Slick

They can put up as many signs as they like but it doesn't change the law. Drones these days exist in a grey area of diminishing common sense. The more bad apples that pick them up, the more CASA will have to continue to create new sub-sets of regulation and training to ensure someone throws common sense to the wind and either ignores the rules or does something clearly dumb (like flying it too close to a coaster).

I'd agree with this - for the first time we've got really interesting stuff happening all over the country which is historically unprecedented, it's a really good time to be an Aussie enthusiast for sure. I'm sure management have got plenty of ideas that weren't in the announcement, and that still doesn't change the fundamental reality that when these projects are done, we'll still have the same haphazard Dreamworld master-planning that's been at play for the last two decades. This isn't about creating some unrealistic Disney-level of park because right now even industry substitutes (casinos, shopping centres, smaller play centres, local council parks etc.) are nipping at Dreamworld's feet in regards to immersion, and so the bar of "she'll be right, they're trying as hard as they can, give 'em a break" is not conducive to Dreamworld actually being profitable in the long term. Simply put - I don't think I'm being unreasonable in expecting Dreamworld to be more considered in their master-planning - if they can do it for Tiger Island (which is easily one of the best themed areas in the country) and if they could do it in the 80's, and if their competitors can do it, they can too. Speaking of the 80's, you're right, John's park is long dead and that horse continues to be beaten. For me I acknowledged that when they got rid of the facades for Sky Voyager John's park died (and died again when they knocked over Hollywood Cottage for Steel Taipan) - realistically if any management doesn't understand the significance or doesn't ask why the way things are before gutting them, then the hope for clinging to any other aspect of John's original park and what made it so great compared to now should be well and truly abandoned. And yet, the double-speak is at play, because the whole reason it's called Rivertown is because of its adjacency to the Murrissippi River. Both it and Rivertown are nods to John's Dreamworld. So which is it? We want to acknowledge the history and heritage whilst simultaneously not respecting it? I'll try and speak to this briefly because I acknowledge this isn't everyone's cup of tea. But, the tricky thing with theme park leadership is that unlike other businesses, any capital expenditure decisions, even at the sub-million mark, are going to have wild impact on other projects/amenities/facilities/attractions/etc. for two to three decades. So if you're not insanely considered in thinking about how your decision is going to look in three decades' time in the most holistic way possible, it's super easy to end up having V8 Redline in Ocean Parade, or worse yet Troll's, especially when there's a mountain of other stakeholders involved who don't respect or get how theme parks (and theme park design and its impact on revenue) work. Worse yet, if those stakeholders don't understand the rationale behind retheming something for the sake of it, why would any board approve major capex spend when it doesn't move the needle during a time when the business is still skating on thin ice? By extension, if you can't roll in a few million to include the park's most popular ride into the new precinct that's happening metres away, will it ever happen? I could go on about this forever but it'd probably bore 99% of enthusiasts here because it's not about the fun stuff we all enjoy talking about - point is, measure twice cut once, and I don't personally see a lot of that in some of these new announcements.

The large fundamental issue with this entire vision outlay is the lack of consideration to the greater area these ideas reside in, which has been an Ardent bug feature for the last two decades. Consider that whilst Rivertown will be absolutely solid if not great, it completely ignores any consideration for Motocoaster. As such, guests will literally see green modern theming juxtaposed against jungle. The same goes for this Ocean Parade splash pad stuff - guests will see, in essence, Tiger Island, ABC Kids & Ocean Parade all butting up against each other. This isn't being OCD about Disneyland sightlines, this is literally like having Troll's in Ocean Parade all over again. Then there's the Dreamworld Flyer - take everything that makes what they're copying from Phantasialand good (the colouring, the fountains, the integration into the greater village space) and strip it down to a concrete pad that visually competes for kinetic and physical presence next to the landmark people see as they walk in. This is juxtaposed again by the Abu Dhabi Airport facade that calls Main Street home. From a revenue-raising perspective, they've got their last three new attractions all within a few seconds walking distance of the entrance, thereby creating multiple choke points early on in the experience and also greatly limiting the opportunity for pass holder revenue to be made during repeat visitation. And let's not talk about how much it'll impact private events, how it'll make any parade or any special show (think Fire Machine) beyond impossible... I could go on.

Wipeout had deafeningly loud gearboxes.

Speaking of, what's happening there? Is that being amalgamated into Rivertown proper or is that just being left as is?

Rocky Hollow Log Ride Trolls Mick Doohan's Motocoaster Tiger Island

To be clear, the ride vehicles moved to Corroboree, so pretty easy to say the ride moved. The only thing that’s moving is the spirit of the ride. By that logic, if I buy a new road car somehow it’s the same car as the one I had before because they have the same spirit.

This is the bit of the announcement that did look good. I have no idea how they're going to fit this in, and my concern is that the size of this coaster is not going to allow for anything else in there (F&B, retail etc.). Another concern is the price-tag, at $35M, that's more than Steel Taipan, a ride which has largely failed to drive gate to the level they had hoped for. Will lightning strike twice? I dunno, it's another large bet on a coaster - hopefully this time it pays off. I quite like the old school nods, the theming looks solid, again, do we need "storytelling" or do we need solid presentation like what Leviathan is getting? Keen to hear everyone's thoughts. Might be the park’s best new area since Dreamworks in 2012.

