GoGoBoy

I agree it's a bit of a strange name. In an article I read recently I think the CEO said that it was meant to reflect the passion they have for the company. Therefore your number 2 option would be most appropriate... minus the adult industry connotations. I also heard they had to come up with a name fairly quickly after the split from Macquarie was decided on and apparantley that's a hard thing to do with many company names already taken. I think they place more emphasis on the branding of the individual leisure businesses as opposed to the parent company

It looks like Ardent Leisure (owners of Dreamworld and WhiteWater World) have snapped up the Q Deck Observation Deck in the Q1 building in Surfers Paradise. The company that previously owned the attraction went into receivership I believe due to unrelated debt issues but the Q Deck itself is a profitable business. This means Ardent probably got a good deal on the purchase price. It also seems to be a good fit with their other leisure businesses including Dreamworld. The press release with further information can be found here: http://clients.weblink.com.au/clients/arde...sp?view=2572217

I like the logo on the 'coming soon' sign outside the ride area. Here's hoping it will have proper signage and presentation when it opens unlike other recent Village additions such as Jet Rescue. For me the presentation and signage (and theming if any) really sets the mood. It also separates a true theme park from a fun park or carnival

The ad looks good but it seems they've put quite a bit of effort into it considering it is just a (temporary) live show. Don't know if it's worthy of its own TVC. On another note I see Village is continuing with the heavy discounting with the introduction of an endless summer pass. I wonder when/if they are going to let up

Gazza your little cartoon showing a Dreamworld 'board meeting' was hilarious and very accurate. I think this sounds pretty awful but again I don't think it's meant to be anything major. They have to put on these shows during peak times to offer a bit more variety. I don't think it's being put in as an alternative to a new ride... something we are all hoping for

I've got to say I am very disappointed with the slight Sea World attendance decline considering they had a new ride added in the year. If the Aussie public does not support new attractions then we simply won't get as many. If a new show draws a larger attendance than a ride the parks will just add entertainment based additions instead (and become like... shudder... Wonderland) as it's much cheaper. Let's hope this is not the case. I think a part of this result is definitely due to the appalling lack of marketing for Jet Rescue, as Joz mentioned

Haha I love the fact that you brought up my 3 year rule. I guess I have mentioned it enough times by now. Don't let me down Dreamworld! I agree they are going to need to do something major (and I'm not talking interactive attractions like laser and bowling) to put a stop to the falling attendances. I am an Ardent Leisure shareholder and I am here to say I don't care if they take some of my dividend for the year and put it towards a big new ride. I can see the need for this in terms of Dreamworld's long term health. I certainly would like to see an expansion for WhiteWater World although I was very disappointed to read your remark Gazza that AVPX has been built in the area previously allocated for expansion. I agree we don't need to see a massive expansion all in one hit but at least something. I am fairly sure we will see a significant new ride/attraction for either Dreamworld or WhiteWater World in the second half of next year. Although I probably shouldn't say that out loud as I might jinx it

Refer to the ASX release from Village Roadshow regarding the decision to not go ahead with the purchase of Aussie World and conversion into a water park - http://www.villageroadshow.com.au/press_re...t%20%202309.pdf

Was this at a Screamworld event or something? Are these events still busy/popular? I have heard they are also planning to hold lots more Night WhiteWater World events this year which should be good

The term 'interactive experiences' makes me shudder. In other words anything but decent new rides. I'm still holding out hope for new major capital investment for both DW and WWW in the second half of 2010. I remember reading another recent annual report that did briefly mention possible expansion opportunities at WWW as the economy picks up. Plus next year will have been the 3rd year since a ride was installed at DW. On a side note Gazza, Ardent Leisure is basically just Macquarie Leisure with a different name ie. the same CEO and management, most of the same Directors... just minus the ties with Macquarie. Although you probably already knew that

Totally wrong. You only have to look through Macquarie Leisure's annual financial statements to see that a large proportion of attendance comes from the local domestic market. Due to the population growth in Queensland this is the segment of attendance that has continued to grow. Overseas visitors account for very little of the total figure. Take away the local market and revenue would drop massively. Anyway, I guess I would expect most users on here to be excited about discount passes as a large number of you will probably take up the offer. However it is a well known fact that on-going price wars damage businesses. I'm not totally opposed to Dreamworld responding to market conditions appropriately and I will be interested to see how this plays out. I'm just surprised considering it was only very recently that the CEO of Macquarie Leisure said Dreamworld wouldn't be discounting

Well you guys seem to think it is a positive for the parks to be getting into price wars. Let me tell you in the long run all it does is hurt the businesses. There is a difference between the odd sale or special offer for marketing reasons and an all out price war. What do you think might happen next? If it goes on Village will come back with a cheaper price and then DW has to come back with yet another cheaper price. This seriously hurts the parks margins and means they become less profitable. If the park is less profitable there is less money to spend on new rides and refurbishments. I can't see the positives in that

