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Said it for Jungle Rush and I’ll say it again: My god, can they stop using AI in their concepts? If they want to be seen as cheap and lazy, sure, but if they’re already spending $20m on ‘immersive theming’ for a ride that’s already built, the least they could do is hire some real artists & not suck up the Murrissippi for their low-effort marketing material. Especially when they’re already under fire for displacing more wildlife with the rezoning news, and the previous ‘Steel Taipan/Koala Research’ scenario, despite the questionable validity/impact of either of these, they should know better.

Is that right? And yet out of the 17.3k public views my original post above has had so far on FB, where comments have been ripe over a theme park's use of AI, there has not been a SINGLE comment made yet which has accuses me of the same practice! Only the 1 comment on here... good ol' Parkz. And I think I've only ever had 1 similar accusation in the past. So that's 2 in total? Go figure 🤷‍♀️ Thanks for the reality check, I actually needed that! Dunno why I was worried on the first place over the one petty remark on here. I'm glad everyone else still recognises my content as a worthwhile human effort 💖 Apologies to forum members here for unintentionally railroading the topic being discussed. Take care all. Be nice, be kind 🫶 Thank you! I appreciate you 🫶

Just because you and people you know don't care about the effect of AI doesn't mean that a lot of others don't. Considering the top liked comments on DW Instagram post on the announcement are disappointment at the use of AI, it would seem a good majority do actually care about them using AI and how that reflects on them as a business.

After the amount of time & effort I spent writing that post for my FB blog last night, I felt the need to clarify that this was actually my own work. I used to articles for an online website, and anyone who has followed me online since the beginning (10 years ago) would know I've always used a lot of emojis in my work. That's always been my style of writing, I like to make my posts as interesting as possible to attract attention. Run it though as many AI detectors as you like, if you need some kind of proof. But please, don't baselessly slander my efforts on a public forum. Cheers ✌️

I do really hope their new land features a new flagship thrill rollercoaster. It's nice that so much attention has been given to family rides recently. But with the age of The Gold Coaster, and it generally being not the most enjoyable experience. The park really only has Steel Taipan to lead on the thrill side. I would prefer something airtime focused personally, I think it would contrast Steel Taipan nicely.

Jesus more AI was used in that post than the park did in any concept art Prob safe to say we wont be seeing pico near this thing and hopefully not a heap of netting required after Hoping to see an av component a little more scooby 3.0 or wild west at night and a little less wizard oz

People 👏🏻 need 👏🏻 to 👏🏻 vote 👏🏻 with 👏🏻 their 👏🏻 wallets 👏🏻 I've said this a thousand times. if you don't like the product offering - don't buy it. If you keep paying them to copy-paste their events, they'll keep doing it.

Ignore the dodgy Photoshopping.

Finally its announced. I have known about it for a while but didnt wanna spill anything. $20 million on a revamp is wild. I am hoping the theming and area gets a huge overhaul to match the river down area and "Mine" theme. Bit of a let down on the use of Ai for the concept art too... Lets see what else comes of it all

Well you got me good there @DaptoFunlandGuy, thanks for clarifying!😆 Theme Park nut or not, it's interesting how many of us notice those SBNO things (like sections of monorail track, stations, trains, covered up cable car station etc) while looking straight through what's now completely gone - such as all the removed track out front, so thanks for pointing out the obvious! oops🤭 Doesn't change the fact that SW needs a transportation attraction. One that not only serves visitors staying at the SW Resort, connecting the front to the back of a very long Park while taking advantage of those breathtaking views. Modern day Cable 🚡 rides purpose built to conditions, some even navigate around a twisting circuit, are safely enclosed, wheelchair accessible, have ventilated cabins, with clear floors, sometimes with AC that's charged back up as they roll through the stations.

@MickeyD not everything is AI. This is just a drone shot that was taken with a wide angle lens pre-AI. If you know the history of the park, then you’d know that that the larger white building in the park hasn’t looked like that since COVID

It’s one of my favorite theme park tracks ever. I was so disappointed when they replaced it, but couldn’t believe my ears when I suddenly heard it playing in the toilets a few months ago! It seems that Rivertown’s theme tune has been publicly released too. Thanks to Theme Park Ogre for sharing!

