Theme Parks Reopening Post COVID-19

[StingRay]

28 minutes ago, auspicious said:

I never said you said that? But collectively you and the ppl that run the DW page have waged a war that no one else is fighting against village, and said all the things I listed.

I never said that comment. But if you insist I did then prove it. What War also?. I talk to many people within this community and I don't know what "War" we may have started.

I do know we get attacked however on a regular basis for what we believe in.

[rappa]

For me the problem is not comparing numbers of attractions, it’s about amount of park. 
 

Note I’m not commenting on if either park is or was shit at opening, as illustrated above that argument is just not pleasant and worth digging up. 
 

But the very real problem Dreamworld has (and the reason I’m bringing it up is this is the first time we’ve got a real look at ‘the new look Dreamworld’) on its jands is the new footprint is going to be disappointing to any guest that knows the old full size park. 
This will naturally make them question why, and look to troubles the park is having/has had. How they overcome that without the funds to do major development quickly will be an interesting one to watch and for sure a challenge. 
 

So again I don’t want to pass comment on my thoughts of their opening lineup, and I’m not interested in hearing anyone else’s. But the issues I’ve just highlighted above are definitely not open for debate. Let’s hope they can find some creative and effective ways to eliminate them as soon as possible. 

[Jdude95]

1 hour ago, auspicious said:

Do you go back to your favourite restaurant after it repeatedly gives you food poisoning? 

Well, DW hasn't killed me once. So I'll keep going back. Sure, if they killed me, I'd be a bit more hesitant to return. 

On another note, finally stopped in at MW today since it re-opened. I must say, Scooby is looking better than it ever has. Still a few timing and tech issues in places, such as the elevator, but the sets/props in the maze look amazing. The disco room has a great feel to it with all of the extra work. I still think it needs more lasers but i'm sure there's probably OH&S reasons as to why it can't be flooded with lasers the way it used to. 

[rappa]

Yeah sadly the problem isn’t the lack of lasers, it’s the lack of smoke to see them... but in a post TRR worth that is what it is unfortunately. 

[Jdude95]

That being said, it's good to not cop a thin laser to the eye anymore now that the lighting is a bit more dynamic. 

[Rachelkinks]

@Jdude95 have they finally improved the lighting on the sets/props not dark anymore that you could hardly see them???

Edited September 17, 2020 by Rachelkinks

[Jdude95]

20 minutes ago, Rachelkinks said:

@Jdude95 have they finally improved the lighting on the sets/props not dark anymore that you could hardly see them???

There seems to be the right amount of light in there that it keeps it lit enough to see the themed elements but still dark enough for them to have the desired effect. I really noticed them along the walls either side of the camera. I generally close my eyes for the camera so I don't get blinded and can appreciate the last few moments before entering the elevator

[themagician]

WnW has returned to 7 day operation for the holidays, but their maintenance situation has got worse. No closed attractions have a reopening date, the River Rapids are also now closed until further notice and the Aqualoop goes into maintenance in a couple weeks. If nothing opens soon, that will leave the Aqua Racer, Constrictor, Junior area and Wave Pool. At that point it really isn’t worth them being open until things are ready to go. Especially when they are still charging full price, no one is wanting to go 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 16/09/2020 at 3:35 PM, themagician said:

How are they covering up/fencing off the Big Red Car, Flowrider and the rest of Corroboree? 

BRC had what i know as 'bike rack fencing' - its the kind of interlocking rails you see at street parades in Brisbane. I believe the entrance to the ride was boarded up on Wednesday, but the bike racks were added yesterday to keep people back from the boards.

Standard hoarding was blocking flowrider and Sidewinder areas, and the same at corroborree (painted blue)

On 16/09/2020 at 10:18 PM, Brad2912 said:

Funnily I didn’t see any opinion pieces criticising the VTP parks on their re-opening, especially MW which opened with more then half its slate out of action..

There actually was a fair bit of criticism on the boards aimed at VRTP when they opened with... not much open. See Joz's comment below

18 hours ago, joz said:

I don't get it. When MW reopened it had a heap of stuff closed, so it got bashed. Now DW months later has also opened with a heap of stuff closed, so people are bashing MW.

I'm quite happy to fill this gap below.

17 hours ago, auspicious said:

My bad. Definitely no dead ends at BRC where they've shut half the park.

A dead end is a path with no other way from that spot except to go back the way you came. BRC is not such a spot, as you can turn right and head into tiger island. You're entitled to have your opinion, but do try to stay factual.

 

Ok - so *long post warning* I took a trip down to Dreamworld and Movie World yesterday.

