Jamberoo Fan

@elemist, if it isn't just due to a 'cruise ship packages offer roughly the same services for less cost & more convenience' factor but the overall lowering of international travel prices factor, then I'd say the theme park industry in Australia would be slowing down (in terms of unique attraction development) in my opinion as like you say: Theme parks build new attractions to give people a new reason to visit. If it's guaranteed that interstate visitors aren't going to return regardless of what they build then the long-term focus would be more on locals (who will repeat visit) and international visitors (who, even if they only visit Australia once in their lives, are visiting in consistent numbers. Losing consistent international visitation would mean a theme park's value for money would have dramatically plummeted). And like I said earlier, focusing on locals & international visitors should mean the theme park industry's attraction development would slow (in terms of uniqueness) reducing the overall quality & 'need to visit' wanted by potential interstate visitors. Things like Fright Nights, cheap annual passes, Long Shot, Domino's Pizza & upcharge attractions become more prevalent to target local visitation while rare but massive investments in attractions like DC Rivals HyperCoaster & Dreamworld Corroboree are there to target international visitation. This would all be until travelling internationally is more expensive than domestic travel again. Regarding adding the 'cost of living on holiday' into, at least, the figures I posted previously, I didn't take into account non-theme park attractions such as tours & Ripley's because I wanted to focus on purely a theme park-only holiday. However, SkyPoint (Q1) is taken into account as it forms part of DW's ticketing options. Regarding food, I believe food is not included for some cruise ship packages (hence why I didn't compare food prices) but if it is for all, then that's another point of difference in favour of cruise ship packages (except AOS who has dinner included also). Cruise ships & theme parks both have upcharge attractions hence why I didn't compare the cost of those as well.

Given 9News were given video of the stoppage "exclusively", it seems Dreamworld visitors are sending the news to them.

I wouldn't mind it if it was in a themed dedicated gaming arcade but the way Long Shot is presented in that Street View panorama just gives a 'we need money' look particularly given the target market for it is just people who happen to walk past & that "everyone" gets a prize regardless of how good they are at throwing basketballs into the hoop. The lack of aesthetics also adds to that look. For a non-local, Sea World should look like a marine theme park not an agricultural show (Agricultural shows probably wouldn't even have a concept like Long Shot with the way it is done in that Street View panorama. As I said earlier, throwing basketballs at a hoop like that is something people can do at home). If Sea World had a themed dedicated gaming arcade, say in The Plaza, with one of those gaming arcade machines where you pay to throw a certain number of basketballs at a hoop in a certain amount of time in order to earn points and thus tickets, which, when collected to a certain amount, win you a prize, it would've been much better. Maybe prizes could include free meals & tickets to upcharge attractions? Dedicated gaming arcades in theme parks are perfect for local visitors as they have more time to aim for a prize. But if they kept it the way it is in that Street View panorama, at least have the staff dressed up as penguins (not full character costume, just white shirt/shorts with a black & orange hat), have the fences themed to ice walls, have the basketball hoop 'frozen' & maybe add a picture of a penguin spinning a basketball on their flipper?

