Dreamworld vs Pico Play court case

[Brad2912]

Safe to do say Dreamworld & Pico Play won’t be collaborating on anything in the future…

Court rules against Dreamworld in Gold Coast theme park payment battle

Dreamworld has lost a Supreme Court battle after refusing to pay $555,000 to the design company behind its new $35m Rivertown precinct.

Dreamworld has lost a Supreme Court battle in which it was accused of trying to short-change a leading theme park attractions company involved in a new multimillion-dollar precinct at the Gold Coast fun park.

The stoush over the $35m Rivertown project, which opened late last year, erupted between Dreamworld owners Coast Entertainment and attraction design company Pico Play Pty Ltd, which has worked on projects worldwide including Bluey’s World in Brisbane and Movie World’s Wizard of Oz precinct.

Pico Play launched legal action earlier this year after Coast Entertainment declined to pay a $555,000-plus on a $4.1m contract for the Jungle Rush and Murrissipi Motors (vintage car) themed areas of Rivertown.

The payment claim went to a building industry adjudicator who rejected the application on the basis that he lacked jurisdiction, after determining that the claim did not have a valid reference date and that Pico Play had undertaken to perform unlicensed building work.

The company took both Coast Entertainment and adjudicator Christopher Taylor to court alleging that the claim was valid and that Mr Taylor had erred in relation to the unlicensed work finding.

Court documents reveal Coast Entertainment rejected the payment claim after themed components for the project were either missing, delivered late or defective.

The company denied performing unlicensed building work, as its role was limited to designing, fabricating and delivering certain themed components to the site.

Pico project manager Marnus Hendrikse, in an affidavit, said the company had experienced various delays during the project which were not within its control, including design delays and a typhoon which disrupted the transport of goods from its factory in Vietnam.

Mr Hendrikse said the contract did not require Pico to seek an extension of time but he had worked collaboratively with the theme park operator to provide updates.

He said Pico Play had accepted some payment deductions by Coast Entertainment but others were in dispute.

Lawyers for Pico Play contended that Mr Taylor had made a “jurisdictional error” in rejecting the company’s adjudication application because the claim did have a valid reference date and no unlicensed building work was carried out.

The lawyers said Pico Play had delivered goods to the Rivertown site in December last year, establishing the reference date.

The company denied performing unlicensed building work, as its role was limited to designing, fabricating and delivering certain themed components to the site.
 

Coast Entertainment’s lawyers argued that Mr Taylor was correct in his ruling, saying Pico Play tried to re-characterise its final claim as a progress claim “when faced with evidence of later deliveries and missing items”.

They said Pico Play did not hold an open builders licence between October 20023 and July 2024 and its restricted structural landscaping licence did not cover the full scope of works under the contract.

The Coast Entertainment lawyers said Mr Taylor was therefore correct in finding that Pico Play had undertaken to carry out building work, in breach of the construction act.

They said Pico Play’s contractual obligations went “beyond mere off-site” fabrication and it had wrongly sought to characterise its work as “ornamental or ancillary”.

In a judgment handed down last month, Justice Declan Kelly found in Pico Play’s favour and declared Mr Taylor’s adjudication decision to be void.

The dispute marked a souring of relations between Pico Play and Dreamworld, which have collaborated on multiple projects over the years.

After visiting Pico Play’s Vietnamese facility early last year, Dreamworld CEO Greg Yong said the company had a “super talented” team and he felt “100 per cent confident” in their handling of the Rivertown project.

https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/queensland/court-rules-against-dreamworld-in-gold-coast-theme-park-payment-battle/news-story/f31577a5d73e483815295a4e25be9119?fbclid=IwZnRzaANlGOFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHpkhxSyrpUeqLKFfHVpw56c-8fGyVPRYblH8GdoVsXEHcS8WZk1agilY8UKN_aem_1nl8qN6VJS7I0nmognlixQ

Edited October 22 by Brad2912

[wikiverse]

19 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

Safe to do say Dreamworld & Pico Play won’t be collaborating on anything in the future…

I wouldn't say that.  Companies that work together often have disputes over contracts and deliveries, and they continue working together.  In future they just make sure that the expectations, communications and dispute resolution procedures are more clearly defined in the contract.

Given the large amount of future expansion Dreamworld has planned, it would be foolish for Pico Play not to offer to rectify any problems and repair the relationship to get future work.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

It certainly explains why there's a bunch of rivertown themed stuff still sat out the back of rocky hollow and no progress on JR has been made in a while - I guess we all assumed they were finished, but there's still a bunch of stuff out there so... who knows.

I hope Pico does continue to work with them - they've produced the best looking stuff on the coast in a long time. but I wouldn't blame them if they didn't.

I guess it also explains why they put in such horrible queue rails in the JR queue

[Naazon]

I would say this is a lesson to both Coast Entertainment and Pico to narrow down their contract terms and wordings.

[Original]

Might explain why the temple room hasn't been touched since Greg's interview with Dane about some big pieces were still to go in... But have yet to go in, and you can get an idea on what those pieces might be based on some of the concept art was released. 

Hopefully we can see some nice extra pieces added in the future soon. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

The supreme court judgment has some interesting details...

Pico Play Pty Ltd v Coast Entertainment Operations Limited [2025] QSC 227 (9 September 2025)

• Pico Play's total budget for the theming works of Rivertown was $5,000,000
• The contract stipulated a total fee of $4,148,550 (ex GST)
• The GRC panels (i assume the themed cladding for the inside, outside and queue areas of the 'temple') were $1,561,794 (package 1a)
• The show elements for jungle rush - external, queue scenes and ride scenes - were $1,008,091 (package 1b)
• Murrissippi Motors was $1,002,339 (package 2)
• 'Area Development' was $576,326 (package 3)

As an aside - it seems they had no involvement in Jane's restaurant which explains why the internal theme wasn't perhaps to the same standards as the rest of the land

 

[New display name]

I'm trying to figure out, did DW do a licence check on Pica Play before signing a contract with them?

