wipeout94

Would like to see the USA version. I go to theme parks for an escape. I don’t understand why theme parks show me what I can see outside.

I agree with the previous comments. Motocoaster should be re-themed. I would change the trains similar to Pony Express at Knott's Berry Farm. Theming would suit Rivertown and the ride is more comfortable. I would enclose the launch and had have a story which matches Rivertown. Photo from Los Angeles Times.

https://7news.com.au/sunrise/south-australian-business-leader-pushing-for-a-disneyland-c-8320261 Still Dreaming

I agree of re-theming the Doomsday area back to full western theme again. Definitely keep the Dirty Harry Bar. I would like to see the Doomsday theming mixed in with Justice League, with a new ride system.

Missed opportunity MDMC should be moved into this shed. Add some half working flashing lasers and now we have Mick Doohan’s Spooky Coaster!

Pic from today. Also for those who like car park updates, the car park was full. Most people at White Water World.

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/movie-world-release-ad-ahead-of-dc-rivals-hypercoaster-launch-next-week-on-gold-coast/news-story/93f79a79ce01476ab146deba5e4d16a2 Movie World release ad ahead of DC Rivals Hypercoaster launch next week on Gold Coast Kathleen Skene and Andrew Potts, Gold Coast Bulletin September 12, 2017 1:25pm A CACKLING Joker, malevolent on a stormy sky, opens the thunderous new promo for Movie World’s long-awaited DC Rivals Hypercoaster. DC Comics villains from the Injustice League — Brainiac, Black Mantis and a Red Lantern are among the stars of the video, released ahead of the ride’s launch next week. Good characters of the Justice League, including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and Cyborg round out the animated cast of the 45-second production, set on the winding 1.4km magenta track. Movie World has released a frightening new ad for their DC Rivals Hypercoaster, due for launch next week. Photo: Supplied The park officially revealed the ride in June and held its first test last month, strapping blue dummies into the cars for the 115km/h ride. Village Roadshow is hoping the ride will prove a $30 million shot in the arm at a time when overall theme park fortunes have dipped and spiralled as much as the ride itself. The investment — at roughly the cost of two Towers of Terror — has the potential to once again position the Gold Coast as an international theme park destination. CEO of Village Roadshow Theme Parks Clark Kirby at the site during construction. Photo by Richard Gosling Ride forums and fan pages around the world have heralded the DC Rivals attraction as a game-changer for Australia. Operators said construction of the coaster topped-out at its maximum height of 61.6m in July ahead of its launch. A VIP event next Thursday night will be the formal launch of the drawcard, but it will open to the public before then, on an exact date yet to be finalised. Movie World tests out it's new DC Rivals hypercoaster The 1.4km steel structure will be the longest, tallest and most expensive ride ever built in the Southern Hemisphere.

Great result. See what happens next. New Ardent Leisure board member Dr Gary Weiss is firmly behind investment in the Dreamworld theme park. Pictures: Jack Tran Business Ardent Leisure’s new board member Gary Weiss says Dreamworld has ‘strong future’ Alister Thomson, Gold Coast Bulletin September 5, 2017 12:00am AN activist shareholder appointed to the board of Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure has firmly backed plans to revitalise the ailing theme park. Gary Weiss — executive director of Ardent’s largest shareholder Ariadne Australia — and fellow director Brad Richmond were yesterday installed to the board ahead of a planned shareholder vote. Ariadne has spearheaded fierce criticism of Ardent in the wake of the Dreamworld tragedy last October, accusing the board of strategic errors and “losing its way”. Dr Weiss told the Gold Coast Bulletin they wanted to see more investment in the Coomera park to restore its fortunes. “We are here to assist in delivering better outcomes for all the component parts of the company and to improve returns for all security holders,” he said. “We are strong believers in Dreamworld and its future because it does have a good future.” In July, Ariadne released a rescue plan for the company, which it said could unlock $1 billion of additional value. Ariadne accused Ardent of underinvesting in its theme parks over the past decade, leading to the company falling behind Movie World operator Village Roadshow. It called for the sale of 25ha of surplus land adjacent to Dreamworld at Coomera, which would be reinvested into the park to fund improvements. Yesterday, Mr Weiss backed the plan but said he was open to learning more about how the company functioned. “We think that (the July plan) is the pathway to restore value,” he said. “It was devised from the outside from our own analysis. “Now we are inside the tent we can get a better understanding of the important levers (driving the company). It is critical to properly examine the future requirements moving forward.” Ardent had opposed the appointment of Dr Weiss and Mr Richmond until releasing a statement on Sunday that called for a “collaborative and unified board”. Last week Ardent outlined a $62.6 million loss for last financial year, largely due to the Dreamworld tragedy. The Dreamworld closure and drop in visitor numbers reduced group revenue by nearly 15 per cent to $586 million while the theme parks operations suffered a 34 per cent fall in revenue to $70.9 million and an earnings loss of $3.4 million. Comments