Just for simplicity purposes, using 1 day general admission adult prices, compare prices: Dreamworld + SkyPoint = $85 Warner Brothers. Movie World/Wet 'N' Wild Gold Coast/Sea World = $207 ($69 per park) Paradise Country = $25 Australian Outback Spectacular = $100 Accommodation for 6 nights* = $1055 ($176 per night) Total Holiday = $1472 (or $245/night) + Travel Costs Adjusting for adult annual pass prices: Dreamworld + SkyPoint = $129 Warner Brothers. Movie World/Wet 'N' Wild Gold Coast/Sea World/Paradise Country = $199 ($49.75 per park) 1 Australian Outback Spectacular show = $100 Accommodation for 6 nights* = $1055 ($176 per night) Total Holiday = $1483 (or $247/night) + Travel Costs Whilst similar, it's actually more expensive by $2 per night or $11 in total. DW & SkyPoint don't have a 2 week pass but if the 1 day general admission adult prices were adjusted for only the VRTP 2 week pass, a Gold Coast holiday is cheaper by $9 a night or $64 in total: Dreamworld + SkyPoint = $85 Warner Brothers. Movie World/Wet 'N' Wild Gold Coast/Sea World/Paradise Country = $179 ($44.80 per park) 1 Australian Outback Spectacular show = $100 Accommodation for 6 nights* = $1055 ($176 per night) Total Holiday = $1419 (or $237/night) + Travel Costs However, this is a 5 day holiday using a 2 week pass. It's cheaper overall but the full 2 weeks isn't utilized. Utilizing the full 2 weeks: Dreamworld + SkyPoint = $85 Warner Brothers. Movie World/Wet 'N' Wild Gold Coast/Sea World/Paradise Country = $179 ($44.80 per park) 1 Australian Outback Spectacular show = $100 Accommodation for 16 nights* = $2816 ($176 per night) Total Holiday = $3180 (or $530/night) + Travel Costs *Average takings per room night occupied in Gold Coast Tourism Area, July 2015 to June 2016. It is relatively more expensive than a cruise of the same duration. Travel costs include a 'commuter cost', that is a cost in travelling between your accommodation & the parks, which varies based on how far away you are staying from the parks & a 'destination cost', that is a cost to travel to/from your destination (the Gold Coast). For cruises, your 'destination' is the port of departure. The average cruise is around the same cost for all but the last Gold Coast trip detailed above but cruises also have no 'commuter cost'. The 'destination cost' is also different for cruises as there are many ports of departure around Australia. Having more theme parks around Australia is a nice idea (to meet the 'more ports of departure' difference) but the more theme parks, the lower quality they will all initially be compared to what the Gold Coast currently is. Over time (and I mean, a really long time), they will reach Gold Coast-quality then USA-quality. The crucial difference between theme parks & cruise ships is on-site accommodation & integration of it into the wider facility. Sea World & Paradise Country have on-site accommodation. Sea World's is integrated via the monorail, a souvenir shop and a short footpath to the park. Paradise Country is integrated by short footpaths. If a 'cruising is better than theme parks' scenario occurs, maybe these things could improve theme parks (in order of priority): Opening new high-profile attractions regularly Building accommodation Adding combined park + accommodation ticketing options Integrate the accommodation into the park - Not with small footpaths through fences so they are effectively still separate from the park (like some currently are) but full integration - maybe have the accommodation inside the park at various locations? Or around the park's edges? Simply, make the accommodation part of the park so there is no 'commuter cost'. Extending park opening hours - maybe even 24/7. At least until midnight. This doesn't mean all the rides have to be open at night (They do need a daily maintenance check at some point anyway). If there is such a low demand for something at night that doesn't justify opening it then clearly close the attraction or area until there is demand (unless there is no demand at all). It could mean different things could be open at night instead such as nightclubs, fireworks/laser shows, cinemas, ten pin bowling, laser tag, dinner shows, golf driving ranges etc. Like Downtown Disney but instead of being outside the park, it's inside & spread around the park so there is a 'day park' & a 'night park' embedded into one & if it is all themed, even better. The last 2 dot points are the main things that will bring a cruise ship's strengths into a theme park and are only necessary to implement if theme park operators want to bring back the interstate market to theme parks if that market is leaving theme parks for cruise ships because they offer roughly the same services for less cost & more convenience. If interstate markets aren't a concern, then focusing on locals is the way to go and that's probably been the case for most of the past decade in the Gold Coast. Locals bring in revenue through upcharge attractions, franchised stores, carnival games, annual passes the cost of general admission tickets, specialized night events etc. However, the theme park's overall quality in the eyes of interstate visitors drops as a result. International visitors, well, given they are rarely in Australia, if the theme parks are value for money then they'll purchase a ticket. But clearly, high-profile attractions & Australian experiences is what they want.

