wikiverse
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Everything posted by wikiverse
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Doomsday Destroyer - reviews and feedback
wikiverse replied to Theme Park Girl's topic in Theme Park Discussion
The bands just need more interaction throughout the park. Why not let me use them to collect points from shooting Aliens on the JL ride (or for riding any of the superhero rides), and then spend them in the Villains unleashed area... or vice versa. They could also do a Scooby-Doo mystery with clues or interactive puzzles around the park to solve. The interactive stuff can be a lot of fun and it definitely separates MW from most other parks. There is definitely a lot of potential to expand the wrist-band concept throughout the park in a much more clever way that adds to the overall experience of existing rides. -
The Best Rollercoaster in the world
wikiverse replied to pushbutton's topic in Theme Park Discussion
Probably not the 'best in the world', but T-Express at Everland, Seoul. It's just a really well designed Intamin Woody. Basically, imagine all the air-time and smooth banking of Superman Escape, but in a wooden coaster. Not too intense, just a really enjoyable ride. I'd rank it as one of my top classic woodies. -
DC Rivals HyperCoaster construction discussion
wikiverse replied to Richard's topic in Theme Park Discussion
We know that it won't be a winged coaster, but... Winged seating means the seats on the inside of the banked turn experience negative vertical G forces, while the people on the outside receive positive vertical G forces (both also receive positive lateral Gs). The further you sit from the centre of the train the higher the forces at a given speed. Just take a moment to look at the photos of the Stengel, Turn around, S-Bend and twisty bit, and then imagine being forced into and out of your seat at high-speed when the banking changes direction. It would be crazy. -
Should Whitewater World have more of it's own identity?
wikiverse replied to Sarm's topic in Theme Park Discussion
WWW doesn't get enough attendance to justify it's own brand-presence. Website maintenance, advertising, digital marketing and brand development are expensive exercises. Also (according to the digital agency that runs DW's website and digital marketing that I work with occationally) DW is trying to compete with the VRTP VIP passes - which include MW and WnW. Also, DW just lost two of their major family rides and their only two water-based rides (TRR and RHLR). I suspect (and this is just my thoughts) that DW will continue to incorporate WWW into the DW branding at least until the entire Goldrush area is redeveloped - which could be 1-2 years. I'm not sure if that triggered their decision to join the branding, but it seems like a legitimate reason they will keep it that way for the foreseeable future. -
[Wishful Thinking] The Gold Rush Replacement
wikiverse replied to Reanimated35's topic in Theme Park Discussion
No one suggested building 3 rides every twenty years. No one suggested not building anything new for 5 years. Dreamworld profits have been subsidizing the building Bowling Alleys in the USA, it is not unreasonable for Ardent to use the profits from those to subsidise the re-furb of Dreamworld, given their current circumstances. Also, this thread is called 'Wishful Thinking', not 'Small-Minded, Short-Term, They'll Never Do It Anyway So Why Bother Mentioning it Thinking'. -
[Wishful Thinking] The Gold Rush Replacement
wikiverse replied to Reanimated35's topic in Theme Park Discussion
Who cares? Dreamworld isn't closing down in a year. If re-investing 3 years worth of profit (~$90M) increases park attendance and generates a profit over the following 15-20 years that those rides could operate, it is a worth-while investment. Besides, Ardent are spending DW profits building Bowling Alleys in the USA when they could have been re-investing into the park to expand and improve it. -
[Wishful Thinking] The Gold Rush Replacement
wikiverse replied to Reanimated35's topic in Theme Park Discussion
That's he beauty of Hybrids. The RMC track doesn't actually need all of the wooden supports. The S&S FreeSpin coasters are a better example. They're built from the same RMC track as the hybrid woodies and have very few steel supports. It would be possible if it was engineered from the beginning to be like that. But it's all just wishful thinking anyway. I think having an RMC that shoots out into the DW carpark could be built into a visual feature at the front of the park - like MW did with GL - but better. I think my suggestions and ideas are more what Disney or maybe Universal would do. DW has become a bit more like a SixFlags park - where it's all about just getting on the rides - and MW has really headed in that direction too. I think DW has a lot of potential, but they need to include more things that surprise and delight people beyond just the ride itself. A visually stunning ride increases the enjoyment and excitement for me, and a story can trigger my imagination and build suspense - as well as giving me something unexpected. -
Storm damage of Eureka Mountain at Dreamworld...