I do agree the tigers could not be utilised to walk in the parade. If a parade was established and was popular a Tiger Island float could be created. That is true Dreamworld staff levels are not the same as Movieworld for their dressed up characters. It would have to be decided of which characters are more appealing to kids. The characters choice could be rotated each month so the parade experience is different on guests return.

While Dreamworld/Ardent is looking for new experiences for their theme park. I would like them to explore the idea of a daily parade. I feel they could show off their attractions and create an exciting experience with licences they already have. In no order they could have as follows: * DreamWorks Characters like Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and Puss in Boots * Two tigers walked from Tiger Island * Someone or displays representing the Corrboree section * Vintage car promoting that ride * A car from the Peter Brock museum or replica * Characters from ABC kids * Singers and dancers from their Main Street line up * Dreamworld Mascots Belinda and Kenny This would be something for crowds to look forward to at the end of the day and would be great promotion on social media. Would like to know if others feel a parade would be a good idea and if they have any suggestions.

More on Nara Dreamworld. http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/asia/inside-nara-dreamland-japans-creepy-abandoned-theme-park/news-story/d9f6c73ea413cd64fa3dd97638187aed news.com.au Inside Nara Dreamland, Japan’s abandoned theme park JANUARY 10, 20177:05PM Japan’s Nara Dreamland amusement park has been left abandoned and decaying for a decade. Picture: Romain Veillon Lauren McMah news.com.au IT WAS a bright, colourful place of fairytale castles and breathtaking roller-coasters, where holidaying families created happy memories — until they stopped. Then it became one of the creepiest abandoned parks in the world. Nara Dreamland, Japan’s answer to Disneyland, has sat in ruin for a decade since dwindling visitor numbers forced it to shut its doors in 2006. Now, demolition work is under way to remove all traces of the once-popular Nara Dreamland, which fell into such decay it resembled the stuff of nightmares. French photographer Romain Veillon managed to capture haunting images of the abandoned park. Inside creepy abandoned park Inside the decaying site, he found eerily quiet walkways, rollercoaster tracks choked by wild overgrowth, paint peeling off shabby attractions and twisted, rusty metal where majestic water fountains once stood. In another image, giant pastel-painted teacups — modelled on Disneyland’s famous spinning teacup ride — sit still and frozen in time. The park, in Japan’s Nara Prefecture, was directly inspired by Disneyland. It was dreamt up by businessman Kunizu Matsuo, who visited the famous Anaheim site in the late 1950s and set about building a theme park as close to Disneyland as legally possible. The Japanese park even had its own version of Disneyland’s famous Main Street USA. Picture: Romain VeillonSource:Supplied Nara Dreamland opened in 1961 and was a hit, but struggled to maintain visitor number after the opening of Tokyo Disneyland in 1983. The opening nearby of Universal Studios Japan and Tokyo DisneySea in 2001 were further nails in the coffin for ageing park, which began to see attractions fall into disrepair and park stores shut up shop. Nara Dreamland officially shut down in 2006 and was left to rot. These rides haven’t seen visitors since 2006. Picture: Romain VeillonSource:Supplied After its owners struggled to keep up with tax payments, it was seized by the Nara City government. In the years since, the decaying park has attracted daring photographers, maverick tourists and other trespassers, but no interest from buyers. But in October last year, Japanese daily newspaper Mainichireported Osaka real estate company SK Housing had bought the site with plans to dismantle what remained of Nara Dreamland. The demolition project was expected to take just over a year.

