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Hi, im fairly new to the parkz community and have been a long time fan of anything amusement park related. Anyway just read/saw what happenned to SDSC and really am not that concerned at all. I know the theming has been ripped apart and most likely being replaced with the same theming with different material, but it's all just a precautionary. With all that happened with the TRRR accident, no one can take any chances anymore. I know it was just a accident and a similar accident might not happen for ages but just like natural disasters, we cannot see them coming, we can only prevent further damage. Could happen anytime, anywhere. What if Scooby suddenly went up in flames? And you were stuck inside, lock in your harnesses with no way out. Will you be more concerned about the theming then or why MW didn't change to a non-flammable material. I know its hard to imagine, but its the world we live in? Sacrifices must be made to make a better future, in this case Scooby. I know SDSC looks bad now and i know people are saying just put some plywood around the track, but replacing a fire hazard with another fire hazard isn't a great solution. MW are doing the right thing by replacing the theming with a better alternative but why they're are doing it now when they could've known years ago it was a fire hazard i dont know. Remember before TRRR of the ghost train fire at LPS and how that was Australia's worst theme park disaster. Imagine if it happened with Scooby. It has to be done. But once the word is out that MW are replacing the theming for good reason, then the public will understand. I can live with the fact that theming wont be on the ride for a while. Yet still remember MW is a business and not everyone can be happy with everything and they do need to turn a profit so we can have some more amazing rides come to our beloved theme parks. Look i know im new here and dont have that much experience with theme parks or know anyone currently working at a theme park or represent any theme park but its just my expression of opinion. I just want a safer place so that one day when i bring my family, hold my sons hand as i take him on his first ride, and can assure him there's nothing to be afraid about. Because dont wanna be labeled a liar.

Photo Credit: Theme Parks All In One VRTP have managed to combine Movie World's love of A-Frame signs with Dreamworld's love of A4 signs! Although I'm not sure what a "spoky" coaster is?

For the love of God, just shut up please. So sick of the negativity!

I've been looking through this chat and all I can see is people saying, "They are making terrible decisions" and things similar to that. Not to sound rude or anything but they probably know what they are doing, and they know better than you do. Im actually excited to see what comes out of this. Anyone else with me?

You can look forward to the theming update but also be disappointed with their decision to reopen the ride in its current state.

Here's a couple of pics I took last night. The Tiger Island billboard has been changed over, and the Cub Kindy shop has gone. All Kevil Hill themed again now ☺️ From what I've heard also, it's just the maze. Also have good reason to believe that the Tailspin will be reopening tomorrow. Apparently the Wipeout is not far from its public return, either ☺️?

Given DW are generously offering additional hours of trading for their Nightime show, perhaps people are visiting later in the day? It was always expected that Visitor numbers would be very low while the Park still keeps many thrill rides closed. Visiting DW, that's what I am doing later today. I'm looking forward to spending time with the animals, enjoying a meal and seeing the show later tonight. Can't wait!!!!

Managed to get a ride on it earlier in the day. I'll share a few thoughts. First thing to say is the queue is untouched, so guess the foam can't be that dangerous right? The station is still the same, except that instead of seeing Scooby in armour from the queue, there is nothing. There's not much to say for the ride. It's as bad as you'd think it is. Nothing to see at all in the dark ride section. In fact there are 2 themeing elements left; the swinging blades (they aren't lit but we're randomyl swinging) and the random Spider in the disco room. Of all things to leave, the spider? Really? Ring of Fire room is just an empty room with a random blue light pointing at nothing. All the themeing has been removed all the way to the unload station, but the themeing at the station has been left untouched. Overall, pretty awful. The closet to nice things I can say is; it's darker than it looks in photos, the reality isn't quite as bad as the photos suggest, but it's not exactly much better. It's also a refreshing change for Village to have a preference for a ride being open, but it looks bloody sad. It's sad seeing the ride as is, if it were me I'd fog the shit out of the dark ride and add some strobes in ala the freezer/film vault mazes that get around as a desperate measure to get through the school holidays then close it to get new themeing in. Ring of Fire room could also do with having anything put in it, and plywood walls with lanterns installed between that room and the unload station. That is the stuff they can do NOW to lessen the shitness, before fixing it properly. A Scooby Doo figure wouldn't go astray either. I like to think the plan isn't to leave it like that, but I'm not optimistic.

The only poor decision they have made is opening a ride that's under their standards and well below the expectations of paying visitors to the park, and moreso, it was the lack of communication or notice regarding it.

