GoGoBoy

Totally agree joz. Movie World would really be responding to public demand by adding a few more rides. They should still add their big, quality blockbuster attractions every few years but maybe with a few smaller or 'filler' rides in between. As long as the filler rides had reasonable theming and some good presentation and signage. I definitely agree with your comment about not adding new stuff at the expense of existing rides. When you have a park that is already too small, the last thing you should be doing is removing or replacing rides. I'm thinking Gremlins and Looney Tunes River Ride here

Thanks Parkz this was a great update!! Firstly, that laminated sign held up with band-aids is PATHETIC! I couldn't stop laughing. But I was also horrified at the same time. I remember Sega World in Sydney used to have this same problem of sticking tacky laminated signs up everywhere. They had professional signage around the place but then the rides supervisors would decide they needed more signs and out would come the A4 laminates. At least with Sega World it was an indoor park. DW really needs to get professional sign writers onto the job... or at the very least splash out on some sticky tape. In regards to Buzzsaw - I have to agree that while I am disappointed with the ride choice, I do think it is going to become a new icon. The tower looks far taller and more imposing that I was expecting. I actually think it's probably a clever move from DW financially... there aren't many rides that will create such a skyline impact that come so cheap. While all of us are a bit sad about it, the general public will probably be sufficiently impressed

Agreed. Thank god for Movie World and Village Roadshow - seemingly the only Aussie theme park company willing to build decent full circuit roller coasters (yes this is a dig at Dreamworld/Ardent)

No surprises there!

Hey Jamberoo Fan I meant to comment on this when you first posted those theming suggestions. I think they are fantastic! Normally when people come up with names and theming suggestions on this site, they are pretty lame to say the least. But that list is brilliant! Probably better than anything DW would ever actually go with

No worries, we were just trying to work out what you meant as the statement was a bit strangely worded. My guess would be that he is just referring to the rides we already know about. Would be very surprised if we see anything else this year. The entertainment partnership will be the new thing

??? I wasn't suggesting he wouldn't know about new rides or would 'lie' about them - just that he probably doesn't make the decisions about which new rides to get. I would assume that would be above him. The "major entertainment partnership" certainly sounds like it might be what a lot of people on here have been guessing - the new brand to replace nickelodeon etc. (ie. the summer surprise)

Poor journalism... the article says he is the Chief Executive Officer of Ardent Leisure Group. I'm sure Greg Shaw would have something to say about that! He is only the CEO of Dreamworld and WhiteWater World... not the whole group! I think it's worth pointing out that the CEO of DW/WWW probably doesn't have a huge say when it comes to strategic direction for the parks and what new rides they will get in. I'm pretty sure that mostly comes down to the CEO of Ardent and the Board of Directors. My guess is that the park CEO role is more operationally focused, as Noel referred to in the article above. Could be wrong though

Haha I just went through exactly the same thing Gazza! I got all excited and thought maybe it was actually going to be more than just a loop! Maybe Parkz was actually wrong! Then reality kicked in and I remembered it is Dreamworld. That's when I noticed the structure not bolted down

Weren't the VIP passes and DW unlimited passes $99 last year (I know joz said they are $10 more expensive, but I could have sworn they were $99 last year)? I know that Ardent Leisure were really hoping/counting on Village to stop the discounted passes this year, so that they can restore their margins. Looks like that didn't happen. The problem is now that the general public (yes, the bogan families) now have an expectation that they will get these ridiculously cheap passes every year. It will be very hard to wean them off them. Now we have a situation where not only are the parks offering massively discounted passes, they are also unable to apply the annual increases which they used to carry out

I'd be very surprised if there was any other new ride or slide being built this year. If it was, it is likely that it would have been mentioned somewhere in the Ardent Leisure presentations, as all of the other rides have been. Not saying it is impossible, but highly unlikely. It will probably be something else unfortunately

So I've already forgotten how much the previous VIP passes were. Has the price gone up this year or is it the same?

