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Attended the opening of Rivertown this morning and so I can directly compare Movieworld's and Dreamworlds. Dreamworld opened the doors to the park about 9:55am (and had a small contingent of VIPs and Theme Park enthusiasts in at 9:30am) and then had up to Rivertown gated off. At 10:05am we were then escorted down to outside the Jungle Rush coaster and there was about 15/20 mins of speeches and then the ride was ready to go. From the beginning the rides were open, stayed up for most of the day (Jungle Rush had a few periods of short down time) and the experience was really enjoyable. There were plenty of staff rostered on, the area looks amazing and well themed (and i am sure there is more to come, but it looks pretty much finished) and the radio was there giving out prizes. It felt like a true 'opening'. I really like that Greg acknowledges theme park enthusiasts in his speeches and is so connected to the community needs. It's a much more humble approach to theme park management. His offsider Michelle (I believe she is Ops manager) spent the morning in the control booth of JR then went and helped serve at the Rivertown Restaurant, it is not uncommon to see Greg helping in these back of house areas, it shows that even the exec team will jump on board and help out - it's a really good look. This is in direct contrast to Bikash who was quick to scoop into the VIP fast pass queue at 10:05am for the WoZ rides. Dreamworld was alive today and it's great to see the hard work they are putting in paying off.

Hot PR tip for the person managing the social media account: If you're explaining, you're losing. Everything in that statement prior to the last paragraph should never, ever be said publicly or privately to a paying customer. They do not care about why the rides are closed, planned or not. They care about the fact that they've paid $110 to enter the park to watch HWSD2 while eating $20 chicken nuggets and possibly getting a ride on WWF, if it's open. They care about the disappointment they're experiencing for paying so much money to effectively enter an overpriced, extremely limited shopping mall. Movie World's failures are not the customer's fault - even if scheduled maintenance is listed on the website, people expect the majority of rides to be open, not one ride for part of the day. Acknowledge the unplanned stoppages and then direct people to guest services and tell them that you want to make it right. Don't say that guests are going to be 'well informed and an outcome achieved'. That's effectively code for 'Go F*** Yourself, no refunds'. Just acknowledge the disappointment, acknowledge the unplanned stoppages, acknowledge that this is not how you want guests to experience the park and then direct them to guest services because you want the chance to make it right. That's it. What guest services offer can be tailored to what the guests want, but don't blame the visitor because Movie World can't keep on top of ride maintenance enough to keep even ONE roller coaster operating. Right now, you're taking a bad situation and making it worse.

2 hours here and i’m calling it - movieworld is now the worst theme park in the country, by a decent margin hopefully Oz and and a reopening Scooby make a difference but there is no magic left here

New construction wall art has been put up (currently behind the Flash construction wall) The rainbow arches seen in the concept art are now off site (Paradise Country road, bad photo and look better in person) Jaggs also posted a couple of aerial shots in his latest update

It's big!

This is my interpretation of the layout. I made a GIF to help explain. In regards to the ability for the layout to be run forwards and backwards: if the train leaves the station travelling forwards, and performs this exact layout every single time, then the train will always re-enter the station travelling forwards. If however, they choose to program the ride to do the green/red loop twice then you'll get the train re-entering the station alternating backwards/forwards. The choice to do the green/red loop an infinite number of times (as others have stated already) is the beauty of this new mechanism and layout. You could potentially run a longer cycle during off-peak, and the shorter cycle on-peak.

King Claw went out for tender today. Images from public tender.

I’m so glad that, even 8 years on, a post that was up for a single day still gets remembered 😂 I live in London now, but I’m back in Australia for a holiday in 3 weeks. I’ll see if I can get some behind the scenes photos What’s the worst than can do? Deport me?

It’s these ridiculous comments that are nonsensical. DW has the biggest range of rides, and more importantly - operational rides - of any theme park on the GC. If they are a half day park; then the others are 1/4 days being dragged out to full days by intentionally poor operations.

I haven't seen this before. More information here: https://earthstory.com.au/portfolio-dreamworld-jungle-rush.html

The first supports for Jungle Rush have arrived at Dreamworld. (from auscoasters on Instagram)

I don’t think the intention is for one new spin and spew to bring in the crowds, I think the intention is to offer a bigger, better overall experience at the park, more rides, more kinetic energy, more atmosphere, and a fuller day of experiences. I have been going to the park regularly for 6 or so years now, and I do believe that the average attendance day to day is increasing, even more so in just the past few months. I think they’re in for a pretty busy summer actually. It’s not the fact that it’s just one new ride, it’s the fact that there are multiple new rides to open within days, the park is looking brighter and fresher than ever and just feels better value/quality due to the addition of a ‘spin and spew’

Hi, clickbait YouTuber in question here. I don't normally respond to much on this forum, as I find it gets a little heated a lot of the time - as you correctly pointed out, I prefer to block that sort of thing out and allow commenters to enjoy their own echo chamber, since my channel is a hobby and I do it for happiness and a creative outlet, and I often find people tend to go for the jugular which leaves me feeling defeated and demotivated. I'm a roller coaster channel, not a platform for free speech, and I'm not obligated to give anyone's insults, or even rudely-phrased criticisms, any oxygen. But you've successfully baited me with this statement. I thank everyone for their feedback on my content. I genuinely enjoy taking on board feedback from those who do like my videos and those who don't. I appreciate that there are plenty of people who will disagree very strongly with my opinions on the current state of Movie World, or the way I approach video essays, or the way I run my channel in general. I've enjoyed reading your own takes on Movie World's current situation, and I actually agree with some of you. You've made some interesting points. I see no ill-intent in any of your feedback, and while I stand by my statements and my approach towards criticizing Movie World after my latest visit, I respect you all for voicing your own thoughts on it. I'm not sure when my next Movie World-related video will be, but I have genuine hopes that it will be a more positive one, and I hope some of you may even give the channel a second chance and enjoy it This statement right here, though, is why some commenters in particular are removed from my comments sections. This is not the first time that particular people have crossed the line from criticizing my content into drawing my personal issues into it and insulting me, and failing to see how there's a difference. Yes, I came home from my initial attempt at Coaster Odyssey due to health issues. I have a chronic illness. I spoke candidly on my channel about how it left me in hospital on the other side of the world, which was a terrifying experience, and also led me down a very dark path in terms of my mental health. I openly discussed how I spiraled into a depression badly during that time. I worked my backside off in casual jobs to save to start that journey, and I was still working casual jobs overseas to keep the journey a reality. Even putting YouTube aside, it was a dream of mine for a long time to travel and work long-term, and to pursue theme parks around the world. It hurt to have to come to the decision that I needed to go home so soon. And I've since been working my butt off yet again to make sure I'm recovering, getting the medical help I need, and will be continuing the series in July. I appreciate and respect that you have your objections to my content, and that's fine. But belittling my health issues and mockingly saying that I had my "tail between my legs" during what was objectively one of the most rattling, scary, painful and gut-wrenching experiences of my life is a stretch too far. Again, I was in a hospital, on the other side of the world from everyone I know and love, in a significant amount of pain, unsure what my insurance would cover and if I could even afford the healthcare, let alone the flight home that I eventually painfully realized I needed to book. And once I did get those airfares paid, I spent every night lying awake, still in pain, feeling like everything I'd worked so hard for over the past 2 years had gone up in smoke. I am so, so lucky that I have a wonderful support network because frankly, that trip was my reason to get out of bed a lot of days. So thanks for your input Jobe, but kindly leave my health issues out of your criticisms, please and thank you. We all have our struggles to cope with and I'd appreciate it if you could have the decency to separate your critiques of the content I create as a hobby from direct attacks on my health and suggestions that I'm cowardly for being forced to make decisions for my own health. Cheers mate.

