The Parkz Update: DC Rivals settles in as Movie World gears up for White Christmas

A look at DC Rivals HyperCoaster as it continues to settle in and further improvements are made to the ride and its surrounds.

Image: Parkz. DC Rivals HyperCoaster towers over the newly reopened front entrance road.

Update By Richard Wilson
3 November 2017

DC Rivals HyperCoaster: technically a car park coaster.

I guess you have to have one ugly support to make the rest of the ride look pretty good by comparison.

The aesthetics of the supports can be forgiven when they hold up this amazing first drop.

Rivals is lit by a collection of small LED light setups.

More LEDs. It is fairly modestly lit at night, putting all the emphasis on the menacing Joker sign.

I'm not sure what's more dangerous to stick figures: high speed roller coasters, or Adobe Illustrator's "Live Trace" feature.

The new footpath has opened and completes the look of DC Rivals HyperCoaster.

Footings that jut into the garden beds have been given a textured appearance.

Movie World, Movie World, Movie World, Movie World, Movie World, Movie World, Movie World.

The eventual pathway and bridge to Topgolf is in place, with Rivals overhead.

The footpath will be an impressive vantage point for Rivals.

The path snakes its way towards Movie World from the main footpath along Entertainment Drive.

Every effort was made to keep the existing palm trees in place, including building the footpath around them with these tree grates.

It looks like concrete was cut for similar footpath tree grates along here but not used.

These trees have been in place since the beginning so it's good to see them remaining an icon of the drive into the park.

It's a seriously impressive drive into Movie World thanks to Rivals.

The most traditional hypercoaster looking part of Rivals.

That first drop might be the single best moment on any roller coaster in Australia. Though Superman Escape's launch might beg to differ...

The freedom you feel on the spacious trains can't be beaten.

The train is not B&M style smooth-as-silk, but it is a perfectly comfortable ride.

The transitions are superb. It's a snappy ride but the movements all feel natural. Jet Rescue at Sea World has more forceful transitions, to put it into perspective.

Smile! Cameras go off at the base of the first drop, which makes for some pretty odd expressions.

Which way is forward?

Movie World logos become Village Roadshow logos further out the front of the park.

Dreamworld management look at this photo and are confused by all this pleasant, green stuff under the ride. "But we thought you could only grow things on stagnant bodies of water?"

As if the non-inverting loop wasn't disorienting enough... try it backwards.

DC Rivals is very much the icon of Warner Bros. Movie World.

Yeah... that first drop.

Some amazing hypercoaster airtime.

Then into some crazy German twisting.

The train's sleek Batmobile style looks very cool against the bright track.

You're flung out of your seat into the lapbar restraint at the top of the drop, and you won't touch it again until you're barelling along at 115km/hr at the bottom.

There's a lot of roller coaster goodness towering over the front of Movie World.

The park is looking surprisingly busy for a mid-week day.

Merry Christmas... apparently. Tell you what Movie World, remind us again in about seven weeks.

(Or the boring caption: "Movie World gets a head start on decorations for White Christmas... can't wait!")

Justice League 3D is closed for maintenance until November 6.

Meanwhile Green Lantern is due to go down for maintenance on November 6 as the park prepares for the peak summer season.

The western area is open once again.

Though there's little to see or do here with Wild West Falls still closed for an extended maintenance period.

Wild West Falls is looking very tranquil. Not wild, or fallsy at all. Pretty western though.

Boats stacked in the deserted station.

The ride is due back in action on December 9.

A $30 million ride and we've got this piece of vinyl reusing the old Batman Adventure sign to entice guests. At least the birds seem to like it...

DC Rivals HyperCoaster: putting the O in OCD.

The... O... in... you can thank us when you notice this misalignment every single time you ride from now on.

Comic Book artwork lines the queue.

15 minutes... not too bad.

Riders must be 130cm tall and 7 years of age to ride. And a lot of other things...

The ride's test seat lets larger guests see if they meet the size requirements before queuing. A simple green light will light up if the restraint is pulled down far enough to lock safely.

It's the first time Movie World have installed a test seat. Previously only Motocoaster and The Claw at Dreamworld had this feature, which is commonplace at parks overseas.

Shade is in place over the queue.

The structures offer shelter from the sun without being too obtrusive. The queue still feels nice and open.

The shade is open enough to not block views of the coaster too much. The leaf design is clean and modern yet still fits in with the comic book artwork.

These simple lights are built into the support structure for the shelter.

Complaints that the shelter leaves sections of the queue exposed to the sun are moot considering the queue moves every few minutes.

Wonder Woman's lasso stand out nicely.

Cyborg is one of those characters that you've never heard of but will soon be a thing thanks to the upcoming Justice League film.

The billboards quite effectively transport you out of Movie World and ito the world of Rivals, though they do block some of the best views of the ride.

The station, like the trains themselves, is wonderfully open and spacious.

The pay-to-ride back seats go empty if there are no paying customers.

One of the loose item storage units has been previously modified, likely in an effort to get the new system working as it was intended, with rotation between cycles. The internal dividing walls have been altered and a hatch has been added on the rear side to be able to retrieve items should there be a power outage or mechanical fault.

Meanwhile the next unit along has been removed.

Likely the missing unit is getting the same treatment as the first, and soon all six will be modified and fully functional.

The idea essentially means that riders on multiple trains can safely store their belongings simultaneously. By rotating, it locks one train's belongings behind a solid wall while the next train loads. It rotates again when the train returns so that riders collecting their belongings move away from the platform, so that the next load of guests can place their belongings at the same time.

Let's hope they get it working!

Reverse POV cameras have now been installed.

Each row features a backwards facing camera and a ring of LED lights to capture riders' expressions. These videos will no doubt be available for purchase in due course.

One for the back row as well.

After the amazingly expansive and open roller coaster experience, exiting guests are funneled into what can only be described as a claustrophobic shipping container to view their ride photos and shriek loudly to friends/family/20-odd strangers.