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It has been confirmed overnight in an article released by GCB that the hotel project has been axed

The hotel room designs for Nara are from the 80s, and much of the cosmetic upgrades since that time have very much been the definition of 'lipstick on a pig'. The Executive suites are the only area of the hotel currently worthy of boasting about, and even they are probably overdue for a refurbishment. I'm confused about their target market here given the floorplan represents a double \ queen configuration. Either you're marketing this to families who need space, in which case you should have some bunks in the back, or you're setting this up to be a premium, private couples retreat - in which case there should only be one king size bed, with the extra space given over to a private dining table perfect for romantic room service dinners watching the sunset. Looking at their current room pricing (midweek, outside of school holidays, non member rate for two adults) shows the following pricing for a room: (recording here for posterity so if these cabins get built we can see if it impacts the scale for the current water view rooms) If you didn't bother to read all of those, basically you've got 5 different refurbs across the resort, with two doubles, two queens, or a king as your bedding options unless you go with a suite (of which they are limited in number). Kings are only available in waterview rooms, and cost $20 less than a double queen room with the same view because the room is smaller. Changing from a queen to a double in any category will save you $20, losing the water view but keeping the bed the same will save you $20, doing both will save you $40, and if you're ok with the oldest fitout, smallest beds and no view, you can save an extra $40 again. That's 10 different room categories \ configurations with $100 between them all. Suites start at $50 above that. The 1 storey cabins all face the broadwater, and so add to the stocks similar to the Executive Suites with private space and undisturbed views. Most of the two storey cabins (which I assume are designed to suit families) are overlooking either SkyFortress (replacing the resort's hedge maze underneath the old monorail track) or the massive heatsink that is the Muriel Henchman Park carparking area (replacing the children's playground space on the north side of the resort) TL:DR - This doesn't feel very well thought out. The resort has every possible combination of room offering, and occupancy isn't an issue for most of the year outside of peak holiday periods. They're adding capacity because on paper the new rooms provide additional inventory when they eventually try to sell, but the resort doesn't need more rooms - it needs to upgrade it's existing facilities as some areas are in desperate need of a renovation.

VR's adding cabins to Sea World Resort has got me wondering about the direction of the place. I've got nothing against cabins, but isn't that what you'd normally expect to find in a caravan park? Sea World Resort has always been more of a hotel/resort, but are we watching it turn into a holiday park. Personally, I'd much rather see some money spent upgrading the existing resort, freshening things up and making it somewhere people actually get excited about staying. What's next? A camp kitchen, communal BBQs and a sign asking everyone to put their name on their food in the fridge? What do you reckon? Is this a good addition or is Sea World Resort all take away from the resort?

This term is degrading into being used to describe anything that is generated with AI assistance and is losing all meaning. Slop is usually mass produced content generation for engagement farming rather than things like this, though I know some in the anti-AI camp will label everything as slop without realising it's just normalising the word and robbing the impact from truly useless application of the tools. I do like how they are trying to integrate the exterior development as a type of 'citywalk' and if they actually build something like this, I think it will invigorate the park as more of a destination. I am a bit saddened that the grand disney-esque entrance is losing prominence, especially as the approach is not 'front on' so you never truly appreciate the grandeur of the design. In case you missed it, the guy pushing the development left the company, and the company itself is now embroiled in an embezzlement scandal that is yet to be resolved. Wonderland had hotel development plans too - though it never eventuated due to a mix of planning approval hold ups and eventually the loss of funding with the ownership sale. The thing about these plans and announcements though is to excite people enough to jump on board. People invest in things they think will pay off. If everyone shits on the idea, nobody is going to invest and you're creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Parks bringing people to the coast mean they need somewhere to stay. All the parks being on the northern gold coast creates a vacuum between the surfers accommodation bubble and the parks up north requiring shuttles or rental cars to transport the family. Additionally with accommodation so far away from the park, when the park closes, everyone jumps on smith street to head back for dinner. It's pretty obvious accommodation is needed on the northern gold coast. Paradise country has high occupancy, the Big 4 at Helensvale is routinely packed out, and both major tourism operators have proposed multiple accommodation developments over decades. They all recognise the need for it - they just need the right people, and the right time. I'll go with the analogy - you announce you're ready to make the baby so you can let potential sperm donors know you're interested in their services.

