[Wishful Thinking] The Gold Rush Replacement

[Santa07]

2 hours ago, AlexB said:

As I understand it - a Doctor attraction would be a nightmare, as the park would need to inject funds regularly to stay current - and then even amongst fans - which doctor do you feature? original? latest? most popular?

That's actually a fair point - I can't think of many other franchises that changes as regularly as Doctor Who.

[Tim Dasco]

Just going to add, I am 16 and I have heard the name Doctor Who, but have no idea what its about. Plus I asked lots of my friends my age and a lot of them are clue less. So I wouldn't say Doctor Who is something that everyone knows.

[Jamberoo Fan]

14 hours ago, AlexB said:

What rock do you live under that you'd heard of Dr Who, but not ANY of the franchises you've dot pointed?

And if I were surveyed and asked if i'd heard of Dr Who, my answer would be yes - I have heard of it, but that wouldn't be validation of plans to build a themed land to it - i've heard of testicular cancer too - but i don't want to ride it...

I did not say I had not heard of any of those franchises at the time I first visited their rides/attractions on the Gold Coast, I said I had "little knowledge" of the franchises (though Mick Doohan I'd never heard of until MDMC was announced as I don't follow MotoGP & some Nickelodeon franchises I'd never heard of until I visited Nickelodeon Central as I do not have subscription television).

Diseases are completely different...

7 hours ago, AlexB said:

Lethal Weapon 4 was 1998 - and while the movie didn't really lend anything to the ride - it was just 'stunt driving' in the film, prologued by some car chase scenes in a theatre - it was a fitting theme (so you don't miss anything there).

Even though Lethal Weapon 4 came out in 1998 and the rollercoaster opened in 1995, the Chinatown theming at the rollercoaster's entrance did end up fitting into Lethal Weapon 4 (you can see this at 35:14-42:53 in the embedded YouTube video) so the Chinatown theming after 1998 wasn't as random but yeah, the general premise of the rollercoaster is a car chase outside of Chinatown:

Movie (and thus, the scene) above is rated: MA15+ (Medium level violence/coarse language)

7 hours ago, AlexB said:

As I understand it - a Doctor attraction would be a nightmare, as the park would need to inject funds regularly to stay current - and then even amongst fans - which doctor do you feature? original? latest? most popular?

Doctors change roughly every 3 years. A park would just need to open the ride when the Doctor changes (which happens at the end of this year by the way) and ensure the length of the licensing agreement lasts the duration of the new actor's contract so when the Doctor does change again, the park can decide whether to renew the Doctor Who licence (and update for the new Doctor) or change themes (like to generic science fiction, for example). After all, Harry Potter Movie Magic Experience lasted 2 years & that attraction would have required updating when each new film was released (especially if the attraction did last a decade), which it did get once for Chamber Of Secrets (though, as I never experienced the attraction, I don't know whether Harry Potter made an appearance at all in the attraction). Doctors may seem to change frequently but licensing agreements seem to be renewed just as or even more frequently. Updating for a new Doctor might involve some expenditure (depending on how they are portrayed in the attraction) but once every 3 years doesn't sound that inconvenient.

Edited February 16, 2017 by Jamberoo Fan

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I really don't think any of our parks can afford to install something that only has a 3 year shelf life.

[Cactus_Matt]

Surprised no one brought this up with all the Doctor Who talk http://www.insidethemagic.net/2016/07/sherlock-holmes-doctor-who-london-paramount-bbc-theme-park-coming-to-kent-england/

To put in my two cents, as a massive Doctor Who fan both past & present (& future lol) I think there is merit to the idea of a Doctor Who themed park/area, however I fully concede that many people I know still consider it dorky and niche, which for a park like Dreamworld is probably the last thing they wan't. They want broad, dare I say, generic appeal, as is the way with many things on the Gold Coast. I lived on the Gold Coast for 21 years and I know that while there is some audience for this kind of thing, it would be looked down upon as 'geeky' and 'lame' by a large portion of the park going populous. There's a time and a place for Doctor Who and Dreamworld isn't it.

[Santa07]

9 hours ago, Jamberoo Fan said:

once every 3 years doesn't sound that inconvenient.

yes it does

Rides these days are made to last ages, so should the theming. Just a pain for the park to retheme it, and for the guests as well - imagine if they had to go to the same level as Scooby again.