Dreamworld showcasing the fountains on their socials. They go HIGH.

Not sure where else to post this, but as a boss, Greg is incredible. What he has been able to do to turn Dreamworld around is brilliant. The car park is full, and the park has an energy again. I am here today, and he is making drinks at Jane's Restaurant. I told him he was and inspiration to his staff, and his response was 'when we are busy, you help out.' I would love to have him as a mentor.

Wow! I can't wait for this to be the only ride within a ride in the southern hemisphere operating at MW.

That is very nice that he took time to respond directly, but more importantly agreed with you on the choice of music. These are the subtle unquantifiable items that make a huge subliminal impact on guest experience.

Disagree. Dreamworld is already pretty damn big. there is plenty of space inside the current park envelope for them to expand without needing more. Thunderbolt. Troll's Village & FlowRider. Rocky Hollow. There's also opportunity to do something with the Murrisippi and the island as long as they preserve the waterway. As time goes on you start to see other attractions due for refurb or retirement - Motocoaster is 18 this year - maybe they invest in a retheme and refresh to give it another decade or maybe they decide to pull it in favour of developing the plot into something else? (lord knows the dead zone between Giant Drop and Main Street Station could use something to liven it up). There's also potential to slip something inside of Taipan's footprint, or Buzzsaw's plot, and cyclone\gold coaster can't have much more life left in it, surely? I'd love to see them take the convention centre building and turn it into an indoor attraction complex with an ocean-related theme to tie-in to Ocean Parade.

So time to share my impressions Munchkinland/Forecourt the entrance photo op statues look great. Little close to the brake run for SE imo, but I get they working with limited space so will ignore it. The walkway down to the forecourt is great, the rainbow effect is great and the transitional music change is really good. The theming in the forecourt is great, and in the 50mins we were there there was photo op with Wicked Witch, a Dorothy performance, and a photo op with Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion. All great, however I’d like to see how regular this becomes or even if it still exists in off peak Emerald City Lighting and design is decent. They’ll want to keep those wall projections functional (unlike other projections in the park) or it will be bland and boring. The wizard projection is quite good, though would have been fantastic to have it have more random or lengthy dialogue sets as it does get a little tedious being so short and just on repeat. Flight of the Wicked Witch The internal queue is fantastic with the room of Poppies and then the enchanted forest. You feel immersed in the story, and even my son said “wow this is like a Japan-level queue” and then boom - you walk downstairs and you are in an outdoor cattle run with no shade, and ridiculous slow ops and burning to a crisp in the sun. I can’t overstate how much the experience is wrecked by this. The immersion is gone and you just want to get it over with. You enter the castle for the final part of the queue which does look good, but it’s not air conned so there is no respite from the baking you’ve just had. They only let 1-2 groups into the castle at the time. The ops just seem entirely haphazard. The 2 cycles where I could visually see what was happening has 4-5min waits between guest disembarking and next guests being let onto the platform simply because the sorter is also the harness checker and they didn’t start sorting until the previous ride disembarked. The entrance to the ride gates is in such a close proximity to the entrance, they have to fill gates 4/5 which are directly in front of the entrance last as you wouldn’t get people past them otherwise. the ride itself is punchy and smooth, and a much better experience than similar coasters I have been on, so gets a big tick on that. There is a short jolty break mid final turn prior to the full break run which is a little strange in terms of forces, and the ride photo for mine is far too late in the ride, but aside from that no complaints. Kansas Twisters I could probably copy the same as the previous tbh.. the starting internal queue is great, immersive and fun. Then you are outside. In the sun. The grouper, who is deciding whether you get in the yellow or the orange train queue, had absolutely no concept of counting. We were told to join the orange train queue, which is on the opposite side of the station so you have to head up and over the track inside the barn. After a couple of cycle, it was blatantly apparent he couldn’t count as we were probably 3-4 cycles from getting on the orange train, and there was only 6 people waiting for the yellow. Cue us excusing ourselves back past another 10 plus people and jumping the rail to join the yellow train queue. Did I mention it was hot? And the barn had no air con or fans? Who designed this place? the ride itself is fun on the forwards cycle, but to be honest I found the return journey just too slow to really consider re-riding again. You walk off to look at chain link fencing and the 30 year old back of house offices. We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto… i also didn’t mention that there was no announcements over the speakers on either ride, no “enjoy the ride” or “you’re about to take flight on blah blah”. The only thing said by staff was yelling “don’t touch the seatbelt, we will do it up. Don’t touch the seat belt” on FOTWW. overall if they spent $100m they need their better people making the financial decisions for the park. Whilst it’s clear nothing is going to change short term, they need to drop some money into this thing before next summer to at a minimum have some shade sails over the queue line, and put some air con or fans into the internal queues. Then they need to sort out their ops. promises so much, but just misses the high mark it set for itself unfortunately. It’s not a fail by any stretch, but if it’s a 2 horse race between Oz and Rivertown - DW has is won by the length of the straight

Picoplay also recently uploaded a new video, that features some previously shown Jungle Rush theming - as well as some interesting tidbits if you zoom in on the right frame Above is the layout for Jungle Rush's indoor queue!

Photos from today: Framework has begun going up for the building that’ll enclose roughly half of Jungle Rush’s layout. Look into the (gutted) inside of Billabong: And, the supports: I don’t know what the status of the turntable at Vekoma’s workshop is, but there are visible tags on the shipment that read ‘Platform Supports’, and that tied with the catwalks, and shape of some support columns, has me guessing these are for it.

The Emporium has been repainted to remove the bright red, replaced with a better looking brown which gives it a better vibe. Apparently the whole of main street is being repainted to make it look more timeless. I think it looks great, and am happy to see the rest get painted the same. (thanks to Gold Coast Theme Parks on FB)

