Brad2912

Hell, Seaworld announced they were getting gorillas and hippos before they even realised you couldn’t just buy them from the Special Buys section at Aldi...

It seems you are expecting someone from Disney to jump on here and explain their financial decisions, operations and logistics to you in detail. People have answered your question with the knowledge, thoughts, ideas they have, yet to you keep countering that with "but why...." You're not going to get more than what you've been given.

Removal of Mach 5 was completed months ago. I haven’t been to WnW in about 4 weeks but that was well after the demolition works were completed, and all that was left was dirt... I also drove past the back of WnW today on the way to PC and nothing was noticeably different. what are the signs of groundwork that you have seen @Vora00?

The QLD govt has pumped tens of millions into the place in the past year to help it through. That wouldn’t have happened if it’s entire future hinged on one ride.

These were just shared on social media by a local, taken this morning

Mike seems like a very upfront bloke, and probably is learning the craft of social media responses. I commented on a post the other day that the Madagascar Show was tired and needed a refresh after 8 years without a change. He replied that he completely agreed. Refreshingly honest, probably not the best PR however....

Only DCR has a tester seat. it will likely just be trial and error so I’d recommend going on a weekday so you are not waiting in large queues to potentially not ride. Scooby is probably the most restrictive from what I have seen, followed by Superman.

Yeah they had a crane removing that section of track early on Friday morning

Thanks for sharing looks to be really interesting. I’ve heard the rumours over the years of the cause of the fire, so keen to see what the actual evidence presented points to

Wow that’s a massive downtime for WWF and later than usual too. they usually work to have that open by late sept. Leaves a real hole in their attractions heading into summer

Look that was my thoughts up until this year, but the Aqua show this time around was next level. It made the event and it wouldn’t have been possible at MW. if they can deliver that standard (and higher) in future years then it has its home at SW for mine based purely on that signature attraction alone. Unlike FN and WC which really have shown little to no improvement in the past 3-4 years, Carnivale has improved year on year.

I’d say regardless of the Olympics all parks would have several additions planned over the next decade and their long term plans wouldn’t be overly swayed or altered based on it. I imagine AO and PC would have an exponential increase in attendance from international visitors.

Here’s some photos from tonight for anyone who is interested

Dreamworld owner Ardent leisure HY21 results reveal $83.6 million loss as it builds new roller coaster Dreamworld’s parent company is hoping a new roller coaster will help it survive a pandemic spiral which has seen its losses almost treble. DREAMWORLD’S parent company is hoping a new roller coaster will help it ride out a pandemic spiral which pushed it to a net loss of $83.6 million for the six months to December 31 – almost triple the loss for the same time last financial year. More than $109 million was slashed from the revenue of Ardent Leisure, which said COVID-19 had hammered a $38.8 million hole in its earnings. Reporting its half-year result to the ASX, Ardent said revenue from Dreamworld and Whitewater World was down by $23 million due to border restrictions and a shut down that continued until September 16. The group is hoping its Steel Taipan coaster, which at $32 million is Dreamworld’s biggest ever capital investment, will draw enough domestic guests to make up for the indefinite closure of international borders. Attendance across both Gold Coast theme parks was down 58.6 per cent for the half, with strong sales of annual passes to the local market – up 92 per cent on the previous year – softening a loss of earnings. Ardent said it had carved $6 million from its costs and received $12.6 million from government subsidies including JobKeeper and Queensland Government support. The company said pent up demand from interstate was expected to boost its second half, but it was “reviewing the current business model” due to ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19 and JobKeeper. Ardent said news of its $32 million Steel Taipan roller coaster, expected to launch in time for Christmas 2021, had been well received by guests. The rollercoaster is set to hit a top speed of 105km/h and a G-force of 3.8, with multiple inversions and a spinning gondola at the rear of the train. It will be the biggest single investment in the theme park’s history, and will feature the world’s first “spinning gondola”. The results included a $3.6 million fine the company was ordered to pay after it pleaded guilty to three charges over the fatal 2016 Thunder River Rapids tragedy. Ardent said it planned to “vigorously defend” a shareholder class action over the tragedy, which it said was “without merit”. Revenue for Ardent’s Main Event business in the United States was down $US54.4 million and net earnings dived by $27.3 million, also driven by the pandemic. https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/business/dreamworld-owner-ardent-leisure-hy21-results-reveal-836-million-loss-as-it-builds-new-roller-coaster/news-story/22226b6f577c001cfd85ff167089aeac