After saying "the Gold Coast theme parks should take note of" Jamberoo's online park map upgrade, it seems it was the other way around but just for one aspect of it - the virtual tour. VRTP since September 2017 have allowed Google to add Street View of their parks. However, integration of this into their online park maps hasn't happened...yet (nor a live chat feature to their websites ). A list of links to access all the main attractions are below, which can be convenient for future reference. Note: If you can't move in a certain direction, refer to Google's map as they do not have Street View everywhere. However, the map's detailed routes can be conflicting with where you actually can go in Street View. Paradise Country Production Drive Parking Farmstay* Entrance Former Warner Brothers. Movie World Studio Tour Trams Homestead Clancy's Opal Mine Lorikeets Dingoes** Wildlife Photo Centre/Walk Koalas Animal Nursery & Walkthrough Stockman & Sheep Dog Arena*** Billy Tea Campfire, Stockhorse Arena & Wagon Rides**** Gold & Gemstone Panning Shearing Shed Farmhouse Restaurant *This is the entrance to Farmstay. Follow the road/signs to reach the actual Farmstay reception/accommodation. If you turn right at the 1st intersection of sealed road (which you can't in Google Street View), it takes you to the Native American Camp scene in Wild West Falls, which is around 100 metres away. **The Dingoes exhibit can be seen in the distance behind some trees. ***This view is from the road between the entrance & the Homestead. The entrance to the Stockman & Sheep Dog Arena is behind the bins on the left, which is located next to Wagon Rides. ****Billy Tea Campfire is the undercover area to the left behind the water tank while Wagon Rides is the undercover area to the right. Stockhorse Arena is in the centre. Australian Outback Spectacular Parking Building Entrance Ticket Gates Shop Bar Waiting Area Unfortunately, there is no Street View of the show arena. Wet 'n' Wild Gold Coast Parking Entrance Entry Plaza & Wet 'n' Wild Junior Super 8 Aqua Racer & AquaLoop River Rapids & Constrictor Calypso Beach Whirlpool Springs SurfRider & Extreme H20 Zone Giant Wave Pool, FlowRider & SkyCoaster Mammoth Falls Sea World Theme Park/Cruises/Helicopters Parking Cruises & Helicopters (Out Of Theme Park) Theme Park Entrance Guest Services & Animal Adventures Check-In Centre Jet Stunt Extreme Penguin Encounter (External) Penguin Encounter (Internal) Monorail System Main Station & Creatures Of The Deep: Deep Discoveries Helicopters (In Theme Park) Creatures Of The Deep (Outdoor Section) Our World Of The Dolphin Dolphin Nursery Fish Detectives Nickelodeon Land The Plaza Jet Rescue Polar Bear Shores Ray Reef Shark Bay Storm Coaster Spongebob Squarepants 3D: The Great Jelly Rescue Monorail System Mid-Station Penguin Point Seal Harbour Affinity & Dolphin Beach Castaway Bay Resort Entrance (Theme Park) & Monorail System Resort Station Resort Entrance (Parking) Resort Parking It's a pretty sad sight seeing Sea World resort to cheap ways to make revenue such as Long Shot. Throwing a basketball at a hoop? It's something people can do at home. It's also in such an open space, making it look tacky. And the advertising is odd - "$5 for 3 balls. Everyone wins a prize". "Everyone"? So essentially it is 'Prize for $5'? Having not visited the Gold Coast theme parks in over 5 years, using Street View really shows how much the parks have changed with the now-targeting towards locals & an over-reliance on carnival games etc. to make revenue in most parks through repeat-visit locals. Warner Brothers. Movie World Parking Entrance Grand Archway Fountain Of Fame Green Lantern Coaster Batwing Spaceshot Justice League: Alien Invasion 3D DC Rivals HyperCoaster Superman Escape Arkham Asylum: Shock Thearpy Guest Services Looney Tunes 4D Starring Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster DC Super Villians Unleashed Wild West Falls County Fair Fun 'n' Games, Bumper Cars & Intencity Hollywood Stunt Driver Kids' WB! Fun Zone

Vivid Sydney 2018 was launched today & will feature Luna Park for the 1st time. Vivid Sydney is making the most of the lighting upgrade to The Ferris Wheel but they've added a projection show, The Spirit Of Fun, to Coney Island for good measure. From the Vivid Sydney 2018 media launch's main media release: From The Spirit Of Fun webpage:

I can't link the source as it was a word of mouth conversation. Whilst they are completely different services, in that one is about rides while the other is about sea travel, cruise ships are like a floating amusement park/hotel/shopping & dining precinct while theme parks are the same - the main differences of theme parks to cruise ships (apart from theming & not floating) is that you have travel daily to and from them & there is no on-site hotel. These differences don't apply to Sea World though as it has it's own resort. Cruise ships can also provide something new everytime - you can visit a different location each time. Up until September last year, in the past 5 years, theme parks in Australia haven't provided much new that is attention-grabbing regularly and when put altogether after a few years, makes a notable difference to a person's previous visit. For non-locals, DC Rivals HyperCoaster is the only new attraction in recent Australian history that justifies a new visit just for 1 attraction. Wet 'n' Wild Gold Coast is also losing it's uniqueness due to so many waterslides appearing nationally at places like water parks, local aquatic centres & even cruise ships. @jjuttp's earlier comparison shows that, for an interstate consumer, they are economically very even already and @CruiseSF's quote below pretty much sums up why I thought cruise ships could be a competitor for theme parks in Australia: The question that should be asked is are Australians increasingly replacing theme parks (particularly the Gold Coast theme parks) for cruise ship packages mainly because they offer roughly the same services for less cost & more convenience?