I don't think anyone is disputing closing once and doing all the necessary work. The thing that people are pointing out is that they're doing that on SE AND Batwing AND DD (which has other issues) AND Scooby all at the same time, with a lot of unplanned stoppages/late openings/closed seats on GL, Rivals, RR, and WWF. There have been several days where MW were charging $110 single day entry for people to watch HWSD2, and see Batman showcase because every single adult ride has been closed, as well as Road Runner - meaning there was not a single roller coaster or thrill ride operational. That is an unacceptable situation to be in and is 100% due to the park's management failing to invest adequately in the maintenance of their rides, plan maintenance schedules properly, and replace defunct rides in a timely manner when it is clear that they've reached the end of their lifespan (SD, AA, DD). But also due to the types of rides and attractions they operate. A simulator ride like Batman could operate even if one or two simulators failed - just at reduced capacity. The Movie Magic show could still operate if one of the show elements failed, other areas of the show could be padded out and the host could still explain how things work with other demonstrations. It also means that annual maintenance can occur on part of the attraction while it is still operational, reducing the amount of time it would need to be closed. It is also apparent that there are management issues from staff attitudes toward visitors. Staff are not friendly, none of them want to be there, and replies to customer complaints on social media have shown absolute contempt for visitors that just wanted a fun day out with their family. Compare that with DW, where they acknowledge they are in a state of transition, they know most of the park is a construction zone, but the staff are engaging, friendly, courteous, and genuinely want to see people enjoying themselves. I visited DW for the first time since 2015 the other week and the staff were the single most memorable part of my day. The staff issue at MW is what really indicates this is a top-down problem because the front line workers are unsupported and have no power to fix the situation for unhappy visitors. A theme park is a retail business, a service industry business, an art/design and performance business and a heavy machinery business. Movie World was once the stand out performer in Australia for all of these, but it's fallen behind in all of them and completely bungled the last one. People are rightfully pointing out that 2 month closures should be unnecessary, and planned overlapping closures are just bad management. But 2 month closures when you've got so many other closures - planned or temporary - happening in the park to the point that people are paying full price entry and cannot go on a single ride, is what most people in this thread are complaining about. Yes, DW have some extended closures for various reasons, but the difference is in the broader context of the park's offerings and operations.

From memory, I called it that as soon as a private equity fund got a hold of the place, it'd go downhill while they chased profits. Greg needs to stay at Dreamworld, his leadership is what the park needed. The public are starting to return.

MW only doing it because DW did it. DW 1 - MW 0

So if the link ever gets broken. Jungle Rush, manufactured by rollercoaster giant, Vekoma, is set to be the first of its kind in Australia, with the ride design supporting multiple different cycle paths. This has never been seen before in Australia and is only the first of a series of ground-breaking features being offered in the new precinct. Today marks a momentous occasion as Dreamworld officially begins construction on its highly anticipated Rivertown precinct, following months of demolition and site preparations. Rivertown is destined to become the most thematic and experiential land ever delivered by the iconic Gold Coast theme park. Rivertown is set to redefine family entertainment with a spectacular array of attractions, featuring the centrepiece ride, Jungle Rush – a thrilling new family rollercoaster that promises to be an immersive adventure for visitors of all ages. This, along with a host of other attractions, contributes to Rivertown's commitment to providing a brand-new theme park experience for families. (Jaggs Jouneys)

Spotted - first look! (thanks Spy)

Link to Video :

Queue has officially gone vertical over the past few days, Already looks great, excited to see everything once it’s complete in the coming weeks. (credit: gc_themeparkgirl)

The YouTube channel ‘Coaster Studios’ have announced they have made a new documentary about the challenge with building roller coasters in Australia, with a particular focus on Leviathan. The documentary comes out this weekend. “Surprise! We made a new documentary For our next project, we wanted to cover something we'd never really seen discussed before. Most people know building a roller coaster is no small feat- but did you know some countries make it more difficult than others? Australia is known for having some of the strictest regulations in the world, which can add stress to what might be an already difficult project. We sat down with @thegravitygroupllc and Martin & Vleminckx Rides to find out what it took to develop Australia's only modern wooden roller coaster. Leviathan is unlike anything the country had ever seen before- which meant an uphill battle to bring it to life. On Friday, we will share that story with you through interviews, custom music, and never before seen pictures!” https://www.instagram.com/p/DKLCQWAJzO6/?igsh=N3R6NTN4cWc2MnIz

Ok well I was waiting to have a minute to post but I will chime in here. I finally got to visit Rivertown last week… To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Easily best thing, or certainly most complete thing any park has built in a very long time. The entire area is immersive and detailed and just so on point. The detail in the theming and hidden touches just top it all off. Retheme of Vintage cars - amazing! Jungle Rush Coaster - what a perfect choice for the family demographic, and genius use of a relatively small footprint. Fun and thrills for all ages. As for the comments above, so off the mark. Yes I definitely feel the money must have run out in the turntable chamber, and it’s what turns this possible 10 into a 9. But is 10 year old me gonna notice? No As for the interior queue, it’s almost Disney level, there is nothing that anyone visiting a regional park in Australia should be complaining about in here. …and this is from the most critical old bastard that has never been backward about criticizing Dreamworld. Oh and for bonus points, all the staff were smiling!

Bats have just been added to the ceiling for this section!

This thread has been pretty quiet, while over the highway the Rivertown\Jungle Rush threads continue with updates. I haven't been to WOZ myself, and I've no great urge to rush out and do so just yet, but from what i've heard and seen online, the sentiments towards the land are that it was a miss. I watched this last night and the channel has been pretty on the mark with other topics covered. Call it confirmation bias if you like, but a lot of what is covered in this video sounds about what I expected. this video is a big oof.

Dreamworld have definitely put much more love and care into the whole land than MW with Wizard of Oz - every part just looks spectacular. The details placed within each part look fantastic, even a non E-ticket like this looks amazing, and will only get better thanks to weathering and the growing greenery. Good job to Greg Yong and his team for making Rivertown so great, I can't wait to see what is next. Hopefully some enhancements are made eventually, such as retheming Motocoaster into the land and redoing the store's facade to match.

Jungle Rush soft opened again this afternoon, and I got another ride on it! They've actually added a lot in the few days! There's even more theming and audio in the queue and station, and they've added more theming to the turntable room. It's also a lot darker now too, which was a big complaint I had the other day. Also did Murrissippi Motors, which was a lot of fun.

LOL, Wash your mouth out! I've done the Beast, I've done the Zamperla Giga Discovery, I've done the Intamin and the Intamin one is in an entirely different league. See, the issue with these types of rides from cheaper manufacturers like Zamplera and KMG is that they put underpowered motors in the swing, so a great deal of the ride cycle is spent simply getting to full height. On the KMG it takes 1:30. The Giga Discovery takes close to 2:00 But the Intamin? 45 seconds. Its like being strapped to a rocket at the start. Intamin know where to push it when it comes to intensity. and then at the top of each swing, the motors are actively pushing back in reverse, and forcing you downwards, so you get enhanced airtime in the same way Batwing drops down "faster than gravity". More of the time is spent on the fun part...swinging beyond vertical, and less on the crap part....low speed nauseating swings. And the rotation speed is perfect. Its not pretending to be an eggbeater like the Beast. And there are no OTSRs. Cant wait to have one down the road.

You must be fun at parties.

The whole area looks so different now, track everywhere! Looks great!

Theming is being added to the temple structure. Looks like it's interior theming for the indoor scene Reverse view Also more track!

With the new Rivertown comes an upgrade to the Billabong Restraurant. The current concept show an upgraded Restaurant, function room and a Taboo room.

