Brad2912

One of the Gold Coast’s best-known tourism figures - who went from bartender to boss - has quit the city’s biggest theme park operator after more than three decades. Bikash Randhawa has resigned after a 30-year career at Village Roadshow where he rose to the high-ranking post of chief operating officer. However Mr Randhawa - who oversaw its theme parks including Movie World, Wet’n’Wild and Sea World – isn’t going anywhere, vowing to stay on the Gold Coast and be involved in the tourism sector. Mr Randhawa said it was time for a change – and a break “In (30-plus) years I never had more than two weeks off, so I’m going to take three months off,” he said “In future I want to influence tourism, I’ll have no shackles. I love the city, I support the city and I know just about every small business owners, media person and politician.” In a lengthy post to his social media on Thursday morning, Mr Randhawa said: “After three decades with Village Roadshow Theme Parks, I am departing the business with some sadness and at the same time a lot of joy and pride. “Clark Kirby my CEO, VRTP Board and the exceptional team at BGH (Capital), it’s been a terrific journey, challenging, rewarding and crazy at times with what we have gone through over the years, you all have been incredible since we started together, thank you for allowing me to do what I did best over the years. “Special thank you to Robert Kirby our Chairman and (former Village CEO) Graham Burke who mentored me and taught me on how to aim for the moon and land on a star, and to never give up. My GMs and the team at VRTP you all are amazing and I look forward to watching you achieve more.” In a typically frank admission, Mr Randhawa, a popular if outspoken figure, added: “As an operator, I was passionate, fair, demanding, compassionate when required, over the top crazy and sometimes unreasonable, but my team got me and backed me every single day. “If I was overly focused towards anyone or a situation, it was because I recognised their talent and wanted to help them reach their full potential in that given situation. I’m proud to have promoted so many who have surpassed every expectations and have taken on roles that I had held and have done a better job than I did when I was there, that’s how one needs to recruit, look for someone better than you, it always works, looking at the team now they are bloody amazing. “I fought for Village behind the scenes and sometimes publicly with anyone and everyone if it called for it, I spoke my mind, said things that people were scared to say or think about. I never held back but I did it for the team. “Now, it’s time for me to finally put my feet up after a long hard commitment and relentless effort for three decades to relax and enjoy some well-deserved downtime with my wife and children. They, unintentionally became my second priority, and my work (my passion blinded me) my first. It’s time to change that.” Village Roadshow CEO Clark Kirby said Mr Randhawa had been “a driving force ensuring the ongoing success of Village Roadshow Theme Parks”. “His leadership, passion and advocacy for our people and properties has been felt by all who interacted with him, and he will be missed,” he said. “Bikash leaves an incredible legacy through the numerous high-profile projects he has been integral to, including many amazing new attractions and precinct openings. “In his position as COO, Bikash has helped navigate our business through some of our toughest periods and throughout his focus remained on delivering superior outcomes and ensuring the wellbeing of our team. “We thank him for his unwavering commitment to ensuring our business not only survived but continues to thrive.    “Outside of our theme parks, Bikash is one of the city’s most passionate tourism ambassadors and at every opportunity he has advocated for the City of Gold Coast.   “We know Bikash will succeed in whatever the future brings, and he leaves knowing he will always be a member of our extended Village Roadshow family.”

The IP licences would be extremely strict on what can and cannot be used and represented. I guarantee you a horror overlay of their characters and the death of them does not form part of that agreement

Both throwback Thursdays and flashback Fridays are common in the social media sphere - and it’s all about engagements which nostalgia drives strongly. they didn’t need to post flashbacks as a market research initiative, they already know that they have many loved attractions that have left the park over the years.

Umm….Zero.

These school holidays, get ready to take flight! 🛫 Discover Africa is landing at Sky Voyager from 5 April—just in time for your next adventure! 🦒🌍 🕒 Africa from open–2pm 🕒 Australia from 2pm–close Soar above wild savannahs, glide past giraffes, then explore the beauty of home—all in one unforgettable ride. ————————————————————— Very happy to see some new content for SV, think it was much needed and is a great little low-cost addition to the school holiday lineup

If you have happy entry its a fantastic advantage, and something i wish we had been a little more clued in on before our trip. We knew we had 2 days however, and with my partner having some limited mobility issues, I didnt want us criss-crossing the park back and forward all day as that would have killed her by the afternoon let alone an entire day (or two). So we just segmented the park and for the most part tried to have a reasonable order. Splash was unfortunately closed on our visit. We arrived at about 8:30am right as the gates were opening (we visited in December) and it took us around 30-40mins to get inside, but most people tend to head straight to the big ticket items, which suited our plans. Grabbed a few character photos with Donald & Daisy (who I had missed on my previous LA trip, so to get them straight as we walked in the gate was perfect) and then first ride to your left is Pirates which was about a 5 min wait. Registered for Big Thunder 40th passes whilst in the queue which was for around 11am, and in that gap we just followed the path and ticked off Jungle Cruise (15min wait), Western River Railroad (10min), Tiki room (10min). So within around 2 hours we'd knocked out 4 rides and show. We then booked 40th for Haunted Mansion at 1:30pm and used that gap for lunch, parade, Riverboat, and Country Bear Theatre. We didnt do gadgets until day 2 (wasnt a priority but we wanted to tick off every ride in the 2 days), and it was one of the longer waits, probably about 40mins. @TBoy don't pass up Beauty & The Beast - pay the DPA price to avoid a 2-3 hour wait, and even though it's not a coaster or thrilling - theme wise its the best ride i've ever experienced. It's just beyond imagination and worth the price of admission alone.

Bloody scary out there, hope everyone affected is staying safe

VTP parks closures now extended for the weekend, re-opening Monday

well according to GCCC, those maps show the worst case scenario...

Albeit based on “worst” scenario (which itself is only estimated given there has been no system like this impacting the GC in 50+ years when none of these areas were built up), these are the flood maps released by GCCC today which shows potential for some major inundation at SW.

Imagine it will go ahead but you’ll get very wet - glad I ended up passing on tickets.

Love all the people whinging on social media about the closures who would be the exact same people complaining about rides being closed if the park opened but the outdoor rides were closed due to 150km wind gusts.

The bypass will absolutely kill that town unless the council spends big to make it a true destination hub for travelers - its not just all on the Big Banana. I'm counting the days until i don't have to drive through there on our 2-3 yearly Sydney roadtrips, it's one of only 2-3 bottlenecks left on the entire trip. With all the bypass's south of the border down to Coffs, its only just over a 3 hour drive which doesn't place it well for a stopover, so it really only has the benefit of attracting Sydney travelers heading north, but if you are only 3 hours away from your destination, and there isn't much to do, you'd just keep driving to your destination.

And you’ll continue to be every time you suggest it. None of those parks are in Australia. They are not working under the same workplace legislations, operating procedures, staffing levels, financial constraints etc etc etc etc no point comparing apples to oranges.

Yeah basically