DaptoFunlandGuy

What theme would it lend itself to particularly well? What part of the Oz story does it fit?

Like Disney, the Koala market caters for the budget conscious to the corporate or government entity!

You must be new here. oh and also... Oh, Sod off.

For as little as $10k, you can buy your very own 30 year old animatronic koala.

Yeah its a real hairsplitting challenge you've got there. The age groups you've got are whats going to make the decision hardest. Usually the younger kids are said to be far better catered for at Dreamworld with both ABC Kids and Dreamworks, whereas the teenagers are probably going to enjoy Movie World's big rides. The correct answer for me, would probably be 'do both' as you'll find each group will excel in different areas. As you've seen - even amongst folks here, there are split opinions on which one to do. If you can only manage one, i'd involve the teenagers in the decision. The younger kids might not have as much fun, but tend to be less fussy - whereas the moody teenagers are far more difficult - its better to aim to keep them pleased! Whether you do or don't get to Dreamworld - remember they have Moonlight Markets on on Friday and Saturday nights. No rides, but the park hosts a food market, outdoor cinema, and their main street store, candy shop and lego store are open for the duration - and even if you don't 'go' to dreamworld, the markets are worth a drop in for dinner with plenty of choices. (entry is $2 for adults, but passholders, or those already in the park can attend the markets free of charge).

If these guys were smart, they'd partner with QGOV to offer facilities for the olympics.

The vortex we got is what they'd planned for? Really? Because both artist render and model were very similar, and very little like the end result. We went from this: Which was very similar to the 3D model shown at launch: To this: The fact that you've seen final theme gives you that confidence but I can't fault anyone who isn't privy to those concepts to be doubtful of anything else presented in the render or the model. This was the Leviathan artwork: I'm certain we all took this with a grain of salt - especially given the substantial rockwork - and given the model differed from the artwork: But as we've all seen - Vortex did not come out as originally announced - and looking at Trident in the shot above, it isn't going to come out the same either given those giant columns surrounding the ride-base. So while i'm happy to accept your word as truth given what you've been given access to - i'll continue to remain skeptical of the end result until I see it with my own eyes... and I do look forward to being wrong...

Most councils tend to police owners of vacant blocks letting them appear too overgrown. My MIL used to operate a slashing business and she did a lot of business with builders \ developers who owned blocks of land they weren't ready to build on yet. The builders didn't have a regular schedule, they'd just ring her up every time the council sent them a notice. Can't speak for Sunshine Coast but I know for a fact that Moreton Bay, Redlands, Brisbane, Logan and Gold Coast all did much the same thing, so likely the block condition is to avoid council fines than any particular care about how the block looks...

lol. So much butthurt. Yes, luna park's long overdue investment was welcomed - my point was the statement "all the victorian parks" and the fact that you can't really use that phrase in Sydney... I've never had any inclination to visit Victoria, and for the first time, the enthusiast in me would rather visit Melbourne than Sydney.

Most construction workers don't work weekends unless there's a deadline to meet. They're not in any rush to construct - they can always silently change the date on the website if it isn't ready. If I recall correctly trident was only supposed to take about a week for construction. Tower cranes go up in a day and they're just bolt together pieces. I'd be surprised if it took longer.

Meanwhile in Sydney… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

You’re still just speculating. haven’t we learned yet?

That's how you get ride construction funding these days.

What would Sea World do with a bunch of Koalas?

My general comment was moreso directed at the recent incompetent PR we've seen from another theme park company building a rollercoaster that is otherwise unrelated to this story.

Competent PR seems to be lacking in general.

Given the $3M was already 'awarded' to them in 2019, it stands to reason the gov wouldn't give them the same $70M they gave village when $3M was already unspent and on the table - it's not like Ardent received 'favourable treatment' by getting to keep $3M of it - they got a smaller loan because there was already cash on the table. If the grant hadn't been sitting there already, you can absolutely bet your arse both companies would have gotten exactly the same money. It's pedantry, but since we seem so hell bent on splitting hairs, It would be correct to say that Village received more covid relief funding than Ardent did. The fact that it was because they already had unspent grant money is beside the point. They could have spent that prior to covid and still put their hands out for $70M and nobody would be crying that they got more money then. Thread title needs changing too, now we've determined it wasn't a koala research grant, but an international tourism grant.

...and people are carrying on like this is a new thing. Tourism grant diverted to help COVID response in East Arnhem Land | FRRR Has the Tasmanian government diverted $1.6 billion in GST funding away from its health sector since 2014? - Australian Associated Press (aap.com.au) I wonder why Dreamworld's loan was precisely $3.1Million less than Village's loan?

It's important to note that the Future Lab grant wasn't a "native animals need our help" initiative, it was a "improve international tourism" strategy. Don't cry for the Koalas - they weren't the intention of the grant in the first place. So its arguable that "keeping one of the biggest tourism operators on the gold coast operating" well and truly meets the aims of this grant.

Bad faith argument. Comparing Taipan - a landmark attraction designed to aid the park's financial recovery to a personalised licence plate is absurd. A better example would have been 'mate needed money for mum's surgery, but lost his job for 2 years and needed to use the money to pay his electricity instead to keep the lights on' Damn right he's still my mate. And I'd never have asked him for the money back (and neither would the government - that's not how grants work). You wanna hear worse optics than spending koala money on building a rollercoaster? Bankruptcy. The park is open. And people are going to return to the park because unless they were personally impacted by these negative events (ie: friends or relatives were killed, or are koalas) when it comes time to decide where to go over the school holidays, Dreamworld's giant orange rollercoaster gives a lot of families reason to visit regardless.

They still have koalas. they have an entire plantation just to feed them. This facility was pooh-poohed when it was announced, but now everyone is up in arms that it didn't get built!

I can guarantee you that those people visiting the parks in December will have long forgotten their outrage for the Koalas.

Probably because he doesn't work for Murdoch

They're in the position that they're in now largely due to the help they received - including this grant. This is totally inaccurate. Government grant compliance is extraordinarily strict. Grant recipients have to provided audited accounts back to the government to show how everything was spent and how each dollar was justified. They couldn't just choose to spend it elsewhere. The only two options were: give it back ask permission to spend it on something else, and put forth a business case on why it would be worth approving (similar to the original grant application). Seriously, everyone's acting like Dreamworld just winked at the government and pointed at a bag of cash and Anastacia just gave a thumbs up in return - trust me - its a lot more involved than that. How can you attribute their current position absent the grant? for all we know their current success is simply because they were allowed to use the funds to build Taipan, and without that, their Summer 21\22 season was toast and they were bankrupt. There were plenty of discussions ON THESE FORUMS about how Ardent couldn't even afford to build Taipan. (Just in case you forgot - you can refresh your memory here: No-go roller coaster: how Dreamworld banked on a hand-to-mouth recovery strategy they could never afford | Parkz - Theme Parks) Quote - "HAND TO MOUTH STRATEG” And this is the crux of the matter. People are outraged because the media wanted them to be outraged and designed the clickbait headline and article slant to achieve that aim. This very website has published pieces calling out the mainstream media for their bias and all your statement here does is confirm it.