraction is obviously built to handle huge crowds, with miles of queue lines we walked straight past and got on almost straight away. It’s a pleasant trip and a great opportunity (again in the air con) to rest weary feet after walking around all day. Solid 9/10 IMG_4064 (1).MOV Changi Airport \ Jewel – Not many TRs would cover the airport, but there’s a reason why Changi Airport has won over 650 awards (Awards and Accolades | Changi Airport Group) including many ‘best airport in the world’ by numerous outlets, some of which have awarded it multiple times (and in one case, 35 times from 1988-2022!) Changi is made up of four terminals (they just announced they’re building a fifth one) as well as Jewel. You can honestly spend an entire day there (we did) and still not see everything. I’d highly recommend allowing a day to explore Changi if you visit Singapore. Although this isn’t an Airport forum, so I won’t spend too much time here – some of the attractions include: Around the terminals: A ‘Kinetic Rain’ exhibit \ sculpture, featuring dozens of small metal balls attached to small wires, synchronised to raise and lower creating mesmerising patterns in Terminal 1 Numerous gardens and fish \ koi ponds A Transit Hotel, located airside so you can sleep without clearing customs if you have a particularly long layover (or if you want to spend another day exploring the airport!) A butterfly garden A rooftop pool A 3 storey giant slide Movie Theatre ‘Petal Clouds’ another kinetic sculpture across 200 metres of the galleria in Terminal 4 ‘Immersive Wall’ is a 70metre x 5metre LED display showing panoramic vistas of Singapore Kids play areas and tonnes of other things to occupy practically everyone for days Jewel Changi: Glass-bottomed bridge through the canopy Mirror Maze Hedge Maze Topiary walkways Discovery Slides at one of the highest points inside jewel ‘Foggy Bowls’ that kids will love Bouncing Nets Walking nets Petal Gardens All of the above are part of SkyPark and can be experienced by purchasing a single ticket, but individual experiences can be purchased separately. Jewel (continued) Changi Experience Studio (interactive exhibit showcasing airport operations. Shiseido Forest Valley Rain Vortex Jewel also houses YotelAir – another hotel based at the airport, however this is on the landside and you don’t need a boarding pass to stay. Located right inside Jewel, this place positions you well if you plan to spend several days exploring (and you definitely can!) At jewel is a baggage storage company (Smarte Carte) who will store your bags for a fee – however before you pay, check down the hall a bit as there is an early bag drop counter that some airlines (including Qantas) utilise which can save you a bunch in baggage fees and lighten the load so you can explore Jewel and the rest of the terminals unburdened by large suitcases. I think that's it for now. Singapore was one of the first destinations in Asia to open back up and so has a great head-start on tourism. Flights are plentiful and so are the hotels (now) so prices are starting to drop. Not a sponsor, but i'd definitely recommend adding Singapore to your planning the next time you go looking for somewhere overseas to visit.

Full price is $159, which is a fair comparison given Village's local's lite pass is $189. Retaining an existing passholder is far cheaper than attracting a new one. There's plenty of people who alternate properties - one year at dreamworld and one year at village. Offering a renewal with a 37% discount makes it a deal you can't refuse and locks them into another year at Dreamworld instead of forking out almost twice the price for a village pass. I don't know if $129 would be enough of a difference to sway people from 'trying the other side of the highway' if they haven't been in a while, but $99 sure is. Dreamworld needs to hang on to every passholder they have right now - retention is super important. They'll up their prices more in time, but there's still recovery time to go. 2016-2019 wasn't really recovery time because of the inept folk running the show who tried to build crocodile rivers and ampitheatres, and resurrect eureka mountain. Then we had Covid - every corporation's excuse for poor performance. Steel taipan should have been built near the start of 2020 and it didn't open until December 2021. I'd say 2021-2022 FY would be their first 'year of recovery' where they actually had good direction and backing. By that metric we're approaching four years in - and if I recall, everyone believed it should have taken 4. (and don't forget all the other good rides they lost along the way - through poor maintenance and management). So - while i'm not giving them a pass on those earlier years - i'm conscious that - because of prior mismanagement - they're not '8 years in' - they're only 4 - now is the point they should have been at in 2020. I suspect we'll continue to see modest lifts in the pricing, but they're still the 'underdog' so they'll still need to price themselves under village, not because village is better, but to win the 'cheaper' argument and maintain retention.

