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Anyone (and I mean adults) who gets in a ride would have to be a complete moron not to realise there is an element of risk. Children wouldn't usually know that but it's their parents responsibility to be aware of it for them. We then assess the risk (for ourselves or the child in our care) and then make an informed decision on whether or not to get on the ride. Same goes for cars, buses, trains, planes. Actually any vehicle! The other alternative is all vehicles should be banned. We all walk everywhere and return to the stone age! Amazing that this is considered "news"!

Having been to Carnivale at Movie World twice and tonight at Sea World I have to say I enjoyed it much more at Sea World. There is just a lot me more room to move about. It's even easy to get something to eat and find somewhere to actually sit and eat it (virtually impossible at Movie World during Carnivale! I do think they should have used the amphitheater next to Nikolodean land for the main acts rather than a temporary stage as there's plenty of seating there and it's also closer to where most of the other fun is. The only thing really missing was the parade, but that didn't bother me at all. Overall a great move which I hope and think will now be a permanent one!

Only if people behind the car that stopped were tailgating. Sadly that's the majority of drivers here. I really hate people who tailgate. If everyone maintained a safe gap between their vehicle and the one in front there would be hardly any collisions. Unfortunately I doubt that most drivers even know what a safe gap is.

I went on today and the whole ride was in almost complete darkness. Nothing to see. So in a way (not a very good way) it was still sort of spooky, a BIT! I couldn't see any temp fencing though, which was good.

I'd also love a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory dark ride with chocolate river and great glass elevator. I've been on the one at Alton Towers and it's fantastic! Also a Doctor Who walk through similar to the one I've been in at the Doctor Who experience in London would be awesome. Dreamworld would probably have the best chance of pulling it off given they already have arrangements to use ABC kids characters and ABC has close links with BBC and broadcasting rights for Doctor Who. A Simpsons dark ride would also be brilliant!

I was at Dreamworld twice yesterday. In the morning it was busy enough that they had parking attendants in the carpark, and the carpark was reasonably full. I went back around 7pm for the Fire Machine show. Not as busy. Very easy to park and low queues for rides. Still enough people around to create a decent buzz. Probably about the same attendance as there was last year for BeatBox. Amazing show!

I went to Kevil yesterday. Seriously impressed. It was what I hoped it would be the first time I ever went in, but instead it had been a laser skirmish with no zombies. Now it has a pre-show, and a very impressive scare maze. Plenty of zombies. Plenty of scares. The maze is HUGE!

Possibly I might not be the only person in Australia that likes dark rides after all! I won't make detailed comment because it's all been said already and I agree with most of what's been written in this thread so far. I just hope they have something absolutely awesome planned, but even if they have I agree that they should: 1. Not have started a major re-theme of the best ride in the park during the peak Christmas holiday season, and 2. Have closed the ride during the re-theme, and ensured there was clear communication to advise what was happening (apart from that being a courtesy to loyal guests, it could also be a great marketing opportunity that they appear to be disregarding. Whether it's an intentional and (very poorly) planned re-theme, or whether it's an unplanned but necessary safety fix, either way it's being executed extremely poorly.

Looks awesome!

Now I'm very confident this will be at least as good as Beatbox. Possibly it may be even better, as I saw something about a story being involved in the show as well as the music, fireworks and special effects. Yep. I'll be there!

I also forgot to mention the Wax Museum. Our version of Madam Tussauds. Not all the models are perfect but if you're interested in horrible history there's a superb guided tour showing how people were tortured in various ways in the past. It includes lots of genuine torture equipment!