Welcome to the extremely small club of 2 or 3 of us who don't mind this temporary interruption to the normal ride experience. What does have the potential to disappoint me though is the proposed new time frame that it's going to be going under maintenance. I guess at least that way I'll have more time to get back to the park and check it out than what I originally thought.

What if they added some Gremlins and a Beetlejuice...

I agree, its definitely suited to the Wet n Wild park, and it's cool to see another diversified offering which doesn't really detract from the experience of anyone who doesn't want to do it at all.

As much as I hate what they've done, I agree with this. Any chance a Parkz user can get in there and do a nice POV video?

As much as I feel that VRTP have been a little short-sighted and caught themselves out here, I for one anticipate major improvements when the theming is reconstructed (at least I hope so), and I look forward to it. In the meantime, I will ride the gutted SDSC when I visit in early January, and I'll take it for what it is - a lessened and slightly different experience. As disappointing as it is, 2016 has generally been a pretty difficult year for theme parks and enthusiasts in this country, and this is a blow I'm prepared to take on the chin in anticipation of better things coming from it. Honestly, I'm more concerned about the number of rides that will be open at DW by the time I visit. So yes, I agree that WBMW have probably made quite a big mistake here, perhaps due to short-sightedness and failure to respond to issues, but it's certainly not the end of the Spooky Coaster, let alone the world. And hey, one day when my kids are all theme park enthusiasts, I'll brag about the fantastic theming we had, and the fact that I rode while it looked like a construction sight. Different experience for sure.

Got no issue with them replacing the theming. But if they're going to make wholesale changes, keep the ride closed during it. Or at the very least, warn guests first.

Technically they rebuild the same waterslides.

Please, let this not be Movie World's "jumping the shark" moment. So let's be clear, Dreamworld is combing through every millimetre of every ride, being very open and transparent and yet are getting their arses handed to them for a sharp edge on a Flowrider mat, meanwhile Scooby Doo is almost completely gutted, there's no park communication why they've completely changed the ride experience in any way (which would come as a rude shock if you've waited an hour to jump on) and now they're just pretending people will be sweet and won't notice the difference? I'm so completely confused on this one. This is some weird "she'll be right, mate" mentality coming from a park that prides itself on trying to match its global brethren in terms of quality. This is a tough thing to write, because I want to be positive, but it's really tough not to be critical when you appear to be holding a lot of contempt for your customers. If they said "we're redeveloping our ride experience, please excuse our mess" on a sign, or told the greeter to say it, I think it'd almost be okay. But to bury your head in a sand is a recipe for disaster.

If Disneyland closed down pirates of the Caribbean and re-opened it as a ride through a warehouse it wouldn't be 'Great of the park to get the ride open for peak season'. Having the ride look like that can only be called an utter disgrace.

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They don't allow cameras on any of their rides, whether or not you can take loose items onto the ride. Without special permission from the park, nothing can be photographed or filmed.

You're a stickler for semantics aren't you... selected slides open from 9am OR slides begin opening from 9am who cares?

You forgot: Superman escape refurbishment (Repaint) WWF refurbishment Tiger Cub Kindy

Given Boxing Day has past, I thought I'd share this graph from Google Trends: The red line is the search term 'movie world tickets' while the blue line is the search term 'dreamworld tickets'. The purple line is December 20-26 2015 while the black line is October 23-29 2016. The right side of the graph is currently the statistics for December 25-31 2016 so these statistics are incomplete as there are still 4 days left in that time period. I also noticed DW added this to their 'What's Open' webpage: Does this mean prices will increase once all the thrill rides have re-opened? And (this may be a incorrect interpretation) that online tickets/passes are now the only tickets/passes discounted? Yeah, those were the changes required in the prohibition notices. DW didn't decide to 'change' Buzzsaw first - they are just waiting until the safety audits are completed & if the audits say the rides are safe before re-opening any of them.

All that is needed is a sign explaining "undergoing reno but open to ride", as was mentioned previously. The general public would be more upset if it was closed at this time of year than running in its current state,if that sign was in place.

Looks to me like MW shit the bed on DD and ran over time on SDSC's work and were left with the choice to make safe and re-open or to keep it shut (particularly given it's unlikely it would have been getting worked on between Christmas and New Year, so you're not losing work days). I'm thinking if I were a regular punter I wouldn't be feeling too safe travelling through the ride given I'd imagine the quality of finish of the surrounds in areas I can see is one of the cues I'd take as to the overall quality of the park's work in areas I can't see. I understand the argument for running the ride on the basis that it's "technically functional" and you're in your busiest period of the year, but bugger me this is a new one. You wouldn't run a dark ride in a half-burned out building just because the track is clear. You wouldn't run a set of dodgem cars with their shell casings removed just because they still go. It's the wrong message to send your guests about what's important to you, and where you feel your quality standard is set.