The Woolshed has reopened as a new Koala photo area.

I rode X2 just under a year ago, front row, inside seat, and I really thought I might get injured. And I'm physically fit so heaven help someone with issues or infirmities. I'm a fan of the coaster and I've had many mind blowing (in a good way) rides, but it's gotten really bad, it was shocking. I wish they could fix it, but six flags has been blowing up rides with much less issues.

Gold Coaster is glass smooth compared to X2. It's an extremely rough ride. It honestly is ready for retirement. I'd love to see S&S rework the concept using RMC's ibox track. Effectively a 4D free-spin version of it. The X-coaster concept was never meant to be this big. It was meant to be much smaller more mild rides. But I'm also going to say that anyone comparing this to Stardust racers is just completely wrong. These incidents are nothing alike. Stardust racers was a guy who was paralysed from the waist down. He needed assistance to even get into the coaster, could not hold his own body upright and knew with 100% certainty that he had a pre-existing condition. X2 riders were otherwise healthy and there is zero indication that any of them had any pre-existing conditions. Blows to the head - especially to the back of the head - can cause concussions and bleeds. Given how rough this ride was when I rode it, it is absolutely reasonable to believe that someone hitting their head hard enough at the right angle could be fatally injured by the ride. Honestly, if you were hit in the eye with that much force, you would expect to have a very black eye and bleeding inside the eyeball itself. If some of these people had their heads forward and were thrown back into the headrest, it would not be that different to falling down and hitting your head on the ground. Just because it doesn't happen with everyone, it doesn't mean that it isn't happening. For me, there have been enough incidents to justify closure. It's sad, but it will pave the way for a new ride.

it's probably been built in a former executive's backyard somewhere 🤣

Anyone willing to cough up $10,000 can now buy the Thunder Lake Stunt Show ski ramp off of FB Marketplace.

And this thing is 114 years old

Sometimes acronyms isn’t the right choice! No idea what any of these are.

I do wonder, they really don't need a load and unload station... as shown with JR and ST... If one of these goes and they use the space to create either a show scene before the launch or at the ending? And if maybe they put in some sort of bounce or drop track because nearly $20 mill is a lot to spend and they're promising "surprising" elements, so doing something like that wouldn't surprise me... Plus if it is a "mine", then mines and drops kinda go hand in hand!

Well hey there is a young RMC up for sale in Arie Force One ;) I would also see love to see an Art Engineering wild swing come to Aus. And I think you can get away with a Mack Rockin' Tug because its on coaster track and is therefore a controlled environment and not free flowing. But the Intamin rapid with the half pip bowl like Amazonia with the drop track at the end looks awesome.

My hot take (which I've said before) is that Gold Coaster needs to go and the entire end of Ocean Parade needs redeveloping from Wipeout to Kevil Hill. That is an enormous amount of land which includes Trolls Village area and Thunderbolt plot, as well as the exhibition centre. It could accommodate waterpark expansion, but given the WWW is closed for half the year, that seems like a poor use of land. The exhibition centre could be replaced with a much better auditorium space built in the redevelopment at the other end of the park which would be more than just a shed - especially if a hotel is planned. This would free up that building for rides/show spaces within the park footprint. I'm fairly agnostic about ride types. But DW's line up is definitely short of a major high-thrill coaster, a small thrill coaster (eg. mad mouse, axis, 4D free-spin), a dark ride and a water ride (which could be combined into one great ride). Flats wise they have a lot of spinning rides, so I'd like to see some more gentle options, like Zamperla Big Wavez or Nebulaz (or both) which aren't very thrilling but are good rides to fill the gap between K&B dreamland and the big thrill rides. They're also visually impressive. I would fix that end of the park first before expanding into Blue Lagoon. It is an eye-sore and a dead-end currently, and the connection between the wet and dry parks needs to be addressed.

