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I don't think this is a bad thing. They're kind of clunky to carry around and don't fit well in lockers on rides like Superman and Rivals. Smaller might help with this problem, and if refills are unlimited then it's not really a loss. It would be great if parks just let you buy a branded water bottle and use that instead, but they don't.

You're also forgetting Covid. DW wasn't 'swimming in cash' prior to 2016. They weren't investing in the park and were cutting corners on maintenance and staffing which led to the accident. Most of Ardent's profits were coming from their American businesses and their cash was from the sale of those businesses. The park wasn't investing in major new rides. You're also forgetting that the park closed the Rapids, Log Ride, Thunderbolt, ToT and Wipeout, and the same management that created the conditions for the accident thought it was acceptable to replace those rides with 'shaded seating' and a grassy knoll. They also destroyed the Main St facade with Sky Voyager and thought the next 'big' attraction was going to be a lazy river. The accident created the ideal conditions you're seeking - lower attendance, shorter queues, lower staffing, less ride maintenance because rides were removed, higher per-guest in-park spend. $62 per person for a day out (+ park entry) is not 'cheap'. That's a lot of money for most people. For a family of 4 that's about $250. The park makes $62.11 from a guest attending the park, or $0 if they don't. And park prices are currently $149 for a pass - $50 higher than a year ago. But even if that is 'cheap' by your standards, who cares? The park still has world-class attractions and will be getting more of them, excellent staff, and good operations. Why does expensive = good? If people can have an affordable and enjoyable day out and the park is making money, why is that a bad thing? The park has spent plenty of money investing in major rides with lower gate prices and in-park spend. They've built the Flyer, Steel Taipan, JR, MM, KC, Big Red Boat, Jane's, a splash pad, modified Tiger Island, and made plenty of aesthetic improvements to the park including Dodgems and Main Street. They've spent well over $100M on all of that and are still planning a Rivertown expansion. Everything they've done since 2021 has been moving in the right direction. In my opinion, you've got a very warped view of how a business should be run. People don't have unlimited amounts of money for discretionary spending like at theme parks. You seem to want the park to be a luxury item - high ticket prices, fewer guests making fewer visits but spending more each visit, and yet somehow think that will translate into more money 'to invest in major rides'. That is a one-way ticket to bankruptcy in the current economic climate. If it's too expensive to spend a day in the park people won't bother buying passes at all and you lose all of that money. If you lose 25% of your customers, you need your other customers to pay more than 25% just to stay in the same place - since you're losing gate sales + in-park sales (which have supply costs). So you either need to jack up prices (which bleeds more customers), or you have to lower in-park prices to entice existing guests into the park - which you seem to have a problem with. If you're that unhappy with the new direction the business is taking, sell your shares. If you don't then save your complaints for the AGM.

What is your point? You seemed to be suggesting that there was no recovery to be had, that DW should just be increasing prices and that it's been 'a decade'. But now you're saying that the park still needs to discount to sell tickets - which means that the recovery still hasn't taken place, while also claiming that the same 'need to discount' is a sob story. You've complained that the park doesn't have enough attractions with MC closing, but still think they should increase pass prices (and based on your comparisons to previous pass prices to more than $300), and that their proposed investments will cost too much, but also that they haven't replaced all of the rides that were removed. You've complained that per-guest spend in-park is down, but the discounts you are complaining about have generated an additional 257,000 guest visits in 1H26 compared to 1H25 - which accounts for almost $16M in additional revenue. If you compare the 2024 and 2025 numbers you've posted above, it's a 25 cent drop. If DW had sustained the same visitor numbers across that time it would have been a $198,000 drop in revenue. So those 'discounts' on in-park spend are actually worth somewhere around $15.8M. Clearly, DW have figured out that if people can spend a little less on a single visit and feel like it's good value, they'll visit more often and end up spending more across the whole year - hence the incentives to get people to show up.