Pico Play have also shared this article about the project Pico Play to deliver full theming solution for Dreamworld’s new Jungle Rush roller coaster An ancient temple, filled with twisting tunnels, mysterious chambers, mystical artefacts and exotic creatures is taking shape in a state-of-the-art fabrication facility in the Vietnamese city of Hai Duong. Pico Play, a global leader in the planning, design, development and construction of world-class themed attractions and entertainment, is busy working on an ancient temple, filled with twisting tunnels, mysterious chambers, mystical artefacts and exotic creatures in its state-of-the-art fabrication facility in the Vietnamese city of Hai Duong. More than 75 artists, sculptors, engineers and production workers are manufacturing the temple which will become the centrepiece of Jungle Rush, a brand-new rollercoaster coming to Australia’s theme park Dreamworld in 2024. Pico Play director Darren McLean says the company is delivering a fully integrated solution to the theme park that includes all theming, show sets and audio-visual effects: “We’ve taken the concept and developed detailed designs through to fabrication drawings and then, of course, the fabrication itself at our Vietnam facility. In addition to the physical theming and show sets, we’re also developing a custom soundtrack and developing lighting, storytelling and animatronics to deliver a seamless, integrated and exhilarating experience.” At $35M, Jungle Rush is Dreamworld’s largest investment in a single attraction and the crowning jewel of Rivertown, the park’s new immersive land. Billed as a family attraction, Jungle Rush is a switchback rollercoaster, featuring the world’s first inclined turntable, different track paths and the ability to travel forward or in reverse. Pico Play is manufacturing 520 pre-cast glass-reinforced concrete (GRC) panels in its Vietnam facility to build the centrepiece temple and has sourced an ex-military dual-engine propellor plane to ‘crash-land’ into the theming. “We’re working very closely with the local architect, engineer and builder and using detailed 3D modelling to ensure our pre-fabricated pieces sit perfectly into their major infrastructure works,” adds McLean. “We’re developing an immersive experience that will take guests on a mysterious journey from the moment they enter the temple to when they exit the rollercoaster. “We want to offer guests more than just a rollercoaster ride. The experience is more than the ride itself, there’s a story, there are characters, there’s excitement and there’s anticipation and entertainment leading up to the ride.” Jungle Rush marks the 10th collaboration between Pico Play and Dreamworld with past projects including the newly opened Ocean Parade expansion, Steel Taipan rollercoaster and the Sky Voyager “flying theatre”. Dreamworld CEO Greg Yong visited Pico Play’s Hai Duong facility in early 2024 and was impressed at the efficiency and skill of its workers, including a large team of experienced artists and sculptors. “They’ve got a super talented group of people doing the work and it was really great to see the artisans and thank them in person,” says Yong. “I walked out of that experience in Vietnam feeling 100 per cent confident and really comfortable in how Pico Play was handling the project.” Nominating Pico Play’s global reach as a competitive advantage, Yong adds that the firm’s Queensland presence also contributed to the enduring relationship between the two companies. “They know the site and understand our vision with this project and how important the stakes are – this is not just another attraction, this is a meaningful part of Dreamworld’s story and recovery.” Yong explains that Jungle Rush is located in one of the park’s foundation areas and fittingly offers a nostalgic nod to Dreamworld’s history: “Jungle Rush is all about the theming; we’re bringing back a lot of traditional effects that people may not have seen in a theme park for a long time. Technology is so pervasive now that we wanted something ‘analogue’, something that is so completely immersive that you put your phone away and just get caught up in the quality of the narrative and the scale of the theming.” The Rivertown project is the final piece in Dreamworld’s $55M capital investment, with approximately $35M invested in the immersive Rivertown land. The project’s construction and theming phase is set to create more than 1000 jobs with the precinct expected to open in late 2024. At the end of last year, Pico Play announced the appointment of Kate Rogers as senior art director. Rogers has worked on some of the most innovative and beloved theme park attractions on the planet, including Universal Orlando Resort, Shanghai Disney Resort, Universal Beijing Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Melbourne Zoo. https://www.pico-play.com/news-articles/pico-play-to-deliver-full-theming-solution-for-dreamworlds-new-jungle-rush-roller-coaster?fbclid=PAAaa72cG-6XAKEMstjUQ4fYQT39AFyuEo6YZRZsV6B_NC0Njqrd4i85NzZaI_aem_AfVrHVFLd2eQFxGicDVNWPcdcdovIoCHym6Vlf1s9SKKQClWxNnfUjRAdUd7VeqBveY

In regards to the awful pop music that was playing at the park entrance and around the flyer recently, I emailed in my feedback direct to dreamworld. I initially received the usual “thanks for your feedback, we’ve passed it on the the relevant team”, however I was followed up this morning with an email straight from Greg Young. He thanked me for the feedback, and said that he shared my thoughts on the music and they have since reverted back to the classic/Disneyland style Main Street music. He also said they still have a few more things to touch up and complete at the front of the park that they are currently working on. Interested to know what that means? Anyways I thought that was worth sharing. If it’s worth complaining about on here, then perhaps it’s worth sending in the feedback. It’s clear that they listen and appreciate enthusiasts feedback 😊 I also noted several comments while lining up for the flyer about how quick the lines moved compared to the competition down the road! Yes it is a people eater with the number of seats, but regardless that’s some good customer feedback heading into the Christmas school holidays!

The ride had a preview today for staff members! It looks very impressive off ride with the fountains. Also has music! Probably going to be open by the weekend. Sequence 01.mp4 (Clip of the ride testing prior)