An RMC I-Box track would solve the issues on roughness if they wanted to go down the wooden route. It's also something we haven't seen in Australia before, that is massively successful overseas. I am sure Vekoma, Intamin or Mack would be able to come up with an imposing coaster that will suit the line-up nicely. Obviously, an airtime machine would be lovely, but it doesn't have to be. A water ride is obviously needed at some point, but personally, Dreamworld needs something big and bold. - I also now realise I am just repeating what I said in a previous post from a year ago. But from the previous visits to Dreamworld, you can only re-ride Steel Taipan so many times. It's a really fun ride, but it's not strong enough to be the park's sole modern thrill coaster.

Did Dreamworld pretend that the artwork wasn't AI? Or did they just release some AI generated concept art of their new attraction, and present it as "concept image for illustrative purposes only' ?

@Theme Park Girl I saw your Facebook one and recognised it as your own style. This mob just like to bitch and moan, ignore them.

Theory time: Paradise Fall in Vietnam's Sun World Danang permanently closed last year. Perhaps Dreamworld bought the trains?

What relevance does that have to AI artwork? I guarantee you any of the greenie whingers about koalas are were not going to change their tune because Dreamwork got real graphic artists to do the mock concept images Dreamworld has lifted the lid on its next multimillion-dollar attraction, revealing plans for Australia’s first “immersive” ATV-style ride as part of a major expansion of the theme park’s popular Rivertown precinct. The near-$20m “family thrill experience”, dubbed Lost Mine Mayhem, will be built on the site of the now-closed Motocoaster and is slated to open in late 2027. Construction will begin in the coming months. Dreamworld chief executive Greg Yong said the stand-alone attraction, positioned on the fringe of Rivertown – which opened in late 2024 – was designed to bring generations of families together. “It’s all about the story,” Mr Yong said. “From the time you entered the ride – all the way through the queue until you get on the ATV itself, and even through the exit – you will hear bits of that story.” Unlike Dreamworld’s more extreme offerings, Lost Mine Mayhem has been designed with accessibility in mind, catering to guests “just over a 100cm height right up to your grandparents”. “It’s a doable ride,” Mr Yong said, as opposed to the more “challenging” attractions such as the Giant Drop and Tower of Terror. *cough cough* The ride’s trains and control systems have been sourced from a European manufacturer, though Mr Yong confirmed the installation work would be carried out by local tradespeople. He said the ATV – All Terrain Vehicle – format was a first for Australia and offered a distinctly different sensation to a traditional rollercoaster. “As opposed to sitting inside a rollercoaster, you’re sitting on top of it,” he said. “It’s a really unique ride type – really thrilling but also with a bigger range of people in mind,” he said. The restraint system, with harnesses positioned at the back, allows for greater freedom of movement, Mr Yong said. “It’s a much more comfortable ride for everyone.” Two trains will operate, each seating 20 guests, with the “simple design” allowing for “faster loading” and “shorter queue times”. “But while you are waiting – we have a few surprises in the queue,” Mr Yong said. The attraction’s “story” centres on a rediscovered gold mine hidden deep beneath a valley, with guests recruited as a crew racing to beat treasure raiders to the find. Riders will move through hidden passages and immersive theming before boarding the ATV vehicles. Mr Yong said the new attraction – which has already been in development for more than a year – would be great “investment” into tourism and the local economy. “Every time Dreamworld has a media call talking about a new investment, it’s a great story for the Gold Coast,” he said. He hinted further expansion of Rivertown could still be on the cards and a whole new design to be announced soon. “We’re constantly assessing what’s the next best thing for us,” he said. “The next one is a whole new land which we are incredibly excited about.” The announcement comes amid a near-$200 million wave of new investment at the Coomera theme park. https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/dreamworld-unveils-20m-lost-mine-mayhem-as-australias-first-atv-thrill-ride/news-story/1d5fb8a05c27e537274e5737f365c371

