DaptoFunlandGuy

^lol. I know the parking lot is 'public' and 'at your own risk' but this is two in a week. Obviously we don't have the 'before' pics so can't know what they had - most likely they were some pretty shiny chrome ones or ones that are particularly expensive. I doubt they'd be stealing stockos - so the general park-going public is fine - only those who spend a lot of money on wheels need to be concerned. As for the rattle gun - too much noise. Nobody needs to be fast when the owner is in a park all day - loosen all the nuts first, then jack it up - couple guys with a tyre iron each can get em off in a few minutes without the need for a rattle gun... judging from both photos, it looks like both cars were a fair distance from the entrance too.

Theres certainly some activity there "Siganto" according to google maps (which is probably 3 years old considering GL doesn't even appear on them), but my meaning as to rumours was actually ON VRTP property... not just nearby.

Thanks Skeet - I'm fairly certain that DA approvals can be extended, and don't need to be re-lodged if its for the same thing. This is only what I'm getting from my wife who deals with GCCC, MBRC, LCC and BCC on a regular basis for large construction projects. That said, I wasn't suggesting the approval as it stood was still current, only that if they were behind the original application, this might backup the current rumors of accommodation somewhere on VRTP property (besides SWR).

I think you're on the right track Bern - reading their street food menu, everything is Orleans inspired - so i'd say you're on the money and they're emulating Mardis Gras - however the connotations for the term "Mardis Gras" here in Australia are a little different to New Orleans.

There is an as-yet unnamed, unidentified BA for alterations to an existing building on the GCCC's PD online: http://pdonline.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/masterview/modules/applicationmaster/default.aspx?page=wrapper&key=201262 and in my searching I also managed to find this from 2007 which I don't recall hearing anything about: http://pdonline.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/masterview/modules/applicationmaster/default.aspx?page=wrapper&key=136643# This one is a DA for a hotel resort at the very corner of the VRTP property, on the other side of WnW, which received approval in 2009. We may have talked about it but I don't remember - it was around the time of the GFC though so that may have changed priorities. The applicant wasn't VRTP (which doesn't tell us much) but if it was initiated by them, this may lend further credence to suggestions they're considering accommodation elsewhere.

Emails went out today from themeparks.com.au "introducing carnivale". No new information, except a separate web URL - but it's good to see them hyping it a little before tickets are even released.. the wording on the site suggests that more dates will be made available later, (depending on demand I would presume):

Something I learned going through wonderland basic training many years ago was to regard the park as 'the big show' - and the 'theatrical references' they use, like 'cast member' or 'on stage' were in effect. To realise that the person queueing to ride your ride, or play your skill game, pose for the photo you're going to take or buy the food merchandise you're selling may never have been to the park before... and they may never come back again. Many of us can still fondly remember one of the first visits to a park. As kids, we'd run madly ahead of our parents to try and be the first in line for THAT ride, or even before that you'd crane your neck from the back seat of the car to be the first to spot bush beast probe giant drop batwing etc. For a lot of us, the 'excitement' of arriving in the carpark of a theme park, waiting for your parents to hurry up and grab their stuff and lock the car, so you can line up in front of the gates for half an hour... is long gone... and moreso for some cast members (obviously) who, for them - is just a job and a way to pay the bills... But when you take a step back and realise that for some people you see today whilst you're 'on stage' - this may be their first, their last, or their only time visiting your park. They're already mesmerised by the rides zooming past them and the characters waving at them from the other end of main street. And as a cast member - in any role - it's your job to make sure that each and every one of these people has the most magical experience you can possibly give them - to try and get their experience to be as close to your memory of 'that first time' as you can. On many days working the park, it'd be pouring rain, it'd be miserable, and it'd be a really crappy day to be outside - on days like that, i'd kinda "Peter Pan it" - i'd have these 'happy thoughts' stored up inside, and as I walked on stage, i'd just think of the happiest thought I could think of - and i'd always ensure i'd walk out from behind the gate with a smile on my face and a mindset to do as much as I could to ensure everyone's day was 'best ever'... And there are still cast members in the parks today with that mindset - but there are others that have lost the sparkle, and for them it's just a job... and unfortunately thats a sad fact of a theme park being run like a corporation (which, these days, is a necessity)

Surely though - if they wanted to run it (but that defeats the purpose - why spend more money just so you can run a ride which costs you more) - they could upgrade the cameras to IR cams like Disney run in their dark ride - some IR floodlights could light up the area at night without being obvious. Get some theatrical lighting set up on the western town sets, maybe even some special effects lighting to simulate bullet ricochets etc (i'm sure theres some lighting guys at VRTP that could do that pretty easily)... A few strategically placed flood lights (that you'd only turn on in an emergency) and the ride would be safe to evacuate too.... but again why spend the money, just so you can run an extra ride - which costs more money. I think it'd be fine to run for WC, and probably ok to run for HFN - but running it for Carnivale in the middle of winter? Not even brazillian cuisine could warm me up after a ride on WWF at 8:30pm...

being sprayed with water in the splashdown, i don't think heating the water would make any difference - it's not the temperature you're sprayed with (well it is if it's super cold) its the windchill after you get off the ride that kills you...