Dreamworld

Dreamworld we got all around in a little over an hour. I didn't go through Dreamworks, and didn't ride anything at Ocean Parade (no interest in shockwave bondage, the seatbelts on Claw are still far too short, and tailspin wasn't cycling and looked abandoned, although it was 'open' there was just nobody there to ride). Rode MDMC, Vintage Cars, and Sky Voyager. The park is definitely missing a lot right now. Giant Drop was in testing and cycling regularly, but there was obvious work on the catchcar\gondola as some of the shroud around the hook was removed. Lots of suits and engineering team going in and out regularly in the short time i was nearby.

Although they've done a great job closing up the TOT tunnel and removing the turbine theme at the tunnel entrance, the huge wounds in the side of the station area where they cut in to remove machinery for SFMM are still quite visible from the MDMC queue and ride area, and its not a good look. There were a lot of suits around the park, and the MDMC operator looked like a senior member of staff as well, who was spieling well, and loading very efficiently, while also interacting with guests throughout - a big plus to this guy who operated MDMC (even with the restrictions) about as efficiently as i've ever seen.

It was good to see the paint job on Sidewinder and the colour scheme really pops in person - videos do not do it justice.

There were very obvious signs all around the park that they had spent some time during the closure sprucing things up, and the general paint and landscaping around the park looked good. (Although the city hall entrance building roof really needs some love).

The path to buzzsaw wasn't cut off, with the 'ride closed' sign all the way at the far end of what used to be goldrush. Its a little disappointing that that area was open considering there is nothing there, and i'm sure many a guest has walked into that area not realising there was nothing to do (much like Wild West area when WWF is closed).

It really was a long walk to vintage cars past GD and RHLR, and the pathway is very much a 'abandoned estate back path through the woods' - the temporary fencing surrounding the new coaster (and the 10 foot tall weeds), the leaf-filled flumes of RHLR, with litter, spiderwebs and crap all around.

The new Sky Voyager film is a treat, longer, with some nice little pops during the experience, although the mist system kept dripping on me throughout which is probably a side effect of the much more generous misting used throughout the film. It was great that the scents used were less 'pine o cleen' smelling and slightly more realistic, but unfortunately the rectangular shapes of each screen panel are showing much worse with browning around the edges.

The new 'covid' rider briefing method is a little disappointing, and i'd have liked to have seen them play the briefing screen on the big screen inside the queue (above the luggage) as it would have similar (but better) results.

Overall, its a disappointing return for Dreamworld - Giant Drop's issues are a shame, and opening without a 'decent' big coaster running doesn't improve things. Its clear the park has 'work underway' with painters scrambling over sidewinder, but the absence of core drilling for the new coaster is a shame as that end of the park is just dead quiet.

The park is going to need more than a new coaster to lift it up. They have a dearth of flats right now, but even a few more flats right now would help. The park just feels like it's 'missing' something, and the amount of fences, SBNO attractions and such makes it quite obvious what it is.

As for how they handle the COVID environment - Issues with passes on entry meant a trip to the guest services office at the front, and the staff were quite 'on top of things' about managing the number of people in the space. There were occasional reminders spieled over the various PA systems from ride operators about the need for distancing in the queues, and the grouping of riders to maintain spaces was done fairly well. While queueing for MDMC, the ride stopped for cleaning (which was not every cycle as mentioned above), but the staff were efficient without appearing rushed (and MDMC has a lot of possible high touch points due to the restraint styles) so they did well. Its a shame their groupers weren't as on the ball, as they filled too many spots at the airgates, and I ended up riding in the side car. I will say, I found it far more comfortable in the sidecar than the bikes to be honest, so that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Which is why our entry to the park confused me so much. Such care and attention was taken by staff to ensure contact free, socially distant interactions where possible - but Dreamworld's entry system was perplexing. You arrive at the bottom of the ramp, where QR codes prompt you to enter your details onto a covidsafe register, and you can't proceed up to the gates until you do. No problems there, pretty standard. The person manning that post however was a security team member, and once details were entered, they called another team member over who was over by the road talking to other guests. Why did we need a second person? Because he held the magic box.... of coloured sticky dots. (The kind your school library used to colour code books). This fellow would sight your confirmation screen on your phone, count the number of people in your party, and then pull out the same number of sticky dots, tear it off from the roll, and hand it to you. No gloves, no mask, handing you a 1cm x 5cm strip of paper.

Another group we observed were having trouble with the electronic sign on system, and - rather than have a clipboard and paper like other venues i've been to, the 'dot man' had an ipad, which he then passed over to the folks having trouble.

You then showed your dots to the security guard, who then permitted you to climb the ramp to the gates, where another team member would check you carried the required number of dots, check your pass and direct you to the appropriate entrance gate for your pass.

The stickers are ridiculous, and im surprised this was the best solution they could come up with. At other venues i've been to with similar systems, it would have been sufficient to show your phone screen to the person manning the door. This process required three staff members, when it really could have been done by 1 person, who simply viewed your screen and then allowed you to enter. This process needs work.

