Search the Community

A battle is brewing for control of Dreamworld theme park owner Ardent Leisure with activist investor David Kingston requisitioning the company’s share register to drum up discontent over what he claims is poor performance by management. Mr Kingston has written to Ardent shareholders demanding that the company return its $141 million of idle cash via a buyback to support its ailing stock price, or alternatively, a straight capital return. He also wants Ardent to actively pursue merger and acquisition options, or a sale of key assets including its land. Ardent issued a profit upgrade on July 10, which Mr Kingston said happened after he requisitioned the share register. In that update, Ardent said it would deliver its best performance since financial year 2016, when four people were killed on one of the key attractions at Dreamworld. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation excluding one-offs would roughly be at breakeven for the full year. But Mr Kingston said the visitation was only 1.2 million visitors in financial year 2023 – half the visitors recorded in 2016. “In financial year 2016, Ardent’s theme parks were successful with attendances of 2.4 million visitors, which provided the necessary revenue to deliver EBITDA of $35 million,” he said. “For a relatively high fixed cost business, the failure to recover anywhere near financial year 2016 attendance levels is a major problem.” Mr Kingston said Ardent’s $230 million market capitalisation implied its parks and surplus land are valued at only $57 million, after deducting the $141 million in cash and a $32 million valuation on its Skypoint Tower, and adding back the $50 million in capital expenditure management have committed to putting into the business. He said the current management team had failed to deliver on promises made to turn the company around when they took over in 2017. “Six years later, that cited opportunity has failed to materialise by a massive margin – maybe the chairman’s 2017 plan itself comes from a ‘dream world’,” Mr Kingston said. Ardent hit back, saying Mr Kingston and Charles Kingston’s K Capital own less than half a per cent of its shares, many of which were accumulated over the past month. It will continue to assess options to return capital to shareholders, as well as work with the Queensland government on park development opportunities. Ardent chief executive Greg Yong said there was no need to rush any M&A ahead of securing the approvals. “Our view is that’s the first step in us unlocking that value. We want to do that as expeditiously as we can, but we’re not in a hurry to rush out and sell off land. The land is not getting any less valuable in this part of the world,” Mr Yong said. In his letter, Mr Kingston compares Dreamworld’s performance with that of Movie World and Sea World owner Village Roadshow, which was acquired by private equity outfit BGH Capital in 2020 and subsequently delisted. Parts of the land on which the Village parks sit were sold and leased back to unlock value for investors. “[It is] bizarre that in the second half of 2023, Ardent delivered zero EBITDA, which is burning cash post-maintenance capex and head office costs, when its peer Village Roadshow parks is performing strongly,” Mr Kingston said. But Mr Yong, who previously worked at Village, said it was difficult to substantiate any comparison to the now-unlisted competitor, which has not published accounts. Mr Kingston emphasised his role in having helped to broker BGH’s acquisition of Village Roadshow, saying other private equity outfits including Blackstone and Pacific Equity Partners saw value in the theme parks sector. Former Village Roadshow executive John Kirby is also on the Ardent register. Mr Kirby sold some of his holding in Village Roadshow after its acquisition, and has not been a part of its operations since he was sidelined when his nephew Clark Kirby took up the role as chief executive after a bitter family feud in 2019. (Ayesha de Kretser Financial Review) Is the the start of the end for Ardent Leisure?

Just was at dreamworld and saw the corroboree theatre had a construction wall and saw that that there were workers on site. Dunno what was happening but here are some pics.

It's taken me years but by chance I found it in a bag in the garage. I was moving house very slowly for a long period of time and it's literally the last thing I found 10 minutes ago. This has a POV on the tape but I no longer have a way to even see what's on these tapes to extract it. I am 50 now and was in my early 20's when this was filmed. It's video Hi-8 It's analog and the tape was in a sealed Coles cooler bag, so even though the bag was filthy the tape honestly has no dust on it and should work completely fine. I mean it's been in the shade, in a zipped cooler bag. The blurred text was not me trying to hide my name LOL, that's just how old the tape is. If anyone in Melbourne has a Hi 8 Cam they are willing to lend, that would be a start and the only thing I can think of for now. Any other ideas are welcome. Note, I am leaving in 9 days to go OS for a 7 week coaster trip, but maybe when I get back? If anyone can help out before I leave, I will do what needs to be done to get this incredibly rare POV on YouTube within the next few days. I do have a car and can drive. I am pretty sure there will be other personal stuff on there I don't want people to see, otherwise I'd just drop the tape off to the nearest person who has a way to access it, but no, I have to go through it myself, sorry. I found all 3 tapes, that is a pic of one, so I have to go through all of them to find the right one which was with my friend Mark when we took the POV and that was a trip where we had driven from Melbourne to QLD in an EB Falcon. i.e. a long time ago. But yes these are definitely the tapes I have been searching for for over 2 years. Will wait for your thoughts.

Do the gold coast theme parks have any rides you get wet on, like flume rides, whitewater rides etc?

