DaptoFunlandGuy

I've had to condense your post, but quoted it where relevant as it's on the previous page. You're right - a lot of it comes down to definitions. Google gives two definitions for "exploit" - To 'make full use of and derive benefit from' (in which case every employer exploits their paid workers - clearly this is not the definition referred to here). To 'make use of (a situation) in a way considered unfair or underhand'. Now you have stated (in perhaps different words) that what Dreamworld (and now the V8s as well) is unfair. But is it underhand? Both organisations have put out a call for people to volunteer to do these tasks. They've been clear about what they need, and from who, and what they will offer in return. There is nothing 'underhand' about either of this situations. As for 'unfair' - The option is then on the people who put their hand up. If they feel the deal that they are getting is unfair - they won't volunteer - so regardless of whether I think it's fair, or you think it is unfair - it is up to the individual to decide whether or not they wish to do so, and therefore it cannot be 'unfair'. Anybody who views either of those situations and decides not to volunteer isn't being treated unfairly. They had the opportunity, and they decided it wasn't for them. So you cannot define the actions of these two organisations as exploitation based on these definitions. It is voluntary. It isn't depriving the volunteer of an income. It's totally optional, and in general it isn't really doing any 'paid' professional out of work. Nobody is being exploited. Yes - Neither of the events could occur without those volunteers, or otherwise they would have to hire in professionals which does add an additional cost - a cost of which will either deprive funding from other areas, or increase costs to the consumer, or otherwise the project or event won't happen. If Dreamworld can't afford to shoot the add because it lacks extras - this hits their marketing - less people hear about new and exciting things at the parks, and they get less visitation which then affects revenue, which then affects frequency of new rides and attractions - it stagnates. I already explained the affect on V8s if they were to have a paid workforce... and it isn't practical to do so for 1 or 2 weekends a month over 6 or so months. A casual workforce is a lot more difficult to manage. It's not about the viability of the business - it's the nature of it. As for olympics, comm games and other such events - there is a lot of profit out of some of those events - it's just that most of it doesn't go to the host city, and instead to many bloated executives within the international organising committees. Again to reiterate on definitions - volunteering is volunteering. It doesn't matter if it's for a charity, a sporting or major public event, private fundraising, or marketing purposes. Mystery shoppers receive token reimbursement usually only enough to cover the expenses they incur in doing the mystery shopping task - A very long time ago I did a mystery shop for Subway. My task was to purchase a particular 6 inch sub, complete a survey, and receive $10. As it was substituting my usual lunch, I got a meal, with a drink and a cookie - so that was pretty well the $10 gone right there. Basically - I got a free lunch - and they got feedback on that particular store. KFC offers you a free serve of chips if you complete their online customer service survey Hungry Jacks has a 'shake and win' app that rewards you with menu items for 'checking in' to their store using facebook (a marketing tool) Many food retailers offer samples of their newest product offering (including fast food and supermarkets) - sometimes before the product is released - in return for you giving them your views on the product. If I use my bartercard to (as you say) EXPLOIT you by obtaining your services that I need without paying you actual money, and you in turn EXPLOIT me by obtaining services that you need from me for similar value without paying me actual money - we have indeed "exploited" each other in terms of the first definition given above, but not in terms of the second definition given - which as i've stated, is the one most closely representing the views you have expressed. There is no unfairness or underhandedness. If I'd grossly overexaggerated the value of the services that I provided to you, to make you think that you were getting far more value from me than it actually cost me to provide - THEN it would be underhanded, and considered exploitation by the second definition... But to return to the main point - Dreamworld, V8 Supercars, KFC, Subway, The Olympics, Future of Fun, Woolworths, Costco and any other organisation that obtains opinion, market research, background filler or otherwise voluntary workers for any particular purpose make it ABUNDANTLY clear that they are: seeking volunteers to do a certain thing, task, or achieve an objective not offering money are offering non-monetary compensation in terms of free goods, services, merchandise or otherwise needing a particular group of people, for a particular timeframe most importantly - NOT HOLDING A FLIPPING GUN TO ANYBODY'S HEAD TO PUT THEIR HAND UP