Volcano Bay https://www.parkz.com.au/attraction/volcano-bay A couple of weeks ago I finally got to visit Volcano Bay in Orlando. Got a pretty good run at the place, the weather was rainy, but it was also warm and humid, and the water is kept at a perfect temperature, which was fine for this South East Queenslander. The net result was a dead park, and walk ons for almost everything. I was in and out in about 4 hours, and that was with re-rides, a lap to take some photos and mucking around to have lunch. Entry to the park is a bit of a pain in the arse if park hopping. You have to walk right to the back of the car park, where they have built a bus station, for shuttles to the park. Nothing screams tropical getaway like this? IDK maybe they could have built a shutte train from Citywalk itself and called it the Pineapple Express or something? But they make up for it when you arrive because its legitimately one of the nicest park entries anywhere. Overall impressions, has one of the most impressive slide line ups anywhere, and I guess what sets them apart is they are typically much longer than other installs. This means much longer climbs to the top, but it also means you get quite a lengthy ride every time. Theming is nice and has been beautifully styled, but for me it's still fundamentally a water park, just with all the signs and handrails etc better themed than usual. None of the slides really had any additional theming or SFX on them. There were lots of nice details to spot if you keep your eyes peeled. Most of the technical wizardly is reserved for the various interative Tapu Tapu things you can activate with your RFID wristband. This ranged from interactive fountains to underwater features, right through to light shows in a cool little walkthrough hidden inside the volcano. This wristband is also used to make ride reservations, though given the non existent crowds it went unnoticed, though you still tap in on each ride, so i guess they get super accurate guest flow statistics! The Punga Racers Body Slides and the 'normal' lazy river Kopiko Wai were closed for annual maintenance but I didn't really care, and of course the Runamukka Reef (get it? run amok) is just for the kids. Onto the slides. Ohno and Ohya drop slides Drop slides that finish a few meters above the pool, with some nice waterfalls. Fun to watch and quite attractive. The nicest feature was the interative kids pool next door with big spinning fountains that would throw water in a giant spiral pattern. Maku Puihi Round Raft Rides I'll get my one moan out of the way early. Yes there are a couple of attractions with catchy sounding names, and I can see they were trying to keep to the theme with these tribal sounding words, but for most of the rides the names they have are just not memorable. Which of these slides was Maku and which was Puihi? I dunno? It's not like something such as "Perfect Storm" or "Mammoth Falls" or "Summit Plummet" where at least its kind of fun and catchy and gives you an idea of what the ride might be like. I guess thats why they have given them captions like "Round Raft Rides", anhow, whinge over. The one that is the big saucer type slide is actually pretty good, even if the saucer is a visual gimmick, since this was quite a fast slide and you rode up on the walls a fair bit on the turns. The double tornado slide is the 36ft model, so its Smaller than the 45ft Tornado at Adventure Park Geelong, but bigger than the 24ft Tantrum Alley at at Raging Waters Sydney. Despite this, it might as well been as rough as the 24ft ones, but didn't really have all the extra turns and helices that come with it, so it felt quite short, but also lacked the signature tornado airtime. ehhh. Te Awa - The Fearless River This is a high speed lazy river, so fast in fact you have to wear a life jacket, which you'd never see in Aus lol. This was great, its fun to power swim along, and there are some big waves, including a huge surge of water that gets released periodically, and happened to go off right as i was in front of the inlet. Woosh! Waturi Beach Bit of a miss. Looks great, but the waves are definitely underpowered. Typhoon Lagoon reigns supreme as the best wave pool in Orlando. I did like how they had a spinning dial on a tower that would rotate to show a wave icon when the waves came on. Taniwah Tubes Take the Temple of Huey from WWW and make it 3x higher and this is what you get. What is also nice is the way rafts have a conveyor, which land on a mezzanine below the start deck. So you only have to carry your raft one flight of stairs, and there is none of that muck around with queuing separately at the bottom for a raft. Another minor grumble, all 4 slides were running and had water going down them, but they only had 2 of 4 open, and yeah they are pretty similar, but one had this intense looking double helix I wanted to try and of course that was the one that was not available and they weren't rotating. The green one was standard raft slide stuff, but the blue ones had a bit more kick, with Proslides Explosion Curves, which are like their take on the constrictor, so you got a little head spin on each helix. Krakatau Aqua Coaster Again, like Supertubes at WWW if you made it several times longer. Im not normally that big on water coaster type slides, because to be honest straight gentle drops in a raft just aren't all that thrilling (though the uphill slighty bumpy LIM launches are fun). I guess i just prefer slides that wash you around a bit and feel out of control. Give me a tornado or a wave any day. These slides just repeat the same trick over and over. Somehow, my head was just at the right height to get hit by every single sprayer that wets the surface, so the whole time I'm squinting trying to avoid chlorinated mist in my eyes. The one big thumbs up I'll give this is the completely over the top theming of the station and the beautiful landscaping around the first couple of drops. Why did they do such massive safety fences? They almost treat it like a real roller coaster in terms of safety. Ko'okiri Body Plunge The biggest and baddest, it's a straight trapdoor drop from the very top of the volcano. This has the fun gimmick of transparent sections a the top, and again at the bottom where the slide passes through a swimming pool, so people can swim right up and apparently watch as you shoot past. Aaaand of course you get water in your face the whole time so can't really see much, and half the drop is in darkness so perhaps you lose the sense of speed a bit. Gave it a couple of goes because that intial trap door release is still pretty cool. The bit passing through the pool is nice on paper, but doesn't really work in practice because physics. If you keep your head above water and try to look at the tube the refraction of light means you end up seeing shimmering instead, though if you put your head underwater and open your eyes then yeah you can see a split second splatter when the rider goes past. Kala & Ta Nui Serpentine Body Slides Also from the top of the Volcano are a couple of turbo tunnel slides with trapdoors (again only 1 was open). This was the only ride where I was given a return time (The whole of 10 mins). The climb up the Volcano is very cool, with the staircase zig zagging through the tangle of slides and supports. The ride down has a bit less water in your face and consists of several very fast turns, so you cover a lot of slide in short space of time. Only did this one once. Honu ika Moana - Turtle & Whale A couple more decent family raft slides. Again with the naming, the blue slide is apparently the Turtle and the green one is Whale, so try and figure that one out. The Green one is mammoth type slide, without any gimmicks, and you know what it was legitmatley one of the best slides the park, it was long, it was fast, you got good wall time, and the straights in between actually work well because they give the rafts a chance to wash around. The double tornado wave is really good too. These rides are heaps of fun to begin with, but having the 2nd drop following from the first is a bit of genius because you get this scary moment where it feels like you could go airborne. Of course its all highly calculated and you get two big airtime moments. Worth a couple rides, especially if you can get a fully loaded raft. Overall, yes I'd recommend the place, especially if you have a multi day ticket to Universal since if you get bored you can go sit on Hagrids or Velocicoaster for the rest of the day. The slides are all mostly better versions of your favourites.

If feels like right now you could walk into Dreamworld everyday of the week and there would be something new to look it. They are definitely playing catch-up after years of closures/neglect from former management, but it’s great to finally see the entire park getting some love.

Good news!

