rac2703

Went back late in the afternoon and they were loading all the rows, full 8 per boat. The water level was definitely high throughout the ride, only seemed low straight after the station and before the first lift hill.

Rode it today for the first time since reopening. There are signs in place stating it operates between 11am-4pm. Nothing major to note, except they were not loading the back rows so only six people per boat.

As of today the Poison Ivy card is missing, all the other cards are still in place.

The only reason I included it on my list was because the question asked for a top 10 list. These lists we made do not have any timeline attached to them - it could take 20-30 years before we have 10 rides permanently closed on the coast. So the closure of AA could easily fall within this top 10 list.

Looking only at the Gold Coast Parks my list would be: 1. The Tijuana Taxis 2. Yosemite Sam Railroad 3. Tweety’s Cages 4. Monorail 5. Log Ride 6. Wipeout 7. Sword Swing 8. Ogre-go-round 9. Vintage Cars 10. Arkham

I have heard the term used before, but I wouldn’t say it is “common”, especially here in Australia. * By the way it is Stapling not Stapeling

The 2017 Theme Museum Index (Global Attractions Attendance Report) has been released. Its a pretty interesting read and can be found here: https://www.aecom.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2017-Theme-Museum-Index.pdf * Wet 'N' Wild Gold Coast is the only Australian park to get a mention - ranking at #19 in the "Top 20 Water Parks Worldwide" - The attendance for 2017 was 1.18million a 5% drop from 2016 which saw 1.24million visitors through the gates. * Australia's only other mention was The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, which was equal #12 in the Top 20 Museums in the Asia-Pacific region with 2.87million visitors. The top 10 Theme Parks Worldwide saw a few changes this year: * Disney's Animal Kingdom, with a 15% increase on 2016, has overtaken EPCOT to be #6 on the list * The opening of Disneyland Shanghai in 2016 sees it come in at #8

The article clearly states downtime “suggests” the will happen. Definitely nothing confirmed

Yes, they are definitely plants. Back when they had the “sneak peek” of rehearsals for the show, whilst waiting to see it for the first time, I saw a staff member whom I recognised from earlier in the day at the Mermaid show in Shark Bay. He walked into a backstage area in uniform and came out a little while later with a couple of other staff members, however we was now in plain clothes. He Spoke with the other staff before they left and went into the show stadium whilst he waited outside like all the other park guests. I figured he just may have finished his shift and was wanting to see the show? Anyway he ended up being the one chosen as a volunteer, so I figured some sort of gag would occur, I initially thought he may fall in the water (like the plant did at the seal show at Underwater World/SeaLife). I did see him again later in the day back in uniform near the park entrance.

I do qualify myself, but had no idea about this deal.

When does the community month offer end?

Here are the pictures from Facebook mentioned in the above news story: There have been calls to have it returned to Brisbane and restored to operation at either South Bank, Queen St Mall, the Botanical Gardens or Roma St Parklands.

And my counter argument is our parks have done a lot with out having to pay through the nose for an "Official Partnership" - which most of your initial suggestions would have required. With the M1 scare campaign prior to the games I'd probably say that the parks were actively discouraged from trying to entice local visitors, and instead focused on enticing future international visitors (which we won't notice the efforts as locals). They have "Donated" thousands of free entries to the parks - Dreamworld has given all athletes and volunteers 1 day free entry, whilst Village Roadshow has given free entry for the entire 11days. As a result Many international athletes and their families are posting to social media from inside the parks to their many followers. Whilst the impact may not be visible to us locals - international media has been filming in our parks (as I mentioned earlier Malaysian and Singaporean crews were at Sea World filming with the dolphins earlier, a New Zealand crew was at Wet n Wild, Craig mentioned media has been to Dreamworld and I'm sure many other international crews have been to the parks. All this International exposure will showcase the Gold Coast as a whole a destination to visit - it's then the parks job to get the tourists through the gates once they are here.

The point is in your last post you literally said "go get the council! Someone's up to no good!" I pointed out this was not just a random appearance that the Comm Games is unaware of, its a pre-planned media event with the appropriate permissions. not some "guerrilla style marketing. Where was Bugs Bunny [or in this case Kenny the Koala] popping up randomly and being part of the spirit of the games" as you suggested would be a good idea for the parks to partake in. How hard is it follow?

