Jamberoo Fan

Just noticed DW's What's Open webpage isn't on the website anymore.

I was posting in response to people on this forum - not the general public - thinking Dreamworks Experience's rides were going to be operating. I wouldn't have bothered responding to the issue of DW making an ambiguous statement as I already agreed with most people on here that the general public would think DW's statement implied the Dreamworks Experience rides would be operating.

Does anyone actually read what I write or just assume everything is 'over analysis'? Firstly, it wasn't an 'analysis' - it was a point of view I've had for over a decade. Secondly, I did post this: @AlexB, I know theme parks have 'attraction departments' which include rides - I only meant the separation of 'rides' & 'attractions' in reference to marketing like the website & media releases. If you count Whitewater World's slides as rides, then yes it is true.

I think it operated for 3 years between 2010 & 2013.

Just so you know, I've always thought that too. The ride experience is different - it's dark inside & utilises special effects such as lights & sounds. The original plan, in fact, was for it to be a Tantrum Alley-Behemoth Bowl hybrid. The Perfect Storm is actually a Tantrum Alley-Tornado hybrid branded by ProSlide as WorldAlley. The colour scheme is the same because local residents are extremely concerned about the choice of colours affecting the scenery of the local area so Jamberoo has limited colours to work with as Kiama Municipal Council probably has put limitations on what colours they can use. The colour scheme they did end up using also fits in with the 'storm' theme but in hindsight, they should have had Funnel Web's colour scheme as the original colour scheme for the Tantrum Alley-Behemoth Bowl hybrid, which was dark/light brown - this could have represented the burrow of a Funnel Web spider.

I'm talking about all of them. Yes, they do get more than 600 people per day - DW, in fact, does get 6000 people per day on average. The market I was referring to was the Chinese tourist market which each theme park gets less than 600 guests from each day on average. I was referring to the Chinese tourist market as Australian Legends World is targeted to Chinese tourists.

The Perfect Storm cost $5 million. It isn't exactly the same: ...but to answer why did they install another large Tornado, here's the answer:

It isn't exactly a clone of Surf Hill but it would be very similar. Other than the fact that Jamberoo already has Surf Hill, they already got plans for Thunder Downunder. If you wanted something like what Sanad Capital is building, just add some turns at the top of Surf Hill. The turns on a Whizzard is the only thing in Sanad Capital's version that Jamberoo hasn't got or planned. Anyway, back on topic..

Out of all the things I've posted, I'm probably over-analysing this one as two-way ferries is probably what they meant but I still don't see how a two-way Nerang River ferry based out of this park will work and that's why I think what I said below is more likely: Remember, Sydney's ferries are for commuters - this one is for going to a theme park targeted to a very small market. There are already 'similar' tourist attractions to give you an idea of their appeal on the Gold Coast: AOS is 1 $23 million show with 1000 seat capacity - this is multiple shows surrounded by various worlds built as part of an approximately half a billion dollar project targeted to a market that consists of less than 600 people per day per park. I think the idea of a all-day two-way ferry operation for this park is nonsense (so I think Songcheng has misinterpreted a few things) but I also think the idea of a one-way ferry operating at selected times as part of a pre-booked bus tour is more logical for this park. I do agree though that when people are talking about ferries, they are always talking about a two-way ferry. I see what you mean but on that website, once you find the timetables, you know it's definitely two-way. So far, for this park, they've only implied one-way.

I'm probably reading into this too much but the quote said: So far, that only implies one way. The only other reason why I considered it going one way was because constant two-way operation seems completely unfeasible in my opinion. One-way operation at selected times in the afternoon might be more appropriate as some 'unique' exit to the park particularly if the park receives low attendance that only consists of Chinese tourists on pre-booked bus tours. So imagine something like a pre-booked bus tour '...which includes a day visit to Australian Legends World + afternoon ferry cruise along the Nerang River' etc. Pre-booked bus tours have the ability to be organised like this & Chinese tourists probably make a large portion of that market. Some tourist attractions even only open to pre-booked tours - maybe Australian Legends World is going to be one of these?

This Facebook post from Jamberoo confirms The Perfect Storm's main Tornado is finally fully enclosed. Now is the lighting/sound/effects inside it operational and has the external theming around the main Tornado been completed? The external theming is debris on top of the main Tornado itself + a small tubes shelter themed to a rusted corrugated galvanised iron-roofed wooden building (with a concrete chimney). Also, Jamberoo has confirmed it's Summer Fun Pass will go on sale on the 23rd of December this season. The landscaping around Kangaroo Island is looking pretty scenic too.

I was just imagining tour buses dropping them off at the park & meeting them back at the hotel the next day or if there is something on at Metricon Stadium, there at the event's conclusion to take them back to the hotel. The guests would go in the park, enjoy the shows & then hop on the ferry at the end to get back to Surfers Paradise or if there is something on at Metricon Stadium, to get there to enjoy an event.

I meant nothing about dropping off at the park. They would still drop off guests at Metricon Stadium & Surfers Paradise.

Yes, they are attractions - they do 'attract' people but I always thought in the theme park industry that rides & attractions are considered separate with 'attractions' being everything but rides & shops so in that sense, 'attractions' to me in a theme park means shows, exhibits, arcades, walk-throughs, roaming characters etc. One reason is that the animals that DW care for are used to seeing visitors. Another reason might be that operational costs might be too high if they are expect low crowds initially. Best to have the amount of rides/attractions operating match the amount of people visiting the park.

