Richard

Seems like it would have been wise for Dreamworld to shut the ride for a few days, to appease the media if nothing else. They've taken a PR hit which otherwise could have been completely avoided if they followed suit with Cedar Fair and Six Flags. As I've said before I'm quite confident that what happened at SFKK was a completely freak accident, by virtue of the fact that cables on these rides very rarely snap and when they have in the past, injuries are typically superficial at worst, but from an image point of view, Dreamworld could have dodged a bullet by just shutting the ride for a few days, maybe using it as an opportunity to perform some annual maintenance that'd otherwise see the ride closed when it's not surrounded by controversy.

But particular models of planes have in the past been grounded as a result of crashes. I'd say without much doubt that this is a freak accident, but I find it a bit of a stretch to call such a valid and justified precautionary measure 'neuroticism'. I can't see how it would make sense to keep them open until they can rule out with 100% certainty that it's not a design flaw.

Great first post, shock_bus. Welcome along and I'm sure I speak for others in saying I look forward to a lot more like it. Your first question, regarding whether it doesn't seem as good simply because you're older, I think you only need to look as far as Sea World or Movie World to answer that question. Sea World is every bit as good as it was 10 or 20 years ago, and has built solidly on what it was then to only improve everything aspect of the park. Movie World is the same, but I think to a lesser extent (for the simple fact that they have replaced too many attractions without really growing the park). I just can't see kids today visiting Dreamworld and looking back at it in years to come with the same nostalgia many here have. I know I've dicussed this with many other people who agree on this point. The water park was completely a money-driven decision, which is understandable given that's the reason Macquarie Leisure exists. I do however agree that in a perfect world we'd see one great park rather than two average parks as we currently have.

It was planned a few weeks ago but I didn't want to post it here until I received confirmation from the producer, which as it happens didn't come until moments before the interview went ahead, so I didn't really get a chance to post it here. It was their evening programme.

We were featured on Brisbane radio station 4BC on Saturday night. Not only was it our fifth birthday, but June 16 also marked the 123rd anniversary of the first roller coaster in the United States at Coney Island. I did an interview with the presenter talking about the impact that the first roller coasters had on the world and how they developed from the early switchback railways designed to trapsort coal to become the first thrill rides, the importance of John Miller's contributions to roller coaster design, as well as the usual stuff about Kingda Ka etc. and what the future holds.

That link there would be the original Total Thrills, where theme parks were only a small component of the entire site. About a fortnight after that archive I switched hosts and lost all the existing data in the process, which led to the creation of the theme park focused Total Thrills Forums that we're still using today. The original Total Thrills site as it was pre-R-C.com.au is actually still online. I'll put the link up when I can find it for anyone interested in taking a trip back. It took us a year to reach the 1,000 post mark. These days we average between 500-2,500 posts per month.

Today marks the fifth anniversary of these forums, Australia's oldest and largest theme park community. Of course this community started out as Total Thrills back in June 2002. It originally dates back to February 2002, but the forums you see today date back to June. Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster had only just opened, Wonderland Sydney still had a future and Nickelodeon Central was only starting construction. In March 2004 we relaunched as Roller-Coaster.com.au but retaining the exact same forums. We have grown to well over a thousand members (if only all of them were active) and the site is frequented by the management teams of theme parks all around Australia. Unfortunately we couldn't do anything major to celebrate the occasion as I had originally intended, but rest assured there are huge changes to come in the near future. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of this community over the past five years, and I hope we can all stick around for another five years.

That's quite correct in just about every other construction context, but for some reason the coaster world has always referred to them as footers to the point where it's become the accepted norm. Do a Google search for coaster footers and coaster footings and you'll see what I mean with the number of results you get for each. Good point AlexB... don't know how I didn't notice that before. Consider it fixed.