But that's just it - its not exploitation. Exploitation is the Asian electronics market where they pay ridiculously low sums of money in the full knowledge that if that guy doesn't do the job, someone else will step up. The V8s are not exploiting the volunteers who work the event. The volunteers are quite happy with their lot - they get to see a sport they love, make good friends, and get to take home some souvenirs that aren't available to anyone else. To pay a workforce as large as the volunteer crew in the V8s, you'd be adding around $200,000 in costs per event. It's not just wages, it's the cost of administration (which is also done voluntarily), superannuation, state and federal wage taxes, as well as a higher cost for workers compensation insurance. (The events carry insurance but a paid workforce tends to elicit a higher premium). This results in higher costs to the event organisers which all has to be passed on to ticketholders. This makes going to the race a more expensive exercise, which then results in less attendance. When the organisation has less people through the gates they have to do one of two things - cut costs (by reducing staff) or increase prices further. I can guarantee you that the events run on a pretty bare bones staff as it is, so if they reduce staffing, it takes you twice as long to get through the gate, and then you complain. Or - we increase ticket pricing, which drives even further people away, which in turn leads us back to the same dilemma. Eventually we can reduce staffing because we don't need as many staff to handle as many people, but this in turn reduces the fan base - it's all bad for the sport. Do you suggest that events like the Olympics, and the Commonwealth Games (both of which cost an exorbitant amount of money) should pay all the volunteers too? What about the upcoming G20 in Brisbane - should all the folks who have volunteered as ambassadors, checkpoint and information folk be paid too? And you were backtracking. Your original statement was that ALL labour should be paid a fair price. You didn't say "except for emergency service volunteers" or "except for charities and non-profits" - so by adding in those exceptions you have in fact backtracked. You're pretty close to the money as far as the description of what the SES does in storm response... however those commercial roof repair arborers and tree loppers can still be called upon in the aftermath of a storm. In other countries where they do not have an SES or similar agency - that's what those people do - so despite the fact that in Australia the SES is a mandatory requirement under law for every state, by your own words, those guys are being exploited. And many real estate agencies and landlords DO exploit the SES - by refusing to conduct routine maintenance, and relying on the SES to respond and repair the problem. Although big storms do require follow up treatment - many a time the repairs effected by the SES are a sufficient permanent fix. And doing a job for a friend is a problem that fits. Your statement was that 'all labour should be paid' (and anything else should be illegal) - so a friends labour isn't worth the same, despite the fact the result is? You also failed to address Bartercard. I'm no Melburnian, so I couldn't describe the process, but it is a cashless transaction system that doesn't require one to be friends with the guy performing the work... and it's perfectly legal. Finally - and once again to put your 'unaustralian' claim to rest and rubbish - if volunteering isn't the Australian way - why does www.volunteeringaustralia.org exist with the support of the Australian federal Department of Social Services ? And why do we have a national 'volunteering week' every May? I restate my earlier view, that you are entitled to your opinion, but I do believe it is misguided, and judging by the comments of others, you do appear to be in the minority. I'm also happy to leave this as it is. 64 pages is a pretty long run for any topic on Parkz, and I think it's safe to say the topic has been well and truly covered at this point - it is however on topic as it revolves around the suggestion that Dreamworld were somehow exploiting teenagers, by asking them to enter the park early, ride some of their rides without queues, over and over again having a lot of fun, probably getting a snack or breakfast provided, and being able to remain inside the $80+ a day theme park free of charge, plus the perk of getting to see yourself on TV in a professionally produced commercial that is potentially shown around the country for the next 3-6 months. Sounds like exploitation to me... (not)