wikiverse replied to Theme Park Girl's topic in Theme Park Discussion
Kevil Hill - at least as a temporary measure until they build more permanent storage facilities. -
[Wishful Thinking] The Gold Rush Replacement
wikiverse replied to Reanimated35's topic in Theme Park Discussion
My wish list: - First, tear down the old Mine Cart and TRR. - Then, I would build GoldRush into a fully immersive experience by merging 3 rides together: An RMC Hybrid Woody A Family-Friendly wildmouse (not a spinner) A Water-Based dark ride similar to the old LooneyTunes or Bermuda Triangle rides at MW/SW. The RMC would be the showpiece, it could even weave through Buzzsaw, and hug the terrain where TRR was. The Wildmouse and Water based ride would share the same entrance area - with effectively the same story elements. I would open the ride with a show-style element where miners are led down into the mine. Then I would have a mine collapse element where the only way to escape was to jump in the mine carts, or to try to get out through the underground rivers. I would even consider building alternate endings to each of the rides, since they're both family friendly you would be able to keep all your stuff with you and wouldn't need to worry about returning to the station. This way you have a reason to ride each one more than once, because the stories will be different each time. The old Titanic attraction at Fox Studios had a similar multiple-ending idea (well, two endings - you got on a life boat or you sank). I would build both rides around each other with head-chopper elements - potentially even having them interact with the RMC. If there wasn't the space for all three, I would replace the water ride with a 4D simulator that had the same story with different endings. Lotte World in Korea has 3 different simulators and they're a great break from all the spinning on the other rides. The Goldrush area of the park would then have 4 rides in total. Ideally I would blend it a bit more with Rocky Hollow/GD to transition from Mining to Bushranger to Corroboree, and have that entire half of the park be 'Australian History' themed. Down the line, I would update RHLR to have more of a story to it - probably something actually historical like the Eureka Stockade. I strongly believe that having a narrative to work to greatly improves ride theming and concepts. I'd also introduce one or two kid friendly rides to that end of the park, so that parents can do a parent-swap and one of them can keep the kids entertained while the other goes on the rides. -
This is what SeaWorld considers a 'World-Class Attraction' now.
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Down comes Sea World Water Park
wikiverse replied to New display name's topic in Theme Park Discussion
I went to Seaworld recently. I had not been to Seaworld for about 15 years so I was keen to see how it had improved. With the exception of Castaway Bay, it was one of the most depressing placed I've visited. I probably won't go back for a while. Maybe if I have a spare hour and i'm in the area I'll go to ride JetRescue, but other than that it's definitely not a warm or inviting space that I would ever want to spend time. -
@Santa07@pin142 They don't need a turntable, they just need a higher capacity car. The track only has one curve, so it wouldn't be difficult to make a 'stretch' version of the ride, although the extra weight may require increased launch power. Also, the highest I can recall seeing the ride go up the tower is to to just above the 'E' in Tower of Terror. But that was before the GD was installed. These days it barely makes it to the 'F'.
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They need to re-invest all of the profit from Dreamworld into expanding the park for a few years. Companies like Amazon don't pay dividends to shareholders, every cent they make goes back into providing better services and cheaper products for customers. Ardent are doing to DW what Air New Zealand did to Ansett, using the profits to prop up other parts of the business and letting service and assets decay. It's worth noting that Deborah Thomas wasn't the only one they've ditched. CFO Richard Johnson has also resigned. Ardent has an opportunity to change direction with two key leadership roles.
