Slick

I’d say they’re not going to put anymore money on major capex until Steel Taipan has made some money for the park. Whilst fiscally sound and prudent in theory, it demonstrates a lack of understanding about the current climate and the nature of the industry. That is to say, theme parks require constant investment, it’s an unavoidable reality, and in a post-Covid world, everyone’s buying rides, lead times are getting longer and the longer you wait the longer you’re back behind the eight ball to recovery - again.

Agreed. What would you like to see instead?

That’s insanely optimistic given the circumstances.

Just after the incident, NewsCorp did a hit piece on Dreamworld being a "ghost town" and distributed it amongst a bunch of online outlets. They used images during odd times of the day to show the park "empty" and I did a counter-piece which highlighted how phoney their photos were. That article went on to get a few hundred thousand hits in the first 48 hours and helped to shift Dreamworld's initial re-opening narrative. My point then is that both individually and as a collective, we can say and do things the parks themselves can't and people value that level of authenticity and credibility, especially when they're doing research and deciding where to spend their money. It's why Trip Advisor reviews are so important to the parks, or why the YouTube clip I produced two years that speculated on what coaster Dreamworld would get still has more views than Dreamworld's last four YouTube clips combined, despite all being about the same thing. Independent voices matter. Most industries get this. Apple doesn't pull The Verge's or MKBHD's credentials just because a review wasn't glowing. Sony doesn't ban the Rolling Stones just because an artist's album wasn't received well etc. etc.

Eyyyy 69. Not opposed to this at all. Jolly good.

But then again if you're going to do the event every year do you invest in the stuff you need now to make it a success long term? Maybe the answer is somewhere in the middle.

I've been thinking about how I feel about this event today and this is where I'm at about it... I think it's a great idea on paper. If I were an exec I don't think i'd realistically do too much different, the continuing of the premium selection of unique foods is great, live bands is great, showbags, sure, gotta make money, the farmyard, well, marketing something they took away as brand new sure is a vibe, right? I think really what has the potential to let it down is the execution. These days local shopping centres throw as much energy and money (if not more) into seasonal events like these. If Westfield said they were doing live bands, farmyard animals and some pop-up stands it's pretty par for the course. Then you throw in the fact that a lot of these premium foods will be in the Troll's area, a walled in patch of astroturf that's devoid of personality or, heaven forbid, theming, and the concern then will be that it'll miss the mark. If they're opening up the Farmyard again, why not re-open the rivertown restaurant as a nice place to drink a beer and eat some of the premium foods on the way to the farmyard? I'd love to have a beer on the balcony upstairs. You get people out of that concentrated hub that's now Ocean Parade and it's a great use of existing amenities that are lot better than being walled in by spring time facades that scream nothing Dreamworld and everything phoned in. I'd do the same again for the farmyard itself, there's a brilliant space between the farmyard and the river you could pop a few tables in and then make that another place for food and beverages to thrive. Get. People. Moving. Around. The. Park. @Richard may inevitably hide this section (which I can respect, it's his site after all) but I feel it's worth sharing that when it comes to larger parks, we almost always share press releases on the site. But Parkz (or OurWorlds for that matter) didn't receive a press release today. When it comes to the forums, we share our opinions not because we hate one park over another but because, like so many, we're passionate about the industry and want to see those in it succeed.

Seems to be a bit of confusion tonight on the news if it was County Fair or Country Fair - hell, when I went to go update the title, I edited it to say "Country Fair" because Ocean Parade was originally called "Country Fair."

It hurts to be reminded about how good the tower used to look.

I guarantee you within 6 months they'll widen that path or put up a fence.

Yeah I can't be mad about our parks reducing their hours right now - they're the one of the industries doing it the toughest in Queensland right now. I'd be following in Disney's suit and using this opportunity to finally reset the pricing structure - we've been following this 2008/GFC-based pricing model for long enough. It's clear the pricing structure needs to change if Adventure World can demand close to double the price for season tickets. Let's see some date-based surge pricing that goes hand in hand with operating hours and be a little more transparent while we're there.

Seating is a Dreamworld specialty.

Note to everyone: go to the Tokyo Disney Resort instead. It's better in every way.

I also want to point out that they’ve put walls up to prevent people seeing the most exciting part - the start of the launch. You either do a superman escape or blue fire and theme the initial launch or open it up and make it a spectacle ala Top Thrill Dragster, Kingda Ka etc. Instead this is the worst result possible - no theming and closed off.