In my own opinion I don't think it has anything to do with the sun being out (otherwise they wouldn't let you ride at 4:55pm - and WnW would shut at 3pm)... I also don't think it's about the ability to evac in the dark (splash mountain comes to mind - and it runs all night)... I think it's more a matter of concern over riders jumping out of the boat in the back of house western town area and not being seen by cameras that would appear to be day-only cameras? The alternative answer is because the ride is so close to the back end of the park, the noise issues with neighbours just make it safer all-round to keep that end of the park shut down at night.

^he's right you know. I think it is just before the final splashdown.

Did my post seem anything but calm? Yes, I do ride a horse - but at barely 15hh, he isn't what i'd call 'high'. Next time i'll ensure a video message is attached to each post with a recording of my facial expression so you can clearly see my tongue planted firmly in my cheek. Geezus... Especially since: I don't have access backstage I also laughed at his nick - just like the post above mine each of the describing characteristics were 'probably.....' nevermind. every time i try to explain myself when i'm taken the wrong way I end up somehow worse than I started... forget it. ....precisely.... (and especially considering on windy days, guests can see it too)

Ok - so we're looking for a guy. probably named luke. probably aged around 24 years old. probably working at movie world. Check out his instagram profile, look for pictures that confirm who he is. find him backstage. laugh at his profilehandle name. then determine what sections of his contract he has breached and march his ass out the gate... sound about right?

There are pros and cons for staying open late on a regular basis, one problem being the neighbours. I'm not sure what kind of approval or consultation process the park has to go through for WC and HFN, but i'm sure its not just a matter of them deciding amongst themselves... Staffing is another big issue - one off events with plenty of notice means they can canvas for staff who are willing to work it, and work that in with their day rosters. if it were a regular event, chances are they'd have to employ more staff to ensure nobody exceeded fatigue limits... especially ride ops. Opening from 10-8 every day in busy periods also means you may even need two full sets of crew for each attraction - one to open and one to close - also depending on limits. Theres a lot of back of house detail which i'm not privy to - so i'm not suggesting what i've said above is a requirement, just a possibility. There'd be a lot of extra things the park would have to do on a regular basis. I'm not saying it isn't a great idea, but i think they're better off with 'themed' events every so often, (i'm on record saying one weekend a month actually) than doing it on a regular basis where theres nothing special in the park - just same old same old... as what will happen eventually is no 'new' people will come for the nighttime event, and you just end up serving your day guests for longer. Sure extra food and bev sales for dinner is a possibility - but then you need better food options to offer people dinner in the park - more 'sit-down' dining options, less 'burger joint' options. I'd love for our parks to open late on a regular basis, but i don't think it's viable. To answer your first question though - up the price of the VIP for next year, sell it early (like start advertising it NOW), and include Carnivale in the deal for Gold pass ie: "Upgrade your VIP pass to gold for the 2014-15 season for just $139.95, and get one night's free admission to White Christmas, Hallowe'en Fright Nights AND the all new Carnivale - coming to MovieWorld this JuneJuly." (I can't remember what I paid last year, because Gold was a free upgrade - but if it was around that - then add another $30 on to the pricetag. Pretty sure with three night-time events, everyone who has used the free FN or WC tickets in the past would see the value in an extra night for an extra $30 or so) Not only is it a good marketing hook, but it'll get more pass sales on the books before end of financial year (something Dreamworld has been pushing of late with their world pass - upgrade before June 30 and get THIRTEEN months instead of 12)

Circle of life - person makes re-creation, person posts recreation, readers interested in creation, person stops working on re-creation, computer has major hardware or software failure, person loses re-creation.... Dinosaurs eat man.... woman inherits the earth.

^yeah I get that, but quite often you get a bunch of muppets who drive up the lanes the wrong way because they've gone down an aisle, seen a park, and cut around quickly to get to it, rather than going 'full circle'... which of course then holds up traffic because the 45* angle isn't designed for people to drive into it from the opposite side, and they need to do a 16 point turn because the lane isn't as wide as a normal carpark. Dreamworld's layout would be incredibly effective if people didn't always try the first few aisles to try and get a spot closer... they need to monitor the aisle, and 'close' it once it's full. I don't think i've ever seen Dreamworld's carpark THAT full that the 45* angle would really make that much of a difference.