Don't backtrack on your comments now - comparisons to volunteers is NOT ridiculous. The point is identical. Your previous statement was that all labour should be paid, and that the fringe benefits or willingness of the worker are irrelevant. Motorsport - there are professional track and event staff that can be hired to run motorsport events. State Emergency Service - there are roof repair companies, tree loppers and arborers that can be hired to fix houses damaged by storms There are paid firefighters that could do the job of rural firies... And our Volunteer Marine Rescue has a paid counterpart in the united states... But to run organisations such as these with fully paid services - the money has to come from somewhere. Even if you put aside the emergency services listed above - take the V8s as an example. They are a corporate enterprise. They are in it for the profit of the events (as is any business). Volunteers receive 2 polo shirts, a lunch-cooler bag, lunch water and snacks each day, a program, poster, patch, ID card, lanyard, hat, free camping at events that offer it, and a free weekend pass for a friend or family member (valued at over $70 on it's own). As volunteers we are on track by around 6:30 - and usually don't stop until around 5pm... or around 10.5 hours. Even at $10 an hour, that's $315 for the three day weekend (Australian minimum wage is $16.87 - source: Google which would make it $531.41). And that's not even taking into account weekend penalty rates. Say the uniform - shirts, hat, lunch bag, ID card and lanyard (and forget the little 'fan extras') would still be around another $100. Add in water, sunscreen and other "OH&S" requirements - and you can call it $650 per person to do a 3 day event (Bathurst is worse). To use Ipswich as an example - there are usually 6 staff + supervisor on the public grandstand, another 6 +1 on the corporate stands. There are 8 on main gate, 4 on south gate, 4 on north gate paddock entry, 2 on paddock exit, and 1 supervisor for each gate. 3 Accreditation staff, 4 information booth staff, and 2 pit lane safety officers in the paddock. That's 45 people, and we haven't even gotten to the track officials, scrutineers, marshalls, flag people and all the other behind the scenes people at work. (Note this doesn't count paid staff such as ticket sellers, food and beverage concessions, and event officials such as stewards and people like the race secretary race control. So at MINIMUM WAGE - that's $24,000 before you even put a uniform on them. Counting the track officials that's easily double that figure... and Ipswich is one of the smallest events on their calendar. Then you've got to add more costs to administer the payroll, superannuation is going to add around another 10% to that figure also... but give them a patch, a poster, a program, a free ticket for a friend to come along, and a chance to watch a sport that they love for free - and suddenly you've eliminated all that extra cost... VRTP get volunteers for filming, market research and all sorts of things for the cost of free entry and some lunch. Occasionally, i'm sure they pay for focus groups and the like, but your view of 'all labour should be paid' isn't 'the Australian way' as you suggest. There is a program that started down in Melbourne called 'Bartercard' - a cashless exchange of goods products services... I know many tradespeople who quote jobs for work done at friends houses in cases of beer that is clearly not priced at the cash equivalent. (As a matter of fact there is one case of VB that has been through about 8 peoples hands at this point because nobody likes that crap). You are entitled to your view - but I do believe in this case it is very misguided to label our society and our culture as 'everything paid and anything else should be illegal' is not right - because by making anything else illegal you're also restricting the very freedoms that this same society and culture values so highly, and others from other societies value and cherish so highly that they will risk treacherous voyages on small leaky boats just to taste.

I coordinate volunteers for the V8 Supercars events. They receive lunch and polo shirts which costs a fortune. If we were to pay them - V8 Supercars would be out of business. By your definition, we also would have no State Emergency Service, Volunteer Marine Rescue, Rural Fire Service... or we would - and your rates and taxes would at least triple. Volunteer work where nobody is being exploited is perfectly acceptable. It's also a great way for people wanting to enter a chosen field to get some experience (where nobody will hire them without it) and for many people to 'give something back' to the community. Granted this isn't the case with extras for a commercial - but if the participants are willing... (and who wouldn't enjoy some ERT and free entry for the day)... then what's the harm? Or is it your argument that there are other people out there who ARE paid extras, who are missing out on a days pay because DW is using members of the public?

i'm sure the technology would have added to the price, but I think a nice little add-on would be a 'self driving car'. Industrial forklifts and the like are capable of following a little foil track on the floor (hell - grade 6 kids build Lego robots that can do it) and it probably wouldn't take much to have them all return to a home position right next to the entrance gate. Clearly they are already remote controlled for start and stop - I can't imagine it would take much more to have them set up with a 'homing beacon'... Oh well - not going to happen now, but would have been a cool little feature - would also make staff jobs much easier.

I have to agree, although allow for the possibility that I've just never seen operators with their phones out. I do occasionally see cast members having a discussion, but rarely is it social in nature and normally relates to rotation breaks handover or similar.

Agree - despite visitation (I think it benefits from it's proximity to WDW) but the educational assumption is sometimes the prominent view of many who have not visited the park. Disney's formula - incorporating it's hugely successful intellectual property in fun, exciting and often thrilling ways is well proven in parks worldwide. EPCOT frequently falls short - it's the poor cousin. Let's not forget that the original dream for EPCOT was not an educational fun park, but as a look to the future. I don't think they're going to hurt anyone by 'disneyfying" the park more than it is. This does show one thing though - Disney's confidence in frozen as a franchise. Its popularity is clearly long term. Can't wait to see what they come up with.

Dammit. Now i'll never know. Oh well... let it go.

The fence isn't new, is it? That was the fence around SeaScrew previously... They may not wish to take it out if they're going to need another fence in the future - but by the looks of things, they want a chance for the grass to really 'grow in' before they make it accessible to the public. Prior to Storm - there was a nicely grassed area in between the show building and the cinema. It was a great place to go and sit quietly as few people used that pathway. There was some shade under the trees and it was a good place to spread out a towel, and sit and wait for others to arrive. Even if that is still there, the proximity to Storm's splashdown means it is no longer the quiet haven it was. I would really like to see them open up CorkViper's area once the lawn is established. Maybe popup a few umbrellas, a few picnic tables etc. Maybe even a little shaded structure. If it's no bigger than 10sqm, they don't need a permit for it...

