Easter 2022 Crowds at the Theme Parks

[WalleyWorld]

Reviews on the Movieworld official Facebook, Trip Advisor and Google Reviews pages are scathing. I'm not sure if I have ever seen such a surge/large volume of negative reviews during a peak school holiday period? Or is this just a normal occurrence during these times, and I just haven't paid attention?

Other than an influx of interstate visitors, and the pent-up demand caused by Covid, what else could be contributing to these issues? It surely can't just be because "it's busy because it's school holidays, duh!". Snapshot of today's wait times:

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, joz said:

So basically your solution to not trusting the staff to communicate the terms of the pass properly is to make it policy to not trust guests when they say they weren't aware?

No, i'm saying trust the guest when they tell you the first time, but record it, and make it available to staff at the gate, so there is no need to trust the guest the second time because if it's a second time per the recorded notes, there is clearly  a reason not to trust them - because instead of staff lying to guests by telling them they would write down that they had been warned, but not actually do that, they would tell the truth to guests by actually doing what they say they will.

Otherwise, all you do is show them they can abuse the system because nobody cares.

(Which, I might add, further pisses off the folks who do read the conditions, who do follow the rules, because when they see it happening - such as spreading the word on social media that they got away with it again, it makes those honest folks wonder why they bothered to pay $XX extra for a premium product when the company lets scammers and liars obtain the same premium product by deception, for failure to enforce the fucking rules.

Yes. I bought VIP Gold. Yes. I was fucking pissed off I paid more for a product that wasn't blocked out only to see those with cheaper passes permitted to do the very thing I paid extra for.

It seems to be the attitude here at the moment that the park should bend over backwards to please the minority of folks at the expense of the majority - either by keeping the gates open when the park obviously shouldn't admit extra people, or by selling cheaper passes with blockout dates, but never enforcing them. All of it smacks of avoiding confrontation - and all that does is teach the shittier parts of society that all they have to do is ask to speak to the manager to get their way.

The customer isn't always right, and sometimes its ok to say NO.

 

[joz]

Yeah, I think you've departed from reality.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, Dean Barnett said:

Ok sure.

Here's reviews that indicate that they're not annual pass holders.

 

First of all, that does nothing to verify your claim that 80% are not passholders. 

Secondly, the second review you posted actually doesn't say either way whether they're a passholder or not.

It's ok that you made up an exaggerated statistic in your forum post - 93% of all statistics posted to forums online are exaggerated and made up. Don't double down trying to prove it because the park had more than 10,000 guests in park the other day and you're not going to find 8000 day ticket buyers.

1 minute ago, joz said:

Yeah, I think you've departed from reality.

How exactly?

You said they should take the guest aside, give them a stern talking to, tell them you'll make an exception, but that you'll write down they've been told they can't come in during blockouts, so if they come again, they won't be allowed. ***but then actually not write it down, and if they show up again, just repeat the above***

...and all i'm saying is - do what you actually say you're going to... and i've departed reality?

pass the crack pipe, would you Joz?

[joz]

@DaptoFunlandGuy see we can agree sometime

[Dean Barnett]

Honestly - in a period where QLD was inundated with NSW/VIC residents - how many do you think are annual pass holders?

I'm not saying blockout dates wouldn't help - I'm saying I don't think its going to impact the current problems.

Reservations should have been in place. Everything in their power should have been done to have 2 trains running on rivals. If the ops were up to scratch with two trains they could be pumping out 720 people per hour. It sounds like they're doing 1 dispatch every 4-5 mins.. less than 50% max output... during the holidays.  

Edited April 21, 2022 by Dean Barnett

[Brad2912]

1 minute ago, Dean Barnett said:

Honestly - in a period where QLD was inundated with NSW/VIC residents - how many do you think are annual pass holders?

No one here has the statistically correct answer to that question, but i believe it would be far closer to 50/50 than your claimed 80/20. 

[aussienetman]

Lots of passionate commentary on this thread and now it seems to be going in circles.

One can hope VRTP have the time and resources to fix these issues come the next big capacity days. 

They need a people eater... Bring back a basic studio tour and link it to Paradise country. Even if it's just a shuttle between the two using the back roads with a brief overview of the studios. Increase visitation at PC and shuttle a few hundred people outta MW every hour. Shuttle station between Arkham and Superman. Looks like a great experience for guests but really just getting them to the least popular park in the group. Upcharge at PC to enter if you must. 

I'm interested for those that know the answer, how many HWSD shows were there daily during this busy Easter. 

[Rivals]

4 hours ago, Luke said:

Reviews on the Movieworld official Facebook, Trip Advisor and Google Reviews pages are scathing. I'm not sure if I have ever seen such a surge/large volume of negative reviews during a peak school holiday period? Or is this just a normal occurrence during these times, and I just haven't paid attention?

