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Buzzsaw closing has kinda got me in my feels. Buzzsaw will always have a different meaning to me. I was the first person on along side my sister, winning a video film contest back in the day. A group of us who won got to be the very first on the ride which was an awesome night! The night started with a few rides on Buzzsaw, we then had a few hours to do whatever during screamworld. We then watched paranormal activity in the cinema, had a scare tour of the park, with scare actors throughout the park. We then did The A.V.P.X but it was a scare maze instead (before it turned into Kevil Hill) Then we got to stay the night! 😂🤪🎡🎢🛌. A once in a lifetime experience that blew my 13 year old mind. I was honestly super scared the entire night 😂. Mind you, at the time you had to be 15 to enter the competition 😂🤷🏻‍♂️ - anyway that’s my 2 cents on Buzzsaw. I’ll be sad that it’ll be going 💔🎢 Almost 10 years ago in September lol 😳😂

Not just onboard audio, but when anything in general is done right, it’s good. Unfortunately we have some rides here in Aus that have been half assed, and in return, is a big let down. E.g The onboard audio on GL, Scooby’s Projection Mapping. Or even little things such as turning off the mist on Superman, Turning off the water sprays on Surfrider.. just little things that add to the experience. A true ride should be an all round package.

DW already has probably an excess of outlets, many of which do not open, so it can make sense to have fewer outlets with high turnover rather than dispersing staff onto lots of little ones and have them twiddling their thumbs waiting for guests. Is a path really a drop in the ocean? Additional path and a ramp or bridge structure would be several hundred thousand. If you wanted to do it "properly", eg with -a bridge going through the loop -a hub in the middle of the reverse spiral -Landscaping and theming along these paths so you aren't walking through a field of gravel and footers as per Arkham Then it's a bit more because effectively its a themed land now. Once you let 2 or 3 line items of a few hundred k creep into the scope you can easily add $1m to the budget without breaking a sweat. I mean my view is that within the budget, maximise stuff like theming, and then put things like extra pathways onto a future ride budget once more attractions start getting developed that end. As the saying goes, you can have anything you want but not everything you want. My view is what we are getting looks pretty reasonable so far, queue seems well designed with multiple lanes, and even some high speed near misses with theming, so a bit of extra distance to get to Coroboree isn't too bad. Other ways we can blow the budget on a coaster -Additional rockwork or tunnels -Natural creek water feature through area -Onboard audio -Themed walls to cover adjacent buildings. -LED lights along length of track -Additional sqm of circulation walkways around ride -Additional shade structures, seating etc to these circulation walkways. -More detailed fencing, eg themed posts rather than standard chainlink -Enclosed station building with show lighting -Fog effects in tunnels -Theming (eg rockwork, painting or planks) to foundations. Not saying these are bad things or anything, just that seemingly small plusses quickly add up.

On-board audio when done well is spectacular. It's why Space Mountain at Disneyland is so much stronger than Tokyo Disneyland even though they're the same layout. It's what turns Rock n Rollercoaster from an Ehh ride to a fun coaster for me. California Screaming, Incredicoaster, X2, Rip Ride Rockit, Hollywood Dream The Ride are all better in my opinion with their on-board audio than the would be without it. Just because it's been done poorly in Australia doesn't mean it's a poor idea to me.

The system that Disney uses for Space Mountain's audio is insane. It calculates the velocity of the train and it's position on the attraction to live mix the audio so that specific audio cues are hit at the perfect moment. Basically the soundtrack is split into dozens of parts and the audio system determines when those parts need to start and end. Music is an incredible tool which needs to be used right in creative mediums. Just having music isn't enough. Properly syncing tonal and atmospheric intention with the right 'cues' will make all the difference. In this regard I think you can elevate a good attraction to an excellent one with music alone which you can witness first hand with the massive difference between Tokyo Disney's Space Mountain and Disneyland's Space Mountain. Edit: I should have read Luke's reply before replying because we basically said the exact same thing haha.

Or don't build a ride you can't afford. Dreamworld's biggest issue since 1997 is that attractions get built with little to no consideration to what's around it. It's how we ended up with a zombie ride next to a Flowrider next to a V8 simulator next to a car exhibit in an area called Ocean Parade. They shouldn't get a pass because it's "too hard/costly" - they're a theme park - built environments is their whole thing, and failing on the fundamentals shouldn't continue to be a thing. If you can't do that, take your rides to the Ekka frankly. And agreed that these costs all add up - we also know that you can be frugal and prudent without completely compromising your product. Wipeout was an example of this. Bermuda was another. Superman Escape is a modern day example. That ride doesn't need wasteful add-ons like onboard audio to make the experience better, it needs integration into the park to make it feels like it belongs.

