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Believe it or not, Ardent Leisure may be finally doing something good at Dreamworld! We know a Whitewater World expansion is on the cards which will include, at a minimum, a lazy river with a wave machine - something only seen in Australia at Jamberoo Action Park with their Rapid River. A dark ride is hinted at, possibly to be located next to the future i-Ride. Now... Someone on Facebook commented on Dreamworld's i-Ride artist impression, which was posted to Dreamworld's Facebook page on Sunday: Dreamworld responded: For those who don't know: "the proper jamboree" refers to Country Jamboree, a computerised animatronic show. The show was simply a 15 minute concert of Australian music hosted and performed by Australian fauna. Formerly called Koala Country (Music) Show, it was held in Gum Tree Gully Hall, located in the Gum Tree Gully area. This building now houses Wiggles World's Big Red Car Ride. Opening in 1982 (though originally planned to be an opening day attraction in 1981), it was at some point renamed, possibly after 1983 when a new area called Koala Country (now Dreamworld Corroboree) was opened in the north-eastern corner of Dreamworld. Given the show had a couple of versions until it closed around 2001, it can't be certain which version the Facebook commentator (or potentially DW) was referring to (but for the Facebook commentator, they were likely referring to the original 1982 version). "the paddle steamer" refers to Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler, a former ride located on the Murrisippi River, an artificial river inside Dreamworld. The ride's main entrance was located in the Rivertown area. The ride's main entrance has since been replaced by ABC Kids World's Bananas In Pjyamas Fun Maze & Play School Wheel. It operated for about 31 years from opening day in 1981 until 2012. The ride was a 30-45 minute trip, held at set times during the day, on a 250-person capacity paddlewheeler along the Murrisippi River (in a clockwise direction), which surrounds Castaway Island (the main artificial island). The river and paddlewheeler were themed as a hybrid Mississippi/Murray River paddlewheeler/river. After leaving Rivertown, the Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler went past Settler's Cottage then 2 smaller islands east of Castaway Island. The 1st small island had a wooden wharf (which I'm unsure if it was ever (designed to be) used). This wharf led to a Fort and a bridge that connected to the 2nd small island. A bridge from the 2nd small island to Castaway Island then led to a Lookout Tower. Originally, the eastern half of the river was themed to the Wild West of the USA. However, this only lasted less than a year. Opposite to the 2 smaller islands, to the east, originally was an Indian Camp. After 1982, this was replaced by Australian structures themed to the 1850's era. More of these structures were added over time. They were all removed in the early 2000's for new entrances to the Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler which were added opposite the 2 smaller islands for access to/from the expanded Koala Country area, which was renamed as the Australian Wildlife Experience (now Dreamworld Corroboree). After those 2 smaller islands, the Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler travelled past a Waterfall, which was turned off and demolished in recent years. The water from a pool above the Waterfall also travelled down an aqueduct to Harper's Oat Mill. This element was removed in 1994 to be replaced by the current-day Billabong Buffet Restaurant and a new railway station for the Dreamworld Express. The ride then finished back at Rivertown. "the bush ranger show" refers to The Dreamworld Bushrangers Show, a stunt show element of the Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler ride. The Settler's Cottage and the Australian structures of the 1850's era opposite the 2 smaller islands were the sets of the stunt show themed around bushrangers (called the Dreamworld Bushrangers). There were, at least, 2 versions of the show. The show was removed in the early 2000's due to the expansion of the Koala Country area, which was renamed as the Australian Wildlife Experience (now Dreamworld Corroboree). So which one is Dreamworld thinking of re-introducing? The Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler is very possible given the Murrisippi River is still there. The entrance could be near the Woolshed where the last entrance of the ride was built. Using this location will provide more reason for visitors to head towards Dreamworld Corroboree. All they need is a new paddlewheeler that can run along the track hidden in the Murrisippi River (assuming the track hasn't been removed or doesn't need replacing). Also, they need to add something that you can only see from or during the ride. The Dreamworld Bushrangers Show could be re-introduced as a stand-alone show - maybe incorporating the former Big Brother Studios? A well-produced show with amazing special effects, even if it only operated after-hours as a night show, could become a 'must-see' attraction on the Gold Coast that increases much-needed revenue. The vacant land north of Dreamworld surrounding the former Big Brother Studios could easily be utilised as theming for little to no cost. A brilliant show could easily end up rivalling MW's Hollywood Stunt Driver 2 as the main stunt show of the Gold Coast. However, a simple twice-a-day daytime show held in a small new venue inside Dreamworld could work if the effort on theming & special effects makes it just worthy of seeing. Country Jamboree could be re-introduced in a small building (maybe in the former Big Brother Cafe or somewhere in Dreamworld Corroboree?). Technological changes have allowed animatronics to become interactive and utilise artificial intelligence but whether musical animatronic shows (even to include the technological upgrades) will increase attendance nowadays is up for debate. This attraction may have limited target markets nowadays such as the international tourist market. It could be updated to include more modern iconic Australian music such as AC/DC. Or will the future dark ride incorporate one of those past attractions? Another Facebook commentator wrote (referring to the i-Ride artist impression): Dreamworld gave a very cryptic and vague response in return: Dreamworld gave a similar response when someone else asked on Facebook "What else is in the pipeline". Well it seems we got so far: i-Ride (late December 2018) Whitewater World expansion including, at a minimum, a lazy river with a wave machine Dark ride and/or Country Jamboree or Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler and/or The Dreamworld Bushrangers Show Main Street update Dreamworld also confirmed on Facebook that they will be posting "sneak previews" of the i-Ride "Closer to the launch": I feel pretty confident that despite us feeling Ardent has no firm plans for Dreamworld, they actually do have plans and they will reveal them over the next year. This financial year may be interesting in regards to Dreamworld's future. However, whether these future plans are up to a theme park standard, is another question altogether.