So, just to be clear, the person who was crying the park closed an hour early... is now suggesting the park should close in the off season instead? Just for the record - the 2024 annual report indicated attendance had increased by 14.3% from 2023 to 2024. On average, that's an extra 478 people in the park each day*. I am willing to bet that the opening of rivertown will have boosted this number again. Are there likely to be some days with low attendance that eat into profits? Yes. Does it make sense to shutter the dry park entirely in cold months? Not at all - events like winterfest are a hit and people are willing to visit a dry park in colder months - in fact the lower attendances make it a nicer visit for folk who prefer lesser crowds. Additionally the park being open midweek opens the opportunity to have school or tour groups drop by. International tourism is still increasing in the sector so offering a wildlife product to compete with Paradise country is also a source of additional profit. If they close the park entirely due to low visitation on some days, they give up the opportunity to turn a profit or welcome tour and school groups which supplement the park income. They also decimate their full-time employees who are no longer able to fulfil their contracted hours - which then leads to staff shortages in peak seasons and 3 hour waits for a hypercoaster.Nevermind wrong park. Does it make sense to shutter a water park in colder months? Yes it does. You're unlikely to make a profit, especially if you're competing with another one down the road. period. *Yes the group reports attendance across all properties including Skypoint so this isn't precisely indicative of park attendance. I'd like to say 'you get the point though' but I suspect you'll ignore it.

A reduction to zero is still a reduction. Yes, one stays open over winter, the other doesn't. See, a different perspective on this is the locals who have been many times who drop in for an afternoon after school, get a couple of rides, stay for the night market on those days. By putting the new thing in the morning, and having it stop before school lets out, those afternoon visitors HAVE to attend the park in the morning, when the kids are typically in school - so that ends up being a weekend visit for the school kids, and well, we're already here dad, can we go on other rides too... etc etc. Dreamworld doesn't want to put their hand in your pocket for a measly cent - they're going after the families having to make a special trip and likely to spend the day once they've been. Its the different demographic of the park though - Universal Hollywood guests are not typically dropping in for a single show and leaving, whereas most folk stopping into dreamworld are likely to spend at least a few hours (and a few dollars) while they're there, so bringing them in at a time they otherwise wouldn't have increases spend for normal people. I still say you'd get more money with a second eatery. No brain no pain. But it's also acclimatisation. I grew up in an area that regularly got temperatures below freezing. top temperatures rarely went above early 30s except a few days in the peak of summer nosing up to 40. When I first moved to QLD, I visited WNW in the winter, and everything was a nice walk-on. the wave pool was a bit chilly but everything else - because we didn't stand still in a queue - was pretty warm (I do miss the whirlpool springs being heated though). Almost two decades on, i've acclimatised. You won't catch me in a pool post-easter. For parks that we well know rely on the locals to support them in the off-season, expecting a bunch of folk acclimatised to a south east queensland climate to go swimming in winter is a bit absurd. The only feasible way to make it appealing is to build a dome over the park like they do in countries with cold climates so it becomes a greenhouse oasis. Unfortunately that means in Summer it becomes an Oven. And truthfully, I don't think anyone could agree that an all-weather dome over a park that big would be a practical and sensible expenditure. A winter attendance of 3-400 in a waterpark dropping due to rain = practically zero guests. A winter attendance of 3-4000 in a theme park dropping due to rain = still hundreds of guests.

maybe busy weekends. if the train is in one piece. and they have the extra staff. and they rostered it correctly. and they dont need the extra staff deployed to other rides because others called out. there's a lot of ifs - they aren't new... nor are they nice TBF they never sold it as a duelling coaster. and in many circles, twister was marketed as "one ride" - so having half shut down doesn't change either of those experiences. KT is still operating. it's building redundant coasters to report higher uptime, right?