Movie World
Just for the record, this was my first trip back to Movie World post-closure, so I didn't see it with all of its 'day one closures'. I have criticism about their covidsafe actions as well - as my pass (in app) didn't scan at the gate (despite me adding it to the app after they announced the app was a requirement of entry, which was done with the help of the call centre), so I needed to visit the ticket booths. I showed her my phone, and she asked me to place it down on the counter, after which she then picked it up (again, no gloves or mask or anything) to look at it inside the booth. Apparently my pass didn't have an email address associated with it, and I needed a new photo. No drama but it would have been nice to know that in advance and\or login online to resolve it prior to arrival. I know that i'll have the same problem with the other passes in my family when we next visit now.

For me on the day, Movie World was the better choice, primarily because it had more rides running that I wanted to ride. Rivals, JL, Batwing, Superman, Scooby were all far more enjoyable than my earlier time at Dreamworld, primarily because the only real enjoyment I got out of DWs rides was Sky Voyager.

Movie World's green tape, regardless of whatever industry standard it might meet, looked ugly (and dirty). Dreamworld had nice professional looking stickers, or painted dots on the ground, which will probably look better a few weeks in too.

Staff at Movieworld were a lot more relaxed than I've seen in the past, and hopefully they're happy to be back at work and interacting with people. Superman has had some little touches in the pre-show scenes, however the 'superman' gobo at the launch track is just a plain white circle. Superman was a complete walk-on mid-afternoon, which the staff happily informed us was because 'dreamworld just opened, and everyone's over there' (they weren't)

I'll echo @Jdude95s comments on Scooby - it is looking the best its been in a long time. Obviously there is still minor issues that could be fixed - like the video timing in the lift, but the disco room is pretty awesome all round - I did get to see a scene change at the turntable and seeing the whole room completely change was quite a cool thing to see. I would love to have seen a pinspot hit the mirrored skull in the final drop room - just to burst into heaps of light beams right before the drop would mask that drop effect a bit more and give riders something else to look at - given its a prop from the movie I think its great its in the ride but it needs to be featured!

The green lantern trains are stored in the launch room for superman, and hopefully we see GL return soon, as its lacking the kinetic energy at the park entrance.

The dead end for wild west was also disappointing - previously they'd fence off at the vulture sign, but given they have the western street show and showcase up there now, they can't, which makes it another depressing turnaround. West was cycling and boats were going through the course though so hopefully west will be up again soon.

Overall, I enjoyed my day at Timezone Surfers  -  I honestly spent more time at Cavill than I did at either of the parks. There's obviously a long road ahead for both of them, and Movie World has a big head start.

 

[red dragin]

Just a note on the cleaning schedule mentioned in AlexB's post. 

There are products available that last at least 45 minutes, which is why they are able to not clean every cycle. I'm currently working on a covid-safe plan and it is a product we intend to use.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, red dragin said:

Just a note on the cleaning schedule mentioned in AlexB's post. 

There are products available that last at least 45 minutes, which is why they are able to not clean every cycle. I'm currently working on a covid-safe plan and it is a product we intend to use.

I only noted 'not every cycle' as it was mentioned previously that it was every cycle, and i observed that it wasn't.

As for cleaning products and how long they last - i'm no expert, but if a handrailing is touched by 2-3 people per minute, after 45 minutes and more than 100 people touching that spot, I would doubt very much if there were any 'protection' remaining from that product even just simply because of how much would be rubbed off with each use.

[red dragin]

3 minutes ago, AlexB said:

I only noted 'not every cycle' as it was mentioned previously that it was every cycle, and i observed that it wasn't.

As for cleaning products and how long they last - i'm no expert, but if a handrailing is touched by 2-3 people per minute, after 45 minutes and more than 100 people touching that spot, I would doubt very much if there were any 'protection' remaining from that product even just simply because of how much would be rubbed off with each use.

My post certainly wasn't intended as a criticism, more just to inform the more nervous people out there that such products exist.

In my situation, we won't be able to handle 100 people per hour, let along 100 people per touch point. 

We are actually applying some of the concepts behind efficient roller coaster loading into our plan (pre-grouping for instance).

[Pyro]

The chemicals they use keep working on surfaces even after several hundred touches, . The last up to days but in high traffic areas most will recommend a reapply at 30 to 60 minutes. Same stuff they use in hospitals in infection wards. . Same chemicals on long haul flights too.  Its now just mass produced to meet the demand

[Jdude95]

3 hours ago, Pyro said:

The chemicals they use keep working on surfaces even after several hundred touches, . The last up to days but in high traffic areas most will recommend a reapply at 30 to 60 minutes. Same stuff they use in hospitals in infection wards. . Same chemicals on long haul flights too.  Its now just mass produced to meet the demand

Can't we just mist the guests at every ride entrance. Whole body sanitise, touch away kids!

