Guest 239

I come back after a day being away and there is currently a thread celebrating Sea World for once again delaying their $50 million dollar precinct and attractions as a good business decision, and another berating Luna Park Sydney for sticking to budget, schedule and concepts as bad business decisions. People told us not to get our expectation too high for something with 6 less rides and $20 million dollars more to work with? What did you except? Yeah it's not crash hot and could do better but I doubt anybody is going to get off Big Dipper and complain that it was a bad ride cause they had to step on metal for a bit. Luna Park Sydney has one of the best on-site art teams in the industry. Give them a year or two with this and I reckon it'll be a lot different.

It's a mix kids, family and thrill rides. Sledgehammer and Boomerang are the most thrilling out of those and Big Dipper will add to that in the future. The rest are great for families.

Personally? Rumours suggest that something has happened behind the scenes causing an additional delay but considering its on the backbone of several other delays they're dressing it up to be a simple business decision. I think if they could open, they would open. Also @Jobe brings up a really good point that I feel is ignored. Luna Park Sydney is still on-track to open 9 new rides by the end of the year. Their project was announced during the pandemic, has been at the epicentre of one of Australia's worst outbreaks and is still chugging along despite the NSW situation. If anybody has a good excuse, it's them. But come next week they're expected to open their 8 new rides and the single rail is still on-track for December. I'm fine with delays. They are a part of the industry and there is nothing you can do about them. But I hate being treated like an idiot by businesses that think we can't think for themselves. From what I can gather your conclusion is derived from talks within VRTP that suggest this is a business decision, so I'm placing this on you. But the suggestion that delaying a landmark attraction for 'business reasons' before one of the most critical periods in the industry seems almost as daft as Apple coming out and saying removing the headphone port was 'courage'. They hope that people wont look any deeper, but when you do it ultimately makes sense.

Very valid points Richard and I promise that I'm not trying to attack or tear apart your article, merely provide my side of things to promote healthy discussion. I want to reiterate that I think you've made some excellent points, but there are still things I don't agree with. Fair point, I misinterpreted a part of the article directly after "The ultimate reasons for Leviathan's delays seem to be about as predictable and humdrum as you'd expect." That's my bad! That's a bold stance to take when mentioning that most of the article educated speculation. Staff and guests a like were privy to the information since last week. There is nothing that indicates the decision was made weeks or months ago, and speculating such a thing places a lot of faith that is all part of their business decisions. I honestly missed that first paragraph. From my experience with blogs I usually just go straight to whatever is under the main image and author information which is my bad. I think my main disagreement with the article is that its not written as conjecture, but insinuates that these are the current play of events which is what made me assume that there was a third party involved regarding insider information. There is a lot of faith placed in the conclusions that are made within the article, and whilst that would be fine with evidence to back it up, it does bring up questionable neutrality considering we don't know if there is something further at play here. Personally speaking to others in the industry they believe the decision is considerably suspicious, and whilst its safe to assume that it's solely a business decision, it could also be giving credit where it's not due. It paints the situation very positively, whilst also taking the opportunity to highlight some of Dreamworld's historic downfalls, but we don't know whether positivity is earned yet. VRTP has been very open with their launch dates and have so far missed almost all of them. Vortex was originally slated for late 2019, a time pre-pandemic, but missed the mark and then got muddled in with COVID. Trident was for April 2021, a ride whose pieces seem to have only arrived on-site in the last couple of weeks, and Leviathan has been covered extensively. First late 2020, then June 2021, then late 2021, and now Easter 2022. I really don't see how this inspires any faith. I think it's a good opportunity to showcase why Dreamworld, a theme park which has fumbled its way along in the last decade, has managed to have such a smooth opening despite the same hurdles which face Sea World and I also don't think it touches on the mess that is Trident anywhere near enough.