See that just pisses me off - firstly, it's taking up four car parks near the front gates (hence the plant medians), secondly, the park provides trailer parking (bottom corner of the lot next to WedgieGreen Room tower). But the other thing that gets me is the Dreamworld parking lot has 45* angle parking and i'm not keen on that layout. Sure it's convenient (provided you go down the lane the right way) to pull into it, but few people observe the one way signage... and if the parking was like MW SW parking (90*), the car would only have parked across 2 spots instead of 4. Re the car on bricks - Wonderland used to have carpark security towers... perhaps Movie World needs this too?

yeah - there are four different matches for Dreamworld as a property name, further matches come up as Ardent (one includes the skywalk), and by the looks of things, Dreamworld comes up as four separate lots - two under RP (registered plan) and two under SP (survey plan), but two come up on dreamworld parkway, and two come up on foxwell road.

So the branding is ok now? Because every bloody VIP pass holder had a free gold upgrade which gave them entry to WC and HFN... I doubt Carnivale will be as popular if it isn't included in the annual passes.. however - I do envisage a possible marketing campaign to encourage people to renew their VIP passes early and get a free entry to Carnivale... depending on how ticket sales have gone up until then. one thing I do like is that this is held in the middle of winter - when the sun sets earliest - unlike fright nights which are open for an hour or more before it is 'actually' dark (and therein spoils half the fun with scare actors clearly visible at that point.) The 9:30 closing time is a bit of a disappointment though - given some 2.5hour+ queues on SE, they'll be closing the queue not long after they open... I am very glad though that they're doing another night-time event. We've been pushing for years for the park to have more 'year round' nighttime events (even one a month would be awesome)... and given it's the first year, we'll see how things go - they may be inclined to open longer or run more events if this one proves popular - so even with the shorter opening slot, i'm inclined to go along, to check things out and show support for the event...

You are of course correct (My Wife has just taken many pains to explain the intricacies of BAs and DAs etc) - however we have on many occasions identified a ride or attraction coming to the parks before they arrived on site, and verified this info on one of the council development sites... that was all I meant...

i've never been employed as a ride op, but I have moonlighted a fair few times on quiet days in days gone by. For me it was quite fun - but i'm sure like any job, it would get hard to put on that smile day after day after day. The spiels become boring and repetitive, and you're constantly under pressure in peak periods not only to get as many people through the ride as possible, but also to do is ABSOLUTELY safely. No matter what role you're cast in - working for a theme park (well - at least one that upholds a little sense of magic and 'on show') is great at any level - from food to retail to rides, as well as park support services like maintenance or custodial.. it's certainly an experience i'll always remember... but it isn't for everyone. You do have to have a lot of passion for it - and depending on the management team, it can either be one big long party, or an absolute torture chamber. I'm interested to see Spotty's response to this though...

But thats just it - when it's busy, they have extra staff and that IN ITSELF speeds up operations. This 'rejigging' sounds like something that will take into account a skeleton crew. no. it's dreamworld still no. Zacspin - wash your mouth out. Stingray would be a fitting replacement for the... stingray. Although the park has shown a tendency to cram everything into that one corner, i think another coaster in that area would seriously overbalance the mixture. (Yes, i'm aware Thunderbolt and Cyclone existed well together there, but that was before 'adrenalin alley' and WWW. Extremely unlikely they'd get a coaster up by september unless it was a traveller - and even if they could, theres nothing on GCCC to suggest they've approved something of that nature... so since approvals haven't even started - what's coming isn't going to be too hard to knock together in a few months.

Well, for starters - load the gondola from the queue side, and unload on the op booth side. Who cares if people take 5 minutes to walk behind the wave, it's the time it takes to get everyone on board where the best time can be saved. Potentially - a grouper bringing the load into the queuehouse to drop their loose items whilst the ride is still cycling would probably help too.

The wonderland history site has some videos of snowy river rampage starting up from different points, and I myself have seen it start up many times. It's amazing to watch the first trickle come down the chute and in very short order the raging torrent that follows... Love watching flumes and rapids rides start up...

I follow several outlets to do with theme parks, international parks, roller coasters, and Disney. Pretty much every single one of those pages has been going mental for at least the last 5 months (some have been going nuts for a lot longer) over the 7 Dwarfs Mine Train ride. Granted, it's a disney ride - and its a very elaborate one that's been in development for some time - but I really think the parks should work with more of an 'anticipation' angle - like they did with Superman Escape. Although they were advertising Storm for some time, other than a billboard, they didn't really give anything else away. SE had the 0-100-02 promotion and a website JUST for the ride... a little more like they do on the international stage.