iwerks

I've had three trips to the park this season. Tim has brought you up to date on most things. Here's a few things I've learnt. They've really screwed up the membership system, this season. I bought my Platinum pass pretty early on - got my print out - that was it. First time I went, they said 'there's been a few hiccups, my number's wrong and you should hear something soon.' Nothing. Next visit: they took my photo and typed in my email address and said I would hear from them soon. Nothing. Third visit, I'm stuck behind a few people getting their photo taken and getting cards printed out with the hopeful message: 'I should be getting a care package soon.' Tim purchased his platinum pass after me and has had his stuff for about a month. I look forward to the next part of the saga. Surf Shack and the animal area have been closed since the start of the season. There doesn't appear to be any obvious work on either and today I found out that this is the Aussie Wildlife Experience's last season. I have no idea if it will reopen. Apparently, the area you view the koalas from experienced some trouble during one of winter's storms. I know the keeper's are still about, as Tim and I saw Amie on one of our last visits, where she went and saved a long necked tortoise that we had discovered. As much as I'll regret the closin of this area, it is heavily underutilised and would be expensive to run. If they're goping to use it along with the land next door for a new land, then good for them. There's been no concrete news about Fright Nights except that they're expecting to hold this event later in the season. Currently, the weather is pretty rubbish (as it was for last year's Fright Nights), so maybe this isn't a bad decision. There has been very little word about Fright Nights, allowing other places (King Carnival's Screamfest and its haunt attraction) to get a bit of a jump on the competition. Adventure World will be holding its junior event, Halloween Spooctacular next weekend. A few minor changes - the viewing area around Skull Rock looks great. There's more signage around the Grand Prix go-karts. The Black Widow has had some TLC. There's now a machine for Abyss' photos. Inferno has been working this season! The Tiki Bar area looks great, although it has been closed. The upper balcony has also has been blocked off. It was very quiet, today, raining quite heavily for some of the time I was there. There were a few people swimming, regardless.

I’m sure they thought EuroDisneyland was going to be great.

Just Shanghai...? Someone’s losing money somewhere. That usually means cutting budgets elsewhere.

It would be great to see Merlin bring one of their other kinds of parks to Australia.

The Space Mountain there is very different from the others and can be a bit rough as it has inversions. Big Thunder Mountain is the best of its type. Some attractions might have single rider queues. View some YouTubers’ (like Theme Park Worldwide) videos to get the lay of the land. Watch out for low capacity rides and popular classics like Peter Pan. Make sure you take the time to enjoy the atmosphere of DLP. There’s lots to do and see, even if you can’t get on lots of rides.

Never done Airbnb in Singapore, but the ones in Japan were super organised. I think a lot of countries have cracked down on Airbnb recently. Elizabeth and York Hotels are fairly reasonably priced hotels near the Orchard Road MRT area. The York even has family rooms where there is a large double bed and two singles. They're pretty exclusive as they're in the tower part of the hotel. We do know people who have rented an Airbnb around the Orchard Road area and it was good, since they could put their kid to bed early.

^I thought you were going to say ‘before you know it, boom the rides are closed indefinitely. I seriously doubt they would have the money to tear down the rides, let alone replace them with something.

I think they should replace it with a tunnel of love. This thread sure needs some...

How do we know that the theming for the i-ride theatre won't match whatever is going to be built in the old goldrush area? They could be making Westfield World for all we know. 😯

I would say the opposite. Whilst the earlier shows weren’t perfect, they were more world class than the current lot. It’s the replacements that suck, not the ones that have been replaced.

Changi Chapel Museum? Friends of mine caught a taxi and asked to go to Changi Prison and were taken there instead of the museum. Fort Siloso and the National Museum are great for war history too.

Jurong Bird Park is good. I also really liked the Science Centre in Jurong and the Arts Science museum near Marina Bay Sands. The Bumboat rides along the Singapore River are also a highlight. Not a fan of the Night Safari. Only attempt it on a midweek day and arrive around twilight. Just picked up some cheap airfares, so it looks like I’ll be back up there in December. I usually stay in Far East hotels, like The Quincy on Mount Elizabeth Road, near Orchard Road MRT station. The only real shopping I like are the bookstores, like Kinokuniya. Dejiki is a reliable Singaporean theme park blogger - the equivalent of Our Worlds here - with great photography. The main school holidays are in the month of June.

Get out of my head, Dreamworld!

If you get The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland it will give you lots of hints and tips. Arrive at the parks at rope drop - you can do so much more in the first hour.

Yes, asbestos riddles so many of our buildings from the last century. If they do take them down completely, it would be good to have something similar and it would be great to have something that was taken care of as nicely as the Disney buildings.

Yeah, it’s not like Disney’s litigious. 😖

Are they trying to avoid copyright or something?

Planning ahead five years or will be around in 5 years? 😜

Nice simile. So true and thanks for the visuals.

They didn’t lose 75 million, they just downgraded the value of the park. The worst thing about that and the falling share price is their ability to raise more funds for an expansion or new rides.

Ani-Mayhem sounds great. https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201807/6202/

Perhaps the example we’re looking for here is Ansett. There was fare warfare in the 90s (akin to giving away the gate) and Ansett was running with an old fleet. Air NewZealand bought it over and didn’t have deep enough pockets to buy enough new planes.

That’s weird about everyone liking staying in Hollywood. It was scary as hell in the 90s. I stayed in Beverly Hills, which was nice, quite close to where the old 20th Century Fox backlot used to be. I have never driven in the states. Most hotels have good shuttle services to Disneyland and Universal. Don’t forget the subway system. But if you want to spend sometime at DL, stay near the property. If you were going to Orlando, a few of the Middle Eastern airways make that trip fairly affordable.

^Calls Sunway. 😞 Wow, it really seems like a poisoned chalice for any self respecting CEO. Maybe if they get some experienced independent advice, they might get some help in getting the park back in shape.

Anyone know why DW changed this? Was it costing them money? It just seems like they’re giving a lot of people the chance not to renew their memberships. I thought most businesses operated like Readers’ Digest - once you subscribe they just keep debiting your account until you tell them otherwise.