It does have precedent though in Australia at the defunct Leyland Brothers World - the inside of this one is a restaurant and now is a road stop: There was a bus car park in the artist impression but in regards to the ferry, I've only got the impression that it picks up only from the park - nothing about dropping off yet so to me, it currently sounds like an exit. Fox Studios was a bit different - it was a 'backlot' and the owners even insisted it wasn't a theme park (despite the media promoting that it was). While it did have 1 worthy experience (Titanic: The Experience), the whole 'backlot' wasn't a 'day' attraction in itself and with the high ticket prices, wasn't worthy of entry to most of the general public. This new Gold Coast park is targeted to Chinese tourists and whilst it might be more appealing to them than Australian residents, the number of Chinese tourists on the Gold Coast is still too low for this level of investment. Songcheng might be basing it on the level of success they get in China so they need to lower their expectations & also more importantly, their level of investment for this to work in Australia.

Australia's population probably would have slowed down that scale of capital expenditure had they continued as return on investment would have been very difficult. There is still a likely chance the Thunder River Rapids incident would have happened regardless of who owned DW.

Owners of DW also changed after GD was installed - that's another reason why those high thrill attractions of the scale of TOT II/GD don't get installed currently..

Regarding the Dreamworks Experience, they've only ever said 'attractions' - never rides but it's fair to assume the general public would think that includes rides. Other than the shops which are definitely opening, if the Madagascar Live! Prepare To Party show is held, Madagascar Water Fun is definitely operating & the roaming characters hang only around their respective areas of the Experience, it's fair enough to call it an operating 'attraction'.

Basing it on the speed of a traditional Sydney ferry, a ferry trip to Metricon Stadium one-way would take 3-9 minutes whilst to Surfers Paradise one-way would take 36 minutes extra (so 39-45 minutes from Australian Legends World to Surfers Paradise). As the park is targeted to Chinese tourists, would a ferry to Australian Legends World be feasible if only 529 people visit it per day (plus also given Metricon Stadium isn't used on a daily basis for events)?: Also, looking at Songcheng's offical website (contains some more details about the project), some interesting quotes: That last quote, I can only assume is the 'Phantom Of The Gold' immersive experience mentioned in the Gold Coast Bulletin article earlier. It sounds interesting written the way it is.

I think it's because they're finishing internal safety checks.

In case you all didn't see it (though I'm sure you all did): Judging from that @T-bone, I think Dreamworld Express will continue to operate once it is signed off as safe. If it was not to return, I'm sure they would have announced it by now. The name doesn't officially change until the ASX has amended the company's registration. As of now, it is still Ardent Leisure.

@AlexB, I did read that prior to posting. When I first read about the golf buggy concept weeks ago, I thought that it would be highly unlikely to work for guests but it could work for just transporting staff or maybe roaming characters to direct the guests to the entrance. After all, the quote does say 'guests' only and mentions 'service', which to me would refer to MW giving guests opportunities to utilise a golf buggy to travel to the entrance. That's why I asked - in case there was another quote that I did miss that ruled out golf buggy usage for staff only too. A golf buggy might also help guests who can't travel back to their car (maybe due to an injury sustained or aggravated in park etc.) or to help guests with disability (though I'd assume MW already have sufficient disability parking spaces in the main car park).

There's a chance this is unlikely (as I'd assume they would do it while they've been closed) but HWSW is closed for maintenance up to & including 11th December. So maybe a 12th December or later re-opening? The only reason I think that is still likely is because DW updated their maintenance page but left HWSW on there (unless the update was done automatically). I doubt DW would re-open with 1 ride still under maintenance particularly with the intense media focus they will receive when it re-opens.

Remember, the survey is more about the visitor's perspective - not the management's perspective. The general public won't judge a ride based on it's capacity (unless the queue was so long that they didn't ride it or the wait significantly affected their on-ride experience). Yes, they weren't replacements for AquaLoop/Constrictor - bit of miswording on my part. To clarify, the low participation in the upcharge attractions was the main reason of the decline in Graph 1. If you're referring to capacity again, yes, it isn't much of a loss as the Giant Wave Pool still exists but like I said, the graph is based on a visitor's perspective. Dive-In Movies was only 1 of 3 rides/attractions that got a 10/10 rating but not everyone who participated in the survey experienced it (probably due to visiting on non-Dive-In Movies days) so whilst it doesn't operate all the time, for those survey participants who were there when it did, it made a huge part of their park experience & might have made up for other rides that they found disappointing. Therefore, it's closure might have been a huge loss for them but for those who didn't experience it, it probably wouldn't have been much of a loss as it wasn't 'part of the park' on the day they visited.

I don't think it will get many. Golf, itself, is a fairly quiet game - it's only the visitors, their transportation & any venue audio that would cause noise. TopGolf probably would position any speakers to face inside the building rather than outside & build the venue to contain any noise to the confines of the building. Given TopGolf's distance of over 800 metres from the residential areas on the western side of the M1 (from the M1 point of view, TopGolf would be in the centre of the VRTP property rather than the sides like the theme parks), it might be unnoticeable to those residents. The residents on the eastern side of the M1, whilst closer (about 300 metres), would have the M1 acting as a noise barrier or generating enough noise already to block out the sounds of TopGolf. Did they rule it out or were they just pointing out that it isn't for the use of most guests?