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@Brad2912 They will need to demolish TRR at some point, and I doubt they will make a move on that until they have a new plan for it. Ardent are a short-term profit-driven company. They run DW like they would run a bowling alley, instead of treating it like the jewel in their crown. Just a thought though, Brisbane lacks TV studios. VR studios are equipped for Film, but not TV. Dreamworld could build a couple of large TV studios or even a theatre that could attract major live productions - or even bring some of the work up from Sydney/Melb. That way they could have a profit-generating asset, that also draws people into the park, and could extent events and theming around it (like they did with Big Brother). There is a lot they could do, but I don't think Ardent are a big picture, visionary company to be able to do it (or do it successfully long-term)
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DC Rivals HyperCoaster construction discussion
wikiverse replied to Richard's topic in Theme Park Discussion
Vehicle/crane access? The track is just loosely bolted in-place for now to be self-supporting and they will join it properly later. maybe those bits will go in last after the dive-loop is fully bolted together? -
Everyone seems to have identified similar problems with Dreamworld, so I'm gonna hijack the conversation and suggest some ideas for what could be done with GoldRush. Personally, I love GoldRush. I think it it has a lot of wasted potential. If I were to build a big new attraction at Dreamworld, I would build an RMC Hybrid Wooden coaster - with classic 'run away mine train' theming. Australia only has one woody and it is 106 years old. As much as I would love to see TRR redeveloped to be safer, Ardent have already committed to demolishing it, so there is a massive amount of land that could be developed into a tight twisting wooden coaster. I'd also love to see the old Mine Cart coaster demolished and replaced with a new wild-mouse - even a new concept like a Eurofighter/wildmouse hybrid. I'd also reopen the Log ride with new boats/elements/theming. In general, it would be nice to see DW just distribute their theming a little better. I think the beach theming of Ocean Parade is nice (except shockwave), the Dreamworks theming is good, and GoldRush has potential. Coroboree is really solid too. But there is just a bunch of random crap that is completely out of place. ToT, MDMC, V8 simulator, HotWheels and Kevil Hill all seem completely out of place in their respective areas. The park just needs to stop dumping randomly themed rides in places. But I think there is a lot of potential for GoldRush to become the 'coaster corner' of the park, with ocean parade being for flat rides. I'd also re-theme MDMC to anything else - give it new trains and free VR. It's a crappy ride, but being slow won't hurt it if it has a good VR story. Slow and painful motorbikes don't really lend themselves to a great narrative. Anyway, just my thoughts. I'm interested to see what everyone else would like to see there.
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Degraded themeing on Wild West Falls
wikiverse replied to pushbutton's topic in Theme Park Discussion
@Reanimated35 I think if you have an entire section of your park (and a major ride) themed to a Western, then it is worth making something out of it. Especially when the entire 'theme' of the park is movies. Also, you forgot about Vikings. A lot of flume rides in Europe and Asia are viking themed (also, SeaWorld's former flume). -
Degraded themeing on Wild West Falls
wikiverse replied to pushbutton's topic in Theme Park Discussion
I don't want VR do build anything. There was a suggestion that there was no room for expansion at the back of the park to accommodate an expanded Western Theme because of the Fright Night sheds. I was proposing an alternative in order to allow for an expanded area to accommodate more attractions in that area without major changes to WWF. Again, these are hypothetical suggestions just for the fun of it. Not actual suggestions for what MW should do. There seem to be a lot of people definitively saying 'you CAN'T do that', or 'it's not possible to do that', when anything is possible if you plan it and were willing to invest in it. I'm not saying that MW will, or even should do it. I'm saying what I would do or what I would like to see happen. Also, Westworld is HBO's most popular series after Game of Thrones. Given that WB owns no other current Western-themed films or TV shows, it is the best bet. Even if people haven't watched it, they could still build an amazing themed experience around it that would incorporate WWF with some minimal theming changes to that ride. Plus, you get Western theming and Sci-fi opportunities from a single franchise. There are people in another thread seriously suggesting that the new coaster - the new flagship ride for the park - should be themed to Sinestro (a no-name character that GL fought one time). Westworld is a much more realistic suggestion if MW were to redevelop that part of the park (which they won't). After all, WWF is currently themed to a Movie that flopped 19 years ago. It pre-dates every major attraction in the park except for Lethal Weapon - but even that has been re-themed. -
Who can build a 100mil Harry Potter land if they want to?
