Levithian

Village Roadshow Limited is the parent company. Everything else are divisions, ie separate entities owned and operated by the parent company, VRL. This includes Village Roadshow Theme Parks, Roadshow Studios (the studios next to Movieworld), Roadshow films, Australian Theatres/Event Cinemas, and about a dozen other companies they are invested in. People need to get away from this idea that the studios and theme parks are one and the same just because they are next to each other. They are separate entities and run as such. It's not like the old days of the park when you could just cross into the studios area like when on the studio tours or use the studio commissary because they had vastly better food. They are very much defined and fenced off. You won't see the studios lose facilities due to park expansion. A bit of land here or there to accommodate something is one thing, but they aren't going to lose offices, production buildings, facilities or studios for the sake of a new attraction at Movieworld. All decisions ultimately rest with Village Roadshow Limited board. They own/control everything. It's their choice what happens where and when.

Come on, is it really a water park if you haven't burnt your feet on bare concrete baked by the sun during the hottest part of the day? Everyone else should take note. Not just waterparks either. Looks amazing.

I will just say this. Village haven't always been truthful with what is the real reason for closures/things happening behind the scenes. So while defending themselves against this sort of poor journalism is evident, don't automatically buy into their reasoning for the closures. In the past they have used the maintenance excuse a number of times when it wasn't the case, such as multiple times during covid with staffing problems. So sometimes I feel they are their own worst enemy by not letting the public know what is actually happening. Honestly. It's about time Village and Ardent establish a proper media presence and utilise a social media/marketing team that knows what they are doing. Both kind of half heartedly addressed a few issues after the dreamworld accident, but this issue of a media beat up keeps reappearing because of their inaction. They should have continued to develop short, informal video series that gives insight into the workings and operation of amusement attractions, how they run, how they are maintained, why they stop, etc. Two big ones that would be easy to explain are block systems and how they apply to ride control, and their procedures for what happens when a ride goes into fault, and how guests are managed (ie, controlled evacuations). Addressing those few issues alone would pretty much silence these sorts of media stories. You could develop it further to behind the scenes in general, what's going on at the moment (upcoming events), how other departments work, or any number of cool things you can find hidden away too. But if they would actually open up a little and answer why some things happen as they do, it would not only destroy the credibility of news/media reports like this, but it would also remove most of the ammunition (see; outright lies that basically nobody but the parks can dispel) they use to produce hatchet jobs like have been happening the past week. I'm not talking detail heavy, long productions the general public will largely tune out of. Just pick one (or two if they are related) subjects each month and produce a short 5-8 minute video about it. I think even those people who don't have an interest in coasters and amusement rides in general will find it interesting, even if all it does is increase their confidence in how seriously safety is taken, what control measures are in place to keep you safe from harm, and that everything isn't an aging piece of junk just waiting to kill someone. I honestly cannot understand how in this day and age, with how all information spreads like wildfire across the internet in a number of hours, parks here generally tend to play the pretend it isn't happening and maybe it will go away card. You're lucky to get confirmation of any incident, let alone a denial or correction of misinformation published by these hacks. To produce an informative series that would properly put them in their place would be quite a statement and a major change in how their interact with their guests.

Warner Bros don't own shares in anything to do with village roadshow theme parks anymore, so everything is based on a licencing agreement as already said. It's also worth noting that Warner Bros have also parted company with Roadshow Films, signing a new agreement with Universal, so Village Roadshow no longer distribute Warner Bros films/production in Australia and New Zealand.

See the gravel area just to the left middle of the image? It's quite a big area when you actually stand at the fence. Next time you are there have a closer look along the track and you'll see the middle courtyard is a fenced off area within a fenced off area.

It can go right in the fenced off courtyard between the station/darkride/launch building and justice league. It's basically a fenced off pen with a perimeter ride (track) fence running around the edges of it. Plenty of space to utilise.

People need to remember it's not just mechanical inspections from their fitters/engineers like other rides, daily inspections would also have carpenters now too as repairs/maintenance/changes to the track or structure would likely happen daily. It's the nature of working with wood, especially in an outdoor environment, goes double for a new ride, triple when you consider the vibration/movement it experiences every day. I don't ever see it as a ride that will routinely open "on time", every day of the year. Even once all it's quirks are known and a good routine is established. It's going to be one of those rides that needs a little bit of tinkering all the time, so the occasional late opening is going to happen.

Finally, the theme I have been waiting for!

Water levels are monitored. If they drop too low to operate safely the ride goes into fault. So i doubt there is anything to be worried about. Its basically impossible for the water level to be ok in the western town and too low in the geyser area. Water flows from the backwards drop area through to lift two. So if its low at the start, it should be low at the end too as its constantly pumped back around from the harbour.

it doesn't, other than it doesn't usually include cycling of the restraints with dummies. it doesn't, other than it doesn't usually include cycling of the restraints with dummies.