I’ve just spent almost three weeks exploring Japan and along the way visited several theme parks. Two of which we had already planned to visit and two others that we ended up visiting in the moment. This includes Tokyo DisneySea, Universal Studios Japan, Fuji-Q Highland and Suzuka Circuit Motopia. I first visited Japan 9 years ago and at the time only visited Universal Studios Japan; you can read that trip report here: Tokyo DisneySea This was the first park of the trip and my third ever Disney park (Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studio Park being the other two). We didn’t have enough time to visit both Disney parks on this trip, so opted for DisneySea because of how highly everyone talks about this park (and for Fantasy Springs). We arrived at the park at 8:30, with the park set to open at 9. We’d heard that the process to get in was pretty quick even when the lines are long as the staff are efficient… this was not the case. We didn’t get into the park until almost 10 (not a complaint, just something to note for anyone planning to visit). Once we were through the gate, I immediately jumped into the app and started trying to book passes to jump the queues for as many rides as possible. The first impression enter the park under the hotel is one of the most mind blowing first sights I’ve ever had walking into a theme park. It is so beautiful, so detailed and it makes me want to see it all at once. We began exploring the park in a clockwise direction towards Port Discovery. Walking to this land, it honestly didn’t feel like you were in a theme park, everything looks so well considered, amazing sight lines, detailing, atmosphere, it’s all just incredible. Our first ride was Nemo & Friends Searider. I didn’t really know what this ride was, but my wife is a massive Finding Nemo fan. The ride was essentially a 3D simulator ride and made you believe you were shrunk down to the size of a fish and go on a journey with the characters. A well executed ride, but nothing out of this world. We then ventured to Mysterious Island to ride our first free past pass ride, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. To access this ride you have to enter into the centre of the volcano, which alone is absolutely insane, but then you work your way down towards the water and under the volcano. The ride itself was really impressive and give you the impression you are actually underwater and see all of these underwater creatures, very immersive and enjoyable ride. We then had our first paid fast pass ride, Toy Story Mania. This was only our second ever shooting dark ride (Justice League being the first) and my god this was so much more enjoyable. All of the mini games were very fun, the queue and station theming were great and the shooting system (while tiring by the end of the ride) was easy to use. From here we had to make the very long journey to the back of the park as we had our first fast pass (This was the fast pass we were able to secure as soon as we entered the park) in Fantasy Springs, Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival. Fantasy Springs was by far the area of the park I was most looking forward to and I had stayed spoiler free for the most part. The first impressions as you enter into the land is mind blowing, it’s just beautiful. It really does feel like a fantasy. The music starts to change, the landscape changes and you become fully immersed into what they’ve created. When your within the land you can’t see anything else but the land you are in. We headed to the right into Rapunzel’s Forest. The queue for the ride was really well executed and the loading procedures were so fast, organised and effective. The ride itself is a boat ride that doesn’t have any drops or lift hills and takes you on a very shortened version of the Tangled movie. The animatronics and execution of the scenes were unlike I’ve ever seen in person, it actually creates emotions. And that final lantern scene was beautiful and made me feel like nothing else in the world mattered in that moment. Sadly the major downside to this ride is it feels like it’s over before it’s begun, it’s way too short and should’ve been at least double the ride time, but it is still absolutely worth riding and paying for a priority pass. As it was nearing lunch time, we decided to stay in Fantasy Springs and eat at the Royal Banquet of Arendalle. The menu wasn’t massive, but its offerings were very enjoyable. To enter this sit down quick service restaurant you had to do a mobile order and show the order at the entrance when it was ready. Then once you’re inside it tells you what counter to collect your order from and that’s it! It was a very simple and fast process and didn’t require any waiting. The dining area had a massive amount of tables, so there was no issue finding somewhere to sit, and it was a really pleasant space to sit and relax amongst the craziness of a Disney theme park day. I’d highly recommend anyone visiting this park to visit this restaurant for lunch and a place to relax. After lunch our ride was Journey to the Centre of the Earth. This was the ride I was most looking forward to, but with a 4.5hr standby wait time, my only hope to ride it was with a fast pass (thankfully I managed to secure one while we were sat down for lunch). This ride is set within the volcano and takes out on a journey deep into the centre of volcano exploring what lives within. I had stayed relatively spoiler free for this ride, but knew it had a similar ride system to Radiator Springs or Test Track and there was a massive animatronic. Before we had even boarded the ride, the queue line was mind blowing. It has so much detail, effects and the use of an elevator to give the impression you are dropping deep into the volcano. The ride itself was incredible and ended up being my favourite ride in the park. It wasn’t necessarily overly thrilling, but the suspense, animatronics, darkness and use of smoke and fire made the experience unlike anything I’d ever been on. And that last massive animatronic before you are launched out of the volcano was incredible. This ride has to be a must do for anyone visiting this park because it will blow you away. When then explored the ‘Mermaid Lagoon’ and ‘Lost River Delta’ lands and like the rest of the park was really impressed with the level of theming and the rides on offer. Mermaid Lagoon is the only dedicated kids ride land in the park and offers a great variety of flat rides. I was really hoping to ride Indiana Jones, but with a 3 hour wait, the single rider line closed and being unsuccessful in getting a fast pass, sadly we had to miss out on this. We then ventured into the Arabian Coast to ride Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage. This ride had the shortest wait time in the park at only 15 minutes. I had heard this ride was an enjoyable boat ride and generally always has a short queue and after riding it, I don’t know why because it is really really good. It’s a gentle boat ride filled with hundreds of animatronics, music and effects and is probably the longest boat ride in the park. It’s just a classic and fun ride. After this we headed back into Fantasy Springs because how could we not! We wanted to explore even more of the land while we tried to get priority passes for the other rides. This land really feels like its own seperate park and you could honestly just spend the entire day in here exploring every corner and detail. We were lucky to get a fast pass for Anna & Elsa’s Frozen Journey and it was for in 15 minutes after purchasing. And wow what a ride this was. The story telling, detail, effects and animatronics were unlike anything else. This ride was fantastic and was easily my second favourite of the day. And the length of the ride really allowed you to get fully immersed into the story, which is what Rapunzel’s ride unfortunately lacked. Unfortunately that would be the last ride of the day as the weather had dramatically changed and was now very very windy and cold. We originally wanted to stay for the nighttime shows, but these were cancelled due to the weather. Generally speaking, we did eat at many different food outlets and stalls throughout the park to try different things, but the only place we dined was within Frozen. And for merchandise, we didn’t actually buy anything because there wasn’t actually anything within any of the stores that was of interest. The merchandise we found to be very much targeted to the Japanese market (for obvious reasons), so there wasn’t even a magnet or tshirt that appealed to us. Overall, what a fantastic day and easily my new favourite theme park. However, while using the app and booking passes is a simple process, it’s does make the day pretty stressful, especially when you’re trying to make sure you get on everything you want. Any opportunity I had I would be in the app refreshing it to try and buy or secure passes for various rides because most attraction waits were between 1 and 4 hours. Throughout the day I was trying to get a Standby Pass for the Fantasy Springs rides, but had no luck, which is why we had to buy the Priority Passes to be able to ride them. From the start of April you no longer require a Standby Pass for Fantasy Springs attractions, but that means the queues are now up to 5 hours for the majority of the day. Fuji-Q Highland I’ll be upfront about our visit to this park, it wasn’t originally on our list of places to visit due to time constraints. However, we do manage to spend about 1.5 hours wondering around the park for reasons I’ll explain shortly. We hired a car for the day from Tokyo so we could go and explore the northern areas of Mount Fuji. To get her via train can take over 4 hours, but driving was only 1.5 hours. I highly recommend to anyone who wants to see and explore Mount Fuji, but doesn’t necessarily want to stay a night out there. As we arrived in the area, we actually drove directly past Fuji-Q and the views you get of the park and awesome. Getting to see these