......."and now for something completely different!" Whilst it's not a theme park, Surfers Paradise (and nearby locations) has a selection of incredible fun attractions. This just seems to keep getting bigger and better, to the point it's almost a shame there isn't an annual pass for all of them! So I thought I'd start a thread to discuss these attractions, and our experiences of them, and also any ideas for other attractions that could potentially be added. So here's what I'm aware of at this stage: Draculas Haunted House (Surfers) - Large spooky walk-through on several levels. https://www.draculashauntedhouse.com.au/ Infinity (Surfers) - 21st centru mirror mazes, and huge walk-through optical illusions. http://infinitygc.com.au/ Ripleys Believe it or Not (Surfers) - Walk through exhibition of the strange and weird. https://ticketssp.ripleys.com/surfersparadise/ItemShow.aspx?Grp=fOTQjkZL7HI=&Name=Tvj9gySvGVFQa0kKzTkfmQ==&s_kwcid=TC|1028741|ripleys||S|p|113271787868&gclid=CInD-eLk_NACFZcDKgodriYNwA Timezone (Surfers) - Advertised as the worlds biggest indoor entertainment complex. Massive amusement arcade, bowling, laser maze, dodgems, crazy golf, and much more. http://www.timezonegoldcoast.com.au/ I-Fly (Surfers) - Indoor 'flying' experience. http://www.indoorskydiveaustralia.com.au/developments/surfers-paradise/ Skypoint Observation Deck (Surfers) - The tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere (for now at least) with breathtaking views. https://www.skypoint.com.au/skypoint-observation-deck 7D cinemas (2 locations in Surfers) - Short videos where the seats move in sync with the show, and various other immersive effects to make you feel like you're in the movie. http://www.7dcinema.com.au/ Holoverse (in Southport, not Surfers, but not too far away and well worth the drive) - Advertised as the worlds first holographic entertainment centre. See things around you that aren't really there! http://holoverse.com.au/?gclid=CJz1_JTl_NACFQp-vQod_FUCCA (Opening very soon) Fun360 (Surfers) - A range of interactive experiences including flight simulator, 2-person 3d pacman game, and more http://www.fun360.com.au

An article in todays Sunday Mail about the proposed casino resort next to Sea World says Sea World could double in size, to become Australias biggest theme park (so presumably bigger than Dreamworld ). I would be interested to know how it could do that. As far as I can tell the only adjacent land that's not already built on is where the casino will be! The article says Village support the casino plan but there's no comment from them about the supposed expansion to Sea World. I'm inclined to think it's just wild speculation from the writer of the article at this stage. However if it is true then it could explain why there's so much unused space at Sea World at the moment. If it did double in size I'd imagine the entire park layout would need a complete review. Interesting if nothing else.

Haha! That's good. Thought I'd had a very odd premonition!

Wasn't there a thread exactly like this a few months ago?

We haven't been give many clues yet, but I'm really hoping "The Fire Machine" will be of similar quality to Beatbox. I saw it almost every night last year and it was just awesome!

I don't know the actual figures, but I do remember Sea World saying Storm was the most expensive ride they've ever built. That being the case, I do have to wonder if it would have cost less to get Bermuda back up to a standard where it could have remained open, than what they spent to demolish it and build Storm. Regardless, I just think overall Sea World is being very very poorly managed. I don't know who's responsible for that, but I do think they've made a lot of big mistakes and it really needs some love.

I've never noticed it. Was it ever used for anything or just themeing?

I wouldn't personally go on the Doomsday Destroyer even if it was working. It would make me sick! I did buy one of those wristbands for the various little games etc around it (with some reluctance as it should be free), but to be honest I've done them all about 3 times and that's plenty for me!

It does sound like it was even better when it first opened. First time I remember going on it was 2007 I think.

Sadly it's not really such a happy birthday for Dreamworld. Very sad that the recent incident occurred at all, and for it to happen so close to Dreamworld's 35th birthday just makes it even worse in a way. Still though. It has to be all about the future now, and with good management and the right investments, the future could be wonderful for Dreamworld. I hope it will be. Out of curiosity, what happened to that house on the island?

I have experienced the pre-ride "recruitment of volunteers", but I never saw the PDA you mentioned, or the part where the guy who recruited you was an alien. Why would they dumb down, and ultimately close such a brilliant ride? I wouldn't have minded if they'd replaced it with something as good or better, but Storm? Seriously?

Hmm. Several years ago I actually considered Sea World to be better (overall) than Movie World. It's a far cry from how things are now. Movie World keeps getting better, but poor Sea World is very much the opposite. A grand total of 4 (yes, FOUR) rides listed on the website now. Granted one of them is Nickelodeon Land, which is actually several rides, but still. Nowhere near good enough Sea World! I was just watching a couple of videos of Bermuda Triangle this morning. Reminded me how awesome it was.

Comment by Dreamworld on their Facebook page a short time ago, in response to someone asking if the log ride was closed down. It's a bit ambiguous, but certainly leaves the possibility it will reopen.

If it were up to me I'd at least reopen the waterpark as an interim measure, and include it with entry to Sea World like it used to be. It's not as if they're using the space and it would at least be one more thing for guests to do.