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Not sure where else to post this, but as a boss, Greg is incredible. What he has been able to do to turn Dreamworld around is brilliant. The car park is full, and the park has an energy again. I am here today, and he is making drinks at Jane's Restaurant. I told him he was and inspiration to his staff, and his response was 'when we are busy, you help out.' I would love to have him as a mentor.

I have to say Jungle Rush ops were electric tonight! Pre-board announcement before the train has arrived, gates opened as guests get off, restraints being checked before the train was fully seated yet. Pre-dispatch announcement whilst they’re checking restraints, then it was an almost immediate dispatch as soon they reached the final restraints and checks. Without timing it, I honestly think from the moment I sat down to when we were moving was less than 30 seconds. Not only did this help keep wait times down, but also minimised the time the other train is waiting out on the rain. Absolutely seamless.

Probably will open 2 days after King Claw soft opens…

Flying in for disappointment when they realise the Insta filters don’t match reality

Everytime I walk through the Wizard of Oz courtyard and Precinct, I notice new areas where they decided to save money. It is very interesting compared to Rivertown, where I find new themed details that I didn't realise where they were last time. It is just striking the difference between the two theme parks.

Went yesterday and Dreamworld was packed. I haven’t seen it so busy in about 10 years it felt. Park gates opened about 10minutes early and all the lines at the gate moved very fast so was in the park by 10am from the back of the queue. Queue times were longer than usual but nothing crazy. Best times were from 10-11am and then from 3pm onwards most of the lines were no longer than 15mins. Jungle Rush: started at about 45mins but went down to 15 by about 2pm where it stayed. Murissippi Motors: 60mins all day until about 3pm where it went down to 30mins. Giant Drop: only running one side at about a 30-45min wait all day. The Claw: 15 mins all day Steel Taipan: two train operations had it at 30mins most of the day. Noticed that about 75% of the trains all had Tailwhip passengers. I think the pass holder discount is serving them well. Gold Coaster: 10-15mins Motocoaster: 45mins all day (how is this still so popular! Wild) Dreamland: all the rides here had a pretty solid looking 30minute wait time. Lots of kids and families in the park.

Yep he was definitely hands on today, the place was packed! We only just renewed our Dreamworld passes this morning after getting Village passes a month ago and being severely disappointed in Movieworld. Dreamworld just seems so much more positive, the staff are great, the operations and speed in the ride lines are amazing compared to Movieworld. Just hope to see they continue the Rivertown area into the Motorcoaster part. 1 thing, projection mapping in the temple switch track area would be a welcome addition to Jungle Rush

Attended the opening of Rivertown this morning and so I can directly compare Movieworld's and Dreamworlds. Dreamworld opened the doors to the park about 9:55am (and had a small contingent of VIPs and Theme Park enthusiasts in at 9:30am) and then had up to Rivertown gated off. At 10:05am we were then escorted down to outside the Jungle Rush coaster and there was about 15/20 mins of speeches and then the ride was ready to go. From the beginning the rides were open, stayed up for most of the day (Jungle Rush had a few periods of short down time) and the experience was really enjoyable. There were plenty of staff rostered on, the area looks amazing and well themed (and i am sure there is more to come, but it looks pretty much finished) and the radio was there giving out prizes. It felt like a true 'opening'. I really like that Greg acknowledges theme park enthusiasts in his speeches and is so connected to the community needs. It's a much more humble approach to theme park management. His offsider Michelle (I believe she is Ops manager) spent the morning in the control booth of JR then went and helped serve at the Rivertown Restaurant, it is not uncommon to see Greg helping in these back of house areas, it shows that even the exec team will jump on board and help out - it's a really good look. This is in direct contrast to Bikash who was quick to scoop into the VIP fast pass queue at 10:05am for the WoZ rides. Dreamworld was alive today and it's great to see the hard work they are putting in paying off.

I think we can all agree it was/is in a complete enough state to open though…

Park will feel a lot more "balanced" when a nextgen Rocky Hollow is built, complete with the worlds BEST Log Ride! 👍

And they want to spend over $300 million on a fancy hotel and events centre, but the theme park isn't even operating to the standard it should be. They don't really seem to have their priorities right or maybe we don't have our priorities right?!