I've heard that Australians are less attending theme parks (in particular the Gold Coast theme parks) and instead purchasing cruise ship packages instead. What does everything else think? I'm assuming this started, if true, prior to the Thunder River Rapids incident but after the mid-2000's.

The Courier-Mail is reporting (subscriber-only article) that the coronial inquest will begin on Tuesday the 3rd of April.

From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The article also features a video on China's One Belt, One Road initiative.

I'd say it's a rope @AlexB No, I don't work for the park. Also @Roachie, remember the Virtual Tour & the virtual reality headset mode are 2 separate things. I'd say the VR headset mode was just an extra feature at little or no cost.

That's right - upgraded not updated. After the debate on MW's new park map and the news of updated websites for DW and MW, Jamberoo has made some small changes to their website which are above and beyond anything in the Australian theme park industry. Let's set the scene. Here's Jamberoo's latest online park map (since the 7th of September 2016): Until now, it was just the same static image with ride descriptions/images appearing when you click on a ride's blue information button, which is located near the ride on the online park map (Not seen in the image above). These features still remain. Now click here - this takes you to the current park map webpage. It's the same but... Firstly, you should notice in the bottom right hand corner, Jamberoo has added a 'live chat' feature. Just by adding your name & e-mail address, you can chat with Jamberoo! Social media, in general, already has similar features in commenting/messaging but they are more 'optional' - that is, businesses may take their time or even not respond at all to comments/messages. A 'live chat' feature on Jamberoo's website displays their dedication to customer service as a response should be guaranteed every time and providing your e-mail address allows a more detailed answer to be provided later if it is too difficult to answer instantaneously. Secondly, you may notice pink buttons located around the park map. The pink buttons have an image of a 360 degree webcam with spinning arrows around it. That's right - it's a virtual tour! And it's not just a 360 degree panorama of selected locations in the park - you can pretty much 'walk' around the park! Simply, it's like Google Street View. A menu on the left hand side allows you to access views of all the rides/attractions/amenities quickly while arrows around the image you are viewing allows you to move around the park. It also includes descriptions of the rides/attractions/amenities and an embedded YouTube video of The Perfect Storm TV commercial as well as the static park map in the bottom right hand corner. For those who rarely visit or have never visited Jamberoo, why not start your virtual tour by 'driving' into the car park? The first view you should get is looking north up Jamberoo Road. Haven't been to Jamberoo since The Perfect Storm opened? Go check it out! Impressive, huh? But wait, there's more! You can even use this new feature with virtual reality headsets! So you can 'visit' Jamberoo in virtual reality! Just click the 'VR Mode' button in the top right corner - it even works in a 'headset-free mode' but this is no more than a 'full screen mode'. Unfortunately, you can't access the top station of the Chairlift/Bobsled entrance but you can access different vantage points of the Chairlift ride. Hopefully, it can be added in the future. Overall, this 'Virtual Tour' feature allows potential visitors to learn how to navigate the park prior to their visit in more detail than ever before. It brings a new meaning to a park map online. This is something the Gold Coast theme parks should take note of when they do their next website upgrade (which is probably next decade ). Adding more features such as food outlet menus, ticket prices, lists of souvenirs and their prices, ride/attraction videos & online (non-food/drink) shopping capabilities to the Virtual Tour could allow those visitors to plan their visit with even more precision. However, this 'Virtual Tour' as it is is impressive enough. What do you all think?

I wasn't going to find out how much it would cost at domestic prices. I know that the '$15' you mentioned is just a random figure you've typed to represent the small size of the lights' electricity costs but to answer your question - really anything to improve MW's guest experience. After all, investing in the smallest things can sometimes make the biggest difference for guests.

From MW's attraction maintenance webpage: Doomsday Destroyer - 23/02/2017 to 24/02/2017 It's a short maintenance period but hopefully it re-opens as originally planned this time. The other scheduled maintenance period for Doomsday Destroyer (17/07/2017 to 28/08/2017) is still scheduled as originally posted on Monday.