I did read the report, but the AI presentation of their plans does make you question how serious they really are about investing in the project. Why make such a big announcement when it's still only at the baby making stage?

Their plan for it is outlined here, a few route they can take with operating it and how theyre thinkign of funding it. The AGM presentation does have a lot of the answers your after. A concern of mine as well. There is still a lot more work to do inside the park to bring it up to the benchmark standard that they are comparing themselves against in the AGM, but management must seem to think the park is slowly nearing that level. Even them putting lipstick on a pig with the motocoaster situation...

Every time Coast has looked for outside investment to get a project off the ground, it seems to have fallen over. If they can't attract outside investment, are Coast prepared to fund it? And even if they do, will we see the same scenario as WWW, with WWW effectively propping up DW, while DW then has to prop up the hotel? My concern is that this could end up diverting money away from DW, leaving it with even less investment in new attractions and improvements. I'm not against building hotels, but I'd much rather see the money invested in theme parks. At the end of the day, that's what brings people to the GC in the first place. I'd hate to see DW's investment in new rides and attractions take a back seat just to help prop up a hotel.

I can see the vision, seems like this one has a higher chance of something being made of it

How many times have we heard promises about a hotel being built, only for nothing to eventuate? Even VR hasn't managed to get its hotel off the ground and now seems to be heading in a different direction, turning Sea World Resort into a caravan park. Until Coast has the money and funding in place to actually build something, it's all just dreams and promises. I'd rather see some concrete plans than another announcement about what might happen one day.

Has Coast Entertainment given up on WWW? Reading through today's report, I find it disappointing that WWW doesn't get a single mention. DW has been receiving considerable attention and investment, with Rivertown and King Claw helping drive attendance growth. Yet when it comes to WWW, there's seemingly nothing. No mention of future attractions, no expansion plans and no indication of where they see the waterpark heading. I understand investments need to make commercial sense, but at some point you have to ask whether WWW is actually part of Coast Entertainment's future growth strategy or whether they're simply happy to keep operating what they already have. WWW has the potential to be a much stronger competitor to WnW, but that isn't going to happen without some serious investment and a clear direction. With Coast Entertainment looking at broader development opportunities across the property, it makes you wonder what the long term future of WWW actually looks like. I think it's time someone put the question directly to Greg, Does Coast Entertainment still see WWW as a long term growth opportunity, or is the plan simply to keep operating the existing waterpark with little to no investment in its future? I'd genuinely like to hear what the long term vision is for WWW.

From CEH AGM presentation. It is AI slop (i really hope whatever they build is integrated tastefully with the entrance) but should give you an idea of where this is going. Construction on the hotel/citywalk expansion is expected to start in 2028, aiming to be finished for the Olympics. In unrelated notes Dreamworlds attendance this year is the highest its been since 2016

The sign is fine. It's just a shame they don't put anywhere near the same effort into WWW as they do into DW. WWW could be the best water park on the GC.

Could just be the photos we’ve seen of it and it may look better in person, but for me something feels off. The colours of the 2D logo are a lot more muted, while the 3D feels too glossy and maybe it’s not big enough. I think the framing we’re seeing is just the frame from the old logo. Maybe because we’ve had the previous logo for several decades and because it’s new it feels jarring. I’m glad the park have put in the effort to update the logo, but I don’t love it yet.

I do not think I will see it any time soon however I still applaud them for going with a 3D sign. There also appears to be grey supports at the back of the new sign so it may be very possible that there is more to be added.

I like it though. I think it would look better in person.

IMHO the rides models on top of the globe look reminiscent of cake toppers, I do like the effort and it’s better than a 2d sign, just the models themselves look like they were made from fondant.

True, should have credited them for it. Thank you!

Not their photo. Credit (which was included in the golden years post) goes to @daniel_mitchell1980 on instagram

I was hoping to go early season, but that fell through. But i should be there at some point this season. Wont be able to comment on ops though as i haven't been there since opening season.

Dreamworld have finally gotten around to installing new entrance signage to match with the park’s current logo (Credit to DW Golden Years)

Parts of that has legs. The ride is getting new gondolas with new restraints. As for the lift motors/drop shortening I doubt it. Moving the motors to the base of the ride essentially doubles the amount of cable that needs to be inspected, and I believe the ride received a systems upgrade a few years back, although some 'upgrade' is most likely needed with the new gondolas.

Was there Thursday, still in the same spot and well and truly fenced off.