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Dreamworld’s Ocean Parade Expansion 2023


themagician
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The name is corny; and the animatronic isn't 'world class'. But I think it's great to see something like this at our parks. We rarley see animatronics (it's been over ten years since the last one was installed), but for the target audience it's awesome and it in an impressive animatronic, considering it's in a splash pad. I've always admired Disney/Universal for having interactive characteres (prime example is Donkey at Universal) and wished our parks would follow the same route and they finally have.

I know DW have a more anologue approach when it comes to attractions (they generally prefer to have attractions/elements that are simpler in their engineering to ensure reliability, rather than having reliance on screens, animatronics, etc). So this octopus came as a surpirse to me, but a good one, and I hope it is reliable because it already seems very popular with kids. I can imagine the interactive version of the octopus might only be on weekends and holiday periods, but I'm glad it also has an auto option so it's not in a 'sleep' mode.

Overall, I think the splash pad will serve it's purpose very well and it's proving very popular, so it will be ticking all the boxes for the park. It's not the prettist splash pad, but it has a lot going for it and fills a gap in the parks lineup. The interactive screen was a good concept, well presented with the rockwork wrapping around it, but with its location due to sun glare has become a poor choice. The rockwork needed to be deeper so it was more something you stand within/under to help reduce the glare; or in a different spot entirly (ie, on the inside walls of the dodgems).

I think this area is an overall good expansion for Ocean Parade and adds a lot more value for families. Let's hope the rest of a OP gets an overhaul, with more attractions to fill the large void in the area.

Edited by themagician
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11 hours ago, themagician said:

The name is corny; and the animatronic isn't 'world class'. But I think it's great to see something like this at our parks. We rarley see animatronics (it's been over ten years since the last one was installed), but for the target audience it's awesome and it in an impressive animatronic, considering it's in a splash pad. I've always admired Disney/Universal for having interactive characteres (prime example is Donkey at Universal) and wished our parks would follow the same route and they finally have.

I know DW have a more anologue approach when it comes to attractions (they generally prefer to have attractions/elements that are simpler in their engineering to ensure reliability, rather than having reliance on screens, animatronics, etc). So this octopus came as a surpirse to me, but a good one, and I hope it is reliable because it already seems very popular with kids. I can imagine the interactive version of the octopus might only be on weekends and holiday periods, but I'm glad it also has an auto option so it's not in a 'sleep' mode.

Overall, I think the splash pad will serve it's purpose very well and it's proving very popular, so it will be ticking all the boxes for the park. It's not the prettist splash pad, but it has a lot going for it and fills a gap in the parks lineup. The interactive screen was a good concept, well presented with the rockwork wrapping around it, but with its location due to sun glare has become a poor choice. The rockwork needed to be deeper so it was more something you stand within/under to help reduce the glare; or in a different spot entirly (ie, on the inside walls of the dodgems).

I think this area is an overall good expansion for Ocean Parade and adds a lot more value for families. Let's hope the rest of a OP gets an overhaul, with more attractions to fill the large void in the area.

I wonder if they could fit a Zamperla Big Waves in wipeout's spot? Get rid of the Cove crap.

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56 minutes ago, Ashley Jeffery said:

I wonder if they could fit a Zamperla Big Waves in wipeout's spot? Get rid of the Cove crap.

If the splash it causes could comfortably fit in that section (which I don’t really think it would, though I admit that is no more than a guess), would the ride experience not just more or less be that of another drop tower?

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12 hours ago, themagician said:

Wow, wasn’t expecting to ever see this. Definitely for Steel Taipan. I’d say we’ll be getting another ‘head-chopper’ moment with that snake body. Will be interesting to see where it’s pleased and how it fits into the environment.

My guess is first drop after launch - the head being in the turn, with the body a headchopper as you dive down towards the first tunnel.

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2 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

My guess is first drop after launch - the head being in the turn, with the body a headchopper as you dive down towards the first tunnel.

I was thinking this may be a possibility, but I hope not. To me it would kind of seem a waste to put it where there’s already a headchopper moment following it 2 seconds later. I could see the snake being put on the top of the tunnel, but it would seem a waste to put that other ring right before the tunnel? It would defeat the point of them adding another headchopper moment (if that’s what they are going for which is what it looks like) where it could be a lot more effective in a different position which is what I’m hoping for. My guess would be at the end of the launch run just before it goes vertical, similar to what blue fire has. I’m keen to see what happens and where it goes! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Snakes been moved to the fenceline facing MDMC/GD and appears to be made of the fence fabric stuff. As you might see in the 2nd picture.20231008_133219.thumb.jpg.f38ef68f23c098bcb5a67da0abe131b6.jpg20231008_133226.thumb.jpg.f344a7d63e38c073bdcef8e5d3929c18.jpg

 

Also for the last day of the 40 day giveaway, since you needed to be in the park to win the "construction site manager kit", they hit 6000 people in park and Greg even appeared for the giveaway.

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  • 3 weeks later...
2 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

Looks pretty cool - will look better when it’s darker no doubt 

IMG_7413.jpeg

IMG_7414.jpeg

It sure does! Can’t help but notice how DW missed out by not having any lighting elements on the ST train…

During HH, having the track lit up, this illuminated snake, the DREAMWORLD lettering on Giant Drop, the fog machines and atmos lightning… it all looks great! Then you hear this dark train come roaring overhead and it looks just a bit… lacklustre.

I could just imagine how epic those green eyes, some undercarriage lighting, etc would’ve looked, even during dusk!

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I think the shame is moreso that the layout doesn’t have any visually appealing things around it in general, aside from it’s isolated rockwork tunnel. Yeah, maybe it’s not to be expected for parks to do that here, but there’s so many other Blue Fire clones out there with much more attention-to-detail given to their visual appeal than what Dreamworld gave ST. I’d even say that Rivals has it better off, but that’s just ‘cause they built it over nature instead of over concrete. Having the snake there permanently wouldn’t help it all too well, as it’s only really visible from the path to GD, & even there it looks cheap & tacky/temporary (especially during the day).

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