[Jamberoo Fan]

17 hours ago, AlexB said:

I really don't think any of our parks can afford to install something that only has a 3 year shelf life.

8 hours ago, Santa07 said:

yes it does

Rides these days are made to last ages, so should the theming. Just a pain for the park to retheme it, and for the guests as well - imagine if they had to go to the same level as Scooby again.

Only the Doctor has a 'shelf life' of 3 years - not the whole franchise. The only thing that would need replacing every 3 years would be anything that features the Doctor. Using the Scooby-Doo example, say Scooby-Doo changed breed of dog every 3 years, only the 3 animatronics of him, an image on the ride entrance sign as well as any merchandise would need replacing. Animatronics would be heaps expensive to replace which is why I said earlier they shouldn't have animatronics of the Doctor, merchandise isn't that expensive to replace & 1 small image of him on the entrance sign shouldn't be that expensive. So like I said, for a Doctor Who ride/attraction, it all depends on how they portray the Doctor & how frequent the Doctor appears during the ride/attraction.

17 hours ago, Cactus_Matt said:

...many people I know still consider it dorky and niche, which for a park like Dreamworld is probably the last thing they wan't.  They want broad, dare I say, generic appeal, as is the way with many things on the Gold Coast

DW recently said they wanted to be more diverse - diversity surely would mean planning to have some niche attractions? (though there would be a point where less than desired return on investment justifies not installing a niche attraction).

Edited February 17, 2017 by Jamberoo Fan

[Gazza]

If its a Dr Who ride, why do you need to change the Doctor every 3 years?

Because if the doctor is a time traveller, it would always be that generation of doctor conducting this particular guest adventure at that point in time right?

 

Am I missing something or am I some kind of genius?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Something is definitely missing... but that's probably due to obscene language than anything not making sense.

See this is kinda the point - what you have @Gazza is genius, as - from what i know - it fits the theme perfectly to do that - but the trouble is - nobody outside of the niche followers of the franchise would get it - they'd simply regard the attraction as 'dated' because it isn't the same doctor anymore.

if you have to explain it, it doesn't work.

[Whombex]

On 20/02/2017 at 1:47 PM, Gazza said:

If its a Dr Who ride, why do you need to change the Doctor every 3 years?

Because if the doctor is a time traveller, it would always be that generation of doctor conducting this particular guest adventure at that point in time right?

 

Am I missing something or am I some kind of genius?

At the Doctor Who experience in Cardiff, they update the walk though attraction to the current doctor. I see what you're saying about the ride being from the "Eleventh Doctor", but this show always markets the newest Doctor.

[Gazza]

It could go either way...You could not update, and it would be no different to the way theme parks have Batman rides that aren't the latest film Batman.

Or you could just forecast the cost of updating the doctor a couple of times during the life of the attraction in the initial budget (Negotiate with BBC when buying the rights that they have to provide relevant updates for the life of the licence)

Or design the ride to minimise the number of times you actually see him outside the preshow (Fill it up with Daleks? Have him facing away from the camera when fighting etc)...The place in Cardiff seemingly affords this.

[Cactus_Matt]

You could have every ride themed after a different Doctor, rather than having to deal with the cost of updating EVERY attraction when a Doctor regenerates. You could so easily theme the Vintage Cars to the 3rd Doctor.

[joz]

All these ideas about how Dr. Who could work have successfully convinced me that Dr. Who is an awful idea.

[Theme Park Girl]

On 22/02/2017 at 4:59 PM, joz said:

All these ideas about how Dr. Who could work have successfully convinced me that Dr. Who is an awful idea.

Ditto. And anyone who knows me personally also knows how much of a massive Doctor Who fan I am. 

Just no.... 

[Santa07]

On 2/22/2017 at 4:34 PM, Cactus_Matt said:

You could have every ride themed after a different Doctor, rather than having to deal with the cost of updating EVERY attraction when a Doctor regenerates.

Ok, you pay for 13 (or 14!) new attractions at the park, and I'll support this.

But seriously - I thought this convo ended last week.

[rappa]

I'm pretty much convinced there is no way Dreamworld should do any sort of intensive theme, especially to an IP.