Other than an influx of interstate visitors, and the pent-up demand caused by Covid, what else could be contributing to these issues? It surely can't just be because "it's busy because it's school holidays, duh!". Snapshot of today's wait times:

it’s probably going to get worse next week with Wild West and Rivals both going down for maintenance…,

41 minutes ago, aussienetman said:

I'm interested for those that know the answer, how many HWSD shows were there daily during this busy Easter. 

there was 3 shows and i know 2 of them were at 11 and the other one at 1:50, can’t exactly remember the third one though

[joz]

I agree that HSD is the lowest hanging big bit of fruit. Get that show on the hour all day. Surely could get 5 or 6 shows a day in there. That won't help getting locals out of the lines because they've seen it, but it does help by giving those people who did buy a one day ticket something to do.

 

Also agreed that a big popular people eater is also needed. Something that can get through 1000+ people an hour without breaking a massive sweat, and I think those concepts are pretty easy to shit out (Studio Show Case, but it's a boat ride with big boats and a drop).

 

Add to that buy third trains for Superman and Rivals, (there is no 6 month stretch when you don't need both trains), be nimble enough to open the park a couple hours later if needed, I think happy days.

 

There I've just spend $25million in 2 poorly thought out paragraphs.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, Rivals said:

it’s probably going to get worse next week with Wild West and Rivals both going down for maintenance…,

It's probably going to get better next week given all the schools will be back in session.

I think if there were any reason for the crowds to continue next week, management would consider postponing any non critical maintenance if there were flexibility in their schedules.

[Gtmichaels]

Wow, when I went on the 16th, I knew it was bad, but I didn’t think it was such a noteworthy period for Movie World in terms of crowds. When we went, Rivals was a 3 hour wait minimum, SE wasn’t accepting people into the queue due to overcrowding and another 3 hour wait, and Wild West Falls broke down on us after waiting 30 min to ride. I knew DD was down for maintenance before coming, but for a family of enthusiasts who were visiting from Sydney, It was a really awful day for us.

We did manage to get Green Lantern and Scooby doo, but that was just because we got there early enough to be in GLs line, and a spot opened up in VQ for Scooby. Got lucky to get something in I suppose 🤷🏻‍♂️

Edited April 21, 2022 by Gtmichaels
Tired from studies, bad spelling

[Guest 239]

I’m currently at the Gold Coast for a family trip. We’ve only done two days at the parks and the crowds are insane. I’ve never seen Sea World so busy, but generally it coped quite well and I had a good day. Rides were seeing some wild times but they relaxed in the afternoon where we could get on Storm several times in a row. The park has the luxury of having a ton of people eaters, and the average punter seems to be more savvy  about shows, etc. because there were clear masses of people going back and forth between the presentations. 

After watching reviews we opted out of Movie World and went to Dreamworld today. The family wasn’t too impressed with paying more for passes, but they had a great day. The car park was stacked, but the crowds weren’t wild. Every ride was basically a walk on including Steel Taipan. The only decent wait was Sky Voyager but being the only proper family ride on the Gold Coast, I can see why. Street Feast is nice but the food was slow. The kids, which range from toddlers to primary school, all had a blast as well which made the parents happy. Dreamworld really does have the luxury of size and with WWW in simple walking distance, it makes the crowds far more bearable.

Talking to friends at the parks, those that have visited, and the occasional stranger in the elevator; Movie World and WNW are a mess. Everybody I know is saying to avoid those parks which is sad because they’re genuinely good theme parks with great rides, but nobody wants to put up with what is on offer. We will probably skip Movie World this trip, but my family now have season passes and they’re keen to come back on a weekend some time and hit it up when it’s quieter. 

I don’t envy those working at those parks at the moment, and I’m sorry for all of the crap that you’re having to put up with for decisions out of your control. The problems seem to go beyond just normal busy crowds, but without going I can’t comment much further then from what I’ve heard. 
 

 

Another quick note is that it seems that everywhere is lacking staff. Our hotel seems to be copping it a lot, and I’ve gone to several shops and cafes that are running ads for more staff or have notes seeking forgiveness for delays. 

[rappa]

Just wanted to say that seems a very fair, balanced and reasonable review. 

[Guest 239]

We decided to stop by Movie World this morning to show the kids the park knowing that it would be busy and we gave them the heads up that they probably won’t get on any rides because we needed to leave just after midday. 

The park was pretty busy, but not unbearably crowded when moving around, however the wait times were really high. As mentioned in the other thread, Doomsday and Green Lantern are down for the day and Wild West Falls was down for the morning and opened with a 100 minute wait. 

We mostly wandered around, did the Batman exhibit and some of the smaller rides in the WB Kids area. None of us adults got on any rides, but the kids got on three which was good for keeping them entertained. We passed on HSD2 as it didn’t seem like our groups cup of tea and watched a short Cat Woman show as we left the park. 

