Brad2912

Big brother US is filmed on sound stages at CBS studios in the US which is just as busy/busier than VR studios here, they simply created a small outdoor backyard/pool area that was accessible via a single sliding door in recent years - no windows looks out etc. it would certainly be possible to do it at Village if they wanted to make it work with only minor additions to a sound stage, with the benefit of fitting the house, camera runs and production facility within the same building. not saying it is happening but it certainly could if they wanted to, especially if it was a multi year commitment that warranted the changes to the external of one of the stages. as for noise from the coasters and other productions when outside, it’s largely a non-issue. On the original Aussie BB the housemates commented they could hear ToT and screams on GD. The most recent series of BB which was filmed at Sydney Olympic park literally had the backyard area backing onto a road and a major concert venue across the road

I didn’t conveniently do anything, I just quoted what I was replying to

Tourism giant Dreamworld wants the State Government to fast track a massive expansion of the theme park precinct. The theme park’s owners Coast Entertainment are asking Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Jarrod Bleijie to “call in” the project – taking the planning decision away from council. A call in would also mean the project’s approval could not be legally challengeinclude hotels, high density residential development, function centres and restaurants. The appeal comes after the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) and council imposed conditions on the project – first submitted for assessment in September 2023 – which Dreamworld considers to be “unworkable”. In a June 6 vote on whether Mayor Tom Tate should write to Mr Bleijie asking him to use the call-in powers, councillors were split 7-7. After using his casting vote to back the motion, Mr Tate sent the call-in request to Mr Bleijie on Monday. In the council debate former Deputy Mayor Donna Gates said the City should be allowed to finish their assessment of the proposed project. She said the call-in request was a “slap in the face” to planning officers working on the application who had flagged serious infrastructure challenges. “In my understanding we have never issued an approval where water and sewerage supply has not been guaranteed – never in the history of council,” she said. “Someone said to me that one of the first lessons on the day of planning school – water and sewerage are number one.” Ms Gates said she could not understand why a decision was being made on a call-in when council was due to complete its preliminary assessment by late next month. “We haven’t even assessed or seen the bulk of the application. We haven’t had that opportunity,” she said. This masthead understands Ms Gates met with Dreamworld on Monday in a bid to sort out the planning issues and “fast track what was necessary to get approval”. In the plans lodged in September 2023, Coast Entertainment described the application as for a “town centre transition project” which would see the Dreamworld precinct expanded from 55.3ha to 85ha. The plans included 13 buildings with a maximum height of about 16 storeys. The vote at council recommending Mr Bleijie, as Planning Minister, be requested to exercise his call-in powers was called by Mr Tate in a mayoral minute. Mr Tate was supported by Deputy Mayor Mark Hammel, Shelley Curtis, Josh Wilkinson, Glenn Tozer, Nick Marshall and Gail O’Neill. The councillors voting against were Ms Gates, Peter Young, Naomi Fowler, Brooke Patterson, Josh Martin, Bob La Castra and Dan Doran. The split required Mr Tate to use his casting vote. Mr Hammel, the City’s planning chair, spoke strongly in support of Mr Tate’s mayoral minute. He cautioned councillors that council was not locked into a call-in and could make planning submissions to the State. “This isn’t coming out of thin air. It’s being driven by the government of the day,” he said. “If the Government goes through the normal appeal process, it will be years. And it will be a million dollars plus on ratepayers (in legal fees).” Mr Tate said Coast Entertainment had invested more than $180 million in Dreamworld across the past five years, creating more than 1000 jobs. He said the development aligned with the state government’s Destination 2045 plan, which positions Queensland to be a leader in eco-tourism. Mr Tate said Mr Hammel had advised him that the development application had received state approval. But Dreamworld considered conditions imposed by SARA and the City to be “unworkable”. The theme park’s bosses are also believed to be concerned it could lose existing planning advantages. Under its current planning status Dreamworld can gain approval for new theme park rides without going through an extended development application to council. “It is the applicant’s position that, in many cases, these conditions impose more onerous regulation and restrictions than currently exist,” Mr Tate said. “The applicant has indicated that, if these conditions proceed unchanged, no further investment in the tourist park or surrounding areas would be possible. This would limit new tourism experiences in the theme park, environmental tourism opportunities and integrated accommodation options.” In a statement to this masthead Coast Entertainment said it was seeking a call-in to “provide certainty for continued investment in Dreamworld and the northern Gold Coast”. “Our proposal delivers significant benefits for the Gold Coast – creating tourism jobs, potentially providing critical accommodation infrastructure ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, and supporting the Queensland Government’s Destination 2045 tourism strategy,” the statement said. “The development has received widespread support from key industry stakeholders. “We have invested more than $150m into Dreamworld over recent years, demonstrating our long-term commitment to the Gold Coast. “The investment benefits all participants in the local economy from aviation, to accommodation, ground transportation, local food and beverage suppliers and many more. “However the proposed State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) conditions will make future investment unviable. “We remain committed to working with all stakeholders to deliver this important project for the region.” https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/special-features/in-depth/dreamworld-theme-parks-call-for-support-to-build-hotels-residential-towers-restaurants-and-tourism-attractions/news-story/050c066a7f95b16ef31673d477feaba5?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwK9fTxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHg6prZJ45DkixdPh4Fy72vVR-hl1Ufy33WWy1w9uIyWG6CFp5UnAXG_O4KJ9_aem_MZxNwSk0C3ZKf9KqBMg4mA

