DaptoFunlandGuy

I mean, maybe Village Roadshow have been cleverly laying the groundwork for the past 5 years by subliminally marketing WOO land to us? This is the longest rollercoaster teaser campaign we've seen since Leviathan!

It confuses my why Movie World would choose to downplay this by stating two rides, when there are three distinct tracks, but the enthusiast in me is satisfied that the Parkz database entries tagged in the article show the boomerangs as "unknown...1" and "unknown...2"

Can agree with this. The concept art shows they seem to be retaining much of the Lethal \ Arkham ride building including the maintenance bay and cinema (or at least the exterior facade, if not everything internal). The rides themselves don't make use of this except what appears to be a queueline \ pathway. They mention some projection mapping and this is the only place I can imagine they could be doing it. That space is a fairly decent chunk of real-estate that could permit later additions of some very small flats, minor food outlets or merch spaces (heck the Lethal store is still standing behind that facade too). But maybe they could shoe-horn a dark ride into that space with some creativity. It'd be a big stretch and very custom. I'd just love to see them connect this area to West behind the showstage. that opens up that area to possibilities later including a western \ oz themed dark ride (could use the current FN maze buildings) or even take showcase out in favour of an actual real life stage show, or other dark ride possibility. That'd also create a loop in the park rather than the maze of dead ends it currently has.

Only if the Wizard of Oz is delayed by a few years, or it'll be ready too soon.

It was closed during the winter school holidays and looks all but abandoned. I don't want to de-rail this thread but Dreamworld's website now lists the retail store as "seasonal", which is just disgraceful. I would have thought the theme would be quite simple - the twister that hits kansas. Only if the turnstiles allow for it.

I don't know what we're all worried about - it's been open for 10 months now... Seriously though - the website still lists 'opening september' so I guess we can all hold our breath on another opening date! (how many have we had so far?)

TL:DR - Return To Oz is owned by Disney and it's unlikely you'll bring those characters to Movie World. If you don't want to read a century long history of the land of oz, skip the rest. If you want to read a page long rambling summary of the even longer Wiki article then settle down and read on... (Don't complain and say you weren't warned. If I could still use spoiler tags I would have.) All of the original L Frank Baum stories entered the public domain throughout the 80s and up to 1995, although several other writers have written Oz based works later than that, 27 of them (including Baum) are now public. There are still 19 different stories released later that are still protected by US copyright, with the last to expire owned by a still-living author, which won't expire until 70 years after they die. All that said, since the original works are out, so long as you stick to the concepts presented from the originals, you'd be fine, but any imagery from film adaptations that is a trademark of the film may still be subject to protection - which means no Green Wicked Witch, and no Red Ruby Slippers. (it's why Winnie The Pooh can now be used by artists at will, but not if he has a red shirt, which is a disney trademark still protected by law). The first films for Oz were silent films, all of which entered the public domain by 1954. Imagery from the MGM 1939 film (Judy Garland) was renewed in 1967 for a 95 year term, so won't expire until 2035. The Disney film 'Return To Oz' mentioned above wasn't even the first sequel - as 'Journey Back to Oz' (1974) was an animated sequel loosely adapted from one of Baum's original sequels. Disney owned all the film rights to Baum's books (except the original Wizard Of Oz). Like many of the current live action films we're seeing produced by the mouse house, the Return to Oz film (1985) was an attempt at extending their rights to the stories by producing further derivative works. It was a critical failure and so they abandoned further Oz films. Disney even used Ruby Slippers - which aren't in the original Baum story, but were a creation of the MGM 1939 Judy Garland version, but by 1985 the Ruby Slippers were so synonymous with the story that they paid MGM for the rights to portray the ruby slippers in their film. Likewise the Wicked Witch of the West is portrayed as a particular shade of green, despite her not being green in the books. (And interesting side note, but I learned just recently that the Margaret Hamilton character was portrayed on an episode of Sesame Street - I think back in the 70s, that aired once to much controversy and was buried by the childrens television workshop, and it has only just recently been released to the public after almost 50 years locked in the vault.) As for the James Franco 'Oz the great and powerful' (2013) by Disney - it was billed as a 'spiritual prequel' to the original 1900 story and loosely based in the world 20 years before the 1939 film. Disney had no permission from MGM or the rights to use the still-protected works or imagery - so the film retained a copyright expert to ensure that the wicked witch's green was distinctly different from the protected shade used by Margaret Hamilton. The Emerald City had to be distinctly different also. While WB and Disney didn't directly battle it out over this film, they did file rivalling trademarks to the name 'Oz the Great and Powerful' however the US patent office suspended WB's attempt as Disney had filed a week earlier. I know. it's tenuous at best but I knew the Disney film was still protected and off-limits to Village for use in the park, but in researching and fact checking this I found a far more interesting story with very complex rules and dates for various different written and film works, and I find this interesting, and thought i'd share it in case others found it interesting. If you did actually read this far - let me know by a reaction to the post! All that said, clearly the park has licence to the characters in main street, but as we've discovered, IP rights in parks can vary, and roaming characters, and ride themes, and shows can all be very different licences. The copyright on the film adaptations (those for which MOVIE world would likely want to attach) are a little complicated, so I would suggest which characters and what elements are used within the rides and theming would be very carefully curated and controlled.

