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COVID-19 & Theme Park Closures


Slick
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Here's the thing with Green Lantern, it's like the airbags in your car. It's happened a few times that cars have been packed with faulty airbags. They send their cars to the mechanics, who checks everything over exactly how they're meant to, but later on the airbags deploys, killing the driver, who is at fault, the car owner, the mechanic or the airbags maker? If you've been following the news, you'll know it's the airbag maker, it's their product, their engineering, their maintenance regime.

 

I honestly can't remember what I know from here, OH&S or talking to people involved, but the car in question had jist recently been worked on by S&S, and it was effectively new when the incident occurred. I can't remember if there was a report (I think there was?) But MW were in the clear. They also shut the ride down until the cars were reengineered.

 

 

TRRR is more like a car that you made that never looked after, never had a proper looked at, made modifications, and drove erratically. You had a bad accident on it but didn't fix the problem and said 'Shit lucky no one was on it at the time lol'. One day it kills 4 people. Who do you blame, the Owner, the manufacturer or whoever made the modifications? Well DW were all 3. Hence anyone wanting to air Village's dirty laundry would be advised not to bring it up as a comparison.

 

Why people are thinking that ripping into Village proves anything is anyone's guess too. Rappa made the point that it's pretty poor form for Ardent to have a dig at Village for safety, and the DW apologists come out in force to defend them and bash Village. You know what I hate about this thread? I don't even like Village, but here I am defending them. There are a lot of things to dislike them for, but they've got safety pretty tightly sewn up. If you don't believe me read the TRR report again. Nothing will ever be perfect and there's always room to improve, but the difference is night and day on this.

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The problem is people aren’t even hating on Village. They are hating on one person (god knows why) who’s in leadership there, and then projecting that onto an entire company. 
 

What I find more baffling on this is the current COO of VRTP has more passion for the company and the industry than anyone who’s been in that roll for at least 12 years or more. Someone who’s the exact type of person who people say should be in that roll, someone who’s risen through the ranks of the company from entry level, rather than some outside non industry person out of touch with either the country or the industry or both. 

Ive just no idea why a group of people have taken so much reach to turn a Facebook comment they disagreed with into an entire hatred of an entire company. Yet the rose coloured glasses seem to be out in full force in regards to Ardent who just constantly fail and disappoint. 
 

Everyone is entitled to their own misguided opinion. But I take great issue when someone throws an allegation of unsafe practices around which is totally unfounded. 
 

As for talk of engineering personnel. Village were smart enough to have one of the most professional and respected people at the top of their maintenance department. He had enough oversight not to let the kind of unchecked ego driven people making decisions that affect guest safety. And that’s the difference between the management of the two companies. 

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We have a no doxing rule here and I feel a bit weird about name dropping people who don’t choose to come on here. 
But anyone who knows the theme park circles will know the previous Maintenance Manager for VRTP who only finished up last year. 
You’d be hard pushed to find anyone who would say a bad word about them. 

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18 minutes ago, rappa said:

The problem is people aren’t even hating on Village. They are hating on one person (god knows why) who’s in leadership there, and then projecting that onto an entire company. 

Personally, that isn't the case. Maybe its a case of once being too close to the fire and being slightly burnt let us say. Sure. His story makes for a great one. Working up the ranks within a company is hard for anyone to do. He shows loyalty.

But I doubt a single person can influence everyone. Everyone is allowed to follow team A or team B. I think the massive issue is the "mudslinging" that occurs because people reckon DW is being "too slow" while others will say "VRTP are reckless".

I don't agree with the tactics VRTP used during the downtime with COVID-19. Sure it is just the flue but man. Like smaller parks around Australia (yes not just the GC) have almost gone under during this time bet I reckon no one will bat an eye about it. Sure not liking tactics a company uses seems childish etc but its a personal viewpoint that I stand by. 

Sometimes it's nice to also go for the underdog. Living in the ivory towers might be great and they might have a great view. But they honestly made the most noise during the whole debacle. It wasn't pretty noise either.

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But let’s be honest this was going on before COVID. 
It’s this whole ‘Tactics’ business people keep saying. All VRTP did was the same as most every business in Australia, attempting to do business as long as they could and get open as soon as they can. 
The only difference between the two companies is one was better at it and more resourced. 
 

The underdog IMO is someone like Aussie World. Ardent are a giant company that was grossly mismanaged, allowed a tragic accident to happen and then incompetently handled the entire aftermath and continues to flounder. That doesn’t make them an underdog to me, that makes them unfit for duty. 
Ardent needs a huge money injection and leadership that actually knows what it’s doing. From the outside it appears like they have one seasoned industry professional that knows theme parks in management, and a bunch of incompetent fools above and around them.  
 

Not once in the whole pandemic has VRTP gone against government directives. Sure they have actively campaigned for assistance from the government and a way to open as quickly as possible. But show me one industry that hasn’t done that? Shrewd maybe, but evil, no IMO

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19 minutes ago, rappa said:

Not once in the whole pandemic has VRTP gone against government directives. Sure they have actively campaigned for assistance from the government and a way to open as quickly as possible. But show me one industry that hasn’t done that? Shrewd maybe, but evil, no IMO

Of course, they have not gone against the governments' directives. But they have pushed them rather aggressive it seems to ensure they could open their businesses. I get the whole employment aspect and keeping the business viable aspect also. But it also appears as if the sale price of the business is also really important. 