Host was announced a week or so back. It’s not Gretel. Mel Tracina is her name Based on the video overlay effects and the caption - it’s hard to look past this being a Big Brother announcement as strange as that seems with purpose built facilities down at Village… with filming beginning in Nov I guess it gives them 5 months to whip a house together somewhere on the property and production facilities, and use the conference centre for the live shows

Pretty sure they’re working on the physical track component replacements before worrying about the theming

if they had to go with a metal fence for insurance/risk aversion - at least choose a non-jarring colour that matches the surrounds, like a brown ffs

nothing says "western town" like black steel posts....

Correct

Absolutely. The 40mins in JR was far less of a slog than the WoO queues were in the sun

Cheers for asking was a great success! Even Greg and his family came and played which was fantastic for see.

In the nature of fairness, I should also mention I did pop into DW yesterday afternoon and they were only running 1 train on JR which was disappointing to see and blowing the wait time out to about 40mins

I know it is off-peak season, but running only one train on your duelling coaster despite the line going the whole through the barn, outside and the whole way back to the stairs outside indoor area with Dorothy’s house is ridiculous… so too is that we’re still at 5-6min dispatches on Wicked Witch despite 6 people working the ride, which just means they chat in bigger groups between cycles.. only letting one cycle worth in the castle and everyone out in the sun is even more anti-guest experience

Target audience for trivia nights

I'm just the service provider doing what they were engaged to do - how DW wish to promote or market a program is entirely up to them. You are clearly not the target audience for this type of thing, which is perfectly fine

Good news is for you, it’s in the function room, not in the main dining area, for the exact reason we know some people don’t want to be disturbed while eating. Welcome to that opinion, but hundreds of restaurants around the country run trivia nights.

As part of their increased focus on making Jane's Rivertown Restaurant a dining destination for locals on Friday and Saturday nights - starting tomorrow night they'll be launching a Friday night Trivia Night. Hope people get along and have some fun with family & friends. It's been a pleasure working with the team at Dreamworld to get this off the ground 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19NTJW7aT5/

The supports are now in the carpark

Yeah i probably have recency bias on Indy at DS via DL. I rode Indy at DL 25 years ago, so whilst my memory of it was that it was amazing, i couldnt accurately highlight the differences between the two (aside from the language change, which of course is real difference). I also have no memory of the outside/queue of Indy at DL. we paid for it twice (once on each day of our visit) - mainly because i wanted to film it the second time to re-live long into the future as the first ride i was just taking it all in and blown away. I haven't ridden mystic manor, so for me B&TB is the ceiling in my experience of dark rides - but given yours and others reviews, i cant wait to one day do MM.

Going to TDL and not forking out the $20 to ride Beauty & The Beast would be a travesty. It has to be seen to be believed. great report @themagician brought back many memories from my visit 16 months ago. its a shame you missed out on Indy, was a great rice. Did you get on Raging Spirits? journey was so impressive, and we had zero prior knowledge of the ride so we’re blown away by the ending. agree Spider-Man was fantastic at USJ and I’ll miss that when we get around to visiting again. We did Space Fantasy with The Ring overlay and it was a bunch of fun. We waiting about 60-70mins and probably wouldn’t have waited any longer tbh.. flying Dino is hands down the best coaster I’ve been on. We had front row too, and the intensity and experience can’t be matched to anything here in Australia

I’ve yet to ever visit when it’s on single-train operation and never been disappointed. What differed between the 2? Whether on single or dual train, the experience shouldn’t differ that greatly really. One circuit backwards , one circuit forwards ?

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