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Thankfully I didn’t try my luck today. I messaged Dreamworld this morning asking if Tower would operate today, and just received a response at 1pm telling me it hasn’t been operating today either. Really poor of dreamworld not advertising clearly that it is not operating currently on fb or website, most of the people I spoke too yesterday were mainly visiting dreamworld to ride TOT. There were multiple parents that came up to the queue and said they had pulled kids out of school early yesterday to get one last ride. Think we all need to grasp the reality that we might not get one last ride.

I went back on yesterday while waiting for TOT to open (which it didn't). The first time I walked into the new queue area/preshow area there were only two people in there, so I'm like cool no line I might just have to wait a few minutes for the cycle to finish. I waited maybe 5-10 minutes and after that, I was thinking surely they'll start batching into the next room... but then the preshow video started (the long boring first one), and the lights went down. I walked out, no way was I waiting another 5 minutes just to watch that preshow. I did come back later and managed to time it perfectly so it was straight into the second preshow room (safety video). Once everyone was in, the ride op then explained all the safety instructions to the guests which took a minute or so, and I'm thinking like cool so we're just gonna skip the safety video and go to the gondolas... but then the safety video started playing just reiterating everything the ride op said. Then.... once everyone was sat down and buckled in, the ride op comes around to check belts and this weird thing happens where she has to press a button, and then quickly check all the belts in 2 or 3 seconds before the lights go off, and if she didn't make it in time, she had to repeat checking all the belts. That process repeated 4 times because she wasn't quick enough! I don't remember that the last time I rode it, but it is absolutely stupid if the ride system only gives them a couple of seconds to check each gondola to dispatch. I do enjoy the actual video and ride aspect of Sky Voyager, but the whole experience of it all is just woeful in my opinion, Dreamworld doesn't understand how to efficiently operate the attraction. I think the general public does eat it up though as a new experience, I was sat next to a random bloke who was a bit nervous and was asking me about it because it was his first time. Then once he got off he was frothing, he absolutely loved it.

I would love for Dive in Movies to come back. I'm not disappointed that WNW hasnt really had anything big for a while, mainly because it has so much already for a waterpark. If I had to choose between going to WNW or WWW the choice is always WNW hands down because theres so many more and better attractions, sans a watercoaster, which I think is the logical next slide they need to eventually put in.

Watercoaster is the next logical addition to WNW in my opinion. I would love a fearless river like from Volcano Bay, but I don’t think WNW would spend on decent theming for it, and it’s not exactly a big selling point to draw crowds in.

Update 5: Engineering came back and cycles were getting more frequent. But it either continues to overshoot the station, or doesnt come far enough back down the tunnel and has to be whinched back to station which causes the big gap in cycles. The ride op has been opening up a bit more, saying they did Infact have big issues with it yesterday afternoon, and is not confident it will open again between now and Sunday. Anyone that is planning a trip definitely check the site or call before coming.

Update 4: So the engineers just came down the stairs, went into the shop and bought a ride pic of just just them riding and then left. I get the sense that they’ve given up for today and they’re not telling us.

Update 3: still here waiting, it has been going through periods of test cycling two or three times. Then nothing for 30 minutes. Repeat. Speaking to a ride op who’s been working TOT for 14 years, she said she used to be able to get 25 cycles in an hour back in the day, and in the past year they’ve been struggling to get 13/hr. Ride op said it operated fine yesterday and they pushed it to its limits - which she says is what has caused the issue today. Had a good yarn about TOT and Magic Mountains Superman which was also down on my recent trip to MM last month.

At the park today. TOT is down, greeter not sure whether it will be opening today. God I’m going to be pissed if I don’t get one last ride today. Update: there is a cherry picker working at the base of the tower. Unsure wether he is working on the track or just the netting underneath. The work is also putting GD out of action for the time being. Update 2: looks like ride op is doing start up ops, so we might be in luck.

"Soarin to tower - we are ready for takeoff" - Yeah the takeoff from the ground is one of the most exciting bits, and so much easier operationally having all the gondolas on the same level for loading. Understandably Disney is much better in all aspects but it's just astonishing HOW much better it is. Like you said crowd management, ride experience, and the video in particular. I did SV a few different times (also in the best seat), a week before I left for Disney and did really enjoy it, and then I went to Disney and was just blown away at the difference on show from a ride system almost 20 years old (in DCA case). I will of course ride SV again, but it is just disappointing to see what it could have been, done right and not in the cheap DW way. A bit of me is also sour about SV opening half a year late.

Thank you for the response, I was considering going to FN this year as well before I saw all the sellouts and remembered how bad the crowds were without selling out in past years. I was also pretty surprised that FN managed to get the rights for Zombieland and IT, and they were the real drawcard for me to maybe give it a go. HHN also utilized the Zombieland IP for a scarezone (although it was probably the weakest scarezone at the event). I might give it a go next year, but I am planning my trip to HHN30 already so I will see if I have the funds. Thank you for the response. Have the events sold out in previous years at FN, I don't remember seeing anything about sellouts last year at least. It is a positive at least that MW has put a cap on the attendance, the last time I went it seemed extremely oversold, which would be fine if there was enough for the masses to do or enough time to do it imo. If they can't stay open later, then close the park early and start FN at 4pm would be my plan. I probably wont go for a few years at least, I plan on doing the next two years HHN30 and 31 so I have no reason to put myself through FN pain again.