Thought I would start a dedicated thread for the construction of the wave swinger, seeing as we have ones for K&BD and Ocean Parade. The globe has been removed and is being stored in front of Steel Taipan (thanks to Oliver Trunks via Jaggs Journeys)

Winter Fest at Dreamworld has been announced.

Not sure if this could go anywhere else but today I was at Dreamworld and they have started fitting out the old store at the Wildlife Station. it looks like it will be a Bilby Discovery Centre. It looks like a much larger space for the Bilby. It does seem like Dreamworld is investing a little in wildlife lately, twilight trail has recently opened and now the Bilby area. I do wonder if this means the area near the Bilby will be shut (kind of opposite the wombat enclosure), as Vintage Cars will be relocating.

An object can only be weightless if there is no gravity. The feeling of weightlessness is different to the physics of weightlessness. TOT is very much loading up the track all the way to the top. Good point.

Time to do another "big" poll, this time with one of the most popular ride types in the country. Vote by Sunday.

Dreamworld Street Food Festival is BACK! We're about to send your taste buds UPSIDE DOWN, take your sweet tooth for a SPIN and quench your thirst for ADVENTURE with the Dreamworld Street Food Festival! From 1st - 23rd April, we are filling the park with South East Queensland's favourite food trucks and street food vendors whilst adding our own twist of flavours so you can eat, sip and taste your way around the park all day! 🌭 Smokehouse Favourites and American Eats 🌭 🍣 Modern Asian Street Food 🍣 🍨 Sweet Treats and Desserts 🍨 🥤 Delicious Drinks 🥤 On top of that, enjoy culinary-themed entertainment including Belinda’s Bake Off, the Bill and Blue's Cooking Escape Show, roving street theatre and your favourite characters in culinary outfits! Too many delicious options to choose from? Don't worry - our Tasting Trail Wristbands let you taste your way around the festival so you can try a little - or a lot!

It is time to vote for a droptower to be in the all-star park. I have picked 5 of the best which will face off in the poll. Please note: Kiddy droptowers (the ones at Funfields, Aussie World, Little Leaper at Adventure World etc.) are not included. Vote by Thursday.

Dreamworld have updated the printable park map on their website. Adding the grids and adding the list of attraction with height requirements and small description is good to see and should be very helpful for guests.

Seems a deep sea adventure is coming soon

This time we will be doing two polls. Also due to the WoO Boomerang not being open, you can compare it to POVs of Tweestyrd as well as the theming on the concept art. Vote by Saturday.

Not sure exactly what this is supposed to be but more activity in the park is always nice. But it seems like it’s only for DW night markets? And free entry? Not sure how this is profitable. But it will create a good atmosphere which is always great. Seems a bit last minute as it literally starts tomorrow. Thoughts?

Time for round two, this time it will be Superman Escape vs. Steel Taipan. Put your votes in by Saturday.

I think Movieworld has to be very careful, if Dreamworld invests in a unique Hypercoaster in 2026 then the park will be very competitive against Movieworld's offering.

Thought I would start this up for fun. Each Saturday I list two rides from two different parks, and people vote what is best. Voting will close on Thursdays, and on Fridays the results are revealed. One ride is saved and one is turned into paperclips. For example, it could be Superman Escape v Steel Taipan one week. If ST wins it would be added to the list while Superman would be removed. Clones will be counted as one choice, not two. Also you do not need to have ridden the coaster to vote, but it would be good if you have. Let's start off with... TNT (Gumbuya World) vs. Kenny's Forest Flier (Dreamworld) In my opinion I would pick TNT. It is actually really fun and intense for a family coaster and I am glad Movie World is getting a clone. Also it goes fast the whole length of the ride while KFF seems to go slow in the second half. Remember to put results in by Thursday.

I saw this on TV tonight and found the link to the article which you can click on: https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/tight-40cm-squeeze-delivers-blow-for-gold-coast-couples-dream-home/4ccb607e-b263-45c6-97d3-2b050a68c552 Moderators I am not sure if this is for the theme park forum or the chit-chat forum.

All Dreamworks references within the Kung Fu Panda area have now been removed. Pandamonium is set to close on Monday 30th and will reopen late March. I’m speculating that maybe most of this area will be closed off soon so the Ocean Parade transformation can begin. There are heaps of coloured dots on the ground throughout the area too

Ardent Leisure recently lodged a new IP application. This time around we have : Serpent Slayer Class 41 Amusement park services; Amusement parks; Amusement rides (entertainment); Theme park services

This was just mentioned on the radio over 100 people in the group coming.

The DWF have shared on their socials that the nocturnal house has undergone a refurbishment and has reopened as the ‘Twilight Trail’. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmoAeQWh_lp/?igshid=YWJhMjlhZTc= Personally, this was one of my favourite parts of DWs animals precincts, so I am very happy to see its return.

Imagine you woke up with $100 million and you had to spend the money to change an Aussie theme park of your choice. Which park would it be and what would you do? Please try and be somewhat realistic