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Lysol and Sulfuric Acid. Job done!

[Jobe]

21 hours ago, auspicious said:

Wait what? What even does that last line mean? I'm criticising a major company with lots of flaws. Yet you (and @Jobe) seem to think personal insults are appropriate for anyone that dares to say that DW is looking rubbish. That's pretty childish.

Whoa- back right up there big boy!! I was not saying that I agreed with Flyn_Smith's assessment of you , rather I was just simply correcting his Americanism to a much more palatable ( for me anyway) Australian colloquialism. I never said whether I agreed or even found the assessment acceptable. Dont put words in my mouth thanks- that was not the intention. Cheers.

Edited September 18, 2020 by Jobe

[auspicious]

22 hours ago, Jdude95 said:

On another note, finally stopped in at MW today since it re-opened. 

Didn’t Bikash ban you?

23 hours ago, StingRay said:

I never said that comment. But if you insist I did then prove it. What War also?. I talk to many people within this community and I don't know what "War" we may have started.

I do know we get attacked however on a regular basis for what we believe in.

I never said you said it so why do you keep asking me to prove it.

I like that the victim complex switches from “I” to “we” at the end there. If “we get attacked” then maybe also take responsibility for the anti village stuff that “we” keep posting?

9 hours ago, AlexB said:

A dead end is a path with no other way from that spot except to go back the way you came. BRC is not such a spot, as you can turn right and head into tiger island. You're entitled to have your opinion, but do try to stay factual.

Dude there’s a 10ft wall across the path next to BRC that cuts dreamworld in half. That’s not a dead end?

Edited September 18, 2020 by auspicious

[Jdude95]

13 minutes ago, auspicious said:

Didn’t Bikash ban you?

You can't ban someone for calling you a dickhead when you're being a dickhead. Much like you're currently being. 

 

13 minutes ago, auspicious said:

Dude there’s a 10ft wall across the path next to BRC that effectively cuts dreamworld in half. That’s not a dead end?

9 hours ago, AlexB said:

I'm quite happy to fill this gap below.

A dead end is a path with no other way from that spot except to go back the way you came. BRC is not such a spot, as you can turn right and head into tiger island. You're entitled to have your opinion, but do try to stay factual.

Surely you're not that dense? 

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Jdude95

[auspicious]

So you weren’t banned @Jdude95? No wonder you guys get attacked for your “beliefs” when you just spin any old crap to suit your “dw good village bad” narrative.

23 minutes ago, Jdude95 said:

Surely you're not that dense? 

So there’s not a big depressing wall cutting off a path that used to go to the other half the park there? Like it’spretty amazing that your relying on black and white dictionary definitions to say that’s not a miserable corner of the park. A path that once went somewhere now no longer does. It’s a dead end. And the wall literally connectors to BRC 

Edited September 18, 2020 by auspicious

[Jdude95]

2 minutes ago, auspicious said:

So you weren’t banned @Jdude95? No wonder you guys get attacked for your “beliefs” when you just spin any old crap to suit your “dw good village bad” narrative.

So there’s not a big depressing wall cutting off a path that used to go to the other half the park there? Like it’spretty amazing that your relying on black and white dictionary definitions to say that’s not a miserable corner of the park. A path that once went somewhere now no longer does. It’s a dead end. And the wall literally connectors to BRC 

Ah, I see you don't understand what a joke is either. So you truely are that dense. It does explain a lot. 

Have a good weekend 

[auspicious]

1 minute ago, Jdude95 said:

Ah, I see you don't understand what a joke is either. So you truely are that dense. It does explain a lot. 

Oh you were just joking when you posted defamation 😃

good one!

[joz]

*sigh* I'll moderate when I get time later

[Jdude95]

1 hour ago, joz said:

*sigh* I'll moderate when I get time later

At least it's on topic for once? 

[StingRay]

2 hours ago, auspicious said:

I never said you said it so why do you keep asking me to prove it.

I like that the victim complex switches from “I” to “we” at the end there. If “we get attacked” then maybe also take responsibility for the anti village stuff that “we” keep posting?

 

Yeah, you've stated we called someone at VRTP a "wanker". I am just asking for proof that I apparently personally said this. Even a child can prove something when you ask them.

Yes, that's right. I'm here to play the victim card. Christ, you know me really well. You may as well call me.

So it seems your big issue is we don't talk about all the GC parks. When we do. Within this forum. But when people wanna get personal and attack individuals that's bullshit. It is not the first time an individual here has done what you are doing. I don't know exactly what anti VRTP "We" keep posting. Are we not allowed to have an opinion. That's fine.

Maybe you can stop talking about DW then.

 

[rappa]

Sigh this is all very boring. Surely we all have better things to be doing with our time than these back and forths.