Visited Rivertown today. (Dreamworld was heaving) we went to Jane’s restaurant for lunch and were really impressed with the theming and effort. The food was great. Took about 15mins, Good value, fresh, tasty. A table of 7 and everyone enjoyed their food and the atmosphere. Was awesome to see Michelle the operations director cleaning tables and helping the staff clean up and run meals. There is a reason the culture amongst the staff at dreamworld is so noticeably different to the other parks, and its stuff like this! After lunch we went straight to Jungle rush. Advertised 45min wait (we didn’t see it any longer all day despite the park being so busy) we waited 18mins and were on the train. Efficiencies in the station were the best I have seen on any coaster in Australia, ever. The second the lap bars came up for one load to exit the ride, the gates were open and the next lot were moving in, lap bars checked and dispatched unbelievably fast. After about 2pm we never saw the advertised wait more than 15mins, and we didn’t wait in line more than 7mins each time. It’s already been said but the queue is impressive. Hot, but impressive. not sure if this has been said but if you look down to the ground while your in the switch track room, there is an absolutely massive snake with its head aimed towards the track. It’s in the darkest section of the coaster, you can’t really see it when you go past as there is no light on it. I assume this is a work in progress? When it’s lit up I’m guessing it will be like their version of the yeti flypast on expedition Everest. It appears to be positioned right as you make a quick turn inside the temple, should make an awesome effect when light up. I think dreamworld knocked it out of the park with this ride, just as advertised there were little kids and grandparents on this one and everyone seemed to finish the coaster with a big smile on their face. It’s just a really fun ride. MMotors was advertised as 60mins most of the day so we left it till last, joined the queue at 4pm when advertised at 45mins, but waited only 20. Still slow moving compared to other rides but they have at least improved operations since the last version of this ride. Theming is epic, similar to jungle rush, everyone seemed to love it. we were talking to one of the ride ops while waiting for our turn and asked why dreamworld kept the ramp down to the waters edge rather than clear it during construction, it’s got new handrails, new floorboards. Our response was a smile and a ‘watch this space’ … I won’t read into it as it could be nothing, but if that means a future river/boat/raft ride, this would make a lot of people pretty happy! also some new merch in the Rivertown shop that didn’t seem to be available on opening. the park was alive today, atmosphere amazing, wait times really good considering the crowds, and staff were awesome! I gotta say it, movie worlds addition doesn’t come close in either execution, or operation. Lastly, the park is still feeling a little incomplete with the half train track, and long empty walks in both directions to the animals. The train will apparently be complete again in the coming few months. Can’t wait to see Rivertown with even more kinetic energy once the train is back in action.

I presume these 2 names that were recently trademarked by village are related to whatever replaces aqualoop

I’m down in Melbourne again at the moment and I’ve made it to Funfields for the opening day of Lava Lagoon and the Cyber Drift Bumper Cars. The area is very nicely presented and will look even better after the trees and plants grow (I believe there is more theming to be added later on too). There are cabanas on the island and alongside sections of the river that can be hired out as well as a large “beach” area with free seating (on a first come, first served basis). Cyber Drift Bumper Cars really impressed me. I wasn’t expecting much in terms of theming, but what the park delivered definitely exceeded my expectations. It may not come across the best in these photos, but the entire roof is pixel mapped and the 3D signs and neon lights around the outside of the arena are all synchronised to create a pretty neat light show during the ride. All in all, these are definitely both nice additions to the park.

And it’s gone Jaggs Journey just posted this photo

Yep the ride is a fantastic experience at night. Lighting is great. Got 4 rides in - 2 each way. Ride ops amazing, engaging with guests etc

You drastically overestimate the turnover these parks have in Australia and the capital they have to spend with a view for actually seeing a return. They might be owned by an investment capital firm with big pockets, but no park in Australia is big enough to see 15-20 million dollar capex every year. Its 100% why you see targeted, staggered spending, especially when you own more than one property. The other side of it is, you are still seeing effects of new ride installations even years after their opening. Nobody wants to spend money until the figures start to show they HAVE to. To be honest, i wish village would put money back into their park presentation and the visuals and themeing of their existing rides, even start thinking about their guest comfort in the blazing hot sun before they start investing in another ride let alone a whole new themed precinct. In short. You know what makes guests happier? Air conditioning. Bonus points if you even attempt to provide them with something to keep them amused while they are standing in queue lines.

