GoGoBoy

I approve of your life priorities/choices. How tragic, we were all so young when we first started chatting on these forums. I was just a little twink. Now many of us are getting a little long in the tooth. Without wanting to derail the topic with too many off-subject posts, how old are you AlexB, if I can ask a lady that question?

Agreed. And if they can get a decent dark ride going, the park will well and truly be back on track. I do think there will need to be some sort of full circuit coaster at some stage in the next few years though. Doesn't have to be massive or expensive, just something clever, that will get noticed, and with reasonably broad appeal.

I feel like I get more of my news from Parkz than from mainstream news sources these days, ha! Much more pleasant to read. Really appreciate how frequent the articles seem to be now and the level of insight. I totally agree about the Play School Wheel. Nice that they are adding a cute little addition -- in theory at least -- but the execution certainly is quite disappointing. They could have done some really cool stuff with such an iconic Aussie kids' show like Play School. As the article suggests, they could have picked up plenty of inspiration from Sea World's brilliant Nickelodeon area with its serious customisation of ride vehicles and theming components. I do like the main logo and artwork they've used to promote the Play School Wheel though, so credit to the marketing team.

I like the details Movie World are adding. Trying to replicate that NYC street feel with all of the works going on. I don’t think we should complain when a park decides to focus on theming details! I welcome it

This is something I was wondering about. There have been a couple of flume ride accidents overseas where the log has actually tipped forward at the bottom of the drop and ejected passengers, with very serious injuries resulting. But as Richard suggested, I believe this has something to do with water level.

Why??????

How do you get in? It must be even more challenging now.

Exactly. They go and then are probably often the ones that complain it’s too busy.

They already have one - Buzzsaw. Although from reports much of that theming and storyline has virtually disappeared.

I think a lot of us on here had quite high hopes when Gary Weiss took over based on everything he was saying Ardent needed to do to make DW a success. Then it started to look like he might end up disappointing us. This latest article gives plenty of reasons to be optimistic again, so long as he follows through on everything. It is clear he knows what needs to be done to turn DW around. The flying theatre, dark ride and WhiteWater World expansion are all absolutely on the money. DW has so much goodwill built up in it; it is an iconic brand, and with a bit of commitment could easily become a big profit generator again. The previous Ardent chairman and directors should really be ashamed of themselves for neglecting it, or at least not giving it the attention and investment it deserved.

UPDATE: Looks like I might have spoken a bit too ‘soon’. Some good announcements from DW today. Hopefully the new Chairman will now live up to our initial expectations. I’d be very impressed if DW does go ahead with both the simulator and the dark ride, but they still need to get all of their existing rides up too, without destroying them in the process.

You certainly get the feeling that Ardent don’t really want to operate a theme park anymore (if they ever really did), and are very scared about actually operating rides. It’s a shame this was the way they reacted to the Thunder River tragedy. It feels that way to a lesser extent over at Village. Hopefully this passes. There have of course been some terrible accidents at parks overseas, even at Disney, but you don’t see those parks retreating from the industry. They learn from mistakes and then go on to get bigger and better.

That's just crazy. You are going to have a lot of very upset guests over the hot summer period. Meanwhile, there are countless log rides overseas that have been running for decades and decades with NO INCIDENTS. Why don't they just look overseas for a little reassurance???

That signature drives me nuts Pushbutton as I keep thinking it’s part of your post!

And I’m assuming they won’t be replacing the tunnel with any interesting theming along the length of the ride.

I’m pretty sure in business terms a 90 year lease basically translates to ‘forever’.

What the hell? A Wonderland museum? Can't be serious.

Exactly what I thought when I first saw it. I was going to mention it, but figured I should stop relating everything back to Movie World’s poor marketing 😉

I was so disappointed when I last went on Scooby a year or 2 ago, and not just because it is now rough as guts. I told my buddy who had never been on it before about the cool Scooby song which blasts out in the big room, but it was so quiet it was almost inaudible. It really makes the experience when the music is pumping.

Thanks for the pics, @themagician! The theming and presentation seems quite ok, and the lazy river is already looking far superior to WnW Sydney’s sad attempt. Calling it Victoria’s Disneyland however just makes me cringe. I know the owners wanna promote it, but come on.

It’s a shame there aren’t really any pics of the new park on the website or on their Facebook page. I couldn’t find a park map either. Have no idea how it’s turned out.

djrappa - CORRECT!!! I don’t think I’ve ever agreed with a post more.

As far as I can tell Junior Driving School hasn’t done much/anything to increase attendance. Compare that to some of the kids area additions at DW that led to demonstrable attendance increases. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but IMO it is mostly a waste of space. I don’t know why they had to use so much of the show building. That space could really have been used for something superior. They could have even put a number of kids rides inside the building and made it a whole new precinct that would have been perfect for families in wet weather etc.

Wow I had no idea there were op booths throughout the ride course in Wild West Falls and Scooby. They are well concealed - I’ve never noticed anyone. Why does WWF only have one on the first lift? What’s the purpose of it?

But you did aim it at him and got it wrong, just saying. On another note, that post seems to be quite popular on SW’s FB page. Who knew a giant splash area would be in such high demand among families?