Though I've not read any of the Harry Potter books, and only having seen bits of the films, I have little doubt as to the longevity of the franchise. Harry Potter will be a hugely profitable series until well after Universal have recouped their huge investment and made a bundle. The first major Star Wars theme park attraction (Star Tours) opened at Disneyland nearly five years after the last movie of the first trilogy and the last version opened close to a decade after. They've been consistently popular since. Who knows what they'll be learning in 400 years time. For all anyone knows Baby Got Back will be regarded as classical music as predicted by Futurama. In the context of Universal Studios coughing up USD$1.22 billion to build this thing, I think looking at the popularity in anything greater than decades is pretty irrelevant. If today's slipping standards are anything to go by, I'd expect that studying Shakespeare plays will eventually be replaced by Pauly Shore movies.

The basic concept is that the hotels will be combined with water parks and other attractions as part of the entire experience. They won't just be standalone themed hotels; they'll be complete self-sustaining holiday experiences. If you look overseas, there is a very big trend towards this concept of linking hotels directly with attractions, namely water parks. The Great Wolf Lodge chain has been very successful with this concept, and parks like Cedar Point and Alton Towers have both opened up hotel-only indoor water parks to allow year-round operating. It's the closest thing to a turnkey hotel operation. Where in the past hotels could essentially only be built in areas where people would be likely to stay (holiday, business destinations etc.), this is a concept which allows them to build where they want by creating their own mini-destination. It seems to me you've changed your tone as soon as you found out it was Marriott, not IHH. The fact is Nickelodeon is anything but a fad. Kids that grew up watching the channel in the 1980s are now having children of their own. Over the next decade or so the number of families like this will increase hugely. Nickelodeon is one of the strongest children's brands in the world and children are increasingly playing a vital role in family decision making. Just watch as this becomes a cash cow for Marriott.

Yeah I wouldn't go so far as to say a waste of money, because Harry Potter has shown time and time again that anything the franchise touches turns to gold. I would however agree that they're at least a few years too late to maximise their immediate returns. If this were unveiled a few years ago they would have been able to get so much mileage off the films, which leads me to think that perhaps the agreement between Universal and Warner Bros. was that it couldn't go ahead until the films were all completed. I also find the decision to make it part of Islands of Adventure a little puzzling. The park to date hasn't been an overwhelming financial success, for reasons largely to do with the fact that Universal Studios Resort as a whole can't compete with Walt Disney World. A third park, one themed to something as universally popular as Harry Potter could add so much to Universal and make it so much more of a destination. Evidently they don't feel that the infrastructure of IOA has To make this viable, they'll be predicting an attendance increase somewhere in the millions. Come 2010, the crowds at IOA will become very different indeed.

Yeah, people can edit Wikipedia. I don't think we need to be told everytime someone does.

The catwalk parts were repainted in Cyclone's blue but never ended up installed. They were stored (and presumably still are) in one of Dreamworld's maintenance areas. I was told by the then-CEO that Dreamworld would be looking at adding a second train after around two years (this was back in early-2002). Of course with a CEO change around the two year mark it never did happen. Now going on six years since, I'd say it'll never happen. In regards to LPS, I'm quite against the idea of vastly recreating the park as anything other than a traditional amusement park. There's so much potential in the idea of a Coney Island style park in the 21st Century. Firstly rip out anything that could be attached to a trailer and build the place up from scratch with modern rides, but in a 1930s setting.

I think that's probably the single most critical point of difference between Dreamworld and WVTP. Whereas down at WVTP decisions are driven by instinct - instinct created by decades in the industry - at Dreamworld they're driven by the bottom line. Both come to the same end - profits for the company and shareholders - but in the case of WVTP it's coupled with substance that'll last. I think the example of the hotdog stand pretty much sums up the difference between the two perfectly. It's seen throughout Dreamworld with the gaudy paint seen on any surface they can get their hands on. There's just so much tastelessness that no one would get away with at WVTP because there are people in charge who have enough insight to know where the line between 'fantastic' and 'excessive' is. Can you imagine if Disney put someone with absolutely no theme park experience in charge of Disneyland? It'd be the death of the place.

