joz

You'll notice I said Claw, not ST. That wasn't a mistake. I think some might see it as a poor man's rivals, but honestly I don't think the public even see it as anything. You need to get quite close to it and ride it to see that it's the same train style. I don't think the problem that ST has is MW related. While I do kind of agree that you don't want to be spending mega $$, I don't think having it be the same as it was when it was branded is a good idea. I understand that they're in the shit, but I'd be trying to create something new that doesn't live or die based on an IP that will last. You might get away with pretending that Tiger Island also includes the Asian themed Kung Fu Panda stuff, but keeping a Madagascar/Far Far away mini land makes much less sense to me. Maybe if you went all in and made it lush as hell, but if you're doing that you're not saving money by reusing Madagascar stuff. You know what they could have called it, the Gold Coast's BEST coaster. It's purely subjective, and I wouldn't agree it's best, but if someone told me their favourite coaster was ST, I can't argue against that and say they're wrong. It's not indefensible to make that claim. It also has the most inversions of any coaster on the Coast (not a high bar, but still). It's the only ride that launches you backwards. There are so many marketing angles that would work. I think what they currently have up is 'DW's newest coaster'. Bleh, no wonder you don't care. Thoosies don't pay the bills, they never have and never will. The people who benefit from internationally renowned rides are Australian enthusiasts who get to be complimented on overseas based forums about how good a ride looks.

I must admit I'm pretty shocked at the extent to which it hasn't moved the needle yet. I really thought you'd see a very noticeable uptick in attendance but so far that hasn't really happened. Privately I've been saying that I think ST might be enough to really turn the corner. I appear to be wrong. Optimistically, maybe it'll be a bit of a slow burner. Maybe those few extra people they did get will start telling their friends and it'll build momentum but it's hard to see. If Dreamworks is on it's way out it's even worse because they'll be spending loads of money on what the public will see as a downgrade. All this kind of brings me onto the actual topic; Kenny and Belinda's Dreamland works if it's a replacement for ABC kids, and you go back to making the area look more rustic. Koalas live in the bush, and that's a bushland heavy area with a billabong. K&B aren't a strong IP that resonate but it doesn't matter, it fits in the area, and it works. It doesn't work as a Dreamworks replacement as that area either needs a reallt strong IP, or no IP but be a good area. Dreamland is much stronger than K&B's Dreamland. I think if you want to trade on the past, you'd get more traction by putting in some awesome gardens, make it generic and call it 'Country Fair'. That stops it from skewing young; it doesn't need to skew young. It's a theme park it already skews young. Make it accessible, K&B makes it a kiddie for no real benefit.

I think that's quite plausible, and I've had that same thought that they need to get people used to the idea of going there before any sort of growth can happen. It would have been interesting if that had been mentioned as the idea before the markets started. I think if that was a goal it'd be worth opening Claw, either for free or for a small fee like $5 for a couple of hours to get people to go on rides there too. It's already checked and turned on from the day, there's still staff around, feel like it would be easy. That and the playground in Dreamworks given the only playground currently is apparently Lil puff.

I disagree that the accident isn't a factor. Clearly it still is. I think ST would have seen a huge spike in attendance if it wasn't. I also think that the park being a shell of its former self doesn't help things. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but all the parks have been crazy busy this year. I very strongly suspect MW's attendance this year has increased by more than DW's, despite the higher starting point and having done more or less nothing this year. To me the more interesting comparision is SW. They've in a fairly similar situation to DW as far as the park goes; their offering is down on what it used to be and they're a long way off their best. DW made a big thing about how much attendance has grown because of ST. Here's the thing, in that same period, SW's attendance grew by (more or less) the same amount at a time when they added nothing. This year has been huge for the Gold Coast, and DW/WWW/Skypoint's combined attendance growth was barely above SW which I see as a pretty good 'control' group. There has to be another factor beyond a park which has declined, and the accident is the obvious candidate, if there wasn't, DW would have blown SW out of the water. Having said that, I don't think you can blame everything on the accident, and perhaps timing it so your park has visibly declined when you're trying to relaunch yourself wasn't a great move; surely they could have got another year or two out of Buzzsaw for example. But saying the accident doesn't still loom large I think would be incorrect. I think the fact the park has visibly declined consistently in all years since 2017 is relevant.