The Vintage Cars have been listed as closed for maintenance for a while. Does anyone have info of its return? Could Jamberoo Fan may be onto something, as in a relocation to Gold Rush?

I was at Dreamworld yesterday and can report the park had a great attendance. I arrived at 530pm. For those who like carpark reports it was 85% full with people still arriving. You didn't have to go far to find a crowds of people on rides and at the entertainment performances. I saw the beatbox show twice last year and noticed the crowd was larger for the fire machine show last night. Dreamworld do seem to be putting guests first as they moved the fire machine show starting time to 7pm so guests could experience it before the rain started. I am not concerned about the newspaper report. Dreamworld has only been open for a couple of weeks so of course their attendance is down. Also holiday makers have just started to arrive on the Gold Coast after Christmas. it is not just the parks but the whole of the Gold Coast that has been quiet, just like every other year up till now. So while the trolls are stuck in doors righting their negative views, I will continue visiting the parks I enjoy and support.

Both parks close around the sunset times for Sydney and Gold Coast. I would not expect WnW Gold Coast to operate as it gets dark. I would love for WnW Gold Coast to open earlier. Have they opened earlier in any past seasons?

Just a thought. Could they be preparing to convert SDSC into a VR ride?

From driving past MovieWorld tonight it looked like you had a big crowd out there for White Christmas. Glad to see.

I have never seen the fountain operating, but have observed it on old park maps. Also it would have been a cool effect when going past on the train.

As we know between now and 2019 the rides that are left will still have to close for scheduled maintenance (shiiiiiiiiii). Guests will need something else to keep them at the park till later in the day. I'm not a fan of the idea, but the only thing I can think of is that they install a couple of temporary carnival rides in the Sea Viper area. Any thoughts?

Now that you mention it, for people visiting Dreamworld tomorrow have a look at the condition of the river outside the Billabong restaurant. I did not observe the usual eels or turtles disturbing the water. A solution like a fountain would need to be installed there. But of course other issues would be a priority at the moment.

My wife and I visited Dreamworld today and we thought the park looked as good as always. To answer some of the comments that have been made lately. 1. The train was not operating today but is expected to be operational tomorrow. 2. I did not observe any merchandise with the river rapids on it. 3. I thought the crowds were better then expected. Now that the park is open, the tour operators will place this back on their packages. Crowds from overseas will increase. 4. A one day pass is WWW and Dreamworld combined. They will only be checking that young kids entering WWW is accompanied with an adult. 5. Most kids rids were available so Madagascar was there to ride if you need your fix. 6. I noticed that the log ride was fenced off but nothing physically has been altered. In fact the fountain in the middle of the lake is still on even though it is hard to observe. I am hoping the ride is fenced off for now while water rides is a sentive issue, but reopened in the future. If there is no fault with the ride I hope they can develop some sort of restraint to satisfy safety requirements. Overall I still think this is one of the best parks on the Gold Coast and will definitely fill a day once the big rides come on board.

I drove up to the front of Dreamworld yesterday to see how it was progressing. I don't have the exact words to describe what I think about the green signage but I can say it looks a lot worse in person. When you walk towards the front stairs this is all your eyes will fixed on. I hope with feedback it will be moved or altered. Good news is once not focussing on the signage you will see the area fenced off for the lego store. This area is much bigger then I imagined and I can't wait till it opens. I did not observe any diffences to warrant a photo of the construction. Looking forward to the reopening. Definately missing this park.

