Dreamworld Trip Report

[MickeyD]

Hey all, I had the pleasure of visiting Dreamworld last week for the first time in years and here are my thoughts. GENERAL Overall, the Park is looking quite lovely. Very colourful, bright, clean and fun! The purpose of my visit was work-related and I was with a large group. Challenging to tour a theme park with 15 others is an understatement at best! Not surprisingly everyone in the group had visited Dreamworld many times before but probably not nearly as many times as I. A critical eye is what I look at the place with - as I do with all Parks I visit because I take them seriously but cannot say the same for the rest of my group me for that matter, the public in general. Nobody else seemed to notice the Captain Sturt had disappeared, the river is getting festy, the water quality at the log ride was diplorable, the beams from the old chair lift remain and the eureka mountain had sprouted weeds as it continues to decay. its almost as if the new Dreamworld has been sort of 'thrown' over the top like a blanket over a bed. As the paint fades you can see the old reminders beneath. Its a somewhat nostalgic reminder of what once was and I dont entirely object to it. like I said, most people dont even notice things like that. FOOD & BEV I love how they have turned the plaza into a kind of food court that offers a perfectly central place to eat with good variety. Prices (as with all Aussie parks) outrageously high at 15 bucks and above for a standard burger combo and the worsed lunch I had ever had in a Theme park. Yuck! The fries were soggy and burger tasted like it had been sitting there for ages. I dont object to paying 15 bucks for a burger, but when its served to you like that? Come on DW Lift your game here!! If aussie parks want to increase their per cap spend they need to be offering a better quality product - especially nowadays with cheap local passes. PARK STAFF DW staff are always friendly and cheerful. They come across to me as the underdogs and compared to their Village neighbours their act is less polished and perhaps more 'real'. In recent times I cant say that my service experience with Village staff has been particularly favourable. Generally they seem more abrupt or is it just that they are all so much more busy nowadays they forget to smile? DW staff have always shown a 'can do' attitude. There is a sense of pride and always has been. RIDES Wow! There are so many nowadays! Spinandspews galore!!! You really can forgive them mothballing a few when there is so much else to do. Buzzsaw was fun but I wouldnt have wanted to wait too long. Bloody low capacity cycle rides. Just as well DW has so many to soak up the crowds. Tower of terror is much better and its good to see the lighting show is being well kept. Pandamonium is quite sensational but does make people sick. take their advice and keep your head back. I didnt, let the forces pull me to and fro and wound up with a headache for the rest of the day. I reckon its currently the most full on thrill there. The restraints on the Claw are too restrictive. I am 6 foot two and broad shouldered and could barely clip the seatbelt into the harness. Have had the same problems before with those totally unnecesary kumback restraints on sea viper and will never ride these again because of this. The new show scene in the cave of the rapids seems to be a nod to The mine ride but deary me what a shit job someone did of their faces! A shame there isnt really anything to look at in the jungle anymore. The water quality at the log ride is unsanitary and the boats were all at least an inch deep of water. It really wasnt at an acceptable operating standard. WILDLIFE EXPERIENCE AND TIGERS Just beautiful. I always enjoy the animals of DW and love a chat with the keepers. They always have great stories to tell and clearly love what they do! SAFETY Sorry DW but you make me cringe about your unsafe practices in the workplace! Most accidents that have occurred in the park's history are resulted by human error. All of them could have been avoided with the proper systems and procedures in place. Requesting someone to wear a shirt on a ride is pretty standard but not at DW. I also witnessed an incident at the log ride involving a barely two year old child that could have turned into a terrible accident. Its just a matter of time for someone to get hurt again and again, could be avoided with the correct training and procedures in place. Will they ever learn? WHITEWATERWORLD I didnt go in but gees, it looking like it needs a coat of paint!! WIGGLESWORLD Very cute for little ones but I guess will need updating soon with the new group. I cannot understand why they replaced the country bears with what they did. They could have at least re imagined it to a Wiggles theme. Oh well. Overall a great day out with loads to do and plenty of rides to get sick from with an enjoyable balance of animal exibits and sights. A bit more focus on improving Operation procedures and the standard of food would go along way! Thanks for reading!!

Edited February 3, 2013 by MickeyD