Hanna Barbera are a WB owned product.

I too have heard this rumour, though the enthusiast scene is pretty small so it could all filter through the same grape vine and this doesn't confirm the source at all. I'd hesitate at labelling that factual, but it does provide a very simple explanation as to why the ride has been plagued with delays that are for the most part unexplained by the park. This is one of the few things you'd want to explain publicly as it would undermine the public's confidence in the attraction entirely. I'm quite sure in this age of safety and accountability, and especially in this jurisdiction, i'm confident if there is any foundational issues, they'll be rectified and certified before it opens. I'm pretty sure that Rivals had foundational issues discovered not long after opening, no?

Well holy shit didn't that all explode overnight! I don't think the public has elected you their speaker - and it's probably for the best. Do remember, MW made a 'big' announcement a little while ago, which turned out to be an online merch store. So big, like everything, is a relative term. Despite your opinion, big doesn't have to be giant new ride. Big can just be an entirely new themed land, or three new attractions in one go, or an online merch store... its whatever you want it to be. Are we thinking BGH gives a shit about long term? I had very similar thoughts, but don't close the superman entry - and reopen the scooby entry too. Yellow-brick-road the heck out of all three pathways and lead them all to the main land area. In addition to the rides though, they need a shop \ outlet - something more than just the ride and a viewing area to keep people there \ give them a reason to go there even if they aren't riding. Theme the chinese alleyway to Munchkin land. Plant some legit apple trees. Emerald City one of the sound stage sheds. Heck the possibilities keep going - you could drop a small carousel in there for the little kids with standard horses - and just paint each one a different colour. (Trust me, nobody riding a carousel cares that the park has more than one). I genuinely hope they have plans to redo chinatown alley - and that they put even the most basic effort into making it fit the overall theme. As pointed out, different area. Chinatown alley sits between bakery and the bank, though there is another alley to scooby. As part of this expansion, perhaps there is potential to run a pathway between the lethal plaza and wild west, allowing them to incorporate their maze buildings into the park's footprint and utilise them at other times of the year for various things too. Or, as pointed out in a recent video I saw on youtube - does the attendance spike just prove to them the best thing they can do is ensure their one-shots are profitable?

Now that depends on the speed of operations and the queue time. I'm not sure how often scenes update but the wait time over the past couple weeks has been 45-75 minutes pretty much every time i've checked. You'd be hard pressed to get 6 rides in a day, let alone a row.

Just to clarify, a 'cycle' is a ride, from start to finish. I think what you're trying to describe is what i've referred to as a sequence. I can honestly say that I still don't think i've seen every combination, and it's pretty hard to tell unless you're intimately familiar with the fixtures and show programming. I think I notice something new every time I ride - and with a kid at 116cm, there isn't too much else we go on. While I have been out of the industry a long time, i'd be willing to bet that it's more likely you just didn't notice everything that was operating, that it felt 'darker than usual' and you've concluded that that meant it was broken, most likely because you haven't seen that particular program before. JMO.

Height restrictions are (for the most part) based on restraint designs. In theory you can totally put shorter kids on rides - provided you redesign the restraint to suit them (see Motocoaster, for example). Roadrunner was previously a 90cm accompanied rider height, and changed to 110cm without any changes to the restraint too. Higher material and labour costs as well as the 'Australia tax' not to mention purely the cost of shipping everything overseas tends to add a lot more to the base cost to construct in Australia than overseas.

Everything you said is appalling, and there is no excuse for the state of these attractions - but in the case of Disco room, not all the lights operate in every sequence. The sequence changes periodically and you may have just gotten a darker looking sequence. I'm not the expert on this, but you'd have to do a couple cycles to see it all working from what i've seen of the install.

