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I agree, the Tornado house is definitely one of the highlights of the land and is very well executed. It’s just a shame that level of theming couldn’t be extended throughout the rest of the area. From what I remember, the shade sails and fans weren’t there on day one, but were installed not long after opening. Hopefully the same thing happens for the queue lines in OZ.

Jungle Rush still hasn’t opened. But the ride has just started testing without riders. Murrissippi Motors is being tested by staff too.

Some more photos… (spoilers ahead) Flight of the Wicked Witch queue: As you can see, the first section of the queue is very well themed. Unfortunately though, all of the immersion disappears as soon as you walk through the haunted forest and are presented with a bland hallway and a direct view of the studio’s BOH areas. The rest of the area is nicely presented, but definitely not “immersive” as the BOH areas are visible at pretty much all times and no effort has been made to block them out (or at least make them less noticeable). One thing to note is that there is a lot of permanent lighting all through the land, so I’m betting it should look pretty spectacular at night (though I do wish some of the lighting fixtures were more “themed” into the land. Modern suburban street lights do not belong in OZ). Kansas Twister queue: At one point in the queue, you walk through Dorothy’s house. There are a number of effects (such as video screens in the windows showing debris flying past and lights that swing back and forth from the ceiling) that help support the idea that the twister is approaching. You then make your way out to the barn and the ride itself. Overall, I think the rides themselves are good additions to the park and definitely help boost the park’s family attraction lineup. However, the OZ precinct is far from the immersive experience that was promised. Though it’s very nicely presented and there are elements that are quite well done, the overall product sadly feels a little cheap and tacky IMHO.

It’s open!

Spotted this at White Christmas. I guess the mystery is solved.

The Gold Coast Bulletin has published an article about Randy Garfield (who previously worked at Disney and Universal) and his involvement with Dreamworld.

Yeah, Funfields is a very underrated park IMHO. They do so many things extremely well (especially for a family run operation). You can tell there’s a genuine effort from management to make the guest experience the best it can be and as you mentioned, there’s a real noticeable focus on things that I feel have been neglected at some of the GC parks recently (such as audio, theming, friendliness of the staff and overall park presentation). The only thing they need is a coaster! The thing to remember about Movie World is that the park is pretty small and space is limited, so there isn’t really much else they can do. As others have pointed out, you can get away with having multiple lands and attractions in close proximity to each other at MW because they’re all tied together with the overarching “movie studio backlot” theme. I actually think the park has done a fairly good job of separating Wizard of Oz from Superman Escape despite them being right next to each other (seeing as though a lot of WOO will be hidden away within the AA courtyard and pre-show building). I thought the same thing. This is definitely an early render since it has a completely different name and doesn’t feature any of the volcanic theming the park has decided to go with.

I’m currently down in Melbourne to see family and managed to pop into Funfields to check out the progress on Lava Lagoon. As you can see, it’s really starting to take shape and I love the quality of the rock work. The way the sight-lines match up with Voodoo, Volcano Beach and Lava Lagoon’s theming here is great. Speaking with staff, it sounds like there’s a lot more theming yet to be installed around LL. Apparently, there will be a number of special effects and audio throughout the river. Speaking of which, the park has also introduced a brand new IMAscore soundtrack for the entrance area this season, which I believe is the first use of IMAscore’s music in an Australian theme park! It’s fantastic to see the park caring about smaller details like this.

It appears they’ve started disassembling the Aqualoop.

Based on what the park has shown so far, I’m pretty sure they’re going to get their own dedicated area that’s separated from the Lava Lagoon/Volcano Beach zone. They’re going to be housed within a show building that appears to take up some of the land from the former Pirate themed Treasure Cove mini golf site. I’d say that entire area in front of Cyber Drift will be reworked to fit the attraction. I just hope they’re able to hide/disguise the rear of the building on the Lava Lagoon side so it doesn’t take away from the (what looks to be fairly impressive) theming.

Funfields has released more information about their Lazy River expansion for this season. Its official name is “Lava Lagoon” and will feature theming that ties it into the nearby Volcano Beach wave pool and Voodoo (essentially turning that whole section of the park into one giant cohesively themed area). The park will also be adding bumper cars on the site of the former go karts shed.

With Funfields opening their new Mystique Lazy River expansion this season, I’d say Gumbuya is desperately trying to drum up as much attention as it can get to take the focus off their competitors. If they were seriously getting any major additions this year, I’m sure we would have heard about them by now. Though I do think there’s a pretty good chance we’ll see some new investment next year in response to Funfields.

It could just be the angle these photos were taken from, but it seems like they haven’t left much room for the train back here:

I can’t wait for Rivertown and OZ! I’m so glad our parks are finally going back to making immersive themed areas with storytelling and not just plonking generic un-themed rides down with minimal effort. I just really hope our parks remain committed to this level of detail in future attractions and don’t see these as one off investments (which I fear they might). I’ll never forget how Movie World went from a totally immersive experience (that was pretty much on par with what Universal and other studio parks were doing at the time), to a park that built coasters in the car park with little to no theming at all (as good as those coasters may be) and allowed the overall presentation and guest experience to degrade in a pretty big way. Similar things can also be said about pre-Greg Dreamworld too. I hope these parks don’t repeat past mistakes and maintain a level of quality and continue to actually be proper “theme parks” instead of Six Flags style amusement parks. People are generally more attracted to these immersive experiences. I have numerous family members and friends (who typically aren’t into theme parks or rides) that are very excited about visiting OZ, just so they can take in the “spectacle” of it all. TNT at Gumbuya World (which also has some great theming) is a fantastic coaster that packs quite a punch and is super enjoyable. The first drop can actually be pretty intense (especially if you’re in the back row).

It’s world building. “Rivertown Restaurant” sounds a little generic IMHO. Attaching a character to the restaurant’s name (who I guess is a resident of Rivertown and owns/operates it) immediately implies that there’s some kind of story and “history” to the place, adding to the overall immersion of the area. It also signals to guests that this isn’t a typical generic dining experience and may make them more willing to try it out. We also don’t know what the storyline for Jungle Rush is yet. Perhaps Jane will play a big part in the ride and this will form part of a bigger overall story.