Merlin would not be a bad outcome. They know what they are doing, have a strong reputation and bucket loads of cash to splash. The downside from what I know of my old company from colleagues either still working there or those that have recently left is that Merlin is not the company it once was. It is a huge global business that has seen rapid growth and that usually means a dilution of quality.... somewhere, and Oz is a long way from Poole, Dorset. Dreamworld is a fantastic name for a theme park but sadly the dream has turned into a really horrible nightmare, not only because of the incident itself but the handling of it and the subsequent inquest and it would take a miracle to rescue the brand, regardless of a change in ownership (slightly helpful possibly). A name change would not make a lot of difference and people would see straight through it. To make this work someone needs to make Dreamworld appealing again in such a way that helps move everyone on from the tragedy and that would take a world first and brilliantly executed $50m+ attraction launch as phase 1. That would be a gamble for an already bruised Ardent. I was not around during the period but it seems it took Luna Park Sydney decades to recover from the Ghost Train fire tragedy but it did...finally. The question is does anyone have the metal to take it on and see it through for the long term? I do hope so. Australia needs to buck its game up in the Theme Park sector for the greater benefit of the tourism community and economy. I find it frustrating that a country with such a great climate and reasonably strong tourism prospects (See Asia in particular who LOVE theme parks) does not have really great anchor tourism products other than the Opera House and amazing beaches/landscapes (and PLEASE, no one claim Flinders Street Railway station or anything in Melbourne has really strong tourism appeal to compete on a global scale? Maybe for sports tourists/nuts) The landscape in Australia is ripe right now for someone to be bold and build a fabulous theme park that would assist the resurrection of the entire industry. All ships benefit from a rising tide. Is that tide coming from the direction of the South China sea I wonder?

PCL recently interviewed VRTP’s CEO and COO, where they revealed a number of upcoming attractions, exhibits and more to the parks. Check out the full interview within this episode: HIGHLIGHTS: MW: DC Rivals lift hill walk coming when the ride reopens SDSC will greatly improve on the original version of the ride, with the technologies already confirmed The movie magic is coming back, with a new attraction coming later this year exhibiting movie pieces. And this magic will continue to come back Three all new characters within the park coming, not seen anywhere else in the world FN’s is apparently going to be the best ever SW: Sea Jellies opening September 7 All new major attraction coming in the next couple of years Focus on showing the back of house stuff to guests, such as the turtles, with new exhibits Overall: 4 significant new things coming by December which haven’t been announced yet A new app which includes wait times, maps, food and anything guests needs coming soon Voice of People survey is something they are really focusing on

And the CEO Clark 100% agreed with that too, which is great to hear

Dreamworld don’t own the sheep, they just shear them. Take into account it takes about a year for a sheep to grow it’s wool, they would need 1,095 sheep give or take a few based on 3 shows a day, just to be able to keep the show running. Not feasible. The park has agreements with farms in the region to facilitate this, the same as they do for the koala gum tree plantations.

Hardly seems likely. It's insanely popular with their key target customers, and due to its rustic nature it needs very little maintenance or investment. It's very basic, but it's supposed to be!

The Wet 'n' Wild website has been updated. A couple of things to note: - The Jet Streams are not listed as an attraction on their website. - The front cover image isn't even from the park 🤦‍♂️ Looks nice though. https://wetnwild.com.au/