Using what as an excuse? Decades of bad management and a lack of investment? Because that didn't start to change until Greg was appointed CEO in 2021. It hasn't been a decade since then, it hasn't even been 5 years. If your expectation is that Dreamworld is going to just double their pass prices and rake in profits with record crowds, you should consider selling your shares now. Dreamworld has at least another decade of investment, renewal and transition before anyone is going to consider paying that much. They're still in the process of removing old attractions, let alone building new ones.

It's not even that. It's that he seems to want Dreamworld to become expensive and unaffordable so that it does fail. Between $99 passes and $149 passes with a $50 food voucher, I've personally convinced 8 people to get passes so we can all go to Dreamworld. Without those offers, I might have convinced 2. All of those people are buying food at Jane's, Drinks, Coffees, and tail whips multiple times a year. In addition, food vouchers and in-park discounts require you to scan a pass. This data collection gives DW a lot of valuable insight into who their best customers are, who spends where, when and how much. They can send out targeted and personal offers to individual pass holders to encourage them into the park with something they know appeals to them - whether it's Food and drink, cabanas at WWW, game tokens, snacks, or live events. That data helps DW build a better park with better experiences that people actually want. Something that is more important given they're still in a state of renewal and transition.

They're not discounting the tickets to get people in. They're enticing people who have already paid for a pass to come back and spend more money. Money they will not make if people stay home. Do you think they're not making a profit on a $15 slice of pizza, and extra scoop of ice cream or some more hot water in your coffee?

It's owned by private equity. It's always on the market.

If JR is a dark ride, WWF is a dark ride. Having a themed section indoors doesn't make it a dark ride. It's a roller coaster with themed indoor section. Scooby's first section and ending are dark ride, the wild-mouse section is just an indoor coaster, but it would count because of the ghost-train start of the ride. It's a hybrid. SE is a roller coaster with a dark-ride section at the beginning. Like Scooby, it's effectively a hybrid coaster/dark ride. Space mountain is an indoor roller coaster not a dark ride. The ride's primary experience is the coaster, not the scenery/theming/story. It doesn't rely on the theming for the experience - the ride would still be thrilling with the lights on, or no theming. It's a well done experience, but the theming is there to enhance the coaster experience. Based on what you pasted above, a dark ride is when the scenery, theming and story are the primary experience, and are indoors in a controlled atmosphere and lighting environment. The ride itself is secondary to all the stuff you look at and it typically enhances the story/viewing experience rather than the other way around.

Those are bigger effects, not more numerous. So it is close. The point still remains that the quality of the show is not because of the ticket price. The park got rid of pre-shows and police academy long before the price dropped. They lowered the quality of experience at MW and SW and then had to lower the ticket price to match. This includes operations, food quality, shows, pre-shows, theming (look at GL and Batwing, it barely exists). You've consistently made the point that parks are 'giving away the gate', except that is what people are willing to pay for the experience on offer and even at these prices, they're still having to offer discounts and incentives because the parks don't offer enough value for that price. Currently I'm willing to pay exactly $0 for a VRTP experience. I let my pass expire and didn't bother to renew it because I got tired of rude staff, tired looking parks, constant ride closures, overpriced and poor quality food, and extremely long lines because of slow operations (FOTWW had 7-11 minute turnarounds from a train arriving at the station to departing the station). At MW, a full day experience required 4-5 visits to the park just to do everything, not because there is so much to do but because you had to play the lottery as to whether or not things were actually going to be open and not close part way through the day. When people complained, the park blamed them for 'not checking the website'. The de-valuing of the experience at VRTP parks started long before BGH and long before the price drops. MW could easily bring back a show at the level of Police Academy. The current show has similar elements already, it's just a weaker script that relies a lot more on vehicles than stunts. I think the main reason the quality started to drop was because Warner Bros exited the parks business and shifted to just licensing IP to operators instead. They were likely the ones pushing for story-based experiences linked closely to specific movies, and once it became a licensing business they just didn't care what parks did as long as they paid. That's when VRTP started building rides (without shows) based on comic book versions of characters, rather than movies. That's when it stopped being 'Movie World', and that is when the concept of the park shifted to a Six Flags model rather than a movie-themed, story-driven park.

