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JR keeps proving why this is the direction many parks are heading with dark immersive attractions. It relies on only a handful of moving elements, for maintenance. Now picture fully enclosed dark ride some people are demanding. You would multiply the mechanical complexity, staffing demands, and maintenance load, all for no advantage over JR. Instead of enhancing the experience, you risk creating a maintenance-heavy headache that adds cost and complication. DW shouldn’t go backwards with a dated, traditional dark ride concepts.

The motor coaster didn’t detract from the area any more than the TOT track did. There’s nothing unusual about a park relocating a ride to make space for a new one, and they could just as easily have removed the Vintage Cars entirely from the park. The real problem was what they considered acceptable for the Vintage Cars compared to what the attraction used to be.

Honestly though, spending $550,000 just to discover boats sink is the most expensive science experiment ever.

I hope it's nothing like the coaster at the Big Bannana and every thing like the Thredbo Alpine coaster.

To add to this @themagician Dark rides are evolving hard right now and the lines between ride types are melting. Parks have cotton onto it because it's cheaper than adding expensive animatronics and theming. Instead of sitting in a slow little train watching a story they are making you a character in the story. This form of dark rides are becoming more common, blending physical sets, and ride systems into one seamless experience. Parks have caught on because these designs can deliver big, immersive storytelling without relying entirely on expensive animatronics. Instead of just watching scenes go by, you become part of the adventure, with the story unfolding around you. Attractions like Jungle Rush show this shift well. Dark rides are all about immersion and it's only dark to help with the immersion, when you leave the temple on JR, the immersion continues as you round the plane through the Jungle. SE could never be a dark ride as the immersion ends as you exit the shed. Walls and a roof are just tools. If you can control sightlines, choreograph the lighting, shape the soundscape, and guide the story beat by beat, you’ve followed the recipe. Whether it sits in a warehouse, a canyon, or under a tangled canopy of steel and scenery it doesn’t matter. A dark ride is less about darkness and more about direction. It’s storytelling on rails. If you can aim the guest’s eyes and emotions like a spotlight, you’re already there. The magic isn’t the shed. It’s the control. What ride in a shed do you want at DW?

Got it, The ones at Timezone are a dark ride, ones in the picture aren't. Just go to a theme park at night and every ride becomes a dark ride.

I found a dark ride that perfectly matches your requirements. //s

People love certainty, clear lines, and labels, even when reality is a whole rainbow of nuance.

I’m not sure DW would even consider another water ride anytime soon, and you’ve only just had a dark ride added with JR. Will be interesting what path DW take.

DW could throw everything including the kitchen sink into one mega attraction, but from what I’ve seen DW are more than one “shut up and take my money” ride behind MW when it comes to proper theme park must-dos.

Healthy, yes, but for Dreamworld, ‘healthy’ might just mean disappointing some people’s wild wishes. DW started the rebuild with 106m cash in the bank, DW now have 37.6m in the bank. Do you think they will put all the money into one attraction @levram_?

Interesting to see which way they go, with the piggy bank not quite as full as it was two years ago. Still, if all else fails, at least we might get to pat a sheep again this year.

Case closed. Nothing locked in. (from1st half year results)

The only ride I struggle to queue for is Sky Voyager. If the line reaches the door, I skip it. Because the queue stops and starts rather than moving constantly which makes it feel a lot slower. I wish SV had a system where, once the queue hit a certain length, something played on the screens, maybe a documentary, cartoons, or even Dreamworld promos, just anything to look at besides four walls.

@themagician Postcodes apart, if not entirely different countries when it comes to cost and quality. Spy Chase has a few flame barrels, some front-row sparklers, a vehicle that gently puffs a bit of smoke, and the finale gun that feels like it’s spraying mozzie repellent. PA the whole set was alive, shoot a bullet and if it misses it sets off a cameo of effects. Cars blowing up, bikes falling to pieces, buildings detonating, moving set pieces everywhere.

MW has been giving away the gate since 2008, when PA closed. In 2008 when PA closed annularly pass just to MW cost $165 or $299 for the 3 parks. In 2009 the first VIP pass was born and it cost $99 for 3 parks.

Not quite! Spy Chase has 8 cast members, while Police Academy had 10. Plus, PA featured 2 police vehicles, a hot rod, a golf buggy, another golf buggy stuck in a police vehicle, a police motorbike with a drivable sidecar, a trailbike and a smaller motorbike. As for special effects- not even close

MW giving away the gate is why you’ll probably never see another show on the same level as Police Academy, or another proper preshow at MW. That was the kind of stuff that made MW great.

@noll_57 You’d expect the bigger crowds Dreamworld has been seeing to hurt the ratings, but over the last 12 months the score has actually strengthened.

This is what I was replying to. I never said they didn’t know what they were doing. It’s possible the plan was simply that the ride was due for a major service, and DW didn’t think it was worth spending the money when they planned to remove it in a couple of years anyway. DW might have a plan but the silence it telling me, what they want to do isn't happening tomorrow.

Dreamworld has not announced any redevelopment plans for the area. Given how quickly they’ve revealed every other attraction in the last 5 years, the silence feels telling. Unless they’ve returned to pretending the very visible coaster construction somehow isn’t happening.

Shutting the torture chamber while the ride count’s still on the low side, feels like removing seats from a lifeboat. Very strange.

It's been faster today than a tradie hearing the lunch truck pull up.

It’s true there aren’t many thrill rides close to Aussie World, but Aussie World doesn’t need another theme park nearby to be competing for people’s money. The real competition is everything else people could be doing. You can see the same thing on the Gold Coast with the NRL. Gold Coast teams have always found it hard to attract crowds. The first club tried everything to make it work, even changing its name multiple times. Giants, Seagulls, Gladiators, Chargers. Same club, new jumper, fresh hope… then eventually it folded. The Titans are now heading into their 20th season and still struggle at times to draw big crowds. This is Queensland, a rugby league state through and through, yet convincing people to head to a game on a Sunday afternoon isn’t always easy. Meanwhile, newer teams in Townsville and Redcliffe had instant success. On the Gold Coast, footy isn’t competing with other footy teams, it’s competing with beaches, theme parks, pubs, family time, and a long list of other options. It’s the same situation for Aussie World. Just like the Titans don’t need another NRL team on the Gold Coast to face competition, Aussie World doesn’t need another park nearby either. There’s already plenty of choice, and that’s what really shapes where people spend their time and money.

I’ll put you on the list of people who think Disneyland should swap its steam train for a scooter. @jjuttup 🙃