coasters in person made me realise why people make the trek to visit this park. We explored the Lake Kawaguchi region in the morning and because we had some spare time over lunch we decided to stop in the Fuji-Q before heading to the Chureito Pagoda. Part of our reason to justify visiting the park for only a couple hours was because it is actually free to enter to park. The park has a pay per ride system, or a ride all day option that basically makes it like visiting a normal theme park. As we drove, it was ¥2,000 to park and then get a free entry ticket from the ticket booth, which we had to scan to be able to enter the park. At this point it was around midday, the park had been open a couple of hours and the car park appeared to be relatively empty. This made me think that there might be a change I could get to go on at least one of the coasters (spoiler alert, this was not the case). The first area of the park you walk through is ‘La ville Gaspard et Lisa’, a French inspired street with good theming and plenty of eateries to choose from. I didn’t know much about this park, but this level of theming made me think maybe the whole park was like this…. I was very much wrong. There was some theming in Thomas land, but otherwise that’s about it. And maybe it’s not really necessary because you visit this park for the insane coasters and the incredible backdrop that is Mount Fuji. We decided to do a full loop of the park to see what it had to offer (in terms of food and to see what the wait times were like). Very quickly my hopes to possibly get on a ride or two became a dream because despite what I deceived to be very low crowds, every coaster had a wait time of a minimum of two hours. I had heard that this parks dispatched times were bad, but wow they have to be some of the worst in the world. I couldn’t even tell if they were running multiple trains because they had dispatches of over 5 minutes between the trains arriving into the stations and leaving. If you thought Villages were bad, think again. The wait times also didn’t help because they now only have 3 major coasters in operation, all of which have decent ride times. Do-Dodonpa closed several years ago now and all that remains is the loop and only a couple months ago Eejanaika also had an incident and now very much looks like it could be closed for some time. Obviously it was a little disappointing I wasn’t going to get a chance to ride anything, but it wasn’t originally in our plans to even visit the park, so I was happy to just be there and see it in person. In terms of the rest of the park, it did feel run down and I don’t know if I had set the park too high because I had always heard good things about it, but it was underwhelming to walk around. With two major coasters closed amongst 4 or 5 other flat rides closed and the operating flat rides looking like they need some love, everything was a bit meh. Don’t get me wrong, the operating coasters did look like a fantastic experience and really these are the main reason to visit this park. But for anyone who is planning on going, don’t expect much else outside these coasters, the incredible backdrop and the food was decent for theme park food. And after witnessing the dispatch times, it could honestly take you all day to just ride the 3 coasters even on a quiet day. On our way out we stopped by the Fujiyama observation deck, which for about $15 allows you access to a lookout with amazing views of Mount Fuji and the park, but is surrounded by the track of Fujiyama. After the first drop, the train ascends up to the rides second highest point because looping round this lookout; a very cool experience and you don’t have to renter the park to access it! Universal Studios Japan This park I was able to visit nine years ago during my first trip to Japan and was very excited to visit again particularly for Super Nintendo World, to get to go on the ride within the Wizarding World and to go on some of the attractions I loved last time. Before visiting, I had the main goal to get the Universal Express Pass 7 because I wanted to make sure we could actually achieve everything we wanted to because of how busy this park gets. And with Nintendo still requiring an entry time, this express pass guaranteed entry and every ride. Anyone who is wanting to visit this park, if you can afford it I highly recommend you get this pass. They sell out very quickly, but to fully enjoy your single day that I’d say it’s a must. For us entry tickets were $100 each and the Express Pass was around $250 each. This made it a more expensive day than at Disney, but far less stressful! We visited the park on a Tuesday, which isn’t the busiest day of the week for this park, most major rides had wait times between 2 and 4 hours. We had timed entry for the Wizarding World for 10am (this land doesn’t require an entry pass like Nintendo). The park opened at 8:30, but we didn’t arrive until 9:30. Unlike Disney’s security system, Universal’s was a lot more efficient and while the line was almost as long as Disney’s, it took us half the amount of time to get into the park. Once in, we headed straight for Hogwarts. My wife and I are big Harry Potter fans and while I’d been here before and we’d done the studio tour in London, we were very excited to experience this land to its fullest (something I didn’t get the chance to do last time). I love the entry into the Wizarding World at Japan; to my understanding it’s very different to the entries at both American parks, but walking through the forest and (almost) separating yourself from the rest of the park was very well executed. We headed straight for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, a ride I unfortunately missed out on last time. And having never visited the American parks this would be my first ever time experiencing this ride. The wait time was around 2 hours, but with express you skipped straight to the lockers and then join the regular queue, making the wait around 15 minutes in total. Having read all about this ride, but having never watched a POV it was still very much a surprise even after the ride opening over a decade ago. What an impressive ride this is, especially with the immense amount of technology involved (particularly considering how long it’s been open for). The loading procedures were so efficient, it’s impressive how high capacity this ride actually is. It’s filled with screens and practical sets and effects that all blend very well together. The ride system was unlike anything I’ve ever been on and it did make me feel a little nauseas (which I’d heard some people feel after this ride), but it was only brief while getting off the ride. My wife wasn’t able to ride this (due to a recent surgery), but last time I visited they offered a Hogwarts Castle walk-through experience, where you walked alongside the rides main queue, but you bypass the rides station so you don’t have to ride it. This was great because it allowed you to experience the immersive detail of the queue and it never has a wait. Sadly, we asked about it this time before the staff said they don’t offer that anymore. I’m not sure how long they haven’t offered it, but it’s a real shame they’ve done so. Next up was Flight of the Hippogriff, which had one of the longest lines in the park the whole day. If you don’t have express pass or don’t get to this ride first, it absolutely isn’t worth it. It’s fine for what it is and they have two trains operating, but it just isn’t a high capacity ride. We spent the next hour or so experiencing the entire land, checking out all of the stores and detailing; it’s so enjoyable to just walk around this area of the park. Earlier I mentioned this land almost separates you from the rest of the park; the reason it almost does this is because with Donkey Kong Country open, that land backs directly onto the Wizarding World, so you can see parts of that land behind the Hogwarts Castle. Heading out of the land we made our way anti-close wise around the park, so next us was Jaws. I remember absolutely lovely this ride last time and I enjoyed it just as much this time. It’s such a classic ride and I wish there were more rides like this around the world because even though I couldn’t speak the language, the story was clear and it’s such a gem. I truly hope USJ keeps this ride for as long as possible, since it’s the last. We then ate at the Boardwalk snacks for lunch before heading to Water World. This was the fourth time seeing this show (USJ once before and twice at USS) and it’s still just as good as the first time. I’d happily watch this show any time I visit a Universal park that has it because it’s so well out together (like how Police Academy was). We made our way through Jurassic Park (we come back here later) to head towards Minions Land. Last time I visited this park it was the Back to the Future ride, so I was interested to see the change and how they modified the ride to suit Minions Mayhem. The land itself was really well executed, with lots to look at, a couple of stores and a variety of food options (I highly recommend the Minion steamed bun). We had an Express Pass for Minions Mayhem and it was the first time ever expressing this ride and other than a simulator style ride, I didn’t really know what to expect. In summary, it’s fine; a one and done; you can skip it if you aren’t sure whether or not to ride it. I don’t know if the setup for the ride differs to other versions of the ride (would be interested to hear from anyone who’s ridden different versions), but the setup and ride system was exactly the same as what Back to the Future was. So much so, it seemed like they were still using the original dome/screen because you could seen all of the panel joins and it was pretty distracting. The ride experience I did find a little nauseating too, almost more than Harry Potter. We then continued our loop around the park through New York and Hollywood. I had hoped to ride Space Fantasy, but this wasn’t included in our Express Pass, the wait was 2 hours and