The parks presentation has improved since I last visited which was great to see, but unfortunately the general atmosphere was pretty down. A lot of families appeared pretty lost, there were many people just sitting around, and I overheard a few verbal altercations amongst family members deciding whether to try for the rides or just go home. 

One of my friends was working in the parks today that I didn’t know of and they had no idea I was there. I ran into them interacting with guests and they were fantastic, serious Disney level of professionalism, so I stopped by Guest Relations to put in a good word. Whilst I was filling out the form there were several families that came in one after another complaining about the crowds and waits. The mediator in Guest Relations noted that Virtual Queue was turned off today to help with the wait times, but was giving out single use fast tracks to the more persistent complainers. If you’re reading this and see an opportunity, please don’t pester them. The staff are already under an immense amount of pressure and I saw that many were visibly flustered by the situation. 

The parks size and what’s on offer just doesn’t lend itself to the sort of demand that we’re seeing at the moment. Considering that I didn’t get on any rides, I can’t comment on their operations, but DC Rivals was only running one train with a notice out the front that said it was operating at a limited capacity due to circumstances outside of their control which I’d be interested to know more about. 

Also of note was that almost all stores and F&B options were open, with some new temporary booths such as coloured braids and those long tube candy things you see at shopping centres. They’re not my thing and I didn’t check the price, but they could make a decent bribe to satisfy a frustrated child.

I agree with others that the park needs an improved layout with some high capacity attractions. My dad noted that when we went as kids it was nothing like this, and that now-defunct attractions such as Gremlins, Batman, and Looney Tunes created a far more fulfilling family day out which was interesting to hear from him.

Going with my family gave me some great perspective regarding our parks and how one might visit with the hierarchy from a toddler to grandparents, what they notice, and what they’re interested in. Their top pick was Dreamworld due to the variety of what was on offer, but they want to come back in the future during a quieter time to really experience Movie World, Sea World, and their attractions properly. I’ve always wondered whether presentation is actually that important, and whether I’m too picky on certain things, but talking to my dad doesn’t do rides and helped push the grandkids prams around, he had nothing better to do then to look around, and this spurred several questions from him about things that I genuinely only thought enthusiasts noticed and cared about. 

All round, everybody seemed to have fun with the three parks, including movie world which I believe was in part due to tapered expectations, and they’re excited to come back again in the future. I think it helped them by having somebody who knows the parks and things like virtual queue, because I know that not everybody has had a great time these school holidays.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

23 minutes ago, Dom said:

Their top pick was Dreamworld due to the variety of what was on offer,

I guess you changed their minds...

  

On 31/03/2022 at 12:55 PM, Dom said:

Hopping over to Dreamworld does add some awkward financial weight to your trip if you're wanting to visit for their one new coaster.

I'm in the same boat regarding trip planning and I'm trying to take a backseat towards theme park plans because I don't want to infect my family with my disgusting thoosie bias virus so I'm genuinely curious to know what the current discourse is regarding the best parks. 

We have about three days in April and honestly I'm stuck. I'm leaning towards going down the SW, MW and WnW route because I think the family component of those parks is a bit better at the moment, but I also know that runs the risk of entering the VRTP operations twilight zone of mystery last minute ride closures. I'm hoping that with it being school holidays that they'll be on the ball regarding these things, but it's still a risk. 

I don't really want to property hop with two different passes cause it's a lot of money for the family, especially those with kids. 

 

[aaronm]

Rivals running one train seems odd given the crowds and wait times, presumably something is wrong with the second train and they can't run it?

[rappa]

I think that’s a pretty safe bet

[themagician]

Driving past MW this morning the carpark appeared to be much quieter than last weekend. DWs carpark wasn’t too full (WWW appeared to be very quiet) so most the crowd was in DW and it felt reasonably busy. 
 

[Brendo88]

Not sure if it's been mentioned already, but it appears as though Movie World have changed their FB page so you can no longer leave reviews or see reviews?

Ignorance is bliss I guess?

[themagician]

And I can’t seem to find their comments anymore that we’re responding to the business either

You can still post directly on the parks page, but unless my memory is failing me, it seems a few have been deleted that were complaints. This is the only one I could see. 

[franky]

There's plenty of Google and Trip Advisor reviews to keep you all entertained if you want

[Levithian]

35 minutes ago, Brendo88 said:

Not sure if it's been mentioned already, but it appears as though Movie World have changed their FB page so you can no longer leave reviews or see reviews?

Ignorance is bliss I guess?

Happens when people start complaining about their visits in the parks own posts/updates. They have previous form for doing the same, stopping people starting their own posts, then stopping people from commenting at all when the complaints overran everything. 

[rappa]

Pretty standard business. It doesnt make sense to have negative reviews for your business on a page promoting your business. 
Plenty of independent review sites out there. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

It IS pretty standard. It's just a shame it was a necessary action at all.