Coming back to this thread after my Disney trip and getting on Soarin at Epcot and DCA. My god that ride puts Sky Voyager to shame! It is an older ride system but still manages to be so much better than the brand new sky Voyager. Makes me not want to go on sky voyager again.

To the people who have been and reviewed the event - have you been to HHN? And can you make a comparison of the two? I haven’t been to Fright Nights in two years but last time I went it was god awful. Too many people and the opening hours were to short to accomplish everything and get a good sense of atmosphere. I got to go to HHN29 this year in Orlando and was blown away at how amazing the event was and really shows they know how to do it right. 6pm to 1/2am is plenty of time to get 10 mazes done without paying for express (even though I did one of the nights I went, second trip I did all 10 houses easily with a good strategy and no Express), with still heaps of time to see both of their awesome shows Academy of Villains and the fountain show, and walk around all of the different scare zones which were really some of the best parts. All of the HHN mazes were leaps and bounds better than anything I ever saw at Fright Nights, with even the weakest houses still being pretty good. So I’m wondering if Fright Nights has picked up its game the past two years to begin to compare to HHN? I think while FN has the noise restrictions and can’t stay open late this event really isn’t worth the ticket price IMO, am I right?

I would love to see intamin refit Giant Drop to a sky jump drop tower like Falcons Fury now that TOT is going. GD has definitely had reliability issues aswell, with only one side working for a long period of time. So I wonder if the tower is capable from an engineering standpoint to support the gyro version. Unlikely, but I would prefer dreamworld spent the money to save the iconic tower and GD than see it suffer a similar fate in 5 years or so. edit: just noticed someone has already mentioned this in this thread

I was chatting to the team member at the entrance and mentioned how bad the preshow was, and then she said that because it was quiet they are just putting people straight through to the Skydiver safety video rather than waiting through the first 5minute one. So I think dreamworld understand that if they don’t need the 5 minute preshow for crowd flow on quiet days, then they shouldn’t use it.

Just did it again with no preshow and sitting bottom row dead centre and I thought it was actually pretty incredible.

Just got off for the first time. (Haven’t been on Soarin before, that’s next Friday for me!) Pretty cool ride I reckon. Although I got literally the worst seat (Top row and Far Left carriage and seat), it was definately something new and the use of smell pods is pretty wild for an Australian theme park. Couldn’t bare to sit through the terrible preshow again though to go back around and get a better seat. It will definitely be a once a day ride in the future. Makes me excited to see how well Disney does it after seeing the ride though. PS. Would have preferred a new mine ride though, but Blue Fire will suffice if it gets built and ever opens.

I say get rid of It and get intamin to update/refit GD with the 4 side cars to save GD - if possible. TOT was never the same since they made it TOT2, the tunnel and the over shoulder restrains ruined that ride. (I know the tunnel was necessary for operating because of the rain difficulties)

Wow that’s very different experiences to the nights I did FN. HHN offer 2 nights for price of one so I’m pretty confident I’ll get everything g done across the two nights. Plus early entry from day at Universal. Plus if need be I’d happily pay for express at HHN because it is actually quality mazes. Incase it hasn’t been mentioned yet. There is walls up around the dodgems today for work on FN maze. Also you can see work underway in the back lot from Arkham Asylum. (As well as an active film crew in the studios which im curious about, anyone know what is being shot at the moment.)

To the people that are happy with the 5 mazes, did you manage to get all the mazes done last year with the queues. I’ve given up on fright nights with the past two years being horrible experiences where you can barely get anything done unless you pay a lot extra for the fast passes. Have decided to travel to the states and do HHN at Universal Orlando with 10 mazes.

It’s April 2nd now, don’t do this to me.

Wait, can someone clarify if this was an April fools or not? Want to know if I should go today to try and ride

Good rides

I found this pretty funny, I’m sure it is somewhat frequent but I haven’t been to dreamworld in years. The GD ride cycle after mine has been stuck for 10 minutes so far. Engineers just rocked up, wonder how long this lone bloke will be up there. I’m honestly very jealous, I love these unique ride experiences. Update: it’s been 15 minutes. How many engineers does it take to get this lone bloke down, 6 so far. Update 2: after 20 minutes was Very slowly lowered down

Spoke with a ride op today who said he’s ridden Sky Voyager about 20 times himself and says it’s a real game changer. (Whether or not he’s telling the truth, I don’t know) He said it is incredible but the delay is to just make sure it’s perfect, he expected around Easter release. (My guess is for the Easter holidays so it can actually seem busy and run full cycles - as today I’ve been a sole rider on a lot of rides cycles, their is no one here) I sat and watched the back doors of Sky Voyager for 30 mins today. Dreamworld maintenance and (I’m assuming) Manufacturers we’re walking in and out frequently, so my guess is it hasn’t been handed over yet either.

Can confirm cossentino. 2 shows daily from 6th April