Notice how the Minister for Tourism/Commonwealth Games (representing the Goverment, an offical partner of the Games) was on hand at a pre-arranged media event, trying to talk up the positive impact for tourism in QLD that Games have had. Dreamworld didn't just randomly decided to stroll Kenny and Belinda down to Surfers without permission.

see below your quote below implying i that every single dollar should be spent on capex: _______________________________________________________ I never presumed you said VRTP should be a top tier sponsor, I simply pointed out that the exposure that the "The Star" is getting has cost significantly more than just the $500,000 to use the "Comm Games" name as you suggested VR could have done. "The Star" logo is literally plastered all over the Gold Coast, inside every venue, is clearly visible during every event broadcast. _______________________________________________________

A bit of coin? The Government paid $11million to build the new soundstage #9 (Village contributed the remaining $4million). They now have a state of the art soundstage - the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere to lure in even more big budget movies - I think that’s a pretty good take away legacy for the business. Could they have “fought” to have the “Village Roadshow” name used? Maybe. Would it have been worth it? Probably not - everyone that attended events there would clearly have seen the surrounding theme parks to peak their interest in visiting. Most of the non-locals including those from interstate wouldn’t really accosiate the “Village Roadshow” name with the theme parks anyway.

Not once did I say that every dollar should be spent on capex?? I don’t think anyone here would truly prefer $2million dropped on an 11day ad campaign instead of a new attraction. The Star is a top tier sponsor of the games, would have cost around the $3-4million mark for their exposure not $500,000. The star is also providing accommodation for the Game officials and the channel 7 broadcast team.

As stated the games are very strict with promotional activity. There is no way they would allow Bugs Bunny to just pop up at an event, they don’t even allow you to take in pre-packed food (chips, drinks etc) because of the branded logos on the packets - you have to empty them into clear bags/containers before entering a venue. With sponsorship deals starting at over $2million for 11days, I’d much rather the parks keep the money for future attractions which will do way more for drawing in the crowds. — This info is direct from the Games website: You must not engage in conduct which would suggest that you or your products or services have an association (such as a sponsorship, approval or affiliation) with the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games™ that you do not have. Statements must not be used as a promotional tool or draw specific attention to the Commonwealth Games e.g. theming, highlighted text and Commonwealth Games related headlines are not allowed. Information pertaining to the Commonwealth Games may not be used on signage, billboards, TV advertising, radio advertising or online advertising. Media releases, advertising, promotions, giveaways, packages and alike which reference the Commonwealth Games are strictly forbidden as they are solely designated under sponsorships rights e.g. a ‘Gold Coast 2018 Games Package’ would create an association and be in breach of Commonwealth Games rights.

Just because the parks aren’t getting much exposure on our screens it doesn’t mean they are being shown by the international networks. The parks are better off focusing on exposure with the international networks, most people watching the 7 coverage will know about the parks. I know that some Singapore and Malaysian networks were at Sea World filming with the dolphins, the hosts were swimming with the dolphins.

Here are some basic costings for sponsorship according to http://www.paykelsydney.com.au/blog/youre-thinking-commonwealth-games-2018-involvement/ - “Packages for top level sponsorships being quoted at anywhere up to $3.6M, around $2.4M for Tier 2 or $500,000 for spot packages”

The Looney Tunes did appear briefly on Sunrises program one day during the week, I can’t find footage of the segment though. I was also watching the coverage of the squash, which is being held in the Village Roadshow Studios, the commentators did talk about the surrounding theme parks briefly during the coverage. For the parks to make the most of games they would have had to fork out huge dollars to be official sponsors of the games or sponsors of the channel 7 coverage.

Not Movie World, the Studios do though. The boxing, squash and table tennis are being held in some of the sound stages. They are also referring to the studios as the “Oxenford Studios” for the games, not the “Village Roadshow Studios”.

Theme parks, made a small feature in the opening ceremony - with a small segment creating a “picture postcode” of the Queens Baton “riding the rollercoaster”, they could’t mention any of the parks by name obviously as the ceremony has to remain non-commercialised. It also eluded to other attractions on the coast - including currumbim wildlife sanctuary with the “feeding of the lorikeets” and the Mt Tamborine Skywalk.

The snake head looks like a copy of the “cut snake” head at then end of the slide at White Water World.