wikiverse replied to wikiverse's topic in Theme Park Discussion
That contract is exclusive to Universal Studios Orlando. The contract that you linked to is only for Universal Studios Orlando. Which means they are licensing it on a park-by-park basis. "(z) “Territory” means the Theme Park and all areas within a two hundred fifty (250) mile radius around the Theme Park." Given that WB doesn't own any theme parks (They used to own Six Flags parks but sold them to Premier Parks in 1998), and only licenses their IP to third parties like VR, it makes sense that they would allow Universal to use it because WB has no other use for it. Since there are no Universal Parks in Australia or the UK, WB would be able to license it to VR in the same way that they have created their own attraction at their studios in London. There is no way that TimeWarner would sell rights to Universal in territories that Universal does not operate. I've dealt with Warner's licensing people in the past for music and TV clips and they are bastards about everything. I wouldn't be surprised if VR thought it wasn't worth the Capital investment or licensing fees to build and maintain an attraction for a movie franchise that was coming to an end. I think it is much more likely that VR has paid a Licensing fee that incorporates all DC characters (in the Justice League/Batman/GL series), like they did with Looney Tunes, and they're just trying to maximise their return on that investment by theming everything to DC without having to pay additional Licensing fees. I think that's why you'll occasionally see events that are themed to non-DC/Looney Tunes properties, but not permanent attractions. The only exception might be for a Scooby-doo expansion for the reason listed above. It's not that VR can't access HP, it's that they won't. (Most likely because they can't afford it.) So you're correct in that we won't likely see a HP themed attraction at WBMW - at least not for a long time, but I can't see any reason that it is because of Universal, it seems to be more because of VR. -
Degraded themeing on Wild West Falls
wikiverse replied to pushbutton's topic in Theme Park Discussion
@Brad2912 @AlexB Given that Studios 1 and 2 are rarely used for Filming because of their size and sound issues, and are instead used for storage and Production Support (sometimes even office space), VR could just build more storage facilities to accommodate those productions - increasing the likelihood that 1 and 2 could be available for one month a year. I agree that the showstage is wasted space, and it should be used. But shows cost a lot of money because they require a lot of performers and technical staff. That performance element is what is lacking in MW these days. Batman Returns, Police Academy, Looney Tunes boat ride, Gremlins, Young Einstein Crooked House... they were all heavily performance based for at least part of the attraction. Apart from Westworld, I can't think of any other WB western-based Films or TV shows that it could be re-themed to. -
Who can build a 100mil Harry Potter land if they want to?