I noticed this on second read as well. It mentions that Sea World avoided the timber problem, then says it's one of the primary reasons why it got delayed. A lot of the excuses seem very convenient, especially as you mentioned the ride was meant to be opened pre-pandemic. It's easy to point the finger at external influences but I think the real reason is exactly what you said - a calculated 'non-compete' move. It allows them to halt construction around the holiday season, recoup some dosh from the parks over this same period, and then start fresh come the new year. I don't think people would blame the company for doing this. Ever since Wonderland swung their arms around like a helicopter trying to point the blame at anybody but themselves, the whole situation just comes off as disingenuous. I feel like Richard probably didn't write this article alone and had some insider information, but I wouldn't exactly trust the source to be providing the right information, just the best information that reflects positively on the business.

I did actually love this brief diversion in the article because it was so out of nowhere. "So look, coaster ain't on it's way... BUT MEERKATS ARE" My wallet leapt out of my pants and straight into a One Pass.

Interesting article and its great to get insight but it seems to be preaching to the choir. It points out problems with supplies and professionals being core reasons as to why the rides wont be opening this summer, but for many people that wont matter. The general public will see the large, mostly constructed roller coaster at Sea World and wonder why they heard about that project first yet Dreamworld has managed to finished theirs before it. It's an unfortunately bad look for the theme park and beyond educating the masses, there is very little they can do. For most people they will lose in the court of public opinions. Another shortcoming for a theme park that desperately needs attention and sadly people aren't going to settle for 'We're sorry for your less than stellar day, but be sure to come back in a few months when it's better!' I still think the Easter opening is incredibly risky. Yes, things are dicey now - But we are on track to have 90%+ of the population vaccinated by the end of 2021. Easter will be most families opportunity to travel after the Dec/Jan school holidays and if international travel is open then I can imagine that a lot of families will be using that opportunity to visit overseas relatives, catch up with friends or visit their favourite international destinations and considering that the government has already insinuated that they will let Australian's out before letting tourists in then I imagine that there are going to be some quiet theme parks in Australia.

Have you ever been to a county fair? Tacky as showbag stalls are basically the bread and butter for those shows. A good execution of a bad theme (in this case country fair) does not make it good, but it certainly fits what they're aimed for even though that still doesn't make it good. At no point in the link that you provided did they promise a custom built show bag stall that fits your expectations. They promised showbags, we got showbags. You're exactly right, neither have any place in a theme park but here we are. However I'm interested to know your mental gymnastics as to how a Boost Juice food truck in the middle of Movie World's turn-of-the-century US Main Street is any better than Dreamworld's beyond the fact that almost every single one of your posts seems to be a Dreamworld bash.

There are some interesting things happening in our parks at the moment. I don't hate the showbag truck at Dreamworld because it's on brand for their county fair event, but slapping a boost truck on Main Street in Movie World for no reason is incredibly poor show.

I think one of the big problems that has been identified on here before is that VRTP are very reactive. Whilst it seems like there is some planning, generally it seems that most major decisions are made on the fly without any real master plan for the future. Beyond that, their other problem is that they've got so many parks to manage and only so much money to go around so you end up with some parks receiving a lot of attention and then they stagnate for a long time. Movie World hasn't received any new additions since 2017 when Rivals was opened and whilst Sea World is getting some much needed additions, we really have no idea what comes next for the theme parks. There are rumours regarding a replacement for Arkham Asylum but even if they started that today I doubt it'd open before Late 2022/ Early 2023 leaving almost five years between Movie World getting new attractions. You can partially attribute this slump to COVID, but if they had a master plan it would be much easier to push through or adjust the plan instead of alternative which seems to be to wait for greener pastures.

Oof to a lot of those. It seems that some of the general public can't get past what happened several years and whilst I think it's perfectly reasonable to have some healthy scepticism towards the park, I don't think it's fair to still hold it over them after they've done so much to improve. I guess first impressions are the most lasting.

Agreed. I never come off a ride and go "Wow! That 3.8 Gs was absolutely incredible! It pales in comparison to the 3.4 Gs I experienced the other day, but I sure do wish they hit 4.0 Gs like they promised!"

It's a little sad with everybody saying it's boring, especially on RU OK day.