You're assuming that local regulations would permit the same height restrictions and allowances as observed overseas, and while that's possible - it's not always the case. See Also: Vekoma Junior Coaster \ Road Runner Rollercoaster

There's a general perception amongst park-goers of all walks of life that "upside down = more scary". Many people walking along next to their fearful friend \ child \ (even parent) saying things like "come on <name> - it doesn't even go upside down!". Despite the reality that something like Rivals is balls-to-the-wall crazier than say - Sea Viper (inversion ratio of 0:3), and despite enthusiasts saying things like "It's just a loop", inversion count is a big line in the sand for the park-going-public and "OMG IT GOES UPSIDE DOWN" is a +10 modifier to the thrill rating. It's hard to read what the coast's appetite is for a Woodie right now. Though we've long called for a Woodie to be built on the coast (and at the very least, probably as long as this forum has existed which is approaching 20 years now), the fact of the matter is that the first one to get built was announced in May 2019. Vertical construction was underway by September 2020 and the ride topped out in December 2020, with the final timber frame being installed in March 2021. (Source: Leviathan Construction Blog | Village Roadshow Theme Parks) And yet... here we are over 3 years since the ride was announced, and it still isn't open despite major construction being completed over a year ago. I don't know what's going on at Sea World. I've no idea whether this was strategic or out of their control. But it'll be a hard sell to convince Village to build another woodie anytime soon - and I doubt they've got the money to bring RMC out here either.

LTRR was kinda continuous load. While pre-show could hold things up, there's really no reason why the boats should stop for any length of time. Coasters at MW tend to stop for 5 minutes for no apparent reason.

Did you forget so soon? Even you were discussing the suggestion of 3 new coasters... But in case you missed it... here's 6 other members over the last 6 months all saying "three" too!

Yep. For all these reasons, the Baldwin has probably done it's last run. I took a ride on the weekend on the new carriages and while not as 'roomy' as the old ones used to be, they were nicely appointed, if somewhat smelling of diesel fumes... lol. The new cameras and other safety equipment were nice, but the operations were disappointing. Despite not running to a timetable, the train spends approximately 5 minutes at each station, and it takes approximately five minutes to move between stations, leaving you with a 20 minute cycle time. The driver (who appeared to be the only person working the attraction when I rode) does their level best to ensure that as many people fit on the ride as possible - however I feel this is taken to such a degree that the 2 extra laps of the station they do to count empty seats and then seek groups of that size to fill them might be better spent getting the train moving. The train is screaming for a station crew - even just one per station - to assist with doors, gates, admitting passengers etc. Central also needs a better set up for the queue as we joined the end of the queue near where the tractor stops, and people were cutting the queue because the entry to the queue was the middle of the stationhouse. It is great kinetic energy for the middle of the park. It needs a whistle (rather than a bell) for some atmosphere, and with the TOT tunnel gone, the journey around back is far more scenic. If I were given the choice of tractor or no train at all, i'd prefer tractor, and I appreciate their commitment to do something with it (as the Baldwin doesn't look like it'd be an easy thing to get back into operating condition!)

I visited last week. Yeah yeah, school holidays etc et al - but I left after about an hour. The park craves capacity. Something like studio tour or effects show that just swallows people and can sustainably run all day. Three coasters are cool and all, and hey, who doesn't love more credits, right? But if they're operated in the same lackadaisical way as the rest of the coasters in the park... it's not going to make much of a difference IMO.

Are you even a real enthusiast if you haven't been blocked from that page at least once? Is there a difference? You know, i'm looking at these two photos, and i'm wondering where everyone thinks this track piece could be unbolted? I can see the flange in the main spine, but the connection to the support, and the running track all appear to be smooth - no easily separated connections, so while the spine might bolt together, the track does appear to be welded to the supports and to each track piece. When they pulled Demon apart, they went at it with a blowtorch and the cuts seemed very jagged and haphazard - but it still appeared in Alabama the year after. I'm pretty sure the same thing happened with Big Dipper\Cyclone. Running track is welded, spine is bolted. As long as the pieces match relatively closely, nothing is stopping them putting it back together elsewhere.

I think what we're all wondering here, is were they using turnstiles? Sounds like they could use a turnstile. Hey man - thanks for the awesome trip report. I really appreciated your style of description and emotive language - really helped me visualise what you were experiencing. It was great to hear balanced praise about a park(s) off the usual thoosie trail rather than just a raft of criticisms about all the things you didn't like. Look forward to hearing about your next travels!

It took me a minute to find, but this was what was posted back in December - is this still the same? 'restore it to its former glory' doesn't imply it will run, but I think thats the assumption many of us made. Former Glory is bullshit if its only cosmetic.

Earlier this year, the Baldwin was parked out front of Main Street Station with signage that it was undergoing refurbishment and would return. Is that signage still there? could this be why the spur track on the other side of the crossing was built? so one loco could park while the other operated, etc? Are we completely writing off any attempt at a steam locomotive (and has the park done so too) ?

Yeah nah. Regardless of the delivery method there shouldn't really be an expectation of privacy for a person in his position sharing details like that unless he's specifically asked the person to keep it private. And the issue of veracity is very much a valid reason to share the screenshot as mentioned above. A lot of folk call bullshit on this sort of discussion without proof so I can't fault the guy for sharing the evidence, especially where nothing specifically restricted him from doing so.