Let's be really clear here - there's a lot of fluff there because the reality is you can't realistically reduce the operating or maintenance costs on what is essentially a dropped-in four-stroke petrol engine. The cost to run and maintain that ride is next to nothing, and the amortisation on the parts that do need replacing make the whole ride very affordable from a cash flows perspective. Totally happy to hear that for the reasons Ardent have told @themagician on why they're buying new cars is to keep people more secure and to make some or all of them more accessible. That's fine and worth looking at. But Dreamworld shouldn't also be saying that they're moving the ride, because unless they're digging the concrete out of the ground there's nothing being moved and it's all going to the scrap heap. Which is a shame, because the parts, as mentioned, on those things are genuine, real, brass and steel Model-T Ford parts that have been with the park since the day it opened, and John Longhurst went through a lot of pain and effort to source those parts to create an experience for kids that felt real. And here we are, yet again, with another set of details being lost to time because it's cheaper and easier to chuck it in the bin than preserve what's there. Absolutely agreed here. Being able to push a pedal and pretend to steer is why every young boy at one point or another (myself included) wants to go on these things. Not having that makes it a dud.

Greg's reply in his news-pieces was about how difficult labour was to source and the risk factor. 1) The talent is readily available, Ardent just made the talent redundant. It's literally Ardent's strategic misdirection that has caused this. The rationale is literally a meme. 2) Handler/Wildlife interaction is one of the most single important keys to reducing risk. It's just plain facts. You can't exercise or enrich the animals to anywhere near the level you can when handlers have a relationship with the animal.

In the same way you never go to Disneyland for the authentic turn-of-the-century facades in Main Street, the integrity of the design choices, right down to the materials used in making something, emanate a feeling or experience that is greater than the sum of its parts and ultimately evokes the feeling of "magic". You can be patronising all you like but the reality is Dreamworld was successful in the 80's because it prided itself on the same design principles as Disney did, and despite regular guests not being able to articulate the specific reason why, they definitely experienced and felt the difference as a result of the accountability John Longhurst had in upholding a certain level of integrity in the way things were made and presented. That difference is what Disney has continued to uphold - the importance in materials, history, craftsmanship etc. etc. whilst other companies become contemptuous over time and feel that one tiny cut to the design isn't noticeable. Thing is, do a thousand of them and guess what.... death by a thousand cuts. And then folks like yourself lament the lack of steam trains or the quality of facades dipping and yet fail to articulate specifically why "it doesn't feel the same as it did way back then." This is why. It starts with a failure to recognise why people did things the way they did them in the past and that contempt only grows from there.

The only thing that makes it moving the vintage cars from A to B is the cars. I should add that they're built from genuine Model-T Ford parts that are worth tens of thousands of dollars. Getting rid of them is just another indicator of how little they understand or appreciate what they have right under their noses. Rivertown looks nice though. Love that they called the Dreamworks retheme "Dreamland", reminds me of the other Disney knockoff theme park Nara Dreamland that eventually closed and got turned into housing. Clearly they didn't consider what would happen when people typed in Dreamland into Google about as much as they considered it when they tried to name Sky Voyage Sky Ryder.

FYI a few degrees difference in standard operating temperatures can affect performance and wear and tear of heavy machinery over time, which is what I was curious about. It’s a tin drum in the sky that has direct sun hitting it most hours of the day. Anyway it looks cool right? 🤷🏼‍♂️

Thanks for the replies folks. I guess it was more the idea that I assumed the reason why the plant room at the top was white was to reduce heat and subsequent wear and tear on Giant Drop equipment.

Just going to put it out there - isn't painting a lot of tin and steel black kinda bad from a heat perspective?

Yeah looks like it was quickly swapped out. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Good on you @Park Addict 93 for getting the screen cap.

Checked Facebook inbetween uni exams and saw this - looks like Leviathan is opening 2nd December - promo is at the link: https://seaworld.com.au/attractions/rides-and-precincts/the-new-atlantis

It was a charcoal colour, with the tin of the service floors a matte silver colour with black lettering for “dreamworld tower.”

I believe the LED displays are inside the ride building.

You know, it’s like that for a reason that was caused by Dreamworld itself. Like, I can’t complain about having a limp if I cut my own leg off. I think the Taipan stans need to chill. It’s not bullying, they’re two theme parks - they’re an organisation that offers fun, they’re having fun and the enthusiasts are “getting their pitch forks out.“

So let me get this straight, enthusiasts love it when Universal and Disney trade playful jabs in Twitter or whatever, but when Village does a silly throwaway line for like 30 people (read: us) it’s a hate crime? Good looking train, and I really appreciate the efforts they’re taking to acknowledge things fans like us find interesting.

You don't have to be a tourist to become trapped in that hell-hole.

Given that Kinects are officially discontinued and any idea of vendor support is dwindling, when they reach end of life what would folks like to see go in their place?

The underlying assumption there is that there's a cost saving from Six Flags building the same thing over and over (and that the savings are in the theming), but the reality is the cost savings is with the deal brokered with the OEM (e.g. B&M building 4x inverted coasters).

I like this new Hotel V, but I do like the WB Hotel better. Not sure I can quite understand how there's an appetite for 600-rooms unless they're really banking on this as a full-time corporate conference hotel over being a theme park hotel.