What @Theme Park Girl said Couldn't have been more direct Kevil Hill is open again, if anyone's down at the park before I can get there can anyone confirm if it's gone back to the maze and not laser tag?

@KyleShepherd thanks very much for sharing your insightful opinion. If I didn't know any better, I would say that you (or someone very close to you) is an influential Employee of WBMW?? Hmmm... Be that as it may, Kyle you have raised some very valid and important details here regarding the Park taking all precautions to ensure Guest safety. What I am so confused about is the reported fact that the Park passed it's Safety audit quickly and with flying colours? The foam walls in the themed area of the ride were coated in a fire retardant chemical with all necessary smoke detectors and other safety equipment dotted along the track. If there was any risk of fire, it would be from collection of dust throughout the back of house areas over time, effectively masking the flame retardant coat - Surely after months of closure a thorough clean of the area would have sufficed in which to reopen the ride in time for the busy Xmas Season? After that, sure, shut the ride down at the end of January for a full strip and rebuild If all this is not possible, keep the damn thing shut and offer guests something else in way of extra street entertainment, shows etc or God forbid, lower the admission price. I fear as @djrappa has eluded this may be the beginning of the end for SDSC as we know it. Why spend millions re-doing the 'show' of a ride only to bring it back the same? Would that return anything on their investment?

If they have basically gut 95% of the theming ....I speculate a complete retheme on the cards I could be wrong I understand it's being removed for OH&S but why rip it completely out just to replace it with identical theming? I think either it's a complete retheme or a fresh new Scooby storyline

They are going to be fine relax mate..

Was amazed when I drove past at 1pm and saw a definitely less than 20% full carpark, and when you take into account half those parks are probably staff cars... even the WWW towers had less than a single flight queues. Hoping it was due to Boxing Day sales and we see a big uplift tomorrow

I get all the arguments, and yes I read posts before I reply to them. However I think I can say with probably 99% confidence (because sometimes weird things do happen) that there is zero chance a cable car or monorail will be built. If nothing else, public objection. Regardless if right or wrong people tend to see (in this country) those modes of transport as novelty toys and won't get behind them. My argument behind trams is that as these already exist they are the closest chance you have of something being built to service the spit.

I was a bit of a fan too. I won't go into details but I'll just say there's lots of stuff in the show, and in many ways that's all it is, stuff! It's like 'here's a kind of stuff, you enjoying this this stuff? BAM! new kind of stuff!' As it happens it's entertaining stuff and I'll probably check it out again a few more times before the run ends, where as last years show I was pretty much done after seeing it once. Everyone should go watch and make sure you buy plenty of food and drink. The only bad thing I would say is that noise that's in the show needs to not be in the show.

I just messaged MW via Facebook: I'm shocked and horrified with what's been done with the Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster. This was a ride that sat at the top of Theme Park goers favourite Aussie Theme Park attraction ever, today after months of closure it reopened as nothing short of a total embarrassment. Rather than deal with an ongoing fallout of deserved complaints I strongly suggest that MW close the doors of this great ride immediately and reopen it only with dignity once it is back to scratch again.

Possibly I might not be the only person in Australia that likes dark rides after all! I won't make detailed comment because it's all been said already and I agree with most of what's been written in this thread so far. I just hope they have something absolutely awesome planned, but even if they have I agree that they should: 1. Not have started a major re-theme of the best ride in the park during the peak Christmas holiday season, and 2. Have closed the ride during the re-theme, and ensured there was clear communication to advise what was happening (apart from that being a courtesy to loyal guests, it could also be a great marketing opportunity that they appear to be disregarding. Whether it's an intentional and (very poorly) planned re-theme, or whether it's an unplanned but necessary safety fix, either way it's being executed extremely poorly.

do Wet n Wild even build waterslides anymore?

I have been told from someone that it will be replaced with Scooby theming to get it up to fire code and that the theming is being made now.

