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Winterfest Nights. July 6. Well that makes sense.

More plants have now been added and the car has returned

They said their strategy is to try and mobilise their pass holders so I would suspect mostly them. I don't think that's a bad move though. The marketing for Cosentino was very heavy and made it look like a thing. I'd be surprised if there wasn't an element of people who aren't pass holders anywhere, planning what to do for the holidays and seeing ads for DW thinking 'We havent been there in years, you know what let's go' I don't agree with the idea that they left when the show finished. I mean disclaimer obviously a few would have but I reckon most people stayed. The reason I think that is just observation. The F&B outlets were busy, the rides actually had queues, and the Carpark didn't noticeably empty out. It's the first time I've seen the park with organic atmosphere in years. I actually think people leaving after the show is a bigger problem at SW where Thunder Lake finishes around 2pm right by the main entrance - 4 hours after opening when the average visit is already only 3 hours. I think they spent a good deal of time being paralysed by what happened, and the Ardent instability that followed. They then spent another good deal of time drawing up plans that were flawed. Here's what it is to me, there are lots of things to criticise Ardent and DW for. I'm not defending them. There are both historical and on going stuff in the park where you just go 'WTF are you lot doing?' I don't think small events designed to bring pass holders through the doors is one of those things though. If I was in charge of DW right now that's a thing I'd continue with, while still making bigger plans to more comprehensively turn the place around.

Hear ye, Hear ye,. He has the weight of every enthusiast on his shoulders. I really hope John Osborne hired Greg because he realised he needed the experience of somebody to help him instead of going it alone which is a real turn around from past CEOs of DW. I'm not disagreeing with anything you're saying @joz I'm only thinking out loud and I haven't come to a conclusion yet. edit Just announced. Now it's "starting" to float my boat.

I was shocked to discover that the ending to that show is still the Cotton Eyed Show dance. How that lasted beyond the first week I'll never know. Also surprising to me is the survival of the trucks blocking; as soon as your attention is the brought to the truck, the first thing it does is disappear behind the island. Thats still how they do it

I would still like to see who is going to the events. Is it a season pass holder who leaves as soon as the Cosentino show is over or are people paying $85.00 to get into to the park because they really want to see Cosentino? I've always applauded DW for running events and extending trading times over the Christmas school holidays and complained about Village for being a tight ass during the busy periods. I like events at this time of the year because it adds value in going to the park during the busy periods. It makes a customer happy and not reflecting I just shelled out $500.00 for the family and we got to go on 3 rides. I look at the current shows/events as crowed soakers and I don’t think DW need crowed soakers right now. They do little to attract anybody who are willing to pay $85.00 to go Ice Skating. If they want to get people interested in DW again with events they really need to lift their game with events and take a page out of MW’s events. Fright Night, Carnivale & White Christmas are all crowed generators and the best thing about it I have never felt the need to go on a ride at these events. All the time & money going into these smaller events would be better spent in DW adding just 1 kickass show. But this has been DW’s problem all along and why I continue to say DW haven’t changed their stripes and are only looking at quick fixes and Band-Aids solutions.

Gotham Cafe Update: Work on an facade next to the outlet has begun New Beef Bacon Egg burger introduced for Limited Time Only

Bye Bye BMX. Hello skiing pyramid. What? A man can dream.

+1 to that. I took the family to SW recently while we were staying down on the GC. We caught seal guardians (first and probably last time i'll do that), and made it to the top for the dolphin show. Took the kiddo on plenty of rides he was big enough for, and spent a fair bit checking out the animals. We arrived back at the front of the park with about 30 minutes to showtime, had nothing else of interest to occupy us and a 3 year old, didn't like the idea of parking up on the metal benches in full sun with a stroller for ~an hour, so we left. I hear what you're saying, and i'm probably being a little harsh. I bought a pass post-incident. I was keen to support them. I was waiting on the next 'big thing' and eagerly awaited SkyVoyager, and hoping it was going to arrive before my pass expired. The announced lazy river also had me debating a renewal, as we enjoy spending time at Calypso, but prefer the children's options at WWW. With all that blowing up in their faces, I admittedly feel a bit cheated that all the things promised fell flat... At this stage, i'm beyond giving a shit. Nothing short of blockbuster, and a complete overhaul of their practices is going to see me set foot in that park again. Greg's arrival is positive, albeit a little overdue, and i'm keen to see whether he can make some magic, or whether he finds himself constrained, and i hope he does well with the park. At this stage for me its a case of too little too late - and when many (here at least) are inclined to criticise these things, when in reality, doing something new (and included in admission) is still better than nothing, is very telling for how badly they've managed to this point. I do hope Greg is the person that can change my mind... because ice skating certainly doesn't.

Sea World Cruises debuts the Gold Coast’s newest Whale Watching vessel for the 2019 Season Sea World Cruises has unveiled Australia’s most advanced whale watching vessel, the Spirit of Migaloo II, in time for the upcoming humpback whale migration. Click here to continue reading

I think that's what they've been doing for the past 2 years...

Probably going to be an announcement for the DC Super Heroes and Super Villains event if it returns this year

Bikash announced that there would be an announcement on the 25th in PCL.

I think the problem with this event is what people think the motivation behind it is. The comments seem to say that this won't turn the park around and it's not what they need to do to fix the park long term. I agree with this sentiment, BUT I think DW do too. I think someone from DW/Ardent must've come to their senses that all the plans they had were all shit. I mean Lazy River? Amphitheater? A small coaster in a shed (Craig hinted about this publically when they were still hoping to fix Eureka)? Yeah none of that is good, none of that will turn it around and will also coat an arseload of cash. Better to throw those plans in the bin and start again, particularly given they had a slow summer after SV and don't need to be wasting money on mediocre attractions. But what do you do in the meantime? Just fiddle with your dick for 2 years? I think when you view these events as trying to bridge the gap until the bigger stuff gets signed off/comes on line it makes sense and absolutely is what they should be doing. And they can get a surprising amount of traction with these things. Cosentino was a good move. I've never heard of him before and was scratching my head a bit when they announced it, but a lot of people have heard of him; they had a very good Easter holiday season because they had something to market (good weather certainly helped with that too). Doing another event to try and have a good June/July is also a no brainer.

I think a Raptor would be a good ride to -'Squeeze in'. If Cyclone is nearly at end of life and the long term plan for that space is a coaster, a Raptor there would be a superb choice. But I also think something bigger in the current vacant land is where the real fertile ground in turning the park around is too be had. A Raptor would be one of the coasters on the Coast, possibly the best, but I also worry that the general public wouldn't recognise it and just view it as a 'mini coaster'.

Oh I bet it was!

In Australia I'd argue that a theme park is any park where most of the rides aren't traveling models, and contains at least 1 non traveling model coaster with custom footers. I'm aware that doesn't speak to the difference between amusement and theme, but that's my definition and I stand by it.

That's highly debatable.