no single rider option. With the closures of Spider-Man and Backdraft, this area of the park did feel pretty lacking, which is a real shame because both of those were great attractions (Spider-Man remained my favourite ever ride before this trip). We explored the many stores in these areas and found the merchandise offerings a lot better than Disney. It could be because it was more of what we were interested in, but it felt like there was a lot wider range of products to choose from. It was later in the afternoon at this point and there still a few things we wanted to do before our nighttime entry into Super Nintendo World. We made our way back to Jurassic Park to ride what still remains as my favourite coaster, Flying Dinosaur. I first rode this when it had only opened a few weeks prior to my first visit and was interested to see if it still had that well known B&M smoothness and if it still scared the hell out of me. The answer to both those questions is yes. There are only two rides that I’ve ever been on that genuinely scare me, The Giant Drop and this! The intensity, forces, speed and just the whole damn layout are insanity. But my god it’s so much tun. I was lucky enough to get front row on this ride so I could see everything we were about to face. Surprisingly this time I didn’t grey/black out (last time I didn’t many times), so I could truly appreciate every aspect of the ride. I would honestly visit this park just to ride Flying Dinosaur! And the efficiency of the load and unloading has got to be the best in the world. They have two stations and three trains always in operations. There is no stacking (unless there’s an issue), so this means there is always a train load, a train out on the track and a train unloading. Hats off to the team that operate this because it’s incredible to watch and experience. We then made our way back into the Wizarding world to have dinner at the Leaky Cauldron. The line was this restaurant was almost an hour long at lunch time, but for dinner it was only 5 minutes. They offer English pub style food and it’s an enjoyable meal for the pride you pay. At this point it was now dark, so we spent a bit of time walking around the land to enjoy its lighting and ambiance before making our way to the land we’d been most looking forward to, Super Nintendo World. We’re of the age where we grew up playing these games, so to be able to experience it in real light was very exciting. We’d obviously seen photos/videos of the land online, but the feeling of walking through the pipe into princess peaches castle and into the land was unlike anything else. There was so much to look at, it was very overwhelming but I just wanted to stand there and take it all in. I can see why this land could over stimulating for some people, but for us it was just pure joy and excitement. We made our way through to the land to ride Mario Kart. The scale of entrance into the ride was so impressive, but it just got even better as we made our way through the queue. The detailing and scale of everything was mind-blowing and we probably could’ve spent a long time just looking at it all. You collect your Mario hat that the AI googles connects too at the end of the main queue area before heading into two different rooms; once shows you how to wear the hat and the next explains how to play the game during your ride experience. I’d heard the game aspect usually took people a few rides to get the hang of, so I was sure to play close attention because I was only getting the one opportunity to ride. Now I had watched tried to POV or two of the ride when it first opened, but they honestly don’t do the ride experience justice. If you wanted, you don’t have to wear the googles and you could just sit back and enjoy the sets because they are really well executed, but the game aspect was so much fun. To be able to play MarioKart in real life made me feel like a little kid again, it was so much better than I had anticipated. The ride takes you through a blend of all of the iconic MarioKart tracks and it’s all executed so well. During the ride’s explanation they suggest that you should aim to collect over 100 coins and that I managed to do, so I felt like I picked up how to play the game/ride pretty quickly. We then made our way to Yoshi’s adventure, which is just a slow moving tracked ride that allows you to see the Nintendo land from a new perspective, with a show scene halfway through the ride. We enjoyed it for what it was, but definitely isn’t a must if the wait time is too long. Because we were entering the land at 7pm and the park was closing at 9pm, we didn’t see value in spending $50 on the power up bands to experience all of the mini-games. But honestly, you could probably spend your entire day in this land just playing all of the mini-games and you’d have a great day (if that’s your sort of thing). It was now time for Donkey Kong Country and the ride I was most looking forward to riding at this park, Mine Cart Madness. The Donkey Kong land itself isn’t massive and is mostly taken up by the ride itself. But like the Super Mario area, the detailing and Easter eggs were everywhere. Again, so much to look at and do, with lots of mini games, food options, a store and a Donkey Kong meet and greet (sadly it was too late in the day for an appearance). It was 8pm at this point and Mine Cart Madness was still listed at a four hour wait and the queue went all the way back to the entrance of this land (the ride entry is all the way at the back of the land). Even with Express Pass the wait was still about 30 minutes, as the ride vehicles only seat 4 people, but that is a crucial part to the ride experience. The station does have a moving platform and the vehicles were only spaced out around 15-20 seconds on the course, so the throughput is very high. The ride itself was so much fun! I’ve read mixed reviews online with people saying the ride it way to short and is rough, and while yes I wish the ride time was longer, it already takes up the majority of the land and due to the vehicle being attacked to an arm that extends down to the track, they don’t want to ruin the illusion when you’re off the ride. The ride itself isn’t necessarily rough, because it does run smoothly, but it does throw you side to side at a few moments on the ride, but I perceived this as being on purpose. You are riding a Mine Cart, that is jumping track and is turning on two wheels, which in reality wouldn’t be a smooth experience; so it all just adds to the narrative of the ride. There are water and smoke effects, animatronics and show scenes throughout the ride and all of it coming together made it a really fun overall experience. It’s not worth the four hour wait, but I’d wait an hour for sure. It was almost time for park close, so we began to make our way to the park exit after an incredible day and a greater appreciation for how awesome this park is. However, with now only a 10 minute wait (actually just a walk on), I had to get a night ride on Jurassic Park. This ride had been closed for 18 months as part of a massive refurbishment and had only reopened earlier this year, so I was excited to ride it in what should be in perfect condition. Because it was a cold and windy night in Osaka, I opted for the back row as the ride-ops said this is where I would get less wet (they were correct). It was so great to ride one of my favourites again, particularly at night and in such great condition; a perfect way to end the night. Suzuka Circuit Motopia The reason we got to visit this park is because we attended the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. As part of your entry into the event, you also get unlimited access to the entire theme/amusement park, which is integrated into the race circuit. This park is a little tricky to get too, so it’s definitely not a must visit on your Japan trip, but it has a good selection of rides. It is a free park to enter and you just pay per ride, or can purchase an unlimited ride ticket. On our first day at the F1 we entered into the event through the Main Gate, which is also the main gate for the park itself. The park it split into multiple lands, which include a water park, kids area, a driving school type zone, but the main area we walked through was called GP field, which is right alongside the race track and features the parks main coaster, GP Racers and a giant Ferris wheel. GP racers is a Hoei Sangyo (Japanese manufacturer) coaster that has duelling frack with ride vehicles only seating two people per vehicle. The track is less than 500m long, so it’s a relatively short ride experience, but like Motocoaster at Dreamworld, offers a motorbike style ride experience (with a lift hill). This ride experience is so much more comfortable than Motocoaster, because you sit sit like you are riding Jet Rescue, but the ride vehicles are like a bike so it offers the same sensation as Motocoaster should do without all the pain! Still a fun little coaster and glad I had the opportunity to ride it. Conclusion Overall a fantastic trip to Japan and after 9 years, still enjoyed it just as much if not more. The theme park highlights obviously being DisneySea and Universal Studios, with Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Fantasy Springs, Flying Dinosaur and Super Nintendo World being the major highlights from both parks. Obviously the massive crowds play a major part in the experience and can dampen it if you don’t have express passes. While we found the overall quality of ride and the theme park itself to be better at DisneySea, we ended up having a better overall day at Universal because it was less stressful and we didn’t have to worry about being on the app to secure ride passes, otherwise we’d be standing in line for hours and wouldn’t really achieve much.

Rivertown has soft opened. Not sure if the rides are yet available to guests, but you can walk under the archway and the store is open

Seems as good a place as any to post this… nice little subtle dig at the park down the road….