I am yet to figure out what the Australian parks want in terms of media relations. You can be the best of the best in terms of content, size or growth but I feel at the end of the day it doesn't really matter; It's mostly about who you know. With everything happening I'd love to get involved to really put Aussie parks in the international spotlight but you've got a better chance of finding the pope in the woods than securing a time to sit down and talk to some of our theme parks. Hopefully things change for the better moving forward! Honestly I don't think that this was meant for general consumption. It seems like something that they slapped a GoPro on to record their first ever cycle and it's more for historic purposes. Considering that they've been making an effort with their Steel Taipan series on YouTube I highly doubt that this is their one and only POV. I think as enthusiasts we can sometimes jump the gun in wanting things like this because ever since the first launch everybody was like "NEED POV NOW PL0X", so we end up getting them from third-parties with little polish because they aren't necessarily meant for us. If Dreamworld wanted this to be pushed I'm sure they'd send it out to every man and their dog, but they haven't mentioned it at all and so far we've gotten it from everywhere but Dreamworld.

Depends on what the cost involved. Steel Taipan is on top of what used to be a developed part of the theme park, so I'd imagine that there was considerable cost in landscaping the area to be suitable for the attraction. Also factor the launch systems, minor themed elements and comparable amount of steel used for the track and it starts to make since why Steel Taipan is a little bit more expensive. Whilst some enthusiasts may look at this and think it's not great compared to DC Rivals which is perfectly reasonable, I actually think it has potential to out-perform that coaster with the general public. Being a family thrill makes means that it's potential audience is greater, launched coasters have a wow factor that really draws people in and considering Dreamworld's shortcomings in recent years it should hopefully put the theme park back in people's minds. Facebook comments are generally awful on the best of days. I think they're just fishing for attention.

no.

"Hello? The New Atlantis, open for business! Who are you to resist it, huh?"

At 2:10 you can see a machine set up that is doing mass temperature testing. I know people give China a lot of flack, but they definitely had a leg up on technology due to the SARs outbreak. When I lived in Hong Kong for a few months those machines were everywhere in 2015. They would record your temperature and if you were 'flagged' you wouldn't be able to enter certain areas like Disneyland, etc. They don't take chances when their population is so dense. COVID aside, park looks nice. China is getting some solid entries that I'm excited to visit in the future. With this, Shanghai Disneyland and other local parks it'll definitely be somewhere worth 'road tripping' in the future.

I really hope we start getting some solid dates for what 'this summer' actually is. As somebody travelling interstate I don't want to book at the last minute for a surprise launch of New Atlantis.

I'm getting really excited for Steel Taipan. I think it has the potential to really change the feel within Dreamworld. In previous trips to the Gold Coast I've usually gone to Movie world before Dreamworld and it becomes extremely obvious that the latter is lacking a stand-out attraction. MW has the leg up with Superman AND Rivals, but I think ST will help even the playing field. Whilst recently I wouldn't have said this in recent years, next year I reckon the park has the potential to be my recommendation for those looking to just get one annual pass. It'll have everything in a nice package.

A consequence from their race to the bottom. They wanted more guests for little so they just kept lowering their AP prices whilst adding generally okay additions. Eventually they reached a tipping point where people started to shift their perception on the parks and both were backed into a corner with cheap park tickets and cheap additions, and their only way was a really slow climb back out of the hole they dug for themselves.

Troubled history you say? In saying that, I've been to Melbourne basically every year since 2014 and have never once done this. I always felt it was in a silly location and whilst you can see it from the highways, it's impossible to orient yourself as to where it is from the city so you basically forgot about it once you got into the CBD. If it was closer to the MCEC it would have done a lot better in my opinion.

This is what confuses me. Why bother half-assing a hard concept when you can full-ass an easy concept? I've seen the idea floating around for a long time of a boardwalk themed area for Sea World. You could literally do these same three rides with a boardwalk theme and it would be easy to unify it under a single theme. I don't know how the business can kid itself that what they're doing is fully-immersive when just a flight away you've got these elsewhere in the industry: Etc.