Honestly? All the parks on the Gold Coast have their problems. Even Disneyland isn't perfect. As I've said before, things would be very boring around here if all we did was endlessly praise all the parks. I think there's little denying that Dreamworld, of the parks on the Gold Coast, is in need of the most attention. You wouldn't hear of a restaurant with faded paint, gum stuck to the floor and only one waiter working when the place is full. You certainly wouldn't go back in a hurry. That's not to say that the other parks don't suffer from similar problems, but certainly not to the extent of Dreamworld. Macquarie Leisure are commited to the park, but their strategy is one which will make a good park, but as it currently stands, it'll never make a great park, even by Gold Coast standards. Growing up Dreamworld was always my favourite park. It remained this way for me until the early 2000s. Then as Movie World started to really get itself into shape starting with Scooby-Doo in 2002, Dreamworld seemed to step back by cutting costs ("improving operating efficiency") and focusing only on maximising specific revenue streams rather than the overall product. To me, over the years the two parks with the most prevalent idendity were Dreamworld and Sea World. Both knew exactly who they were, and as a visitor you could feel it throughout both parks. Dreamworld has lost its but yet Sea World's still very much what it always has been.

I'm yet to see a full release. I was notified by the park of the news yesterday morning, but won't be publishing the news until the full story is out. If WhiteWater World can claim they're even partly responsible for Wet'n'Wild's tremendous success, then it's logical that Sea World claim they're home to The Wiggles and Movie World can say they're home to the world's tallest freefall attraction. Wet'n'Wild's success can be attributed to their huge marketing campaign and the way they have changed and expanded their overall image in the past year or so. If WhiteWater World sugest they had anything to do with Wet'n'Wild's attendance figures, then I'd like to see an apology from them should Wet'n'Wild's attendance fall in coming years. Seems only fair.

The Play Pass will be launching June 1. I've not yet seen or heard any specific dates for the other options. As for cost, I think it's possible to consider this as a response to WVTP's continued slashing of annual pass prices. I would expect prices more consistent with WVTP's standard prices at the very least. I do agree however that they won't be what I'd consider cheap by international theme park standards. For some reason despite our parks being smaller and, in overall terms, of lesser quality than many parks abroad, the public here is still willing to pay a premium for the privilege of a day at a theme park.

Article: Macquarie Leisure duo to launch new annual passes Wednesday 23 May 2007 - Dreamworld Dreamworld and WhiteWater World will revolutionise the Gold Coast theme park industry by offering the first multi-park annual pass, with a range of different annual passes catering to a variety of different markets. Read On...

If you look at it in the simplest way - they can profit more by keeping the ride shut without spending on returning it to service. Dreamworld have more to gain by leaving the ride in an inoperative state than they do by getting it running again, which is the sad reality that dominates the park.

The second is called named Rahni. Both names are derived from Sumatran/Indonesian words, as an appropriate homage to their native habitat.

The first cub's name was announced last week - Indah. The second will be announced on Friday when The Wiggles perform at Dreamworld.

Less than a week from now the ride will have been closed for six months. This is longer than it takes to build a new coaster from scratch. It's blatantly clear that they're not doing enough to resolve the situation because it's an absolute joke that a ride can be closed for six months without any signs of improvement. Get it running again or remove it and replace it with something that works. Anything less is just shortchanging paying guests.

You mean the cover of the original Scooby-Doo theme song, by MXPX? It's from the original film's soundtrack; not sure if they used it on the sequel.

It's important to note that this event, along with the New Years Eve and the D&D Ball aren't put on by Dreamworld. A separate company (Empire Events) booked the park, just as many other organisations do on a regular basis. I should also point out that the Gold Coast City Council did not cancel this event. Empire Events cancelled it, because in planning the event they needed to comply with the existing Council noise restrictions. They claim that in order to comply with these regulations, the volume of music would be insufficient for the size of the crowd, and as such result in an unsatisfactory event for patrons. Whether that's the real reason or not I don't know. I suspect it could be a cop-out to cover for low ticket sales or similar, but at any rate it's not Dreamworld nor the Council's fault it's no longer on.

Their water efficiency claims have always been dubious at best. The effiency only comes into play in their filtration process where they're not losing water through the traditional backwashing process. The "28 Olympic swimming pools" that they're saving a year is only compared to what they would be losing with a different filtration system and through the course of a day there's still thousands of litres being lost each day through evaporation, leaks and poor design (see The Rip's splash pool). There's no excuse for the latter two, especially if you're touting water-wise practices.