I don't know that any of them do 'officially', but i'm sure some of them would be able to accommodate you. Not sure on Superman as they do the height check at the start of the queue - but if you have a word to them, i'm sure they'd work something out.

well I guess this explains the farewell to SpongeBob.

*whooooooooooosh!*

There is plenty they can do about crowds... limit park capacity. Of course - it's a financially limiting decision, and for that reason they won't... but the park clearly isn't designed to handle the capacity they currently have set - so it should be reduced. WWW recognised this and frequently hit capacity in it's early days. I think WnWS underestimated the interest in the park (and as we all know - oversold dramatically on their season passes).

I think Jamberoo has pointed their noses towards waterparks. They used to have more 'dry rides' but clearly maintenance and upkeep on dry rides is more intensive that wet rides. Pool maintenance is done by many people in backyards across the country. Granted waterparks have a higher hygiene requirement, and their machinery is put through far more punishment, but it is still, essentially simpler than dry rides, with far less to break down. Also - we know that wet rides (slides) are far cheaper to obtain and install than dry rides... so it is easier for Jamberoo to build a new slide every year or two than it is to build dryflats at the same frequency.

I count two trains in the siding. The station house holds 4 - so I believe the car the POV is shot from is number 7? ie: there are 5 trains on the track. They may not have despatched others because it was a slow day, but i'm pretty sure they load and despatch in pairs, don't they?

I heard somewhere that they had a 5 year plan to build 5 new rides.... wonder what the next one is?

It wasn't directed at you AUSTHEMEPARKS. I'm pretty sure Brad was referring to KingdaKa

Curious KingdaKa - (this isn't an attack...) You do freely admit you are a bit younger.. yet you seem to have a lot of knowledge of a diverse range of parks across the world. I'm wondering - what parks have you been to?

It's funny - because Reanimated wasn't referring to me when he was talking about 'taking the piss'... I think it might have been iwerks... but it certainly wasn't me - so your douche comment wasn't directed at me... until now when it apparently was. Would you like a shovel? It may help you to keep digging faster.

Does Jamberoo have a drop tower?

LOL.... that took longer than expected - Pretty sure when the spinning propeller was first noticed, someone called it'd be broken in a week.

Ok so one person enjoys pissed off Alex.

Correct me if i'm mistaken - but aren't Insane at Grona Lund and Green Lantern at SFMM the exact same model? Sure theres going to be minor differences in every installation, variations in wheels (nylon polymer, worn or new, balance and combination of the two), but shouldn't the ride experience (whilst designed to be random) be fairly similar... It seems to me that this particular comment is coming from someone who is REPLYING to others who claim it does hurt. If he was just commenting he'd say "i went on this and it was great!"... the fact he says 'doesn't hurt at all in my opinion" suggests to me that its a response to other people who have said it does hurt. You can't tell something is comfortable from a video - plain and simple. Extremely offensive and rude thing to say... You mean like calling ride operators Lazy 14 year old Teenagers ? YOU haven't PROVEN your claim yet. YOU claimed that Insane is more comfortable than other Zacspins. YOU claimed YOU COULD TELL by watching a video. As PROOF, YOU offered comments on that video. That isn't PROOF. In the legal world, thats HEARSAY, and is inadmissible. In order for you to PROVE your statement, you need someone INDEPENDENT who has had the opportunity to ride BOTH versions of the attraction and then give their honest opinion. I've been on GLFF - I consider it horrible. Gazza has ridden GLFF and has no issue with it. This is another issue you're going to have PROVING your own claim - because DIFFERENT people have DIFFERENT opinions... So another person's OPINION on a youtube video doesn't PROVE it's more comfortable. It doesn't even PROVE that they have been on it. I've never ridden Insane at Grona Lund - but I could go onto youtube right now, and leave a comment saying "i've been on this, and it's the most excruciatingly painful thing i've ever been on - DO NOT RIDE." Then reanimated could use my comment as PROOF that he was right and you were wrong... because he would have done the exact same thing as you... see? Calm down, take your own advice previously stated at "a)" and read the advice from "Nice Alex" in the other thread. You're starting to scare Nice Alex away with these kinds of diatribes.

It'd be awesome to build my house out of solid gold sovereigns. Of course - i can't afford that many sovereigns, and gold is a weak metal anyway and probably not up to bearing the weight of a structure of that type... and people would be constantly breaking my house to steal the gold, and in the winter all the metal would be really cold, and in the summer it'd eventually get really hot... but it'd still be awesome to build my house out of solid gold sovereigns...

All the best for a good outcome...