Not many children or disabled people will be riding ST or GD. As I said, people are clutching at straws. A path would be great but it's not rage worthy if DW don't put one in at this time.

@Gazza is right. It's also just not a simple path because you have to deal with the evaluation change between the 2 areas. WWF will forever be the worst deadend on the GC.

IMAScore have done heaps of work for parks in Europe. A lot of European parks in recent years have involved them for onboard audio on their new build coasters (ie Helix, Karnan, Movie Park Studio Tour, Taron, The Smiler) That being said I don't expect Ardent to be setting any precedents by going above and beyond to hire these guys to do a score for Steel Taipan but man it would be a nice touch. But it's better to have nothing than try and half ass it by having freestyler on the speakers. On board audio is either something you have to do really well or just don't do at all. Given I don't see DW doing it well, effort should be instead spent elsewhere in integrating the coaster into the park.

What’s easy for an able body to do (say a few minute walk in the opposite direction after realising you went the wrong way) is ten times harder for a family with young kids, or someone with accessibility needs. When you have a park that’s closed as many attractions has it has (not to mention having cut off other paths and temporarily closed others) it could be very easily becoming a frustrating customer journey to intuitively figure out what’s on offer and how to get to it without feeling fatigued. I also think spaghetti junction is pretty obvious and simple, and yet thousands of guests continue to get lost in that setup. This is all scratching the surface of human design, and not putting a pathway through is a dumb move.

There’s been a pathway through longer than there hasn’t. Especially with the park not handing out maps anymore, it’s more important than ever to make it reasonably easy for guests to be able to get through the park. People don’t intuitively think “in order to get from Steel Taipan to Giant Drop, the thing that’s right next door, I need to double back in the opposite direction.” No, people think “oh it’s over there, so I’ll try walking over there” only to discover they’re stuck and lost. This is the future of steel taipan, especially when the muscle memory for so many guests over many decades has been to use that area to get from a to b. And it’ll only get worse when they add attractions back to the rocky hollow site.

Or just paint a taipan's head... BOOM - Dreamworld got their insta photo spot

Paint is relatively cheap. Paint the back of SV as a rock wall or something

I think Mack have a more robust system. In Australia GL basically picked stock music so it didn't really add much emotion and Arkham was so quiet and useless it was a waste of money. But yeah, onboard audio slaps when it's properly composed and matches the ride movement, like when you ride Space Mountain and there is this specific point in the soundtrack where the music drops and you go down the first drop and turn and its the coolest thing ever And even stuff more recently like Taron it just added a whole extra layer to to the experience for me.

It doesn’t. Dreamworld stopped being the Dreamworld everyone knew not by one big cut, but by a thousand small cuts. Yesterday it was no steam train, tomorrow it’s confusing pathways, continue ad neaseum until you have a park where six attractions close in a space of a few years. Also - onboard audio is the most gimmicky shit ever and I stand by that. We’re 0/3 for working onboard audio in coasters in Australia, and every coaster I’ve been on that has it, they need to crank it in order for you to hear it over the sound of the wind passing your ears, meaning it always sounds patchy, tinny and awful. Waste of money.

You mean the extra (3rd) dimension? It doesn't. Its the 10,000 little things that make your day. This is just one of those things.

^absolutely this. The long term success for Dreamworld, at this point, ultimately hinges on convincing people to come back, enjoy themselves, and want to return. Right now, the perception will be nothing more than sore feet. Supermarkets get away with putting the milk at the back of the store, making you walk a long distance and hoping you'll spend some extra money on the way. But Dreamworld can't do that. Down the road is another park full of rides and experiences and they are (mostly) gathered around the entrance hub. If you count Arkham, you effectively had 6 major attractions within spitting distance of the entrance fountain. The perception of value - walk 20 metres and enter the next queue, vs. "get all your rides done now kids, I don't want to have to walk all the way back here again later" - a day at Dreamworld is going to be more physically taxing, longer distances, everything split apart with Ocean parade to the extreme south, and ST\SV\GD at the opposite end of the park - none all three of which are separated by theme, distance and elevation, and the gap between those two areas filled with very little except an exit shop and a lot of open ground in between. At least movie world's main street has Roxy, Stunt Driver, and shaded places to sit and enjoy food on the way to the back end of the park.

yeah I heard a few whispers from some of the Ekka crew yesterday something was up so this morning's announcement is no surprise - its too close right now - and it's a smarter decision than pressing on with it. It is a shame for the showies, but their travel plans usually lead them to Brisbane around this time without major long distance travel, and many of them have local home bases too. At least they're stuck in Brisbane and not isolated in the middle of nowhere. Agree it totally sucks.