You can't reasonably have a grievance against the parks reducing their hours over Winter. It's a common sense business move. It Must just be because of the lack of competition making WnW stay open over Winter - similar to Maccas being 24 Hours but Hj's not. They cant be making money over there. All that being said, I'd rather be, as a consumer, at the 'experience is good and I feel Valued for 90 Minutes less' Place than the 'It's open longer, circa 40% of the rides are down at a given time, we wait in line more and get treated considerably worse' one. Lesser of two evils, but I'd rather of less of the good than more of the shit.

Hopefully a showman who does the major shows buys one.

I think we're all well aware of your position. Nonetheless it was nice of you to concede that the concept does save money, and given current climate all round, as well as the park's particular journey toward profitability, i'm ok with them saving money in non peak times by running one train (subject to other attraction uptime) or closing an hour earlier than normal, or shuttering a predominantly summer attraction in the colder months. I don't think there's anything further to discuss.

DW really keep kicking goals with guest service and satisfaction. No one would have expected them to put on another night for free just because the weather was lousy. Kudos to Greg and the team there, absolutely setting the standard

I’ve heard through the grapevine that the park hasn’t seen the return on investment they were hoping to get from TNT/PZ. That combined with the low visitation during non-peak times has (I believe) led to this decision. It’s a shame as it was the only all-year park in the state. As someone originally from Melbourne, this is 100% true. Melbournians really don’t like going out in cold/wet weather, especially to venues that are primarily outdoors. What other phases have the park announced? The only one I’m aware of is the on-site hotel complex they were talking about a few years ago.

Are you really holding up a village business decision as something to aspire to? or is this one just because it suits your particular position on WWW being seasonal?

It has to do with a lot of factors 1 being the theming before they added the corny music and the random screens it always made me more pumped to ride it. I also loved the roaring sound it made it added a lot to the atmosphere of the park. I loved the speed of the ride When I first went on it for the first time, I didn't expect it to go backwards. The feeling of weightlessness and facing straight down as it came back down the tower was so fun. I loved the adrenaline rush it caused. DC Rivals is a great coaster don't get me wrong, but it has never given me the same adrenaline pump as TO2. TO2 is a short 1 trick pony ride but even in the later stages of its life not going as fast etc. it was still a great ride which I never got tired of riding. I just don't get the same buzz from other rides. Might just be me 🤣I hope this explained why It's my favorite. I would love to hear what you guys think about what I said hopefully I explained it well.

I loved the To2 so much I know a lot of people will disagree, but I think it's far better than DC Rivals even if it's a 1 trick pony.

As someone who went there recently on a Saturday, when I went it was mostly little kids and their parents, and the only non-kiddie rides operating were the three coasters and the tree swing. TNT had some wait but not more than one train, and Project Zero literally had nobody in line for most of the day. Even the bumper cars, the mining coaster and the kids train seemed to have a longer wait than Project Zero, which had a maximum of six people riding at once with some cycles operating with only 1-2 people. I think what John Verga said about how "if the weathers bad, Melbournians don't go" is true. The weather was decent that day, but too cold for the slides to open. And since the slides weren't open, many people chose not to go. I asked a family member if they wanted to come with me and they said no for that reason. I honestly was thinking of this recently, and I thought of financial issues being a reason. Most of the phases they've announced to be coming haven't happened yet, perhaps the coasters underperforming could be putting investment on hold. I couldn't see any construction on that visit, so they aren't likely putting anything in for 2025. If they put something in for 2026, that would be a 4-year wait between TNT/PZ and the new attraction.

Does anyone else think Movie World each day is digging a bigger whole for themselves and one day there not going to be able to dig themselves out of it?