Been there for years

Have really enjoyed ParkLife. Very insightful for those who haven’t worked directly in the industry

For those following the story at home. The campaign/fundraiser has now been closed. They ended up raising $1000 total, which will be returned to those who donated. Strangely they thanked Dreamworld for their contribution to the efforts - yet i never saw any contribution.

They’ve been offering that the whole summer holidays on the app

I believe USH is getting the DK ride, but not Yoshi from what I had read. Could be wrong though

well to start with, Wet N Wild Sydney doesn't exist - and that fact speaks to it being a failure. Village Theme Parks sold it almost 2 years ago now to Parques Reunidos, hence the name change to Raging Waters Sydney. The Sydney market just wont sustain theme parks. It has some strong local support, but that's not enough to keep it financially viable, which is why VTP sold it. It's too far from the centre of Sydney and other tourist attractions to be of real attraction to overseas or interstate travelers. That may change with the opening of Badgerys Creek airport, and thats probably why it was a somewhat attractive prospect for the new owners.

What I get gigantic load of BS. True. Enthusiasm doesn’t trump logic and reasoning however (well not in business) I do, most here do. That doesn’t remove the ability to be critical of certain decisions. That’s certainly not me. If anything I’m a defender of the park. Again, that doesn’t make it or management immune from criticism. I don’t know if anyone is bagging the efforts - but it was apparent from day 1 trying to crowdfund $10k for one koala that may or may not be functional or repairable was a decision made on emotion and not logic. If anyone was to get involved in retrieving these “assets” it needs to be DW themselves, or a private enterprise that can display them in a public way that may drive some natural interest and attention (Ie Ripleys Believe It or Not). We’ve just come through one of the most financially challenging periods for many in their lifetime (and still not through it for many) so to think the everyday joe public is going to delve into their pockets for a singular animatronic they’ll probably never physically see is misguided. A proposal with a proper business case could be put together and pitched to many businesses that may want the goodwill associated with it, but without the majority of the collection, which they have priced at over $100k, it will never be an attractive prospect

Head to the Dreamworld - Remembering the Golden Years FB page. They are trying to raise $10k to acquire ONE of the animatronic animals from the Koala Country Jamboree. It's a perfect exercise in folly. But hey, if you donate more than $40 you get sent a video of the show. As Alex says, its sat at $680 for about 3 weeks now.

I don’t expect MW or SW to move to an off-peak model with mid week closures or reduced hours. My understanding is both of those parks have a far greater PT/FT employment mix than WnW, and a reduction of hours potentially will see them paying large amounts of wages/salaries to staff when the parks are closed. the current hours listed to end March makes sense as the 1st of April is the first day of the Easter holidays for most (2nd April is Good Friday), so I wouldn’t read into the short date range pointing to an hours reduction. With the GC council and state tourism board pushing hard for interstate travellers, killing dates just harms their business and wouldn’t be supported or encouraged. It would also severely limit their ability to fell multi day passes as well when they have closures. just don’t see it happening

What hidden gems are there, small details etc in local parks that you know about that the GP may not pick up on? I’m sure ex-ride ops or park employees may know a few. I noticed today on WWF that about 3/4 of the way up the lift hill on the right hand side there is sign that says (paraphrasing) “Management accept no responsibility for injuries or deaths on this site”. And whilst that fits the theme with the various random signs on the lift hill, the hidden gem is that the sign has a sign off on the bottom from the pseudo-site manager “G. Yong.” obviously referring to previous park manager Greg Yong who is now at DW. 99% of people wouldn’t know the linkage, clearly a little “in joke” at the park. Anyone seen or know of any other gems like this?

100% Leviathan I haven't been on a wooden coaster since Bush Beast left us. miss the unique ride experience a woodie brings and the location itself elevates it. also excited for Steel Taipan however and DW having a classy full circuit coaster after all these years