wikiverse replied to wikiverse's topic in Theme Park Discussion
There seems to be an idea running through these threads that TimeWarner don't own the theme park rights to Harry Potter. They do. They own everything to do with Harry Potter, except for the book publishing rights. WBMW used to have a Harry Potter themed attraction - from 2001-2003. TimeWarner license the rights to Universal on a park-by-park basis because TimeWarner do not have a theme park business - instead licensing their IP to companies like VRTP. Universal do not own the rights, have never owned the rights and do not have world-wide rights. Warner Bros. Studios in London have their own Harry Potter themed attraction 'The making of Harry Potter' at their studios where all of the movies were filmed. It opened in 2012 - after the opening of the Universal attraction in 2010 and is completely unrelated to Universal. VR could license HP from Warner Bros. but the ongoing licensing fees, combined with the fact that the HP film series has concluded have likely led VR to conclude that it is better to invest in the DC universe given the number of upcoming films due for release over the next 8-10 years. -
Degraded themeing on Wild West Falls
wikiverse replied to pushbutton's topic in Theme Park Discussion
Firstly, You're talking to two different people here. And honestly, people are just having fun speculating about what COULD hypothetically be done to different areas of the park to utilise the WWF ride, as it currently exists, but with minor adjustments to the theming. This thread is about the degrading WWF theming. Also, The studios CAN be used for Fright Night - provided they aren't being used by a production like Pirates, or Thor. Just because they were booked by a production for 1 year during the halloween period, it doesn't mean they will continue to be booked during the same period in the future. If VR really wanted to, they could relocate the Cutting Edge editing facility from the current building to a new facility on the other side of Studio 8, and then take over that space- plus Studios 1 and 2 - for the theme park. Most big productions don't even use those studios for sets and filming - just for set/prop storage and wardrobe - because they are so close to two major roller coasters that you can hear them during takes. The only things that have actually filmed in Studio 1 in recent years is Mako Mermaids (which ended after Season 3) and The Fear of Darkness (which didn't even get a theatrical release). There is nothing stopping VR from expanding MW into the Studio area if they wanted to do. OR building a new Fright Night facility in the footprint of SE, or even within the footprint of the new coaster. They could even turn a Fright Fight shed into a permanent Laser-tag facility that can be transformed into a maze for Halloween - similar to what DW did with Kevil Hill. Honestly, there are hundreds of possible options or attractions that COULD be built at MW if they had the will and capacity to pay for them and there was a business case to justify the expansion. My posts have just been about having fun imagining what I would love to see happen - which is all these forums are actually useful for. So maybe you should calm down a bit, stop swearing at and abusing people, apologise, and stop pretending that any of this discussion actually matters or has any impact on VR's plans. -
Degraded themeing on Wild West Falls
wikiverse replied to pushbutton's topic in Theme Park Discussion
The studios are fine for Mazes - which is he main attraction of Fright Night. I do disagree with the Doomsday area being put where it was. I think all of the DC stuff would have been better clustered at the front of the park, with the back of the park being used for other WB franchises - like MadMax, of Westworld. It's not that I want a western themed area, it's just a better use of the existing WWF ride theming. They could have used that existing area and theming with a small expansion into a WestWorld attraction - something that is currently in production - rather than an 18 year-old movie that was a complete flop and most people under 30 would never have seen. This thread is about the degrading WWF theming, and WestWorld is a current, popular franchise that TimeWarner owns, so if they were to re-theme it without completely destroying it this would be a good way to do it. -
Ardent Leisure - Deborah Thomas steps down as CEO
wikiverse replied to cheski's topic in Theme Park Discussion
I'm just speculating here, but I think they're going to put Dreamworld up for sale. Deborah was the public face of the Dreamworld tragedy and they've replaced her with a new salesman so it doesn't look like a fire sale. It is what I would do if I wanted to unload Dreamworld from the portfolio and have a fresh new CEO focus on the Main Event brand in the US... cut of the rotting limb to save the body. Again, pure speculation. -
Degraded themeing on Wild West Falls
wikiverse replied to pushbutton's topic in Theme Park Discussion
Flat rides take up almost no space. Look at where they squeezed BatWing SpaceShot, or where DW shoved Shockwave. Fright Night sheds could be re-purposed for permanent WestWorld attractions (robotics or western), and additional Fright Night expansions could move into Studio 3 or 4 on the Film Lot. Or they could build new areas into the footprint of SE or the new coaster. If they really wanted more space they could expand right up to the edge of the PC car park. I'm just throwing around ideas. I know they won't implement them. It's just nice to think about what MW could do with their existing assets that isn't another DC attraction.