Yeah right, and doomsday was neutered 'due to guest feedback' too.

I haven't been on it since the ride was ruined by White Water West with the new station and boats. Might head back up there one day, but with the way things are being ran I'd rather spend my money at Dreamworld lol.

For anyone who’s curious, the slides are still in Canberra!

Greg certainly got around today then. I was at Whitewater World and he was there. He was walking around and even picked up some rubbish. Very nice to see.

G’day folks - long time no see! As some of you may know I’m the deputy editor of First Drop, the print magazine of the European Coaster Club. Our upcoming issue (going to print in the next week or two) will have a feature on Jungle Rush in it. We’re looking for more action photos to include - basically those showing moving trains full of happy people. They need to be at print resolution (so off a camera ideally, though a recent smartphone also works if you can download the high resolution originals). If we use your picture(s) we’ll happy give you a membership of our club. The most useful bit of this for those living down under is six issues of our magazine by post, though you’ll also get access to our ECC Live series where we chat with people in the industry on Zoom. Recent participants include Neil Dwyer from Six Flags Qiddiya, and Eric Bertch from Lost Island. Shout if you can help, either here or by email to richard@coaster.club. Many thanks!

I’ve heard on good authority that there is certainly more to come but they’ve had delays with some shipments. We’ll see this land and attractions continue to improve over the next few months.

I mean it's pretty clear he means Ardent were focussed on growing Main Event at the expense of dreamworld. And i'm pretty sure that's accurate.

https://www.amusement-rides.com/product/gyro-swing-intamin - Looks as though Claw might possibly be for sale? I know the pictures are of the bigger model but all the stats match up to The Claw. They do have it listed as a 2005 model though (Claw was 2004). Maelstrom opened in 2002 and is still operating and the only other 32 seater Gyro Swing is Goliath at Adventure World. Very interested to see if the ride ends up being sold to another park...

Leviathan was supposed to have waterfalls too - seems a common inclusion in artist impressions/mock ups. whilst I would be impressed by their inclusion if they come to fruition, I’m not expecting them

Wishful thinking, maybe something is in the pipeline now and they need to get moving on it's removal?

i think it’s safe to say Doomsday will be gone within the next week or two. (The Adventures of Theme Park Girl)

Welp, I dont think its coming back: https://www.instagram.com/jaggsjourneysau/reel/DE9LvBBSmlD/ From Jaggs Instagram

mate they pretended for years that the monorail was coming back. don't expect them to acknowledge what is going on in front of your face - they're literally the home of 'pay no attention to the man behind the curtain'

Definitely saw some kids chicken out in the queue around the gem room. But all the kids that I saw parents forcing onto the ride despite being scared seemed to love it by the end. I think the “scariness” of the theming is probably creating some great core memories. For me personally a lot of my fondest childhood theme park memories were when I conquered a ride that scared me. Standing in the Tower of Terror queue with the car launching over the top of you was terrifying when you didn’t know what sort of experience you were getting into. But once you rode it once that fear turned into a feeling of such accomplishment.

Bit of attention is putting it lightly. Havent been on West in years but a solid three quarters of the effects aren’t working in recent POV’s. I’d have a hard time finding anything that did work beyond the water spitting out of the bucket. It’s genuinely in a horrible state. It’s the same story as superman - I’m too tall to ride it now but when “The tremors are getting worse continue to metropolis station as quickly as you can” plays twice and the pre launch audio doesn’t play “Tunnel collapse is imminent 15 seconds to cave in” anymore (as noted in all recent POV’s), something’s up. Should have been given a bit more of a looking at when they installed the new boats I reckon.

I don’t think so, I think it was just an error on the website, which has since been fixed. Once they know a reopening date, I’m sure the park will tease it on their socials.

Honestly, if they can't operate it as intended, if they have to neuter the experience to the point it isn't worth doing, yes, i'd rather that they closed it.

Even just to collect them. I practically live at both Taronga and Sydney Zoo, and each time theres a new map, i grab one. Which for SZ at this point is basically daily.

Very busy at Dreamworld today. Jungle Rush was 60 minutes from about 11am. Queued right up until the entrance.