Need to keep in mind that a planning application and an application for material change of use are different things. One is actually applying to build something, it's tangible. It's going to happen exactly as provided in the application if the council approve the development. The other is just basically registering intent and wishing to change how the property is being used. In this case, the area is probably designated as car parks, and amusement/theme park with no mention of a hotel or accommodation facilities. So they want to apply to have this changed so they can potentially go ahead with a future development. The material use gives them scope of what the property could potentially be used for. They still have to apply for a development application for the building and site works if they ever decide they actually want to build the hotel. See the difference? It's not even really a commitment. As we have seen over the past 8 years, anything completely out of your control could happen that would place your immediate future plans on hold.

Residents complain about height with multiple structures above 30m already existing within 100m. Yep. sounds about the usual. Likely comes from the same people that complained against the proposal for the park to use the vacant land on kopps road for parking because they would lose their dog park....

i think the back wall has just become part of the theming of the new ride.

This is actually a common misconception. Its not a warner park and hasnt been since 2006. Village licence the use of the warner bros. name and anything associated with them as far as IP rights and retail sales. They dont even have a film distribution agreement with roadshow studios/pictures anymore. So pretty much everything WB you see is being used under licence. IE, they are paying for it.

Honestly. I think you are going to have an issue with a number of rides. If it's not a concern of getting a good seat lock, the secondary crotch belt/strap on a number of rides is going to cause you issues. Then you have rides like scooby doo which has very little leg room as it is, so it's going to make it hard for you to fit into the car and get the lap bar down with your knees sitting up closer to your chest. The new boats at west may be ok as there is some foot room in front of you under the seat, there is a test seat available to try. Likewise, road runner rollercoaster has more room in the seats now with the upgrade, but the cars are quite shallow and the T shaped lap bars don't provide a lot of space for thighs/knees. Storm coaster at sea world has a fairly simple lap bar, but they had additional seatbelts now which need to latch. Vortex is an over the shoulder restraint which physically gives you a little more leg room, but again, it has a secondary crotch belt that needs to do up. So if you are bigger in the chest or stomach, it can run out of belt length even if the harness locks. Jet rescue has a different style of lap restraint, it's really going to depend on how big your thighs are fitting under the bar given you have foot positions.

All the rides they have purchased could have extensive theming. The outcome we have is 100% down to the choices made by management. Everything you say is 100% true, it's just that those immersive rides with extensive theming, queue lines and ride areas are vastly more expensive than people realise. We don't have the population and the visitor numbers to Australia to see the sort of attendance figures required to support that kind of expenditure. You're comparing about 5 million across the entire VRTP division (as in, movieworld, wet n wild, seaworld and paradise country), vs say, about 4.5 million for something like Universal Studios Singapore. Prices for entry are very similar to Movie world, but if Movie world was to see those same sort of attendance figures it would mean $150,000,000+ in additional revenue per year just from ticket sales alone, never mind the additional boost to retail sales that would come with it. This is ultimately what it comes down to. As I said, they can do better than they have been, especially given the amount of existing theming either missing or not working on a lot of rides, but it's going to be quite some time before we see them willing to spend $60,000,000 (or more) on a single ride. Perhaps never if we don't attract greater tourist numbers and our population doesn't experience a significant growth spurt. Village Roadshow Studios are working soundstages, there is next to nothing to make up a back lot as far as set pieces and buildings go. Thats the biggest difference. It completely changes the dynamic and a working studio has security and safety as major concerns which is one of the primary reasons why members of the public will likely never be allowed on site. The benefit in generating revenue for the theme park is a drop in the ocean compared to the money active studios produce. It's not something I could ever see them messing with. Better for people to realise they are really 2 separate entities now. A lot of people have this mythical vision of what the studio tour was. There was very little attraction in the studio grounds itself, you had a fairly basic props/wardrobe display you drove past, and maybe a few remnants of set pieces from movies shot there, but the bulk of the tour was in the theme park. All the movie magic stuff was in the sound stage building that now houses superman escape. Honestly, imho, tours are dead. The big issues of space aside, the way movies are filmed and produced is light years ahead of anything approaching a manual process guests can experience now. You get a far better experience from interactive rides and attractions. Without sets and a nostalgia draw to your backlot tour, it's just not worth the investment and isn't ultimately going to offer a great experience anymore. You can't build that into movie world because it never existed.