I think there is a theme park hotel market, and that's what my fanboy thinks they should lean into. Be the 'Movie World Hotel', your location next to MW is what makes you special. Not being a fairly generic hotel. On the other hand, the rest of me says 'There are no decent hotels anywhere around there. If you make it a theme park hotel you potentially exclude others from staying. If you make it that anyone feels like they can stay there, you've got the only good viable hotel for miles around and you won't lose the Theme Park crowd.' I've tried to book accommodation in that area before (for someone working on a movie at the studios oddly enough) and the accommodation options on the Northern GC are awful. I would strongly suspect there is a lot of demand outside of the theme park holiday crowd. It's not the hotel my fanboy wants to see, but I can kind of see how it's a thing.

Nothing says Jungle like a heap of gumtrees... Surely it's a very generic retheme of Dreamworks with a new name for Madagascar?

You could do a fairly generic 'studio' dark ride that's rather good, but showcase is the sort of thing the park needs. No fake narrative, no rider requirements. Just 'here's some movie stuff'

@Dean Barnettplease just let it go. Literally everyone would appreciate it greatly. Thank you, have a wonderful day 🙂

This sounds very unlikely to have actually happened.

Scooby's entrance is really good, but the reason I like it isn't becasuse its so good but because it's actually kind of small and crummy. Scooby is a decently big, quality ride, and you don't really get a sense of that from the front. Anyone who knows me will tell you one of the things I'm really big on is surprise in how you use space, summed up by the expression, big show on a small stage. Best example of that in Australia for anyone old enough was the imax theatre at DW back in the day. Six story movie screen but the building it was in was 2 stories tall. That building was old world themed too so you're really not expecting a giant 6 story space. Scooby is the same kind of thing, you really dont get much clue from the front how big the ride is. It must happen reasonably often for a new guest to go on Scooby having only seen the entrance. Even when you know what Scooby does, it's surprising first time you ride it. Riding it without knowing what it does must be amazing, and the understated entrance doesn't give it away. That aside, I was going to make an argument against Lev having the best ride entrance/start to a queue in Australia, until I thought about it what the best would be. Justice League maybe? I dunno. It's not really something our parks have traditionally done, so yeah, best entrance to a ride in the country I reckon. As I've said previously people who want to complain about it will still be able to, but really it seems pretty well done to me. It loses a couple of marks here and there for some minor things (my personal gripe is fake grass), but as a whole I think they've done decently good.

We're not suggesting these things are the same surely?

Maybe it was a smell effect?

I'd go back half of April or a weekday in May. You 100% don't want to be there for QLD School Holidays. NSW school holidays will be busy, but normally they get a bit of a groove on in the back half of the holidays and the crowds are lower for NSW holidays. Crowds this year were absolutely huge, I don't think you'll see that again next year, I think a lot of people have had their fill of the theme parks after not visiting for a few years, and with interest rates doing their thing I think you'll see a more traditional holiday attendance next year. Last Easter holidays were an absolute disaster, I think the park will be keen not to repeat it, and attendance should be naturally lower anyway, so in theory should be decent. Having said that it's very likely that either Rivals or Superman (or both) will be back to one train operation as the other trains get rebuilt, so Easter QLD holidays could be bedlam next year. Maintenance also tends to get front loaded into May June and September so all the big rides are available for the September though January season which is quickly merging together to form one almost constant busy season, with a short breath in November. In summary, May would be quiet but you'll probably miss maybe 2 big rides and some filler, start of April is a hard no based on crowds, NSW school holidays MIGHT be that happy medium of slightly quieter, but still busy, with as much open that can be.

Controversial opinion: the original, while better than what's there currently, wasn't that much better. It didn't really change the ride that much.

It doesn't which is my point. I mean kind of, but there's a difference in execution between us and them. Manta makes sense because they made the trains look like Mantas. It could equally be themed to a sea bird of some kind, but once it's done and you see it you kind of go 'Yep that's it, makes sense'. I think the same is true of Leviathan and Trident, and all being in a coherent land also kind of brings it together. Like you could theme Storm to Atlantis and it would make sense, but it makes sense as Storm too. I think the same is true of something like Steel Taipain. Like kind of generic, but also the train looks a bit like a snake; moreso than a Wild Mouse so play on. Leviathan, same thing. Is there a reason for it inherently? Not really. Does it all make sense as a package? Absolutely! It's their recent offerings where you look at it and it just seems absolutely random.