I don't disagree with the quick service suggestions - popcorn and churros are easy and keep costs down. Doing a chicken or turkey leg is hard without sales volume and Dreamworld just can't guarantee that. If you don't hit your sales, you end up bleeding money in wasted product and unnecessary labour. Most of the successful 'cult snacks' in parks today are associated with something bigger. Like Dole Whip, or Butterbeer. The turkey legs only debuted in Disney World in 1989 inside of Frontierland, but the current sales you're seeing in USJ are built on years of corporate american cultism, established trends and refined methods. Dreamworld can't afford that level of investment, and coming up with their own signature food item from scratch without some sort of corporate tie-in isn't likely to take off in a real, profit making way. That sort of thing has to grow organically. 50-80% of Disneyland guests are locals and annual passholders. It would be foolish to ignore things that increase the spend in that demographic. The Coast Entertainment 2025 annual report actually calls out this strategy quite specifically: Put simply - this strategy is a choice.

https://parkz.com.au/forums/topic/32106-coast-entertainment%E2%80%99s-fy24-results-announcements/ We've discussed this ad nauseum, but annual passholders are the least likely to spend in park on every visit. Providing incentives that encourage spending, while maintaining a margin on those purchases, actually increases your revenue. Please don't put MW in the same group as Universal or Disney. As for your claim - I disagree. None of those three companies have what you claim. I can think of multiple places across 6 Disney parks i've visited, and 4 Universal parks that don't have money makers within easy reach \ line of sight. MW has multiple spots like this including Oz courtyard, superman's courtyard, and the entirety of West's precinct, which for the size of the park, is pretty significant. You're not wrong about the lineup, nad they could do with more - but the visitation needs to continue for them to afford more installations - and seeing them market this sort of thing to not only increase the perceived value of an annual pass, but also encourage the lower in-park spenders to spend more money each visit, is a clear pathway towards improving the bottom line to a point where they can afford their next attraction.

Hahaha they are literally take the piss. not a single new maze? Event was going stale as it was, now it’s dead.

Look, I'd be totally fine with the Ski Show gone in exchange for something like the return of a proper aerial cable car ride, maybe chuck in some paddle boats & (god forbid) build an actually decent replacement to Trident! After FINALLY riding that thing recently, (after numerous failed attempts) seriously, OMFG, was this ride actually made in someone's back garage? No wonder it spends most of it's time on the ground. What an absolute piece of shit, dare I say, it's also an accident waiting to happen.

Swung by today and noticed that the chairs were all gone. They were there back in December when i last swung through. Also, the Ferris Wheel has shed all of its gondolas. The park also needs a major makeover. There were incomplete panels on the back of the face, most of the stars on the ground near the ticketing botth were almost completely gone, the building opposite was not just faded, but some of the panels were peeling, almost every facade is faded bar the wall where the bathrooms are, only half of the steps outside Coney Island have the black edge grips on them, and all of the older games on the inside were out of order. Plus the gift shop keeps getting worse. They once won a Brass Ring for a deck of cards, and now the shop only takes up 1/3rd of the space there with most of it being old merch- and most of that being last years Halloween stuff. The only non-generic thing in there is a 50c postcard for the 90th. There was so much more in December, including the pin sets which is now just The Bug. They're really making it hard to want to continue going there to test the colours on any new camera i buy. Also if anyone was wondering how Hot Racer track comes together...

Look, it's very early days here but there's a number of indications that they're trying to change things up. Im happy to be patient and give them a chance to show us a leopard with new spots before I condemn them for the attempt. No. Industrial bubble generators that have a cost to operate and won't get refilled. I'm optimistic for change but this is the first thing they'd let go if costs were pinched. Get the kids toy bubble wands. sell the same product you use, and have it rigged to blow bubbles right there on the merch stand. If it sells wands, management will keep refilling them because the money keeps rolling in. There's a reason Disney and Universal both do it this way.