You are trying to make it sound like you will be hiking for a week before you realise you can't go that way.

Yeah I knew that I was just having a lark mate!!

I have strong opinions on this. To the point that whenever I start saying something on the topic, I turn the computer off, go for walk, and have a good hard think about why this causes me to rage so much.

This has been a thing since basically forever. From my point of view, once something has been announced broadly to staff then it's fair game. If you really care about stuff not getting out, you don't release it to hundreds of people. Mostly, we don't do the NDA chest thumping here once it's at that point. I 100% guarantee you that once front line staff know, competitors know. There's no point acting like it's some big commercial secret. The other thing is that the people who know, mostly dont need to impress everyone with what they know. I would guarantee you that there are heaps of people who know, but they don't feel the need to post it to the forums for internet brownie points. There's an old saying; 'Those who know the least, know it the loudest', and I think that's really true with this. Oh you know 1 thing? Cool, so does everyone else! I think the general feeling isn't one of keeping secrets, but it's respect for the person who told you to not go spreading it everywhere. I think that's why some people get their noses out of joint when someone comes in and teases something. It's like 'We all know that, be more respectful' and bring up nonsense about NDAs and whatnot to justify it. Really though, there aren't any secrets, most people who have been here a long time know what all the parks are doing a long way out. Sometimes it makes things hard because you want to say what's up but you can't. Parkz got slammed for being too negative a couple of years ago about DW's future, listing Tot, Wipeout Buzzsaw and Log Ride as rides that will probably close in the next few years. Some of that was information sourced from a variety of industry and inside sources, but it was also quite important contextually to give the full picture and provide accurate commentary. On the forums it's the same, you can't have a real conversation when you know stuff without taking stuff into account. Broadly though, we as a group (i mean EVERYONE on here, not just the admins) get it right. Some people's lines are further than others, but I've not seen anyone have a full on dump everything they know online moment. Most people moderate themselves a bit and are respectful to their sources.The only thing I think we get wrong as a group, is we tend to play the person, not the issue. People love to name drop, and talk shit about management by name, and TBH I think that's worse than hinting that you know stuff. "This person mismanaged SW" "This person wrote a crap show" "This person botched the install of Sccoby Doo next Gen" isn't needed. SW has been mismanaged, that show is crappy, next Gen, particualy when it went in, was beyond a joke is saying the same thing, but isn't making it personal. I'm tempted to have that being a rule that we don't mention staff or management by name so you don't get the childish name calling and low key bragging that you get. Also put more effort into not being triggered by people obviously trolling, and don't be the NDA police. Peace!

Great points and I absolutely agree with everything you say here, but in a way I feel it only shows further that locally our parks have no idea when it comes to rich, themed experiences. Integration, story, execution, etc. were all fumbled with the project and those can't just be simply palmed off. I still have no idea why they made some decisions like the facade when they could have just as easily made it look like a Victorian airline hanger that would fit the land and themed it to the early days of flight in Australia that leads into what the current film, but instead we got a modern airport baggage claim facility? I like Sky Voyager - It's a fun, solid experience once you actually get to riding it but nothing about the themed experience is inspiring. I've said it before but if our parks really want to move forward then they need to stop competing domestically and start having their eyes set on the world stage. A lot of people regard the early days of Movie World as being the peak of themed entertainment in Australia and it makes sense because it was designed by C. V. Wood who was the chief developer of Disneyland. Thanks to Disney getting trigger happy with their layoffs there is now a ton of really experienced designers, engineers and artists who are floating around waiting for their next opportunity and if one of our parks wants to get the leg up they should be scooping up that talent, or at least embracing the already brilliant creative minds that exist within Australia instead of executives feeling like each project is their personal clay pot that they need to mould. On that note, I think the painted concrete is nice. Don't @ me.

Sent to me by a contact. Some residents aren’t to happy….

But I mean, I think the presentation of this already seems better than DCR. The lack of a connecting path wont sink or swim the ride. Re onboard audio, I've come around to the view that it basically a non negotiable for any major ride these days, if I were running the show I'd sacrifice other things to have it.

EKKA cancelled. have to feel for all the showmen/women and their families. I was up at the show grounds last week for work and there were hundreds setting up getting ready, setting up stands and rides. the expense of time and travel already upon them and now with no income