And a mining site control room in the foreground somehow appearing in a theme park.

I’d be okay with that, tbh.

There's preservation societies out there who are passionate enough about steam trains that they'd maintain and run both the former and present steam trains on-site with very little to no hard labor costs. I'm not a train buff by any stretch, but steam trains and seeing that kind of old school technology in action is badass, and just like Dollywood's steam trains (or Disneyland's) there's a ton of education and community engagement opportunities to be had by having the steam trains run as often as humanly possible at Dreamworld. I'd say the best-case scenario is for the diesel train to relieve the steam trains during say Monday-Wednesday and for the rest of the week the steam trains are running with regular school programs, select tours and other programs that would help to further augment the opex of the steam trains. It's also worth nothing that it's good for the brand. Just like what Al Mucci did with DWF globally or Marty Ermer did with Dreamworld Corroboree, Dreamworld as a brand has so much soft power to be gained by participating with local and international communities. At the minute I think revenue wins out over brand or culture, hence why these people are gone, their programs are gone (or minimised) and just like the steam trains, the horse-drawn carriage, the glass-blowing, the bakery etc. etc. etc. all of these influencing have been killed over time because with Ardent, sadly, money above all has ruled the roost for a number of decades now.

This is a great opportunity for everyone to checkout the community guidelines and to use proper sentences when contributing to the community.

Where's the excitement? The passion? The pride? The turnaround story? I've interviewed these fine folks before - I know they're passionate about this coaster, but these videos don't let them shine and don't do the project justice. How this video lands is that checking off a list of dot points a manager wanted communicated was more important than telling a story the audience wanted to watch. Which is sad, because I wanted way more from Dreamworld, particularly given how much of their recovery is pinned on the success of "this device."

I’m 99% sure another cedar fair park is getting wicked twister (I think Great America from memory.)

Almost all the companies at the Ekka in a showies capacity (rides, stall-holders etc.) are leasing space and electricity from the Ekka, so will be interesting if they refund those amounts back.

Which is exactly why none of those up-charges exist anymore, right? 🤦🏼‍♂️ Dreamworld was making okay money (not great by comparison to Village nor other global benchmarks) and were were doing pretty poorly when you consider the lack of maintenance and reinvestment they were doing (not to mention having a bad year or two roughly around 2011), a point that you also conceit. At this point everything i'll say to counter your point is going to be a regurgitation of what @joz said. Vision is needed, and vision starts with getting the basics right, like understanding how your guests thinks, what they want to do and where they want to go, and building them paths to get them there. I've heard four CEO's talk about getting rid of it and 0/5 have. It's the yeti of Dreamworld projects; everyone talks about it but no one can actually get a hold of it.

You’re actually right on that - I think what I really failed to create was that fast, non-Disney/Universal coasters 99% aren’t great with onboard audio. And if it were down to onboard audio or better landscaping, I’d pick the latter.

It doesn’t. Dreamworld stopped being the Dreamworld everyone knew not by one big cut, but by a thousand small cuts. Yesterday it was no steam train, tomorrow it’s confusing pathways, continue ad neaseum until you have a park where six attractions close in a space of a few years. Also - onboard audio is the most gimmicky shit ever and I stand by that. We’re 0/3 for working onboard audio in coasters in Australia, and every coaster I’ve been on that has it, they need to crank it in order for you to hear it over the sound of the wind passing your ears, meaning it always sounds patchy, tinny and awful. Waste of money.

Or don't build a ride you can't afford. Dreamworld's biggest issue since 1997 is that attractions get built with little to no consideration to what's around it. It's how we ended up with a zombie ride next to a Flowrider next to a V8 simulator next to a car exhibit in an area called Ocean Parade. They shouldn't get a pass because it's "too hard/costly" - they're a theme park - built environments is their whole thing, and failing on the fundamentals shouldn't continue to be a thing. If you can't do that, take your rides to the Ekka frankly. And agreed that these costs all add up - we also know that you can be frugal and prudent without completely compromising your product. Wipeout was an example of this. Bermuda was another. Superman Escape is a modern day example. That ride doesn't need wasteful add-ons like onboard audio to make the experience better, it needs integration into the park to make it feels like it belongs.