For travel times on the Nerang river I do agree they that they will be 4 times longer then other options, but people like to travel on water. I would not be surprised if the ferry becomes a tourist attraction in its own right. For the park itself until there is further detail it would not be an attraction I would visit more then once. Although people think it is a strange mix I don't think that it means it will be a failure. I know a number of Gold Coast locals who have seen the Outback Spectacular only once but the show continues to attract crowds year after year.

I feel the ferry service would be very popular. The argument that if a route is feasible or not is irrelevant. Most local transport options in Australia are not feasible but are heavily subsidised to lesson the traffic on roads. Also people will not care about the speed of the trip. Think of it like the Parramatta river service. There are faster options but people will line up to travel on water. Lastly if the wharf is positioned strategically it would only be a few minutes walk from Nerang Train station. This would obviously create more options for people to access Surfers Paradise.

An artist impression of the Songcheng group’s planned theme park at Carrara. Imaged supplied by Canford Property Group Entertainment Developers moving on $600m stafe one of new Gold Coast theme park Kathleen Skene, Gold Coast Bulletin A CHASM through a replica of Uluru opening up to an indoor land of snow and ice is just the beginning of a businessman’s plans for a new ‘world’ on the Gold Coast to be built on his $55 million new block of land at Nerang. Songcheng Group chairman Huang Qiaoling plans to immediately begin work on development approvals for the $600-million first stage of his Australian Legends World after the sale of the land, from fellow Chinese theme park group Wanda, which settled yesterday. A ferry service on the Nerang River from the park to Metricon Stadium and Surfers Paradise is also part of the plan. Canford Property's Roland Evans with Moncrieff MP Steven Ciobo, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Songcheng chairman Huang Qiaoling and CEO Huang Hongming. Mr Huang’s company operates theme parks across China, centred around dramatic dance, music and hi-tech, circus-like performances on transforming stages of lights, water and sound. Australian Legends World will have three key performance zones, including a main theatre and a more immersive experience named Phantom of the Gold, which tells stories of the gold rush. Precincts called “Mysterious Orient” will be created, which include a Tibetan section and replica of a village in southwest China known as “Kingdom of the Women”, where a tribe called the Musuo trace their ancestry through the women instead of the men and where females are head of the households. A performance based on the arrival of Captain Cook to Australia, featuring a replica of the HMS Endeavour, will also be staged at the riverside park where the chairman also plans to build an “Aboriginal Cultural Village” and a small Australian wildlife park, “The Colour Zoo”. Mr Huang is the self-taught chief director of all his shows in China and masterplans all his theme parks himself. Through a translator he told the Gold Coast Bulletin the parts of the development themed around indigenous Australian culture would not be based on any specific Aboriginal tribe or nation. He said he had respect for Aboriginal cultures which would be conveyed by what he created.“We have been to Aboriginal and cultural villages in New Zealand and Australia and thought they didn’t go deep enough to discover the culture,” he said. “Our creation department has already in different cities gone to the museums to learn the stories. “We met with the Arts Minister (Mitch Fifield) and the Prime Minister (Malcolm Turnbull) yesterday to seek their support. “We will look into the cultures deeply to make sure everything is right.” Theatrical performances about Australian soldiers and their experiences in foreign conflicts, as well as a story of how modern Australia evolved, are also planned. “We won’t compete with the current theme parks on the Gold Coast because we are totally different,” Mr Huang said. “We have ability to build rides and water parks the same as Sea World and Movieworld but we don’t want to do that but we want to do something that has never happened on the Gold Coast.” Songcheng has recruited Gold Coast Canford Property agent Roland Evans, who sold the land to them this year and Wanda in 2013, as an adviser and buyer’s agent for this and future investments in Australia.

Hopefully the date of reopen will be decided soon. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/dreamworld-board-set-to-decide-on-reopening-20161129-gt0ara.html