Admittedly, I was somewhat sceptical about how this would turn out. The only new ride was Runaway Reptar Roller Coaster, the rest being old (some really old) rides simply rethemed. I was confident though, that the landscaping and gardens, as always at Dreamworld, would be superb.
I'll start with the obvious - Reptar. The coaster looks great, it has fantastic gardens around it, that once they grow up will look great as a rainforested area. The somewhat famous Reptar statue was there, as at Paramount King's Island. It was built standing on a shed, and as an interesting touch, it was modeled to look as though the weight of the dinosaur was breaking the walls. The queue winds through the garden area, beside Tower of Terror's track, and all around you, there are giant mouldings of Reptar's footprints.
The station has a nice open feeling, with quite a modern look. Once you're under the cover, there's a TV playing some Rugrats episodes. All I can say is at least they're not repeating the same episode over and over. Twenty at a time are let through the gate to line up at the airgates. Once the train is back and everyone has left, the gates open and everyone hops on. The seats aren't terribly comfortable - they are solid fiberglass - though more comfortable than the regular sitdown Rollerskater. The course is identical to the sitdown Rollerskater. The train handles much better though, thanks to spring-loaded guide wheels. It does feel much slower, and less forceful as the regular version. I'm hoping this is due to the ride being new, and it just has to wear in.
As for the rest of Nick Central. It is on the whole very well done, considering much of it is old rides. The area is very open - something that Australian parks lack. On crowded days, it'll be able to soak up several thousand people without looking terribly bloated. The theming and landscaping of the entire area is great. It has set a new level that not only Dreamworld, but all other Australian parks should try to reach.
A much more in-depth review will be up at ThrillNetwork soon, which will have plenty of photographs.
To finish up, here's a nice picture of the ride on opening day, December 26.