Sammus77

Visited Rivertown today. (Dreamworld was heaving) we went to Jane’s restaurant for lunch and were really impressed with the theming and effort. The food was great. Took about 15mins, Good value, fresh, tasty. A table of 7 and everyone enjoyed their food and the atmosphere. Was awesome to see Michelle the operations director cleaning tables and helping the staff clean up and run meals. There is a reason the culture amongst the staff at dreamworld is so noticeably different to the other parks, and its stuff like this! After lunch we went straight to Jungle rush. Advertised 45min wait (we didn’t see it any longer all day despite the park being so busy) we waited 18mins and were on the train. Efficiencies in the station were the best I have seen on any coaster in Australia, ever. The second the lap bars came up for one load to exit the ride, the gates were open and the next lot were moving in, lap bars checked and dispatched unbelievably fast. After about 2pm we never saw the advertised wait more than 15mins, and we didn’t wait in line more than 7mins each time. It’s already been said but the queue is impressive. Hot, but impressive. not sure if this has been said but if you look down to the ground while your in the switch track room, there is an absolutely massive snake with its head aimed towards the track. It’s in the darkest section of the coaster, you can’t really see it when you go past as there is no light on it. I assume this is a work in progress? When it’s lit up I’m guessing it will be like their version of the yeti flypast on expedition Everest. It appears to be positioned right as you make a quick turn inside the temple, should make an awesome effect when light up. I think dreamworld knocked it out of the park with this ride, just as advertised there were little kids and grandparents on this one and everyone seemed to finish the coaster with a big smile on their face. It’s just a really fun ride. MMotors was advertised as 60mins most of the day so we left it till last, joined the queue at 4pm when advertised at 45mins, but waited only 20. Still slow moving compared to other rides but they have at least improved operations since the last version of this ride. Theming is epic, similar to jungle rush, everyone seemed to love it. we were talking to one of the ride ops while waiting for our turn and asked why dreamworld kept the ramp down to the waters edge rather than clear it during construction, it’s got new handrails, new floorboards. Our response was a smile and a ‘watch this space’ … I won’t read into it as it could be nothing, but if that means a future river/boat/raft ride, this would make a lot of people pretty happy! also some new merch in the Rivertown shop that didn’t seem to be available on opening. the park was alive today, atmosphere amazing, wait times really good considering the crowds, and staff were awesome! I gotta say it, movie worlds addition doesn’t come close in either execution, or operation. Lastly, the park is still feeling a little incomplete with the half train track, and long empty walks in both directions to the animals. The train will apparently be complete again in the coming few months. Can’t wait to see Rivertown with even more kinetic energy once the train is back in action.

Can anyone provide insight into the wait times for jungle rush and M Motors over the last few days? We’re considering taking the kids tomorrow however they’re young and if it’s overwhelmingly busy we might hold off. Are we talking 40min waits for jungle rush, or 2hr waits like the other park down the road. also how is the rest of the park coping? Lines becoming unbearable, or is the park managing the capacity well?

Interesting to see they have incorporated a ramp and platform/dock alongside the river. Surely this is forward planning for a potential riverboat return? Or perhaps another sort of raft/boat ride? I can’t imagine why else they went to the expense of adding it. It’s not noticeable from anywhere so I highly doubt it was done just for theming. Thoughts?

I have to say personally I am disappointed. We didn’t spend long there so I won’t review the rides as we couldnt get on. From a ‘non rider’ perspective the land is incredibly small, boxed in and feels kinda flat/cheap. It almost feels like an old area of a park that use to be alive but lost its energy and pizazz over the years. It desperate for some kinetic energy and life in my opinion. We had a Quick Look in the ride queues, there’s a small element of impressive theming then lots of blank walls and concrete and backstage views with literally 0 effort or thought put in. The wait times for wicked witch are also going to be horrendous. I can’t imagine most families/kids being happy to wait 2hours+ for a short ride. Seems a bizarre choice for a park that is screaming out for capacity and people eaters and who seem to have no interest in efficiencies or operations, but I digress. I’ll admit this is a step up from a lot of recent village installations and there are some really beautiful scenes here and there, but overall disappointed. It’s not an Immersive land at all, it’s a painted courtyard with some theming and a queue for two small coasters. The claim of $100mill also baffles me. Between Woz and Rivertown, I’m hoping it pays off for dreamworld, they’ve put far more effort in this time round and you can see their passion in its endless details and uniqueness.

Wandering Oakes sliding sleighs This is one of the concept art pictures on dreamworlds website it shows the timber slats on the track, (I know it’s only concept art) their animated pov also shows this on the track. Im assuming it’s not happening but I was just curious 😊

Was just curious as some of the concept art had the slats on the track, and some other recent vekoma family coaster installs that are not ‘trains’ still had the timber in the tracks.

Do we know if they will install timber slats on the coaster track? I am assuming not and would have expected it would be installed pre delivery? Shame if not, would have looked incredible!

Surely they will retheme the motor coaster to blend a little better and not take away from the Rivertown entrance? Rivertown Racers, Dirt Bike Derby, Murrisippi Motorcross? There are plenty of easy to blend in themes they could go with, even if all they did was retheme that horribly tacky green building/entrance sign. do we have any word about the possibility of this? Thinking of the dingo racers at Aussie world, pretty cheap but fairly effective. They don’t need to spend a fortune, you don’t want it to take away from the Rivertown entrance, but just something to blend in nicely could be fairly affordable/easy to do… we keep saying ‘get rid of it’ but they won’t, not for a long time. It’s still fairly popular with kids/families.