I have just done forwards and backwards with my kids, awesome ride, great area. Greg young was helping at Jungle Rush and is now serving drinks at Jane’s restaurant. Good too see overall an awesome place

Scuse me, but that's a Parmi right there. The numbers have gotta stand out, and while theming is nice, i think what fits the theme is something brown, beige, cream, or green and those just aren't going to pop out hard enough to be seen by servers across the restaurant. We went yesterday and tried out the restaurant. Although advertised as 11:30 open, staff informed us it wouldn't open until 12. We waited around, and were the second group seated, though some of our party joined us a few minutes later. Drinks took a little while to come out (nothing too fancy) and then we all ordered food using the QR code. We watched as other groups came, ate and left. Several senior staff came in wearing their jungle rush branded button down shirts and some with dreamworld staff nametags, with groups (I assume their family) and also ate, and left. So the service was reasonably efficient. Our second round of drinks came in a reasonable amount of time given the restaurant by this time was packed. Unfortunately our food didn't arrive. Well... one dish arrived (so we knew the order had been received) but nothing else came out... We waited almost 45 minutes (we waited this long as several wait staff running food kept coming near, looking around and then returning to the kitchen, so we weren't sure if this was our food but kept the hope that ours was the next one out of the kitchen) before one of our group approached the bar to raise the missing food. To their credit, they checked our table number, went immediately into the kitchen, returned a few minutes later and advised our food was coming out the door in moments, but acknowledged that it most definitely should not have taken as long as it had. Compounding the issues they also advised they'd experienced an "IT issue" with their ordering system. They offered what was a fair compensation for the delay, but it did end up taking two hours out of our day by the time we had eaten (kids meal didn't come out with the other main meals and we had to ask another waitstaff to go check and it arrived about 5 minutes later. Putting the delay aside, the food was delicious, perfectly cooked and well presented. There was a small hiccup with salads being delivered with incorrect ingredients (one of our party specifically ordered one salad over another because the other had coriander in it. The alternate one had coriander in it but wasn't listed on the ingredients. The replacement they sent out was a different salad (the one that had coriander on the menu) but without coriander... so a little odd there, but again, resolved quickly once it arrived. I noticed Greg come through the restaurant while the bar staff were sorting our food issues. He came through chatting to folk and a few minutes later was manning the bar - nearly got a drink from the man himself but I declined his offer as we needed to speak with the staff member we'd dealt with on our food issues. We saw him moving about Rivertown throughout the day and I think it's great to see a really involved leadership team. It was clear to see the restaurant had issues, and around the time we approached the bar, the restaurant suddenly swarmed with dreamworld staff who were very clearly not the restaurant wait staff. (At a guess, I'd wager they even pulled in office \ admin team to clear plates and glasses.) Overall, while I know the restaurant had opened a few days prior, I'm happy to put it down to essentially opening day jitters. I don't believe the park has had this level of full service dining before, and the venue itself hasn't operated in over 6 years. Teething issues are to be expected, in or outside a theme park. My local had a new store open up in July this year and our first visit on opening day was a nightmare and we left after 1h20m without food - however we returned 3 weeks later to perfect food and speedy service. I'll be trying out Jane's again in a few weeks time - I suspect the team will have found their rhythm and bedded down their procedures \ ironed out any kinks. At least, I hope they do - but will update our experience when we can. ETA: I should add while all the dreamworld nods are cute, and the animatronics certainly give the place a certain life - it kinda feels jarring against the rest of rivertown. It's like it was designed by two different companies - there's a whole bunch of thematic elements that just don't fit the 'rivertown' canon. It's a great place to cool off in the heat and sink a beer by the river though, i just hope the animatronics don't end up looking like the old koalas that surfaced a few years ago - need to ensure they're maintained and kept up.

there is a big shipping container next to the slide tower, with construction walls now teasing the new attraction (i can’t remember exactly what it said but it did mention ‘zooming’)

Best Food - Dirty Harry Bar & Grill Best Guest Experience - Gumbuya World Best Park operations - Dreamworld Best Coaster - Superman Best Family Coaster - Leviathan Best Flat Ride - Tango Train Best Themed area - Rivertown (sorry Doomsday Precinct but you are in need of some love from MW) Best Show - Affinity Dolphin presentation Best Kids’ Area - Nickelodeon Best new attraction for 2024 - Murrissippi Motors Best Amusement Park - Sea World

We now have somewhat of a POV of the ride! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEqsRyPzh5C Jungle Rush POV.mp4

Considering the old Aqualoop tower, and multiple supports are still standing, I'd say the chances of new slides using the same tower/infrastructure are pretty high. Assuming they'd be White Water West slides if that's the case too.