From The Coffs Coast Advocate: If you click the link at the top of this post, you can also watch a video of The Racer in testing. The Big Banana said on Facebook that The Racer will be open by the 14th of April (Good Friday).

It's not about Stage 2 but it is very relevant to Dreamworld Corroboree. This article is about DW's Head Of Life Sciences & Dreamworld Corroboree, Al Mucci. The article is shortened to feature only the parts that talk about the period of time since he was 1st employed by DW (so 2005 to the present). If you're interested in reading the full article, just click the link below. From The Courier-Mail:

No but it looks unnecessary to light up a construction site in decorative lighting for months (until at least most of the hypercoaster is built anyway). If it's unnecessary for now, MW should save the money or invest it in something more urgent.

The above has been removed from SW's attraction maintenance webpage but these have been added: Shark Bay Touch Pools - 20/02/17 to 26/02/17 Sky Fortress - 20/03/17 to 02/04/17 Interesting that - I didn't notice until now that Dronkey Flyers' maintenance got extended to the 19th of February. That date has now past & it is still closed according to DW's maintenance webpage (though it is now no longer listed as in maintenance). They've clearly found a problem with the ride. Hopefully they can fix it or they might need a new addition to the Dreamworks Experience...

Is that the car that was outside the queue or was there more props? If the lights were completed, wouldn't that give away the theme? Hopefully the hypercoaster theme is announced before the lights are completed if so. I'd think they would leave the lights off though to save electrical costs as it is months before it opens but they might turn them on closer to the opening date (maybe July/August) to assist in promoting the hypercoaster. I'd also say the lights will match the hypercoaster but who knows what the colour of the lights would be (though I'd think green would be unlikely as GL is next to the hypercoaster).

@wileecoyote, are you allowed to say (if you know) if filming on Aquaman would be completed by September to allow the sets to be moved to MW if that is the hypercoaster's theme? Otherwise, that would rule out the Aquaman sets being used as part of the hypercoaster's theming.

The Patisserie & Grill is definitely called 'The Park'. I meant the entire area as the former Market Place had several shops in it. For example, apart from the food & beverage shops, Market Place also had Showbag Alley & the Last Stop Shop. I don't think the whole area would be called 'The Park' as the area does not look like a park. If the whole area is given a name, aside from 'LEGO precinct' etc., maybe Main Street Mall could be a possibility? Though there is also the possibility no name will be given at all.

@Theme Park Girl & @themagician, I read 2 official sources both published when the LEGO Store opened on the 28th of January saying the new Jelly Belly store & The Park Patisserie & Grill will open in February (which looking at the latter photo, is very unlikely) & by April: Given the shop fitouts are well from being completed, I'd say the 'by April' timeframe is what DW is aiming for so sometime in March seems to be the probable opening date if DW desires them to be open by the 1st of April. I also just noticed that DW has removed Market Place completely from their food & beverage outlets webpage so I gather the overall new retail precinct (excluding the LEGO Store) won't be called Market Place. I wonder if they will give it a new name or just leave it without a name or just call it the 'LEGO precinct' given the LEGO Store is next to it all?

Wow...: That was flown over & during the 11:15am Affinity show & around the Gold Coast for approximately 90 minutes after the show. 7 News Gold Coast also did a story on their aerial promotion today. 'Justice For Captives' also tagged SeaWorld instead of Sea World in one of their Facebook posts today so it read 'SeaWorld Gold Coast'.

I know that is what 'wording' means but, to me, there was nothing wrong with the wording in that presentation quote you posted about so I pointed out the other mistakes I saw in that quote in case that was what you were referring to as "terrible wording". And I don't. I do most of the time. I don't pull a mistake apart every time one is made. I only posted the 2nd quote because I thought there was nothing wrong with the wording & just thought I'd mention that misquote just in case that was what @Brad2912 was complaining about. But like what @Theme Park Girl said, can we move on?

Given you reacted to my last post, I'd just say this: The only confirmed delay is the delay to the announcement as VRTP made it clear they were planning an announcement for last August. I never said there was another delay - all I said was that the 'idea' of a delay in manufacturing or transportation has occurred to me. When I said "I can think of a few other possible but less likely reasons for delays", I was also referring to extra announcement delays. Yes, it does occur to me that everything (apart from the announcement) could be happening to their actual schedule. I know you're referring to my 'guess timetable' and that's all it is - a guess. A very researched guess at that too. It was never written as fact & I pointed that out when I first posted it.