They shouldn't go and rip out a production worthy auditorium like that for a ride. They should put money back into decent shows and reopen the show stage as it was intended and finally do something decent with the HSD area. This is what the park really needs. Somewhere to soak up 1000+ people a few times a day. Allows guests to get out of the sun and cool off in the air conditioning during the hottest part of the day. The amount of money spent on set and theming in those calibre of a ride exceeds the full budget village have ever had available for an entire ride. Can they do a lot better? hell yes. But you have to be realistic. You aren't going to see hundred million dollar expenditure. They just don't have the turnover to match.

I reckon i'ts really aimed more at people booking functions at the park than it is for day guests. Opens them up to being able to offer bigger packages, book your 500 seat catered function and your guests can stay in the hotel sort of deals. Can't see it being themed or pretty much anything other than corporate hotel. Not saying it can't be used for day guests, but there is literally nothing they can package together at the moment that doesn't include transporting people to seaworld resort. Given movie world actually has bigger conference/function facilities than seaworld resort (about double), it's a massive amount of money going out the door.

Not exactly a maintenance item, but it looks like village are planning to contract out their games to an external company. I wonder if that means both parks will see some upgrades/new games. Games Operators (multiple positions) Job in Main Beach, Gold Coast QLD - SEEK Homepage | HB Leisure

You know DJPower is TOPCAT right?

It's like saying a piece of glass can start a fire. They are considered safe for indoor use, especially in a commercial setting if you follow the hazard warnings. If you take one, load it with the biggest granules it can use and direct it at a flammable source, you are asking for trouble. The sparks are still generated at over 600 degrees celsius, so shoot enough of them at a close flammable source and they will likely set fire to it. What makes them "safe" compared to other traditional pyrofx is not if they can set fire to things, but that they have no fuel source, or stored potential energy source. The powder is not flammable, there is no accelerant or oxidiser that will fuel flames. This is the big difference. Especially when Joe average purchases one for $12 from china without training or a licence. You can follow the instructions, understand the hazard warnings, and you aren't going to set fire to your neighbourhood.

It's a reimaged scene based on an old movie called The Treasure of Sierra Madre. It's made it into a bunch of different movies/pop culture since it was released in the 40's. The bandits at the top are actually saying; Badges?! we don't need no stinking badges!! You don't belong here. Now, give us your gold.

Forgot to say, the problem with spark machines is they are all designed with time intervals based on the size/type of granules you are using. How they work is, refill pouches come with NFC tags (in a card) you swipe on the machine when you fill it from a pouch each time. It sets the run time on the machine automatically and will ONLY run for this interval, regardless of how much powder is left in the machine. This means once the time limit is over, the machine switches off and won't run until a new swipe card is used. The cards are one use only, the data is erased on the tag rendering it useless when it is used, so you can't just keep swiping it on. What you have to do is open the machine, remove the remaining unused powder, refill, then swipe on a new card for another run (say for example, 15 mins). It's not just a form of safety control, but its also a design restraint as the powder needs to be kept dry as it will absorb moisture and clump together and block the machine, causing issues. So you can't just fill the machine with a days worth of powder, connect it to a DMX channel and have your show control run it all day. It's why you don't really see them in continuous use/settings.

I love how disney have created their fire/fuse effects starting with a real simple led flame flicker combined with high quality led chasers for the fuses. Shows that it doesn't have to be high tech to look good, you just need to use quality components to start with and MAINTAIN them. They must have entire departments just devoted to repairing/maintaining all the effects they use in their theming. Coldfx aren't all crap now. The technology (and powders) has gotten a lot better and there is nowhere near the residue they used to produce for the volume of sparks. Especially if you are only triggering it in bursts. When you combine them with foggers you can get a pretty decent flame effect too. You could replicate the old spark effect with a spark fall machine. Same effect but directs the sparks down instead of upwards so you can hang them. Personally, I think a few jets up the lift would be better placed. They produce their own cannon/explosion sound when they go off, it's not excessive, but it would be a nice sound effect in an otherwise already noisy lift building anyway. Another cool machine DJpower have is a hybrid fog that combines it with a Co2 jet, so you can actually cannon smoke/fog effects (especially for short intervals) instead of it looking like a spray that builds in volume like normal fog/smokers. You get the blast/range of the Co2 machines, but the volume of smoke/fog machines. Those smoke effects in thunder mountain rail road are Co2 cannons for example. Hybrid ones allow the same density/volume of smoke, but use a lot less Co2.

Awww. Nobody mentioned the sparks effect when going up the second lift. Check it out from 4:32. If anything is worthy of being repaired/restored, it's that. Made sense with the whole, fuses burning, fizzles, sparks, mine is going to explode, get out kind of deal that's happening on the second lift.