In regards to the awful pop music that was playing at the park entrance and around the flyer recently, I emailed in my feedback direct to dreamworld. I initially received the usual “thanks for your feedback, we’ve passed it on the the relevant team”, however I was followed up this morning with an email straight from Greg Young. He thanked me for the feedback, and said that he shared my thoughts on the music and they have since reverted back to the classic/Disneyland style Main Street music. He also said they still have a few more things to touch up and complete at the front of the park that they are currently working on. Interested to know what that means? Anyways I thought that was worth sharing. If it’s worth complaining about on here, then perhaps it’s worth sending in the feedback. It’s clear that they listen and appreciate enthusiasts feedback 😊 I also noted several comments while lining up for the flyer about how quick the lines moved compared to the competition down the road! Yes it is a people eater with the number of seats, but regardless that’s some good customer feedback heading into the Christmas school holidays!

Attended Dreamworld the other day for the first time since the flyers walls came down, it just looks amazing! The sight of the globe, the structure, the fountains. It just works and looks soo damn good! BUT, they’ve stuffed up big time. They were blasting cheap, tacky pop music right from the entrance all the way up main st. It just didn’t work. I don’t know where that classic, old timey, disneyland style music went? In my opinion that music was such a warm, welcoming, nostalgic start to the day, and would have worked even better with the flyer now open. But the tacky pop music they were blasting just spoiled that grand entrance reveal. It felt like some local free shopping centre instead of the start to a great theme park day. We weren’t the only ones to comment. Not sure if this is a permenant decision? But it seems like a silly one. We all jumped online to submit feedback, and lately dreamworld seem pretty interested in feedback, so I’d suggest doing the same if you, like me, prefer some ‘theme’ music in your theme parks. Aside from that gripe, the ride was great fun. I get a little motion sick, but did pretty well on this one. It was far more of an experience than your standard swinging chairs. Standing in line was more of a ‘show’ and far from boring with a front row view. Whilst the music in the street has turned to uninspired/ and out of place pop music, the music on the ride is spot on! Each cycle played a different old timey/theme appropriate song, or similar style Christmas song. Mixed with the fountains, the laughter and chatter amongst riders, it’s a winner in my books. The lighting worked pretty well, I think a more classic golden/yellow/vintage lighting display would look better, but It didn’t feel like the colourful lights were too far out of place. They certainly didn’t take away from the experience. off ride it’s just as much fun, it ads much needed kinetic energy all the way from central station and up and around to the claw. The large spinning structure along with those water fountains are noticeable from everywhere. Has changed the look and feel of the entire area and it now feels quite alive instead of just a ‘go between’ area. I’ve already said it a few times but other than the insane decision to play pop music at the parks entrance/main st, (let’s pray it was a bizzare one off situation) the ride itself has transformed the entrance and start to your day at the park! It feels quality, it looks quality, if they can be rid of the pop music it will sound quality too. 😂

I don’t think the intention is for one new spin and spew to bring in the crowds, I think the intention is to offer a bigger, better overall experience at the park, more rides, more kinetic energy, more atmosphere, and a fuller day of experiences. I have been going to the park regularly for 6 or so years now, and I do believe that the average attendance day to day is increasing, even more so in just the past few months. I think they’re in for a pretty busy summer actually. It’s not the fact that it’s just one new ride, it’s the fact that there are multiple new rides to open within days, the park is looking brighter and fresher than ever and just feels better value/quality due to the addition of a ‘spin and spew’

I was in park today, first time since 2019. It was not great. I get planned maintenance, and I understand unscheduled maintenance. However we had people in lines next to us complaining that for the period of their annual passes they rarely attend when there isn’t multiple headliner rides down at the same time. We also witnessed guests confronting staff at the front of rivals when they shut the queue at 4:40 ‘to ensure the staff can close the ride by 5pm’. I’m sorry but if you have three of your 4 available ‘big’ coasters out of action (planned or not) and only a 1 train service on the single remaining big coaster, then you sure as heck don’t shut the queue almost 30mins early because you want to go home before 5pm. That’s clearly a directive from management, and it’s one that says we don’t really care what the customer thinks because the customer just keep coming, but surely this is going to unravel for them one day soon right? In addition the bathrooms were filthy everywhere we went, the food insanely expensive, (almost $20 for a cold burger and a handful of cold chips that amounted to a meal as small as a cheeseburger meal from maccas), for comparison we had a large burger with decent serve of chips from dreamworld for $16 big serve and fresh. Lots of wear and tear around the park, weeds growing out of gutters and cracks in the buildings etc. I don’t know I guess I expected more. We went to dreamworld last week, almost everything was open, there was a lot of bright fresh colours everywhere and you could see plenty of investment into the park. The absolute biggest difference that stood out to me was the staff. At dreamworld they seemed very engaged and energetic, and wanting to cycle through rides efficiently, at movieworld we found them uninterested and some of the painfully slowest operations I have ever witnessed around the world. As someone who hasn’t been to the parks in many years, and who has visited many parks around the US, and Asia, it seems as though dreamworld are driving the right behaviours and expectations from their staff and delivering a far greater customer experience. Just one man’s observations 😉