Spy Chase has a bigger cast, more vehicles and special effects than Police Academy. If it's not as good as Police Academy, that's a creative problem not a budgetary one.

What is your proposed alternative? How do they redevelop that area with new rides unless they close it?

Possible reasons: it may have reached max cycle counts before major maintenance/upgrades. Better to just get rid of it now than spend the money limping along when you're going to ditch it anyway it may have been sold based on its current condition/cycles. It will take time to arrange removal/shipping to a new park. there may be a replacement ride in the works that is delayed, but closing it now is still the best option financially. there may be other upgrades/surveys the park wants to make to drainage/electrical in that area for future rides/development and the current ride needs to be closed so that can happen, quietly closing it for this kind of 'maintenance' and then just removing it would have prevented DW from giving it the send-off they did (in a peak holiday period). The important thing is that they've announce it's retirement and given it a farewell. People accept that the park is in a transition and that old rides will go. But now they've got people speculating about its replacement, which is word-of-mouth marketing that they don't need to pay for.

I just click the thread title and it takes me to the first unread post. But the website has become sloooooooowwwww. Sometimes taking 3-4 minutes to load a page. I think it's significantly slower than the old version. It's like being on dial up internet in 1996.

What is this nonsense? Steam trains in theme parks account for more passenger trips per year than all other steam trains combined. Dreamworld had a steam train for 35 years. At one point they were running two of them. The Dreamworld Express and the Model-T cars are the only surviving opening day attractions left at Dreamworld. If Dreamworld can take a crap ride like the Vintage cars and turn it into something as great as Murrissippi Motors - which requires a lot more maintenance and grounds keeping than the previous version of the ride, they could absolutely do the same with the train. I'll accept arguments about cost vs. Dreamworld's current financial capacity (I agree, which is why I said I'm not holding out hope), but the idea that steam trains are for museums and not theme parks is demonstrably false.

Some sad news out of NSW - Timbertown is closing down. But that presents a great opportunity for Dreamworld - all of their assets are being auctioned off in May - including their Fowler Steam Train. https://timbertown.com.au/portfolio-view/timbertown-steam-train-experience/ It would need the gauge changed back from 595mm to 610mm like it was before Timbertown bought it, but DW could pick up an actual historic stream train again if they wanted to. I'm not going to hold out too much hope, but I really hope DW use this opportunity. They're a rare breed, especially in Aus.

This could also mean it has been sold and will move to a different park. We really don't know.

This will be when they're ready to redevelop the entire end of Ocean Parade. Coincidentally, if they're developing commercial spaces at the northern end of the car park (like a hotel), they should definitely move their offices into that building. That space behind the Wipeout plot could absolutely be used for expansion. You could fit an enormous dark-ride show building in that and the GC space - perhaps even two.

Green Lantern would like a word with you.

There's too many people that think they like Gold Coaster, when they actually just have brain damage from the ride smashing their brains against the inside of their skulls. Please stop riding before it's too late. You have so much to live for.

