GoGoBoy

Why are so many people seemingly holding on to the apparent delusion that the log ride will be reopening at some stage? With the TRRR accident and the resulting major safety audit, the removal of the log ride from park map and website, fencing, and now the confirmed permanent closure of Viking's Revenge, how could the ride be anything other than gone for good? I could be wrong, but all signs are seriously pointing in one direction only.

Really sad news today to hear of the closure of both DW's log ride and SW's classic flume. I have something to add about the flume ride that I've been meaning to discuss on here for some time (ever since the DW tragedy), but never got around to it. So way back when I was a kid on a trip to the Gold Coast, and Lassiter's Lost Mine Ride was still a thing, I would literally go between both rides -- Lassiter's and the flume -- and ride them all day, usually accompanied by my poor dad. I absolutely loved them. Anyway, on one particular trip, there was an incident on the flume ride that occurred when we were right at the end of the queue. Two boats were apparently released at the same time from the two separate channels on the platform. They both converged together where the flume becomes one channel and essentially jackknifed. One boat in particular was on quite an angle. It understandably caused a lot of commotion, with the ride attendants and members of the public running in to try and assist and dislodge the boats. Nobody was hurt. I remember thinking at the time that it had more to do with the sensors than an operator error, although obviously I don't know exactly how the ride works. I understand the ride uses a reflective-beam sensor system that detects a boat when it passes, and thereby operates the block sections using the metal gates and, in the case of the top of the flume, those metal arms to stop the boats. I remember thinking at the time that the sensor may not have registered that the first boat had passed, so the gates then released the second boat, thinking that the channel was clear. You can see how I think this could be relevant to Thunder River Rapids, as I'm pretty certain most boat rides use a similar sensor system. I'm not sure how frequent an occurrence it was for this failure to occur on the flume, but if it was a known issue and there was any chance it could happen again you can see why Sea World would be wary. Two boats colliding would not be a good look after everything that has happened. Even more so if it is found that a faulty sensor played a part in the DW accident.

But using that logic, you could say the same thing about dry park rides. Why do people expect to see Dreamworld theme their rides? Because of the atmosphere and the feeling it creates. Look, I do see your point. I do think water parks can get away with minimal theming in some cases. But they should at least have excellent landscaping and great presentation and signage to make up for it. Lush tropical landscaping can be a good alternative to decent theming. But we certainly don't see that at WnW Sydney, which basically reminds me of an expanded H20 Zone. I remember back when WnW Gold Coast first installed White Water Mountain and for a while it was a real move to immersive themed attractions. As a kid I had never had any interest in visiting the park, until this attraction opened. I remember the picture on the front of the brochure showing two people on a raft flying out of the themed White Water Mountain. The brochure also made reference to the fibre optic special effects that were installed on the slide. This was enough to make me want to go to the park. Not too long after they opened Calypso Beach: another brilliantly immersive attraction with a very distinctive theme and lots of attention to detail. Then -- and despite obvious attendance success -- they gave up. We got H20 Zone with no theming, super basic signage and almost no landscaping. It's like a water park version of Luna Park's Maloney's Corner. They repeated this at WnW Sydney; reversed only very, very slightly when they re-themed the kids area to Nickelodeon. Thankfully we have these other Australian water parks which understand the value of creating a bit of additional excitement and atmosphere. I personally appreciate the creativity and effort involved. And just like WnW GC back in the '90s, Jamberoo even managed to bring the story inside the slide, with special effects in the main funnel.

Credit where credit's due -- if it ends up looking like that promo pic, this will be one of the best themed tornado slides I have seen, alongside AW's Kraken. I agree that it was a very strange ride choice considering the existence of Funnel Web (and the fact that the colour doesn't distinguish it from that ride much), but they deserve full marks for theming, at least by Asutralian water park standards. Wet 'n' Wild Sydney (and even Gold Coast now) should be ASHAMED.

First POV I have seen from inside the recently enclosed Perfect Storm. Good to see there are some strobe effects. It would work better if it was darker inside the funnel though. Not sure if there are any sound effects. Starts at about 1:55.

I'm not sure what they're going to do but I think the original idea was to compete with the Village offering by saying - get access to 2 parks!

Exactly what I was thinking. This is potentially the coaster that we've been calling for for more than 15 years, all the way back to the 'Total Thrills' days (I had to look that name up because I'd forgotten! I knew it was something to do with Thrills)

This particular ride, Roaring Rapids at Six Flags over Texas, has not been without its own serious troubles though. A woman was killed and a number of people were seriously injured on it about 15 years ago when one of the rafts flipped towards the end of the ride (before the conveyor belt). I understand one of the rafts was slightly deflated and caught on a pipe on the base of the channel used to create the rapids. It then flipped and its occupants were trapped underwater. A number of modifications were made including ensuring the pipes have a graduated ramp to ensure rafts would not get stuck, and some modifications to the rafts themselves.