Comments have been made by particular individuals at VRTP who have said basically "come on let's get on with it. That's something that is upsetting. I do not hear of another company within this field in Australia trying to force the government to open theme parks.
 

We aren't getting international guest this year so it's only the locals who will visit mostly. Then the interstate people. That depends on restrictions within someone's home state also. Plus many have been affected and most likely cannot afford a holiday for a solid 1/2 years.

Dreamworld "holding back" as some would say is a good thing I see. A company who can get stuff sorted out, future proof it's self even a little more and still keep workers on the books thanks to Job Keeper. They could also be working on new technology like an app for queuing and we don't even know yet. I understand they look slow and unenthusiastic to most but its a smart move during the cooler months when many cant visit. Plus people with a DW pass will get the extension on a pass that will be slightly longer than a VRTP. So that can be a slight advantage.

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Like I said at the start, if you want to think they're holding back by design, you're welcome to think that. If part of you giving them a pass involes making up your own narrative for what they might be doing in secret, have at it. If you think extending passes so they are valid for the exact same amount of time a Village one is, but doing so later is somehow better, I won't invade your non reality bubble.

 

I'm afraid you are now too far from reality.

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They had to make the most noise. Its very simple. With out a major park up and running tourism has no confidence to move forward. VRTP parks will play a vital role in shaping the recovery now. Destination Gold Coast know this, the City Council knows this, State Government knows this and  federal government. It was not by coincidence that Amusement Parks were apart of the major restriction rollbacks flagged back in April. Same as major sports, its all about consumer confidence and cashflow. No consumer confidence, no cash flow, no parks, no tourism and that shit flows downhil to the rest of the economy. 

They have done the best job they can with the hand we all got dealt in the last 3 months and good on them!

 

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10 hours ago, StingRay said:

I get the whole employment aspect and keeping the business viable aspect also. But it also appears as if the sale price of the business is also really important. 
 

Dreamworld "holding back" as some would say is a good thing I see. A company who can get stuff sorted out, future proof it's self even a little more and still keep workers on the books thanks to Job Keeper. They could also be working on new technology like an app for queuing and we don't even know yet. I understand they look slow and unenthusiastic to most but its a smart move during the cooler months when many cant visit. Plus people with a DW pass will get the extension on a pass that will be slightly longer than a VRTP. So that can be a slight advantage.

 

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I do not hear of another company within this field in Australia trying to force the government to open theme parks.

VRTP are the biggest in Australia, of course they will have the largest voice.

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Plus many have been affected and most likely cannot afford a holiday for a solid 1/2 years.

There are also many who have been affected in a positive way and come out the other side with more money ready for a holiday.

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Dreamworld "holding back" as some would say is a good thing I see. A company who can get stuff sorted out, future proof it's self even a little more and still keep workers on the books thanks to Job Keeper. They could also be working on new technology like an app for queuing and we don't even know yet.

How is this an argument against VRTP? They have an app for queuing already, they are able to open up and still keep some of their unrequired or reduced hours staff on Job Keeper. If staying shut means they are getting stuff sorted out or future proofing, by your own argument, VRTP have got their stuff sorted and have future proofed.

 

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Plus people with a DW pass will get the extension on a pass that will be slightly longer than a VRTP. So that can be a slight advantage.

VRTP pass holders are getting a 4 month extension, longer than the parks were closed. I would say the vast majority of holders are locals who will be able to use it again immediately, with the northern NSW tipped to be July 1st or July 10th. No real advantage to anyone there.

 

 

You're also banging on about VRTP being irresponsible for wanting the government to lighten restrictions but they are no where near the only company or industry doing so, or anywhere near the most vocal. 

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You’re more than entitled to have your own opinions of the company and the way it’s properties are run. And you’ve listed a lot of reasonable points, which I have no desire to argue. 
 

My point was specifically about COVID-19 (this is the thread for that after all) and I stand by my position that the negativity originated from once place. 
I am only arguing in this thread the notion the criticism of their handling of corona, and then the statement in regards to safety.
And I’m yet to see anything credible posted to counter my argument. 
 

But yes, all of your above general thoughts on their parks I won’t dispute. I won’t agree with them all either, but they are valid opinions none the less.  

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My main concern the whole time was the initial response from Village and it's management, to the pandemic, initially shrugging it off and even attacking people for suggesting that it's anything more than the common cold. They only took it seriously and changed their stance after the government stepped in and forced them to close. While Ardent parks did stay open until the forced closure of the country, they and their management weren't telling people it's not a big deal nor were they attacking people for having an opinion contrary to theirs. 

Yeah, I've has problems with Bikash in the past but like most, I'd love to sit down and have a beer with him and actually have a conversation instead of just passing comments. I also appreciate that he took the time to create an account here to be able to have a clearer line of dialog with the community. That and his now understanding of the pandemic shows that he can move forward and take steps to engage with people. 

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