So I have just returned from a trip to San Francisco. Luckily I was able to drop into Six Flags Discovery Kingdom & California's Great America. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (If you're in San Francisco it's easy to get to on the ferry then either bus or uber) To be honest the only reason I visited this park was to ride an RMC conversion. At the end of the day that was about the only thing worth it at this park. I grabbed a Flash pass (Same system as Dreamworld Q4U) as it was a long weekend which helped me to get onto everything and a few repeats. As a solo visitor though carrying around that bulky device was a massive pain in the butt. The most disappointing thing about this park was the downtime. There was 2 rides down for the entire day (Maintenance so that's fair) but over the entire 6~7 hours I was there not ONCE was every ride up and running. Every ride went down at some point, the 2 maintenance guys were running around from ride to ride. Vertical Velocity didn't open until after 5pm, not great considering the park closed at 8pm. Harley Quinn's Crazy Coaster 3/10 OK so this is new this season, and it has not aged well at all. This was very very rough and not very enjoyable in my opinion because of the roughness. If it wasn't sorough it would have been OK Cobra 6/10 No pics of this one, but it was a family coaster. Not a bad ride, quite fast and lots of heavily banked turns. Big plus? You did 2 circuits of the track Joker 8/10 This was my first RMC and whilst not the biggest RMC conversion out there this was an awesome ride, I can't wait to ride one of the bigger ones. Fast and super smooth (By coaster standards!). The inversion where you actually stay upside down and travel for a distance before coming back right way up was awesome. The restrains (lapbars) were also great but word of advice dudes, there is a part the goes between the legs that may hit you in not so great places. Kong 4/10 Standard SLC, rough as guts, need I say more? Medusa 6/10 Medusa turns 18 this year, and it feels like it. This would have to be hands down the roughest B&M I have ever ridden, it's even starting to lose the trademark B&M roar. Aside from that it was a pretty decent offering. The interesting thing I found with Medusa though was the paint fading. IMO it actually looked really good! Superman Ultimate Flight 7/10 BuzzSaw, but longer and with an extra loop. I actually really enjoyed this one! Dreamworld should have built this. California's Great America After SFDK this was a really good park. Well laid out, well presented and super helpful staff, standard Cedar Fair. Again I I visited on $1 day. Hot Dogs, Pizza, Popcorn etc. was all $1, I ate way too many hot dogs. CGA is kind of difficult to get to from San Francisco at the moment but a BART station has been built and should open soon (I had to get the train). Again I grabbed a fast pass and it was worth every cent. RailBlazer 10/10 Brand spanking new RailBlazer. MF has finally been knocked off my number 1 position. This is the future of coasters in my opinion. Compact but once you get off the lift chain this thing does not stop. Fast, intense and the smoothest coaster I have been on in a long time. Massive airtime! This park is worth visiting just for this. Being new the queue was over 2 hours but the staff nailed the reloading and dispatch. One train would go out and the other would come in. Flawless. If you do get there definitely wait for the front seat. It is definitely worth it! Demon 6/10 Made me miss the old SeaWorld Corkscrew. Surprisingly smooth for a coaster of its age. Flight Deck 7/10 This has got to be the shortest B&M ever. That being said it was still a fun ride. The final helix over the water was awesome. Patriot 6/10 I kind of wish that this was still a stand up instead of a floorless. The layout is definitely designed to be a stand up. Still not a bad little ride. Grizzly 8/10 This was a great woodie. Fast with lots of twists and turns. Bumpy but not uncomfortably so. Goldrusher 3/10 This is ripe for an RMC conversion or needs something done to it. Hands down this was one of the roughest woodies I have ever been on. I rode Mean Streak days before they closed it to convert it and this is just as rough. Lots of people complaining as they got off. That aside the layout, speed and overbanked turns were awesome. Well that sums up all the big coasters! Now sleep.

That’s what they said last time..

Well at least it isn’t for a long long time

Look whats closing again...

To the 'farm' of course. Times are tough, have to source lamb from somewhere 😂

What a bizarre and ridiculous post. It’s the only multi-lingual show in the park that caters to the Asian tourism market - it’s a must watch for bus loads of tourists everyday. Will not replace animals as they leave? Where are they leaving to? It’s not like they go out for dinner and a movie and don’t return home! They don’t get pass outs or day release.... They are sheering sheep... i don’t think a couple a sheep are keeping the DW bean counters awake at night...

Pretty sure this is all just standard social media management 101. "Keep an eye out for updates" literally just means that, not that anything is going to be done. There is zero reason for them to say that it will not be done in the future when someone is being positive about the park. Anything more negative they give the "Thanks for your feedback" response.

The Jetsreams are not listed as a standalone attraction but are still listed on the sidewinders page Mach 5 is also opening in December which is cool.

Park hoppers allow unlimited re-entry on days the ticket is valid to both parks so yes it is ok to leave either park and return later in the day/night. You don't need a hand stamp they just scan the pass again at the ticket gates and allow you access back into the park.

There go the cubs.. seems a strange choice to me, the cubs are big drawcard. Maybe they are expecting some more to come along shortly THE Gold Coast’s two tiger cubs are off to Canberra’s National Zoo and Aquarium in a deal to raise awareness of the plight of their species. Seven-month old Melita and Mya, born-and-bred at the Dreamworld’s Tiger Island, will be relocated in coming weeks to similar natural surroundings with a waterfall and climbing towers. The shift is part of a new partnership between Dreamworld and National Zoo to highlight that just 400 Sumatran tigers remain in the wilds of Indonesia. Dreamworld life sciences general manager Al Mucci said the two groups were leading a global movement to save the tigers, raising funds to combat poaching. Mr Mucci said Melita and Mya were among 40 Sumatran tigers in captivity as an “insurance population”. Dreamworld still has 10 tigers left at Tiger Island.