aaronm

I consider myself fairly well traveled, have been to 200+ theme parks in my time and 2025 Movie World would be in the bottom 5 for operations. The park management doesn’t seem to care about guest (and possibly staff) experience whatsoever. It’s all about the bottom line. If anyone complains about wait times they are gaslit and told it’s due to safety, which is completely at odds with how almost every other theme park (safely) operates. I’ve seen some 2 hour waits but there would have been 500+ people waiting in a queue. Movie World somehow manages a 2 hour wait for 200, so no wonder guests are fed up.

Let's say they went with a Funtime model rather than the budget SBF, is it any more reliable? Or are the issues something else - the ocean breeze or aftermarket restraint sensors perhaps?

This could go either way. Aussies might choose to holiday locally rather than overseas, so maybe fewer annual pass but more day ticket sales?

Eejanaiaka is definitely the best of the 4D coasters, followed by Dinoconda which is still fun but not quite as intense. X2 I just find rough, even on an inside seat it is basically a car accident simulator.

My visits to Grona Lund tell me there is plenty of opportunity to add more coasters if they try.

Having been on 17 of 25, I don’t have any comment on individual rankings but these are all excellent coasters. DC Rivals backwards row remains something else in my book and is unlike any other coaster experience, easily the best coaster gimmick I’ve ever tried and still a treat despite the price tag.

For non-locals it works out slightly cheaper than the One Pass and splitting the cost over 12 months is nice. The value is definitely less these days though.

It would certainly be a sight to see even more fencing crammed into that land.

I generally head up from Victoria 2-3 times a year, maintain a Dreamworld annual pass and legacy VRTP membership. In the past we'd probably spend 20% of our park time at SW/WnW and then 30% DW, 50% MW. These days it's now at least 50% DW because the MW operations are so dire. When everything is an hour plus wait and lines move so slowly, it feels like work and spending four hours just in queues for 2-3 attractions isn't fun.

"Maintenance" is 30% keeping the ride operating well, 70% cost savings. High likelihood that both sides will shut.

Looks alright, having just the one simulator room will present capacity challenges but overall this seems a solid replacement for the ambitious but underwhelming Madagascar boat ride. USS desperately needed something new as well - it must be close to a decade since Puss In Boots opened?

I don’t get it either, there’s more than enough room for both boarding and disembarking guests to access the cubby holes. The train is stationary for goodness sake. My guess is that a risk manager suggested it as a solution to some imaginary problem, nobody wanted to challenge and now it’s VRTP policy forever.

I think this is a good summary. It feels incomplete - two things stand out: - the transition from highly themed indoor queue to a maze of cyclone fencing is jarring, even more so given the general lack of useful shade. - the courtyard desperately needs a small shop or F&B outlet, something to give it some energy and movement. The character meet and greets are nice but not enough to make the area seem complete. More shade would also be welcome here.

Industry-leading immersive theming doesn’t come cheap I guess.

Some sort of new tracked raft ride is going in at Futuroscope, there’s an idea.

I can’t unsee the dinosaur turd.

Would have been perfect for a coaster called Kansas Twister.

VRTP's aspiration has always been to be like Disney and Universal, job done I guess.

With DD and the Studio Showcase closed there's a decent sized plot of land available for expansion. I doubt they'll try a big thrill ride there given proximity to neighbours. Dare we hope for a new dark ride?

Assuming this land is based on the book it’s all public domain IP, so no licensing fee.

I sometimes make cheeseburger pizza at home, Dreamworld are on a winner with that one. Whole menu looks pretty great - DW proving again they know what they’re doing when it comes to food.

Even crazier when you consider they were able to reuse the existing AA queue building. It’s hard to see where the money was spent for sure. If Gumbuya and Luna Park can afford a family invert and boomerang respectively they can’t be all that expensive!

Appreciate the pictures and reports from those who’ve visited. I’m getting the impression this is like Nintendo Land at Universal Hollywood. Small, cheap and unimpressive. Will be nice to +3 the coaster count but nothing in this land suggests it will have the perennial appeal of SDSC or (lest we forget) LTRR.

Looks fantastic so far! Amazing to see a soft opening before Christmas when all of the experts here were adamant the park would struggle to make Australia Day…

Providing they theme it as well as the original ride (“claw” supports and all), this sounds great.