> Certain theming did not meet certain standards. > Park has 2 options Close ride and rebuild theming - park already has rides out of action - people will complain Removing theming and open ride for peak season - people will complain The option they have chosen seems to be the lesser of 2 evils. There's no way they were going to be able to pull this off without some kind of complaints. They know that and they'd be expecting that. What disappoints me is the lack of communication. We all know MW love their A-Frames, so why not a sign out the front that advises guests the ride is currently undergoing refurbishment, however it is still open for guests enjoyment. It can be fairly safe to say that they don't want to operate the ride in its current condition however, given this has come at the start of peak season when they need to have as many of their rides open as possible, they had to do something. I seem to be the only person I've spoken to so far (yes I talk to myself, what of it ) that doesn't have an issue with the ride in its current state, given we know it's a temporary band-aid fix.. We know it's going to close after peak season for a theming rebuild. Can't we just be happy that they have the ride open to soak up some of the crowd in the meantime?

Yep that's about the worst thing I've ever seen. I'm surprised they're allowed to keep their Warner Brothers licensing with a ride looking like that

The Waikiki Wave Super Flip is not a rip off of a Top Spin. It's a major advancement on the design. The articulating arm greatly increases the range of movements possible over a Top Spin and is a huge feat in engineering.

It was getting on in weeks.

If we're being accurate i'm pretty sure it's "Swampside Precinct".

You're unbelievably grossly misinformed. Query me this, if you were a poor Sumatran gentleman and one of the world's most endangered mammals was risking the life of your workers, what do you do? Call RSPCA while thumbing through new shows on Netflix? Nope, because you're poor and you have literally no options beyond killing the thing because that's the way the world is when you're poor. Furthering this, if the reason why the tiger is there in the first place is because of deforestation because of palm oil crops, growing populations etc. etc. etc. how do you fix that without pissing people off who are trying to survive and feed their kids? And if people are actively killing these animals for alleged medicinal purposes, how do you stop that from happening too? And to top it all off, how do you actually breed enough tigers to offset all of this to stop them from going extinct while you're trying to fix all the above? Let me be direct. You need great people and you need money. And a lot of it. And thank god for the amazing folks at Tiger Island, 21st Century Tiger and DWF who not only forward on 100% of donations to protecting tigers in the wild (which is spent sending teams over there and working in the community directly) but also work with many reputable international zoos as part of a large scale breeding program to go from "will definitely go extinct in the wild" to "oh wow, there's tigers in the wild again, and they're not suffering either, win!" But you're right, giving the tigers at Tiger Island an improved space to exist whilst continuing to educate the general public which then in turns drives awareness and more donations is a terrible "debacle" as you put it. We don't live in a black and white world mate where you can just throw animals into the wild and tell the locals not to kill them because it's bad. I'd also love to live in a world where every one of those tigers is back in the wild because none of them are being threatened. Sadly, neither of us live in those world, and if you'd like to live in that world someday, you should jump on the train and support those who are doing something about instead of being part of the almost satirically ironic position you put yourself into by being all for animals and hating on organisations who are making a genuine difference. Still don't believe me? Here's literally dozens of academic papers for you to read that support every word i've said above.

@GoGoBoy, if that is The Perfect Storm fully completed, they got to make it heaps darker than that! Especially if they want the lighting effects to be seen in their full glory! True but this is what they mean: Stage 2 of 4 - Ride/Attraction 3 of 7. Also: The Perfect Storm, I believe, has been completed (check out that theming!)... ... as Jamberoo launches a new television commercial for the peak summer season: GIF/YouTube video from Jamberoo Action Park's website/YouTube channel.

Not even close to the same thing. The precinct does not enhance the ride experience.

Yes, check out that CLEARLY photoshopped theming. LMAO are you being serious?

The photo you said isn't photoshopped is 100% photoshopped. Even Blind Freddy can see that. Get a grip lol. I'd say that is their projection for what the theming will look like AFTER it's finished.

VRTP deserve some strong criticism for not having completed this work prior to peak season. Seems like this isnt the only project that has slipped either (e.g. Super8 Racers took longer than should have also.) One thing in my strong opinion they dont deserve criticism for is re-opening the ride over the summer peak however. Some of the comments here are naiive and frankly a little selfish. Naiive because VRTP are hardly going to keep a ride that is perfectly safe to operate closed over the peak when they have had two unscheduled ride outages take out capacity already (VR at SW and DD at MW). They need all the capacity they can get over the summer! Selfish because at the end of the day if you feel upset by seeing the ride in that condition you have an alternative. Don't ride it! There are plenty of people (e.g. the interstate tourists that drop the big bucks over summer) that might feel disappointed that the ride looks in that condition but will still appreciate the ride's sensations if they do go on it and the capacity it offers to the park if they don't...

omgosh that's terrible poor DW. Hope it doesn't go broke but if it doesn't pick it up it's heading to brokesville fast.