Doomsday was a pile of crap from day one. It wasnt forced upon them. Very big difference. They also spent almost zero money (and time) in maintaining the precinct which was a shame. Its what you get when an upper level management culture doesnt seem to care how bad things look. Trees growing out of buildings anyone? They did. It got a whole new site/sound control system and audio upgrade with a qsys core. Very good quality, everything can be managed remotely. Problem? You have to put money into everything else too. There are some tallented people working behind the scenes who actually give a damn, but they are up against it getting budgets approved. Not just talking cap ex stuff, but the manpower required to repair and maintain things too. Eventually the system grinds them into submission and they either give up, or give up and quit. Want a great example of this? Look at justice league. Multiple system upgrades over the years so the technology actually running everything experienced forced upgrades, but little spent elsewhere to correct or update the sound and lighting. All the money they spent to only do half of the works. When it comes to visuals, theming and effects, they always seem to be the first things cut from the budget even though the ride was fully costed and the spend approved. Its like having an F1 engine sitting in your grandmas old 1978 toyota crown. Completely under utilised and in desperate need of a transplant. It drives, steers and brakes, so thats all that matters. Only gets attention when it cant do the weekly shopping trip. Then its like the world is ending because its unreliable and finally broken down for good. No shit? Youve neglected repairs and upgrades for years. The tyres are shot, only one headlight works, theres no seatbelts and it only has 2 gears working in the transmission. Are you really surprised when you get a bill to overhaul and restore everything that makes you consider buying a new car, even though the engine under the bonnet is worth an average house in the suburbs? Why did you spend all that money on a new engine if you were only going to do half the job? Ohh, just spend the absolute minimum to get it physically driving again? we promise to look at everything else "next financial year"? Speak to us then as we may just scrap the whole thing or shutter it and pretend it doesnt exist when we change our minds next week.

Is the Teal Twirler a new political party? 😉

more trademarks have been filed for wet n wild, including ‘Zoom Zone’ and ‘Teal Twirler.’ my guess is Zoom Zone will be a new area replacing Aqualoop, similar to action zone. by the sound of the names, i have a feeling one of the new slides will be a launched waterslide, something like Cheetah Chase or Ray Rush. let’s hope they’re better slides then the last tower they got.

To be fare to www, the changes to the pace of the ride and the water levels were in response to the depths and the worry someone could drown if a boat was to be sunk. Wasn't from them, but internally. The station change is an absolute disaster. I wonder if they ever got it to run smoothly. Heres a good recent video. Can really see how much faster the boats travel through the troughs. It points out how little themeing elements are working. Even simple things like lighting (ambient light bleeding in is bad) levels messing up the few effects that work. Its such a shame because I know there have been a number of staff who have really wanted to make a go at fixing these things and bringing them back to a high standard and it always ends the same. Either wont spend enough money, wont dedicate enough time/labour, or won't dedicate enough support to keep the effects repaired/running when they are fixed. Its death by a thousand cuts everywhere you look and the only concerns are if the ride is physically running. The video above doesnt have one single basic effect working in the ghost town. Not even the population sign or the shot up water tank. What a waste of a ride. Especially since the site/sound system got a major upgrade too. Has the potential to do a lot with it given the control system that went in. Just have to try and convince the people that matter to approve budgets to actually get things returned to full/proper operation. You would have been working there when the attitude was still if it's part of the ride, we have to return it to service and repair/maintain it. We cant just let it sit out of service. You can say that about a lot of the park now. Must be frustrating for staff that actually care about the place looking its best.

They can redeem themselves if they have the Joker doing something like this

I mean to be honest the whole area is very generic, considering we have Atlantis at SeaWorld. Yes the emerald city facade is nice but it’s very slapped together. Massive bland green walls, open areas with a few cosmetics. They did say world class, we are far from that.

Greg has been working tirelessly to turn DW around for 5-6ish years… and it’s done it by leading from the forefront. The man deserves some reward from his efforts via ticket sales, market share and share price *he’s