I haven't been there for ages but didn't a large number of the rides in Nick Central have various nick theming on them? 3D statues, artwork, signage etc. The couple of examples I have in my head are Spongebob Flypants and Dora the Explorer (although I guess that last one has gone). Then you've got the colour choices chosen for the paintwork on things such as the track for Reptar and the orange fibreglass slides on Pipeline Plunge. I admit the theming is not anything special, but compared to DW's normal theming budget it would be significant. Then you've got all of the signage too and the various marketing and branding promotions changes required

I would find that very strange considering the amount of money put into theming etc. Also, if they had any inkling that they were going to get out of the contract in a few years why would they have fully branded Pipeline Plunge at WWW? All of the slides are coloured that distinctive bright Nickelodeon orange - it'll be hard to make that fit with any other theme

Haha 'Kids World'... how awful! I am going to go ahead and assume that this is definitely temporary. A similar thing happened before they built Nick Central, it was called 'Kennyland' for a while I believe. I still find this move really puzzling however. As I said previously, Nick Central was a massive crowd-puller for them and it had a large impact on their attendance levels. I still think many of the Nick characters are popular. I would love to hear the inside scoop on why this occurred and what is happening next

LOL! ...and again! Gazza you're on fire tonight

That's actually very funny! And appropriate

I was just looking at The Outsiders website and they have a gallery showing the recent theming removal at Nick Central. There's a pic of the now-very-blank Spongebob Flypants ride and the comment under the photo refers to the yellow blob on top of the central ride column. They aren't sure what it is but seem to think this is a new addition which has supposedly 'replaced' Spongebob. They mention that some people have been referring to it as 'melted spongebob'. Now, I haven't even seen the ride in person but I'm pretty sure the yellow blob has actually always been there, they've just recently painted over it. Judging by photos from before the theming was removed, the yellow blob was previously a purple jellyfish with the Spongebob figure standing on top. Surprised they didn't realise this. Anyway, the ride looks absolutely terrible now without theming. It was pretty impressive when it was all themed up properly

I agree - the disk doesn't look much like an 'undersea vessel' at the moment! Maybe they ran out of time? Seriously, when are the parks going to allow enough time to properly build new attractions? Why is it always a last minute rush?

I reckon that's almost spot-on, give or take a few bucks

This is a very interesting development if it ends up being true. Nickelodeon Central was a big success for Dreamworld when it was built - it boosted attendance significantly, especially with the family market. We all know DW also loves a good brand tie-in. And as others mentioned, there is Nick's Pipeline Plunge too. If it's true, I would assume the break up was initiated by Nickelodeon. I'm pretty sure DW wouldn't have wanted to end the association. Unless Nick were asking for big bucks to continue on?! Surely it's a blow for DW

Was just reading a Merrill Lynch broker research report (my partner works in finance/equities) focusing on Ardent Leisure. The analysts were given a tour of DW/WWW and one of the Goodlife gyms. Just thought I would share the following comment from the report: 'AAD will look to build market share through investing in 2 new Dreamworld rollercoaster’s (~$9m) due to open in July and Sept which should drive Christmas sales'. So just further confirmation of the relatively low capital expenditure for these rides combined. We now have a fairly accurate figure - $9 million (remember this includes both the Disk 'o' Coaster AND the September coaster).

I agree. I much preferred the older version MINUS the skycoaster and zipline. They have no place in a true waterpark. Tacky and ugly. Stick to world class water slides

Because the Tower of Terror and Giant Drop were added to the park before the current owners (Ardent Leisure) took over. As I said higher up in this thread, it looks like Ardent just aren't interested in spending the money required to build major iconic attractions. Pretty disappointing

Then in reality the way I see it is we will never get a massive (or at least large-ish) full circuit roller coaster from Dreamworld. This would have been the year to do it if they were going to do it at all. Not only has it been a LONG wait since their last decent ride but it is also their anniversary AND the board announced a 'major capex plan'. Guess we have to look to Movie World for anything significant (shame they don't have the amount of space available that DW has!)