[themagician]

2 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

I hope Pico does continue to work with them

Ain't going to happen! To my knowledge they are also part of the reason why Wizard of Oz turned out the way it did. The difference is, DW had an internal team with the knowledge and skills to essentially take over the project to get it across the line. For example, Jane's was completely done in-house (Pico weren't involved in that part of the project in any way).

Nearly all of King Claw has been done in-house

 

2 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

there's still a bunch of stuff out there so

All of that stuff is non-compliant theming and won't ever be used. All of the black mesh fencing in Rivertown was never meant to be there... it was all meant to be themed fencing.

[New display name]

25 minutes ago, themagician said:

Ain't going to happen! To my knowledge they are also part of the reason why Wizard of Oz turned out the way it did. The difference is, DW had an internal team with the knowledge and skills to essentially take over the project to get it across the line. For example, Jane's was completely done in-house (Pico weren't involved in that part of the project in any way).

You know the judgment was in favor of Pico?

[ShakeShack]

1 hour ago, themagician said:

Ain't going to happen! To my knowledge they are also part of the reason why Wizard of Oz turned out the way it did.

Yeah, this isn't true in the slightest.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

14 hours ago, ShakeShack said:

Yeah, this isn't true in the slightest.

Yeah WOZ looks like shit because village cut corners, right?

[New display name]

16 hours ago, ShakeShack said:

Yeah, this isn't true in the slightest.

I put it down to @themagicianjust trying to get an invite to the King Claw opening.

2 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Yeah WOZ looks like shit because village cut corners, right?

I don't think MW were cutting corners, I think MW's idea of WOZ was wrong and WOZ was too big for MW to pull it off.

Edited Wednesday at 11:42 PM by New display name

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

12 minutes ago, New display name said:

I don't think MW were cutting corners

• no shade in the queues (and as far as I know there STILL isn't)
• arkham asylum still visible from public spaces (and as far as I know, it STILL is)
• paintwork on the pond literally peeling in the first 6 months after launch

And these are just things I can think of off the top of my head.

Like - i've visited a universal park where outdoor theming was in just as bad a state with paintwork peeling and the like, but that was 10 years after it opened, and on the tail end of a pandemic where half the park was still closed. Not a brand new attraction...

[New display name]

Is this make shit up to suite your narrative week and I didn't get the memo?  You have no idea why the paint started peeling.

[Levram__]

Both parks did indeed have production and execution challenges with Pico though. 

[wikiverse]

15 minutes ago, Levram__ said:

Both parks did indeed have production and execution challenges with Pico though. 

But both parks also saved millions of dollars by getting massive set pieces built in Vietnam instead of Australia, and without that, we would have Rivertown - at best - looking more like Steel Taipan. 

So I'd say it's worth it for Dreamworld and Pico to sort their s*** out, because if they do we get more like Rivertown and Universal-level parks, and if they don't we get Six Flags level parks.

You get what you pay for, and I think both parks have received a lot of value for what they paid. Even incomplete, Rivertown is great, and the theming that does exist in WoZ is also good, there just needs to be more of it and the coasters needed to be custom designed to fit into that space (and existing queue buildings) better.

[themagician]

1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

paintwork on the pond literally peeling in the first 6 months after launch

6 weeks*

52 minutes ago, New display name said:

You have no idea why the paint started peeling.

No we don’t, but surely if you’re spending $100 million on a ‘world class’ land you’d expect everything to be built with quality?

[New display name]

@themagicianHow do you know the paint used wasn't with quality paint/sealer?  You are just throwing mud at them and hoping something sticks.

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Nobody is making shit up - there is literally photographic evidence of the issues i've mentioned. 

32 minutes ago, New display name said:

How do you know the paint used wasn't with quality paint/sealer?

So if i've got this straight, a proper job would use quality paints and sealers - and therefore if it peeled, it likely didn't use quality paints and sealers (or quality methods).

- Sounds like corners cut to me.

[New display name]

3 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Nobody is making shit up - there is literally photographic evidence of the issues i've mentioned. 

So if i've got this straight, a proper job would use quality paints and sealers - and therefore if it peeled, it likely didn't use quality paints and sealers (or quality methods).

- Sounds like corners cut to me.

Goes to show you don't know what you are talking about, but your mouth keeps moving.

Quality paints or sealers will peel if not applied correctly.

Quality paints or sealers will peel if the surface has issues.

Quality paints or sealers will peel if the old paints or sealers are used.

Quality paints or sealers will peel if applied during unfavorable weather conditions.

There are more reasons why quality paints or sealers fail if you want?

 

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, New display name said:

therefore if it peeled, it likely didn't use quality paints and sealers (or quality methods).

 

If it wasn't applied correctly, corners were cut.

if the surface had issues, then it wasn't prepared correctly, and corners were cut.

if old paints or sealers were used, then corners were cut.

If it was applied in unfavourable weather conditions, then the tradie should be shot for applying it in those conditions, evidencing - corners were cut.

...I do notice you've had nothing to say about the lack of shade in the queue or the continued presence of Arkham. You're focussing on one little detail doesn't negate the rest of the issues raised.

[New display name]

I already said 100's of times WOZ sucks but the reasons I have for not liking WOZ are real and not made up and unfounded.  

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I'm yet to see you call out anything that has been made up, or unfounded.

[New display name]

Peter, when you return from Neverland, we can talk.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Just because you're living in make believe, it doesn't mean the rest of the world is there in Oz with you, Dorothy.