I’ve just discovered that all of Dreamworld’s old Tiger Island music has been officially released by composer Wesley Taylor on his two “Theme Park Soundscapes” albums! Here’s the original 1995 pre-show track: And the updated 2017 version: This is the intro music that was played at the start of the presentations: This was heard during the speech about declining wild tiger populations: And this ambience track was played in the toilets: The music around Tiger Island was updated a few years ago, so these songs hadn’t actually been used in-park for a while. However, Dreamworld recently reintroduced all of this music (apart from the “Decline of the Tigers” track) as part of a new soundtrack that plays on a loop in the Tiger Island toilets (including the original 1995 pre-show track which hadn’t been heard in the park for many years). As a side note, it seems that Wesley Taylor also composed music for Gumbuya World too!

Classy headline.

Figured this topic deserved its own thread. Yesterday's announcement posts may or may not appear over here eventually. I'm just transferring some of the details from the Motocoaster thread over here for posterity's sake... if you want to whinge about AI go and create your own thread.

The ride is 22 years old, and it is still getting one of the biggest wait times in the park on the regular. I'd say it's worth a minor investment to kick another decade or two worth of life into it.

I get it’s not an apple’s for apple’s comparison but I love that they have removed the Sky Coaster while WNW GC’s has been left to rot right at the very front of the park.

As I can't edit the post, just to clarify he actually said two trains, not three. The base audio was really that bad, but they finally sent me the source audio so I could hear the whole thing haha. It's online now for those interested on various channels.

@Theme Park Girl I've never read your blog, so I wouldn't know how many people have called you out over using AI. All I was saying is that Chat thinks you could be using AI, so it's not exactly far fetched to think other people might come to the same conclusion. There are probably plenty of people who either don't care if you use AI or are simply too polite to say anything. For the record, I'm not claiming you use AI and I wouldn't care if you did. I use it all the time for work. What I wouldn't do is present something generated by AI to a client as my own work, like DW did yesterday. I also asked Chat, "is she having a go at me?" Yes, I’d read that as a dig at you, although she is wrapping it in a fairly polite, indirect response. So, yes, she's having a go at you, but indirectly rather than outright attacking you. She's also trying to position herself as the reasonable one and your comment as the isolated, petty accusation. So much for "Take care all. Be nice, be kind" 🤣Chat you're so funny🤣

I didn't see the TPG FB post, but I read it here and knew it was TPG's post without even noting the attribution Brad gave. All good TPG. This topic is about the closure of Motocoaster anyway.

Legitimately this. I don't care about the environment but AI art is incredibly lazy and with a trained eye its not very hard to pick out When Rivals was built Village plucked a random guy who posted his Nl2 pre creation based on the footings onto Parkz to do the animation for them for the ride's marketing. Something like that wouldn't happen now. Plenty of australia based creators who'd do something like this for free