I think it is worth looking to overseas incidents to get an idea of how things could/should potentially play out. Thinking back to the death on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, I understand that the park remained open and ultimately the ride itself was re-opened. This is despite the fact that the park was found to be at fault, with poor maintenance procedures cited as the main reason for the derailment and subsequent death. I mean this is Disneyland! Poor maintenance at Disneyland! Years later, and most people wouldn't even remember it. I understand Disney undertook to significantly improve their processes. The ride was refurbished quite substantially recently. With this in mind, Dreamworld should surely be able to continue on, even if they are found to be at fault, so long as they rectify any and all maintenance and/or procedural shortcomings. Re-opening the rapid ride may be a stretch, particularly considering the horrific number of deaths. The only way I could see that happening is after a massive upgrade that makes significant changes to the design and operation of the ride. New rafts - new conveyor belt - new theming etc. But these rides (as much as I love them) have been involved in a number of incidents overseas, so I would remain somewhat nervous about it if I was in charge at DW.

If you had any faith left in the media before this incident, I'm sure it has evaporated now. I have never seen such desperate, click-hungry, irresponsible journalism. They are jumping at anything just to get another story up, clearly because they are attracting eyeballs. Anyone that says anything about anything slightly Dreamworld-related will get quoted in yet another baseless article on the topic. The media is stuffed (generally speaking).

Enough Pop, seriously, we get the idea. Meanwhile, what's happened to the ABC lately? I have always had immense respect for our public broadcaster and believe it plays a very important role in our democracy. But some of their coverage recently, particularly ABC News Online, has been no better than the Daily Mail or Daily Tele. It's all starting to seem like rushed, poorly researched, sensationalised clickbait and churnalism. The latest example is an article that refers to an 'expert' claiming that the DW incident could have been caused by "poor maintenance". But he's literally just pulled that out of the air. To give any weight to such a possibility at this point when the investigation has barely started, and for the ABC to report it, is reprehensible. It is total speculation -- entirely fact and evidence free.

I'd suggest the raft did flip entirely, but was then positioned on its side by rescuers. Entirely speculating of course.

This is very interesting indeed. I wouldn't be surprised if they scrapped the whole 2-independent-parks idea, as it clearly never quite took off like they wanted it to. The fact is, they simply never invested into WWW enough to position it as a true stand-alone water park to draw significant crowds away from WnW. That might have happened if they had proceeded with the original phase 2/3 plans incorporating the major new slide tower and the (much needed) lazy river. As it is they have all this infrastructure and staffing to make it a separate park, but probably isn't necessary. I think the 2 park approach should have been a success, and still could be, but it would require a decent expansion of WWW.

Brilliant update. Some of those pics, and the suggestive captions that go with them, make me very, very happy.

Absolutely right.

I've come across ads for Dreamword's Tiger Island upgrade on The Sydney Morning Herald website but still absolutely nothing down here for Doomsday and Supervillains Unleashed. Movie World's marketing team needs to get off their bums. What a waste!

I was thinking the same thing. This precinct should be getting way more coverage than it has been! Movie World should be marketing it to the hilt! I remember back in the day we used to get tons of GC theme parks ads down here in NSW. Now, virtually nothing. When DW opened the Claw their ads were all over the TV, and pretty much everyone in NSW knew about it!

Perfect, thank you for that. I missed that video originally -- I was thinking it was just a repeat of the opening/launch show (which I had seen through Movie World's Facebook Live), but you gave a great tour of the whole area. I noticed there was smoke rising from a grate next to Destroyer... was this just for the launch night only or does it run during the day? It's a nice effect as it gives the area that New Yorkey feel.

What is the scenario with the Gorilla dude? I think he stands out the front of the burger shop(?) but I don't think anyone has posted any pics or videos of his section yet.

So I had a look at Theme Park Girl's Facebook live video from the launch of Super Villains Unleashed and I have to say I am beyond impressed. The precinct looks particularly amazing at night with all of the facade windows lit up and just a great general atmosphere. While the area is quite small, I think in terms of concept, theming and particularly interactive elements, it is one of the more impressive theme park precincts I have ever seen. While somewhere like the Harry Potter zone at IOA has clearly set a benchmark for this type of experience, I would say that this area certainly rivals it in terms of the interactivity, creativity and functionality of the various elements. I reckon kids are going to go absolutely nuts for this area. Huge congrats to Village Roadshow and the bosses and team at Movie world!

What about the Indian teepee area? From memory that was rotting away

And I respond with...

I agree with this; except for the part suggesting Dreamworld is operated by a bank. Macquarie parted ways with Dreamworld long ago, if that's what you are implying. No bank involved now. But still, I agree with the sentiment. For a long time it has been pretty clear Ardent has tried to get maximum gain out of DW with minimum investment. They are incredibly reluctant to spend any serious capex on the place. Possibly even more so under the new CEO. Not to the extent of the old Sunway/Wonderland of course, but still not good. And with MW's giant coaster around the corner (plus Doomsday, plus the better VR experience, plus everything) and absolutely no sign that DW will be doing anything significant in response, well, it's all looking a little sad. And yes, it is looking like the Dreamworld asset may be the next thing Ardent offloads to focus on overseas arcade interests.

Hey - don't short change the park map! As a kid I was obsessed with them. I remember when the internet first became a thing in the late 90's and the only thing I used it for was looking up overseas theme park websites and pouring over the park maps!

Did they get the GM to update the map because the original artist wasn't available or something? What's with making Doomsday red? It makes no sense!