$99 seems so incredibly cheap for 2 parks for a whole year. Didn't a standard World Pass used to cost more than that? This concerns me slightly as the CEO of Macquarie Leisure said recently that Dreamworld doesn't have a policy of cutting prices and they won't do it even if their competitors are. They must be really feeling the heat from Warner Village to suddenly completely change tact like this. I'm a bit annoyed at Warner Village for starting these price wars... it doesn't help anyone! How about focusing on the quality of offerings rather than slashing prices. Hopefully this is just a temporary move by the parks until the economy really starts to pick up again

And I believe DW's Claw marketing campaign was very successful. I remember people I worked with at the time in Sydney talking about the Claw and saying how fun it looked. They were just going by the ads they saw. It shows it was effective when the message breaks through so well interstate like that. I think DW's attendance increased significantly around the same time. I was really surprised at the lacklustre marketing given to Jet Rescue at Sea World. Everything from the rides naming (as Rich mentioned) to its presentation (ie. lack of decent themed signage) and seemingly no commercials. We heard nothing about it down in Sydney. It just seems crazy afterall it was a NEW ROLLERCOASTER for SEA WORLD! If I was the Marketing Manager I would have sent out the message like crazy!

Dominos Australia is an Australian company so therefore the profits actually do stay here. It is a public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. You can buy shares in it if you want to!

Unfortunately there's no capex committed for any major new rides or attractions over the next financial year going by the information in MLE's results presentation. The financial year ends June 30. So it is still possible we could see something in September or December which I suppose are the normal months for big new additions anyway

The slingshot and go-kart thing was obviously a joke (which I thought was funny mind you!)... but a joke sort of based on reality. I mean just look at 'Adrenalin Alley' to see the kind of crap Dreamworld has installed over the last few years and passed off as attractions. It would make sense for a major ride to be added in 2010 as it appears Dreamworld staggers their major capital expenditure every 3 years which I believe would make 2010 a likely date for the next big thing

People should be directing any anger over the closure of Wonderland directly at the greedy company that was responsible for it - Sunway Malaysia

I will be visiting Canada's Wonderland in August and I was looking over the park maps for both Canada's Wonderland and Kings Dominion on their websites. I then went onto the Dreamworld website to look at their park map and make a comparison. It really is sad to see the difference. Those other parks are jam packed with rides and loads of coasters whereas Dreamworld just looks so small and sparse. The worst part is DW is also shrinking as opposed to getting bigger. As I scrolled over the map I noticed all these blanked out areas where attractions used to be such as the Eureka Mountain Mine Coaster and the old Blue Lagoon site. There is so much potential but the park just keeps falling further behind. We have seen falling attendance and revenue in Macquarie Leisure's reports over the last couple of years. Hopefully this will encourage them to do something about it. Surely the only real way to stop the decline in attendance at DW will be to stop adding small 'interactive' attractions like the V8 Supercars and Aliens and bring out the big guns - new coasters and thrill rides

Some interesting news today regarding all of this. Macquarie Leisure announced they are going to seek shareholder approval to internalise management and essentially depart from Macquarie. If approved the company would be given a new name and rebranded ie. no longer Macquarie Leisure. This is probably a discussion left for a different thread but my reason for posting here was I found some information regarding WhiteWater World in their presentation to investors. They said the separation from Macquarie and an accompanying capital raising will give the company further opportunities for growth in the future. In regards to WhiteWater World they said there was potential for expansion as conditions permit. This is a good sign and means this planned expansion we have been talking about for ages is not completely off the table. They also mentioned opportunities for further innovation at Dreamworld in the form of new rides and interactive attractions (I shuddered to hear about 'interactive attractions' but at least the rides part sounds good). Here's hoping we see some exciting stuff coming up in the future

True but a major component of this development is the resort. It won't work if they build it somewhere people don't want to stay. There would be some people who stay there just for the waterpark but it would not be appealing for people (particularly foreign and domestic tourists) who are looking for local activities and want to enjoy what Sydney has to offer

Those of us that have been around the forums for a while have seen this type of thing come up many times in the past. They always announce these grand plans for a new theme park but they rarely end up happening. We have even seen plans made by reputable theme park companies fall through. Some look more realistic than others but this one looks very unlikely. The video was so bad. And their location choice is a very strange one. I'm betting it won't happen

I can't believe it. That is beyond poor. The ride is trashed

Thanks for the vid Gaz! It looks like lots of fun. It is something we are definitely missing in Australia - a smooth coaster with huge hills and bunny hops (or whatever you call them). I also think the fact that a large part of it was built over a lake really adds to the experience

Are there any more pics of that ride somewhere Gazza? I certainly am hoping Dreamworld does install a major ride next year as it will have been 3 years since Motocoaster. It seems to be the schedule they normally stick to when it comes to major capital investment. I just hope they give us a true theme park ride/coaster and something which doesn't disappoint as much as certain previous additions. I can't handle another 3 years of disappointment