It's a false equivalence because it's an entirely different park. The park in 2016 was a bigger park with more attractions. It also didn't have to overcome years of mismanagement an an accident that shattered the public's trust. It is unreasonable to expect DW to be charging the same prices when it doesn't provide the same experience. Clearly $99 passes on sale is the sweet-spot where people find DW to be excellent value. Over time, they will increase their prices when the number of attractions goes up, but first they need to prove their value and sustain the trust and good will that they've built up. Nothing in their document says 'ok, we've finished fixing the park, it's completely back to where it was now'. They're just making comparisons to their previous record revenue year to show how much better they're doing than the previous 10 years since the accident. Extending trading hours doesn't always mean more revenue, it usually just means increased expenses from staff and ride cycles/maintenance - expenses that eat into profits and reduce the money that can be invested in new rides and attractions. Plus, shorter trading hours encourage pass holders to return, generating more days of in-park spend. In addition, the business model has moved from day passes to annual passes. Retaining customers, building loyalty and generating year-round revenue is the new business model. If DW only offered day passes, I would visit once every 1-2 years and they'd get about $150 out of me. With an annual pass I can pay $99 for a full year of access, but I'll visit once a month. I'll spend money at Jane's, on drinks, coffee, snacks, maybe a Tail Whip ride a few times a year. On average I might spend $50 a month at DW, which means across a year DW are getting $700 out of me. Plus it's very easy to convince my friends that it's great value to buy a pass and do the same. I would otherwise spend that money on a day out at the beach or at Southbank, but DW offering low-cost passes redirects that money toward them instead. I have a great day with my friends, DW has a vibrant active park that makes money, and I'm happy to spend money knowing it's going to be reinvested on future attractions and park improvements. Everybody wins.

I won't repeat what Dapto said but passes are much better at driving ongoing, long-term revenue than single day passes. Inflation doesn't matter. It is a different park to 2016. It is a smaller park with fewer rides, shorter operating hours and different food and beverage offerings. Higher attendance and higher revenue, increased in-park spend means that DW have won back the trust of the public. They're willing to visit and spend, which means that DW just needs to continue on it's current trajectory of maintaining the basics and building new, high-quality attractions each year to keep people renewing those passes. Modest price increases to passes will maintain the perceived value and encourage more visits and more in-park spend. Nothing in this report is negative. DW have overcome the worst possible thing that could happen to a theme park, and are currently set-up for success.

DW are doing everything right. Raising prices right now would be a mistake. Locals see DW as a high quality, good value entertainment option. A lot of people, myself included, have not bothered renewing Village passes and are now more likely to spend those visits (and money) at DW. Continued re-investment into the park will only help to sustain the visitor numbers and revenue, and modest price increases will help to maintain the perceived value. I know I've convinced 5 people to buy passes, and they'll occasionally drop into DW just to eat at Jane's. Great attractions, high quality theming, pleasant staff and reasonable prices. They've got the basics right and they're seeing the benefits.

I agree. But I think the plan is to finish Rivertown first - get one section of the park done and then move on. Both rides need replacing so the order doesn't matter. Extending Rivertown is likely the cheaper option. Also, if they've found a buyer for the ride, better to take the money now - even if you haven't finalised plans for its replacement. Otherwise that sales opportunity might go away and you end up having to scrap it.

Staggered announcements are the better marketing strategy. People will talk about it closing, getting in a final ride and start speculating about what is next. The word-of-mouth marketing in a peak holiday period is much more likely to bring visitors into the park prior to closure than the announcement of a replacement. If they're smart they won't announce any replacement until the ride is closed. They also might have the ride(s) ordered, but still haven't finalised their plans for theming/names, etc. They haven't got any new trademarks pending, so they're clearly not ready to make a full announcement. But that doesn't mean they don't have the actual rides lined up.

The whole concept of 'Rivertown' kind of demands a boat ride on the river. It's just a massive dead-zone in the park and a barrier to get around right now. Might as well use the space. Personally I'd love to see the return of Paddle Steamer (with a show element) or even something like a Jungle Cruise. Water rides need a lot of space to execute well, so I don't think this is the place for that. I'd rather see that in RHLR area or in the Thunderbolt plot to bridge the Wet/Dry parks (or both). I wouldn't be upset to see a single-rail coaster (Raptor) to fill the thrill/fear gap between JR and ST. Or maybe a Wild Mouse. I know a wild mouse isn't that exciting as a concept, but Scooby is extremely popular and either type of coaster would be a good replacement on a smaller footprint. I'd also like to see another family friendly flat - something like a Zamperla Demolition Derby. I know they're kind of lame, but they're visually impressive to look at if themed well, and they're a great ride for little kids to ride with grandparents. Then the park has Dreamland for little kids, Rivertown for Families/Everyone, Ocean Parade/ST/GD for high thrills.