 

They just don't do it well in terms of maintaining theming, just do a nicely presented area with an overall generic them. Before anyone mentions Dreamworks, that's basically just a bunch of nicely presented flats. They should stick to this, just great presentation. 

 

Put in a dark ride and in 3 years nothing will work. 

[Reanimated35]

I'd be happy with theming that falls somewhere between the basic Shockwave theming and the elaborate (for Dreamworld) theming that was the cyclone in its heyday. 

[XxMrYoshixX]

Like said before, any sort of theming that DW puts on its rides are simply left to rot with age. This has been a flaw with DW's maintenance procedures for years and years.

Cyclone's old theming in 2014/15 is an example of how poorly DW treats its on-ride scenery. There were cobwebs all over the station, the theming inside the old queue was intensely sun faded, blue paint was splattered across the floor, bird shit was on the turbine and the onride photo was non-functional. The place was a mess.

This is why DW shouldn't do elaborate theming or any dark ride for that matter. It looks fantastic for a couple years, before it becomes dilapidated like what happened to GD, Cyclone and TOT2 to some extent.

[Santa07]

I don't agree with this "Dreamworld doesn't look after its theming" stuff - perhaps 5 years ago I might have - but not today. Cyclone was a case of rotting theming because Dreamworld didn't look after it yes - but that was the result of lack of maintenance many years back now, and if they didn't want to look after it, HWSW wouldn't be a thing. None of Dreamworld's "new-gen themed rides/areas" (Wipeout/Tail Spin/Tiger Island) have been around long enough for us to know if they've turned around their theming maintenance with this new effort in theming. Are the surfboards back on wipeout, and have they been repainted? If so, then that might be a sign that Dreamworld are trying to turn their past reputation around. Even Claw's repaint a few years back was a sign that Dreamworld are trying to improve things. When Tail Spin or Wipeout become to look like some of DW's older rides, then I will believe that Dreamworld doesn't look after its theming, but I currently believe that's a statement that really only applies 5 or 10 years ago. Wipeout's refurb and HWSW are both perfect examples that Dreamworld are fixing some of their theming, just slowly. Plus you have the little improvements at the park - general repaints, the themed wall next to ToT, etc. Whether they could deal with a Dark Ride, that's something I don't think I could say since DW haven't done something on that level before.

[Gazza]

What about the theming on Buzzsaw ?

[XxMrYoshixX]

15 minutes ago, Gazza said:

What about the theming on Buzzsaw ?

Yeah, forgot to mention that one. It's turning into Cyclone by the minute.

[Santa07]

58 minutes ago, XxMrYoshixX said:

Yeah, forgot to mention that one. It's turning into Cyclone by the minute.

Can you explain more on this?

I don't think Buzzsaw is anywhere near what the Cyclone was looking like in its later days. It's still in reasonable condition IMO, at least they turn the screens off these days.

GD is one of the rides in poor condition (but I can see it getting a refurb in the coming years), ToT needs a bit of a clean, same goes with Shockwave.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Santa07

[themagician]

Well they have removed all the BuzzSaw theming from the queue, so don't think we can say it's not being looked after because it doesn't exist. It could have been done really well, and what is there isn't bad.

[Richard]

No question that the last few years have seen a turnaround of sorts, but we're setting the bar pretty low when things like a standard 5 or 10 year paint job are top of the list. Credit where credit is due though: this newfound conscious effort at maintaining and repairing what they've got is a welcome change.

 

3 hours ago, Santa07 said:

if they didn't want to look after it, HWSW wouldn't be a thing

That's probably more a case of needing a new train for operation/maintenance purposes so tying it in with a quick rebranding to justify the expense from an ROI perspective.

One thing that the Eureka Mountain ordeal demonstrated quite clearly is that they're very keen to mine old gold so to speak. Cost of keeping an old ride going -- even if it's an old clunker -- is cheaper than investing in something new.

[Santa07]

14 minutes ago, themagician said:

Well they have removed all the BuzzSaw theming from the queue, so don't think we can say it's not being looked after because it doesn't exist. It could have been done really well, and what is there isn't bad.

Agreed, the removal of the theming was for the better... it wasn't being used, and it allowed them to increase the queue size - which was important due to the ride's awful capacity. Pity they couldn't have designed that part of the queue better, widened it up a bit and given it some better air ventilation.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Santa07