aaronm

Well if a glowstick party doesn't turn park performance around I don't know what will.

It's in a bit of a public transport black hole but that doesn't appear to have hurt the other Victorian parks. I suspect a lot of that $100m is going towards the structure, hopefully they have enough left over to build a decent collection of slides.

So is this a Queensland thing or did Dreamworld screw up? Brogent have installed enough of these rides that I assume the ride system isn’t at fault.

On one hand, good on them for waiting until it's properly ready before opening. But fairly terrible on the marketing/expectation setting front, not only is their ride not open (seemingly not any time soon either), an already cash-strapped park has wasted a pile of money on promotional spend as well. Once again, Ardent clearly have no idea how to run a theme park...

July school holidays

Thanks, that's definitely interesting - particularly that none of the parks fall into any other's "90 minute" zones. I think this shows that while there's some overlap, they all have solid potential to grow without cannibalising too much of the others' business. And while West Gippsland has historically been mostly farmland there are suburban developments springing up either side of Gumbuya at the moment so it's definitely in the right spot to benefit from the population boom one that side of the city.

If you had a version of the map that showed population within a 1 hour drive, there'd be some crossover in the northeastern suburbs but generally I think my theory still stands (bearing in mind Gumbuya is right on the freeway but Funfields is a bit more out of the way, and Adventure Park requires a drive through the middle of Geelong).

Point being people are highly likely to go with the park they live closest to, and the three of them are far enough apart that there isn't much of an overlap in the catchment areas. Given all are very much locals' parks many visitors will go the annual pass route which further decreases the incentive to check out the other ones.

It's interesting that this is being perceived as a sort of waterslide arms race between the three parks, given they aren't really all that close to each other - would be close to a 2.5 hour drive from Gumbuya to Adventure Park for instance. I think what we're seeing is more that park investment/opening new rides drives ticket sales, which in turn provides the income to fund further additions. I also think that dollar-for-dollar the Victorian parks have made smart choices in terms of how they've spent their money, whereas there have been some questionable decisions made by the bigger operators up north (not least the debacle that was WnW Sydney).

On the back of zero evidence, I am 90% convinced this is the reason. Start with a bangin' tune and build a show around it!

I think in general water parks end up being "locals parks" more than tourist destinations for the most part. There's at least a million people within a 30 minute drive of Gumbuya and it seems to be packed every time I drive past or visit. Clearly the demand is there and it doesn't seem to have dropped off in year 2 despite the attraction lineup being largely the same. Funfields and Adventure Park also seem to draw a reasonable crowd with a relatively small set up compared to the GC parks. Sure the weather isn't as good as up north but you only have to look at the US and Europe to see that seasonal parks can be quite successful - I mean, Cedar Point has a waterpark and it snows in Sandusky during the winter!

Anyone know what a "monster Twister" slide is? I haven't heard of this one before.

There's the potential for TG to be smart with their offers - i.e. if a group is spending up big on F&B, offer them heavily discounted rates to keep the party going for another hour. I think the time-based pricing probably does discourage people from slowing down to eat and drink, especially the $90/hr on weekends.

And hand another free kick to Village. $129 for Dreamworld annual pass, waterpark open sometimes $149 for Village locals pass, waterpark open every day except Christmas If I was a local it's an absolute no brainer...

I imagine most rides are too old to resell and would be scrapped. Buzzsaw is a maintenance nightmare whose manufacturer has pulled out of the business, MDMC and ToT are problematic prototypes, nobody wants ancient Arrows anymore which rules out HWSW. Maybe Madagascar would be picked up but that's really the only coaster I could reasonably see being relocated.

Hard to see how they can save $13-14k/day otherwise. Surprising that there’s that much to cut really.

This was kind of my point, you have the rides that are announced as being closed, then there’s usually a couple more surprise closures once you get to the park. It’s a lottery of disappointment.

I don’t think I’ve seen more than 5 of the “big 9” open at once in the last two years. Some, like Tower of Terror, are often closed even outside of planned maintenance periods. Even outside of the rides it’s become mediocre, the animal enclosures are increasingly sparse or empty. Gumbuya World has a far more impressive collection of Aussie animals at a much smaller park.

I’ve had a Dreamworld annual pass for at least the last 5 years, usually make it up to the Gold Coast 3-4 times a year so generally works to be good value. 2019 is the first year I haven’t automatically rolled it over, too many major rides closed during last year’s visits and no sign of SkyVoyager opening soon. So for the first time in a long time, looks like we will just enjoy the Village parks on next month’s trip. I suspect a lot of GC visitors will be making a similar call.

Maintenance, cost-saving closure, who cares anymore?

I cannot think of a single troubled theme park that has turned around on the back of spending no money. Next stop for Dreamworld is either a new owner or closing forever.

Capital light = "we're going to spend as little as possible and hope nobody notices" So basically the same strategy they've been running with for the last two decades.

Distinct lack of experience editing the Women's Weekly might also rule him out of contention if Ardent's track record is anything to go by...

I'd expect them to be Whitewater like the existing slides. There is already provision on the current tower for another two slides starting from the lower deck (presumably going out over the pump/filtration shed).

I can’t imagine they’re selling too many sessions when it’s open with those PS1 graphics...