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Funfields have added something new pretty much every year for the past 12 or so years. I don’t think there’s any other park in the country that has seen so much consistent investment and expansion on that scale recently.

To be fair, we really have no Idea what the actual finished product will be. Perhaps Dreamworld will improve the launch so the ride doesn’t loose momentum so quickly, perhaps it will be story-driven with lots of big props and additional theming elements built around the track (like rock work and major set pieces) to add excitement and make it feel faster? I highly doubt the park’s current management would ever settle for a mediocre ride experience and I have faith they can make this work. It’s also worth remembering that Motocoaster was always very popular with the GP. So while enthusiasts may not like it, there’s definitely still an audience for it and completely scrapping it wouldn’t help the “Dreamworld have closed all their classic rides” narrative that the park is trying to get away from.

I found a couple more tracks from the front entrance music loop. “Under the Lighthouse” by Tim Janis: “The Sunny Vista Motel” by Rupert Gregson-Williams:

Great read. I knew the park was really struggling in the late 2010’s, but never quite realized just how close Dreamworld’s demise actually was. To think if Greg had simply never left VRTP, it’s extremely likely we would’ve lost the park around 2021. Driving past today, the car park was overflowing yet again, with people parking all along the surrounding streets to get in. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Greg has well and truly achieved his goal of pulling off “one of the biggest turnarounds in a theme park business ever”!

Noticed tonight that the direct in-park link between Dreamworld and WWW has finally reopened!

I was at Dreamworld today and had no idea this was happening, so it was a very pleasant surprise! I didn’t see any advertising about it beforehand and assumed tonight would be just another regular Night Market. But the entire park was open with all of the rides operating right up until 9pm. The place looks great at night too with all the new permanent lighting they’ve recently installed.

It’s one of my favorite theme park tracks ever. I was so disappointed when they replaced it, but couldn’t believe my ears when I suddenly heard it playing in the toilets a few months ago! It seems that Rivertown’s theme tune has been publicly released too. Thanks to Theme Park Ogre for sharing!

I’ve just discovered that all of Dreamworld’s old Tiger Island music has been officially released by composer Wesley Taylor on his two “Theme Park Soundscapes” albums! Here’s the original 1995 pre-show track: And the updated 2017 version: This is the intro music that was played at the start of the presentations: This was heard during the speech about declining wild tiger populations: And this ambience track was played in the toilets: The music around Tiger Island was updated a few years ago, so these songs hadn’t actually been used in-park for a while. However, Dreamworld recently reintroduced all of this music (apart from the “Decline of the Tigers” track) as part of a new soundtrack that plays on a loop in the Tiger Island toilets (including the original 1995 pre-show track which hadn’t been heard in the park for many years). As a side note, it seems that Wesley Taylor also composed music for Gumbuya World too!

It definitely sounds promising. The extended hours over the Christmas holidays were very successful last time from what I’ve heard. So I’d say it’s likely the park will want to bring them back.

The Woolshed has reopened as a new Koala photo area.

It’s pretty sad that a park that used to have 3 separate transport rides now has none. But considering the park desperately needs a new attraction, I think constructing a new transport ride (like a cable car) should be Sea World’s next big investment.

I also don’t want this thread to become another big AI argument. But I will just say this, based on the comments on Dreamworld’s Instagram post and other feedback I’ve seen about the park in general recently, I think it would be very wise for them to step away from their heavy use of AI, at least in public-facing situations. There’s definitely great uses for it and I don’t mind them using it internally for certain applications, but despite how some people may feel about it personally, I think it’s pretty clear that the general consensus amongst the public is that AI art is generally looked down upon and I really do think its consistent use at the park is starting to damage their image and reputation. Just my two cents. Getting back on topic, I’m glad the park has finally made an official announcement and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. The line about a further expansion of Rivertown and a new land definitely sounds exciting! I would absolutely love to see something done with Blue Lagoon and I think it’s pretty likely a new land would utilize that area of the park. Though I do wonder if a development on the island adjacent to Rivertown could also be on the cards (at least for the Rivertown expansion), possibly even incorporating the return of The Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler? I’m not sure how else they could really expand Rivertown, but that seems like an obvious way to do it.

This was in the GC Bulletin a couple of days ago (not sure if there’s a digital version).

Yeah, I think that’s the most likely outcome, which is a shame, but at least having something open in that space will help boost the lineup and assist in making the park feel somewhat whole again (plus the presentation and overall ride experience will almost certainly be an improvement over what it was originally). Having a ride in a prime location be SBNO for so long is a terrible look for a park that was previously known for letting old attractions rot away in plain sight for decades. While I think the park’s current lineup is a lot stronger with the recent additions of Rivertown and King Claw, there’s no denying it still desperately needs at least one more major attraction (either a signature thrill coaster or a dark ride). I think the perfect ride for Dreamworld to invest in at this point is a Mack Rocking Boat. It essentially ticks both the dark ride and water ride requirements in one, especially if indoors like Dollywood’s new installation. It’s also an incredibly unique attraction that’s unlike anything else in Australia. The only trouble is I doubt the park is too keen on looking at another water attraction at this point. From what I understand, Dreamworld didn’t have much of a choice. Dreamworks weren’t going to let them renew the license no matter what.

Yeah, based on what I’ve seen so far, it seems like ticket sales are pretty slow this year.

I got an email about this a few hours ago.

According to a friend who just visited the park, the entire Wizard of Oz land is closed, not just the rides themselves. There are apparently work walls next to Superman, blocking the Yellow Brick Road. To me, that suggests they’re trying to fix broader issues in the area.

Based on the difference in crowd numbers between VRTP and CE’s properties recently, I’d say most people have forgotten (or simply no longer care) about those old headlines. It’s honestly pretty incredible how VRTP were basically handed victory as the #1 theme park operator after TRR happened, yet through their constant mismanagement, they’ve now become the company with the bad reputation and falling crowd numbers, while CE have managed to regain theirs. Village had absolutely every opportunity to succeed, but they threw it all away.

I’d say it’s almost a certainty at this point, considering what Village are going through right now. I think at the very least, they’ll reduce WNW’s winter operating days significantly (perhaps only opening during the school holidays for example). Often when I drive past the park during an off-peak winter operating day, the car park is basically empty.

I visited the park shortly after they first announced Thunder Lake was ending and I asked a staff member if a new show would replace it? I was told there “won’t be anything for quite a while”. So yeah, yet another casualty of the cutbacks it seems.

I think it would work a lot better if it was relocated to the FlowRider plaza since there’s not much going on there at the moment. The area desperately needs another drawcard and something to fill the empty space. Where it is right now definitely clashes with King Claw’s theming quite a lot.

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I won’t be surprised if we get an official announcement fairly soon. I did notice that there was a lot more activity around the Motocoaster site when I visited the park a couple of days ago. New markings have also appeared around the area.

The giant hotdog has returned!