For the Dive Coaster I think it's meant to be Emperor because they're the biggest type of penguin and it's the biggest coaster at SWD, and with Mako I belive the bunny hills represent how they jump in the air sometimes when feeding. I'm not saying you're wrong in what the point of the names actually is, but to me the links are arbitrary. It's the exact same amount of effort that went into Sea Viper.

One thing about the rides that they've been installing for the past few years is there's been no connection between the ride type and the theme. It's almost like they'd spin a big wheel with ride types on one side, and another wheel with random ocean themes on another. It's a *spin* Premier Launch Coaster themed to *spin* Ice breaking ships! It's a *spin* B&M Hyper, themed to *spin* a type of shark! It's a *spin* B&M Dive coaster themed to *spin* penguins! Its a *spin* Wooden coaster themed to *spin* Stingrays! In other words the ride selection and the theme seem totally arbitrary and interchangeable. This one it's like 'Yeah, stand up coaster, surfing, you surf standing up. The theme and the ride type actually make sense together! Wonderful' As for how it would go at SW here, I'd be interested to see how it rides. If you could get it to somehow squeeze in around and through storm and over JR, sort of taking up very little new space you could have a winner. It's probably enough of a 'statement' coaster to be a signature ride for the long term, but a part of me just isn't quite sure. Looks a decent little ride though

@Ashley some things require lots of explanation, some things not so much

I get it in parks with huge attendance/pass holder numbers, but in Australia it's kind of pointless. I get the point of limiting demand as supply because supply is limited but it's just not that big an issue in Australia. The queue will limit demand if it gets too long. Just soft open it without telling anyone. Once it's running reliably and kinks in ops are sussed, declare it open and change the ads from 'coming soon' to 'now open'.

Passholder previews can honestly suck a fat one.

With 4 across, a group of 3 expects to be riding next to each other and they'll return to the front of the queue I'd they can't. With 2 across seating they know they're being split up. Same car is obviously the first preference, but adjacent rows is fine. If it's late in the cycle and there's a group of 3 with 2 seats together and 1 further away, they'll accept splitting up more dramatically in order to get to ride straight away. This isn't true in 4 across seats, not to the same extent anyway. A 4 across ride like a B&M generally has a lot more people to sort in a similar period of time as Rivals so you can't do pleasing things to fill every seat. Single rider queue makes much more sense there and the single seats come up much more organically. See this is another reason I think it would work quite well on Scooby. That and the much quicker cycle times. Single car is pretty much the same thing as a 4 across row.

Single rider queues are a good idea, but Rivals isn't the sort of ride that suits it. You need something that cycles very quickly where there's no time to call single riders from the normal queue to fill a seat, or a ride where the design of it throws up single seats. Scooby would suit a single rider queue, a 4 across B&M would suit one. The thing about Rivals is that when running good, you get a dispatch every 4 mins. Since you only want to fill in space, and groups of 3 can sit next to each other, the most single seats you should ever have per train is 1. That means 15 people from that queue every hour is the MAX throughput. If you see 15 people waiting in front of you in the single rider queue, minimum that should be an hour wait when ops are really good. Personally I'd rather see the 4th lane become a front seat queue that you can only access after you've done your time in the normal standby queue, but that's just me.

Omg that would be amazing!

We debated this pretty hard about how I don't think it's a fit for SW. I think weirdly does fit at MW. Given the queues that Superman, GL and Rivals has, MW clearly has a lot of demand on thrill rides. Surfrider would increase the supply of side by about 1500-2000 rides a day. It wouldn't be a 'must ride' attraction, but it's by no means a bad ride, and any extra capacity is more than welcome. There is an issue with attraction mix skewing too tall but no more so than when Arkham was there. There is a new Jr. Flatride (which i would say is a borderline family ride) and 3 new intermediate coasters coming so I think it makes sense. I stand by my view that WnW makes the most sense, but I think MW would be a very close second place, and a much better fit than SW.

Oh it wouldn't have gone far up the top hat so fail!!!!!