Janes Rivertown Restaurant now shut on weekends

[Vidgamer]

I went to book Jane’s for Friday night for a family event, anyway it is now closed on the weekends, which seems like a bit of a miss, the trivia was short lived. 

[jjuttup]

You mean Saturday nights?

[Vidgamer]

Yes, closed on Friday and Saturday nights 

[themagician]

You can still book a table in October and November

https://booking.resdiary.com/widget/Standard/JanesRivertownRestaurant/10649

[Brad2912]

They are in a bit of a bind marketing wise as Jane’s is somewhat in competition with the food trucks at the night market. Don’t think any long term decision has been made but they are taking time to review 

[themagician]

8 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

Jane’s is somewhat in competition with the food trucks at the night market

I did always think it was going to cause potential issues and would potentially become a deterrent to food truck owners long term if they felt that Jane’s was taking away their customers. I think it was great to have Jane’s open at night for those first few months because it was new and exciting and was a way to show off the new venue and land. And maybe during school holidays/night events hosted by the park it would be great to have open, but on a weekly basis with the night markets probably isn’t necessary.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

The trouble with special event openings is staffing it, whereas when you're open the same times each week you tend to have a regular roster.

[New display name]

9 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

They are in a bit of a bind marketing wise as Jane’s is somewhat in competition with the food trucks at the night market. Don’t think any long term decision has been made but they are taking time to review 

More people would go to the Night Market and this would be less of a issue if the Night Market opening nights, wasn't all over the place.  DW are chasing their tails with this one.

[themagician]

Has anyone been to the markets recently? How are they nowadays and what are the crowd levels like?

[HarryHeHe8]

1 minute ago, themagician said:

Has anyone been to the markets recently? How are they nowadays and what are the crowd levels like?

I went last week for a little bit. The crowd levels aren't bad, but they have definitely been better.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Maybe night market should be pared back to once a month, and run in such a way that dreamworld doesn't have to cancel it every other month for special event nights. 

So - make it the first friday and saturday of every month, so they've got the remaining weekends for their own events. This also frees up those friday \ saturdays outside of halloween, winter, christmas, country fair etc to run special one-off events for passholders, or special ticketed events for private hire, fundraisers and the like. 

This would concentrate those that want to visit the night markets into one night a month too, so potentially attendance at a monthly night market would increase.

 

just spitballing, i'm sure there's other problems with that too.

[New display name]

I don't know if the Night Market is in DW's future plans.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I'm sure most of us don't. great observation.

[dbo121]

On 10/9/2025 at 9:22 AM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

The trouble with special event openings is staffing it, whereas when you're open the same times each week you tend to have a regular roster.

Not the way dreamworld works . Staff know what they are getting into when taking the job and availability is discussed 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

11 hours ago, dbo121 said:

Not the way dreamworld works . Staff know what they are getting into when taking the job and availability is discussed 

Sure, but until the dates for the events are posted, it is difficult to be sure of staff availability. 

Staff don't just sign a contract that says "I wiLl WOrk wHenEvER yoU DEciDE tO OPeN BECAUsE I hAvE nO liFE oUTsIdE OF mY EMpLoYMent."

Most 'after hours' events that aren't part of a regular schedule are typically done by seeking volunteers. The pay is usually better (Private events used to be paid an additional 30% though i'm not sure what the current agreement provides) so there is usually no shortage of volunteers for the task - but it's very different to a business that has regular operating hours that includes 1 or 2 nights per week as those would be considered 'regular hours' for the workers and they could be rostered accordingly. (Plus staff hired with those operating hours would be expected to cover those shifts)

Rostering for a restaurant with a chef brigade is very different to rostering an ice cream vendor or a ride attendant too. Cross-skilled staff can cover for rides, and it doesn't take much training to run an ice cream cart, but if you lose half your brigade because they have made other plans and don't volunteer to work your special event - you might be S.O.L.

[dbo121]

If your pt you are given at least min hours . 12/20 pt contracts for example . Casual no contract . 
Your availability windows are known and preferences . Flexibility and willingness to work will get you more hour offers . The ones that decline will be in the just an average employee bucket . 
no different pay for after hours . 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Right, so no incentive for the kitchen crew who are regularly scheduled on a 7 day lunch-service to be willing to work a dinner service on the random occasions the park decides to host an event.

On 10/09/2025 at 9:22 AM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

The trouble with special event openings is staffing it, whereas when you're open the same times each week you tend to have a regular roster.