Care of The Adventures of Theme Park Girl / @gcthemeparkgirl on insta ⛏️ LOST MINE MAYHEM: SO, IS IT *REALLY* JUST A MOTOCOASTER REFURB? 👀 There’s been a LOT of discussion since this morning’s announcement by Dreamworld Australia about whether Lost Mine Mayhem is simply a refurbishment of the former Motocoaster. And yes, it's true... the existing Motocoaster track layout IS being reused. HOWEVER... read on, my friends! After being invited along to today’s announcement and hearing directly from Dreamworld CEO Greg Yong, I can tell you there’s a LOT more to this project than simply giving the old ride a new name and a coat of paint! 👀 In fact, Greg was very clear: "This is not a refresh. This is not like a lick of paint.” Lost Mine Mayhem represents a near-$20 million investment, and while the track layout will remain, the entire track will actually be taken down, remediated, completely repainted and rebuilt. And that's just the beginning... A BRAND-NEW LAUNCH SYSTEM ⚡ The old hydraulic launch is being replaced with a new electric tyre-driven launch system, bringing a more modern launch technology to the attraction. NEW ELEMENTS ON THE TRACK 🎢 While Dreamworld isn't revealing everything just yet, Greg confirmed that there will be new elements on the launch and out on the track, including additional experiences and near misses designed to make the ride more exciting. BRAND-NEW ATV TRAINS 🛺 The old motorcycle trains are gone. Instead, riders will climb aboard ATV-style vehicles, sitting on top rather than inside a traditional coaster train. The new trains also feature a completely different restraint design, with a waist-level harness providing greater freedom of movement, better visibility and a much more comfortable experience for a broader range of guests. There will be two 20-seat trains, with the new design also allowing for faster loading and dispatches. A WHOLE NEW EXPERIENCE ✨ The attraction will feature a new station/load experience, new theming and a completely new queue experience. And the queue won't simply be somewhere to stand around waiting! There'll be interactive elements, story details and little discoveries throughout, with the narrative continuing from the moment you enter until you leave the attraction. AND THEN THERE'S THE STORY... ⛏️🪙🌿 On the fringe of Rivertown, an undiscovered gold store has been found deep beneath the valley. But treasure raiders are moving in... Guests will become part of the expedition, climbing aboard their ATV and heading into the mine to uncover its secrets and beat the raiders to the treasure 🪎 The story will flow through the entrance, queue, station, launch, ride and exit, with details for those who want to stop and explore, while still allowing those who simply want to jump on and ride to enjoy the experience. A NEW CHAPTER FOR RIVERTOWN 🌄 🌿 Lost Mine Mayhem is being designed as an extension of the Rivertown story, rather than simply an attraction sitting alongside it. So, is it the Motocoaster track? Yes. But is it just a refurbished Motocoaster? Definitely not! The track layout is indeed being retained, but we're getting the following: _____ NEW LOST MINE MAYHEM RIDE ELEMENTS IN A NUTSHELL: ⚡The launch system: completely new and electric tyre-driven. 🎛️ The control system: brand new! 🛺 The trains: gone are the motorcycles, replaced by brand-new ATV-style vehicles. 🔒 The restraints: a new waist-level design aimed at making the ride much more comfortable and accessible. 🎢 The track experience: new elements, experiences and near misses are being added. 🕍 The station: a completely new load experience. 🚶 The queue: a whole new immersive environment with interactive elements and storytelling. ⛏️ The theming: completely reimagined around the Lost Mine story. 📖 The storyline: entirely new and woven through the attraction from entrance to exit. 🌄 The setting: a much stronger connection to Rivertown. _______ And all of that is part of a near $20 MILLION investment.... that's definitely NOT a figure to poke a stick at! 😱 So rather than thinking of it as “Motocoaster with a new theme”, I think a better way of looking at it is this... Dreamworld is giving the Motocoaster track a second life, and building an entirely new attraction around it 💖 Personally, after everything I learnt at today's announcement, I'm absolutely thrilled for what's in store for Rivertown with this latest addition 🥳🥳 There are still plenty of details we don't know, and Dreamworld has already hinted that more information will be revealed as construction progresses. But one thing is certain... the story is only just beginning! 👀

Gotta bring back a water ride, surely!! It's time

It’s pretty sad that a park that used to have 3 separate transport rides now has none. But considering the park desperately needs a new attraction, I think constructing a new transport ride (like a cable car) should be Sea World’s next big investment.

That’s the problem with using a cheap pass just to get people through the gate. You’re targeting the wrong market if people only come because the ticket is cheap. The people who are attracted by discounted pass are often the same people who are reluctant to spend money once they’re inside. A theme park makes its real money from what visitors spend after they enter. Anyone who goes on holiday know, your wallet tends to loosen when you’re in holiday mode. The key is getting the right customers through the gate, not simply getting as many people through as cheaply as possible. A cheap ticket fills the park, but if those visitors don’t spend once inside, you’ve created crowds without creating revenue.

The 'Just fo Fun' mural on the back of the face has been like that for over a year now. On my last visit (in June), Ferris Wheel and Hair Raiser were in the same state, disappointing really thought at least the Ferris Wheel would be back up. Little nipper was also down and the website still says its down. The only effort that's gone into the park over the past few months is the flashy new website.

This guy gets it Capital assets add value for an owner and thats exactly what the new ceo is there to do You also have some changes in management there which result in people who want better theming and show having more say now Plus there is the fact that a lot of costs of things like theming were getting over inflated to like those ex execs personal pockets so the dollar will be going further now

Now you've gone and done it.