aaronm

$179 for a single express pass on seven rides, ouch. Most thrillseekers won't care about Road Runner and Doomsday is typically down or has no queue, probably cheaper to just buy one-shots for the major rides really.

An S&S Screamin' Swing would have been a better fit for that spot than Vortex. Doomsday should be replaced, I'm not sure Vortex is the right fit for that area. Maybe a Zamperla NebulaZ would work well? In any case the Villains precinct is overdue for some love, all those broken effects are pretty sad.

Isn't that Fast Track? I can maybe see them adopting a demand-based pricing model so it's better value off-peak, but this only works when most of the rides are actually open which is a problem unless it's school holidays. Maybe they'll start pushing the one-shot fast tracks more...

Does removal of VQ reduce the standby (I hate this term) wait time though? I doubt the removal of VQ is going to push up fast lane sales as it was mostly used by locals and those "in the know". Presumably there will be fewer people using the priority lane now which should make the regular queue move more quickly. At least that was my takeaway from the Defunctland FastPass documentary. Edit: to be clear, I am not defending the quiet removal of a feature which was clearly an advertised benefit of tickets and passes, just speculating about its impact on queue times.

"Entertainment precinct" sounds like code for cinemas and some restaurants, maybe a bowling alley. More Downtown Disney than Disneyland.

So Fright Nights “Redemptions” are still available. A last hurrah for members or something else entirely?

If DisneyQuest was still a going concern, I'd maybe believe one of those gets built in Australia. But a full-size park will never happen, the market is far too small and the population density too light. The only "big name" park we're likely to see here would be a Legoland, or at a stretch something along the lines of what Universal is building in Texas.

I’m all for Dreamworld doubling down on Kenny & Belinda, partly for nostalgia reasons but also because it gives the park a unique personality that isn’t dependent on someone else’s brand. That said, ABC Kids is also a great fit for the park. Hopefully that relationship continues long-term as well.

I struggle to believe an Intamin Surfrider is a $20m ride, even including site works and theming. Although technically a coaster, it is essentially a glorified flat ride. If VRTP management have spent that much on this ride they ought to be replaced immediately.

April next year? VRTP clearly trying to outdo Disney for glacial project completion.

I suppose they could also spend enough on maintenance so this sort of endemic downtime doesn’t happen. I can’t think of any other park that has so much trouble keeping its rides open.

The template VRTP response would be that the park offers much more than just rides, with entertainment and magical experiences for the whole family... I wonder if they actually believe this? The bare minimum would be to have some sort of "buy one day, get another day free" offer when this many rides are down.

I have no hard data but would guess this ride has been inoperable for around 50% of the time since it opened. A complete dud purchase. Time to sell it off and use the space for something that will draw a crowd.

I don’t have an issue with the locals pass but I think they’d be better off swapping out the postcode restrictions for blackout dates (i.e. school holidays) to help manage crowds during peak periods.

I have always received a response to feedback from VRTP, but it's generally been in the "thanks for the feedback, here are some excuses" format. I doubt they ever actually take anything on board and make changes based on what they hear from park guests.

The party was fun while it lasted but was never guaranteed to last forever. Clearly they want everyone to move over to a One Pass instead, this is a bizarre way of doing it though. The messaging is also weird: "There has been a change in the Debit Success underlying payment and software terms and conditions with Village Roadshow Theme Parks, and as such your terms and conditions will also be amended from 1 July 2023." Is this reasoning supposed to justify the changes? If so I don't see the logic. While customer service has never been VRTP's strength, a better way to shift members over to a pass would have been to tell them the program was ending and offer a discounted new One Pass as an incentive. The lack of Fright Nights inclusion doesn't really bother me, the mazes aren't of a high standard and now that the Ultimate Terror Tour is no more it's an event I don't mind missing out on. Coming from Melbourne, Singapore's Horror Nights is much more attractive (and not all that much more expensive these days).

Better still, the AOS carpark.

Even for a kiddie ride, I would have expected more progress if this is still opening in April.

This maintenance window is now longer than the construction period of most new rides. That could be said for SDSC as well I guess, maybe it’s a Queensland thing…

Most Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks have one ride op wearing a microphone headset so they don't have to yell, I guess that solution is too simple for the Aussie parks though!

I don't think the sign is that terrible, all it's missing is Kenny & Belinda themselves.

Last week GL probably would have had my vote. Went to Gumbuya this past weekend to see Project Zero looking fresh, running better than Buzzsaw did, and doing its job as the headline thrill attraction. What was a fairly unloved attraction at Dreamworld has become an absolute crowd pleaser and an excellent addition to the park.

I rode this a few months ago, absolutely ridiculous and fun, drop tower meets spinner, had me giggling like some lunatic the whole time. It’s a crying shame that there’s only one in the world.

WWF for me, though would be even stronger if the ghost town effects were more reliable. Some great sight gags in there when they work. IMO Storm Coaster is let down by the fact that its splashdown is indoors. These rides double as entertainment for onlookers and hiding the finale sort of breaks that. The Plunge is good fun, does it get any love for being Australia's last remaining permanent log flume?

I’ll be interested to hear the rationale behind anyone who picks Motocoaster. LPS Boomerang gets my vote, mainly because coasters that exist are better than those that don’t. Might change my mind come 2026 or whenever the land opens.