The Giant Drop Refurbishment 2022

[Dean Barnett]

Can't one attendant check both sides one at a time... or in tandem? Happens overseas but probably way too dangerous here.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Dean Barnett

[REGIE]

1 hour ago, Dean Barnett said:

Can't one attendant check both sides one at a time... or in tandem?

 

10 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

they should have operated both sides - even if the one operator \ operator group alternated between gondolas.

I gotta wonder if you even read any of the replies @Dean Barnett

[Vidgamer]

Drove past today and both sides were up the tower. It looked like one was testing and one had people on it. It’s been years since I’ve seen both up  the tower. 

[Baconjack]

On 28/6/2023 at 2:35 PM, Slick said:

East side testing, FYI.

Wait did they didn’t remove the Microsoft word text from the gondola? That’s a little embarrassing

Edited June 30, 2023 by Baconjack

[REGIE]

What’s wrong with the text?  Other than the font being very uninspiring.  I don’t mind the words . But I don’t love them. Just curious why you don’t particularly like them

[Gobbledok]

Possibly because we all like THEME parks

[Baconjack]

5 hours ago, REGIE said:

What’s wrong with the text?  Other than the font being very uninspiring.  I don’t mind the words . But I don’t love them. Just curious why you don’t particularly like them

It looks ridiculously unprofessional, especially when you can identify the font (more people could do this than you think). When you can do that it just looks extremely lazy and screams of some staff member typing "GIANT DROP" in the default font on a powerpoint presentation before saving it as a png and printing out decals.

[STRAWS]

38 minutes ago, Baconjack said:

It looks ridiculously unprofessional, especially when you can identify the font (more people could do this than you think). When you can do that it just looks extremely lazy and screams of some staff member typing "GIANT DROP" in the default font on a powerpoint presentation before saving it as a png and printing out decals.

I love theming but I don't really mind this font sure its simple maybe a bit bland but at least its visible and not hard to make out.

[GoGoBoy]

Everything about the new logo and branding makes it look like it was done in Microsoft Paint. Which is a shame, because the old logo was awesome 

[REGIE]

It is themed to a giant oil tower thing . So it kinda makes sense to have the real simple font as that’s what very industrial buildings have.  

[Tricoart]

43 minutes ago, REGIE said:

It is themed to a giant oil tower thing . So it kinda makes sense to have the real simple font as that’s what very industrial buildings have.  

I don’t really care about the text personally, mainly because I didn’t notice it ‘til it was pointed out here by people wanting it changed/removed, but that’s pretty unlikely reasoning. First, its ‘theme’ consists of a couple of questionably-worded signs & some warning tape, it’s not even close to being thematically representative of what ‘very industrial buildings have’. And, even if we imagine for a second that it was, I’d still bet pretty high on “Let’s add a barely noticeable, caps-lock Arial text decal of the ride’s name onto its’ vehicles, as to enhance the industrial theme of our 390ft tall pole” being a brand new thought process. 

Edited July 1, 2023 by Tricoart

[aussienetman]

Outrage over some font that's barely noticeable is laughable folks

[Naazon]

2 hours ago, aussienetman said:

Outrage over some font that's barely noticeable is laughable folks

[red dragin]

People

Arguing 

Ridiculous

K

Z

 

Fill in the blanks

[joz]

Thing is they've gone to the effort of giving the tower it's own design identity. The letters on the tower and the signage in the queue compliment each other and there are design decisions taken all round the place with the ride to give the ride it's own voice. The Generic font doesn't fit with those design choices, and IS shit. You can argue 'It won't affect attendance so who cares?' but you can't argue that it's good.

 

There's also a line that 'plinket' uses in reviews that I think is relevant; 'You probably didn't notice, but your brain did'. In the context of this, it looks cheap and underdone. You wouldn't notice, but when there are loads of things like this around the park you sort of leave going 'Yeah it was fine, the place just seems, I dunno, cheap? And I can't put my finger on why'. It's because the styles on the ride aren't consistent. It's the typo on the sign. It's the awkward wording. All these details add up. Giant Drop now isn't a mishmash of old and new, it's 'This is as we intended it', and what it shows to me is there's an overall lack of control over details. It's not a temporary fence, this is DW at its best.

There are plenty of things like that in the park that demonstrate a lack of control of details, some of it old management, but some of it new. (Don't get me started with where they've put Lil Puff). They add up.

 

It's also not entirely unique to DW before anyone thinks 'But Village!' is a valid point here.

 

Yes, the Generic font on GD does look shitty, and is kind of embarrassing. Yes this stuff in isolation doesn't really matter, but it adds up to affect how people perceive the place. Westfield has more of a consistent design identity on its bins than DW does on it's marque ride. That's not good.

[aussienetman]

Omg soooo embarrassing to use this font!!! They must be mortified!!!! /s

[Baconjack]

4 hours ago, aussienetman said:

Outrage over some font that's barely noticeable is laughable folks

Except when it’s perfectly legitimate criticism of incredibly cheap lettering, especially considering how out of place it looks when compared to the rest of the refurbished ride. You can also see it anywhere, be it in the boarding area or when non riders are watching the ride from the ground. There’s plenty of recent examples of dreamworld doing things correctly (Pandamonium -> serpent slayer) and unfortunately giant drop is not that which is disappointing considering the time & money investment:

Anyone who has used Microsoft word more than once in their life knows exactly what that text is and can come to a similar conclusion as me. If they changed it to match the ride sign, then it’s great and fits in correctly. by itself, it is not that bad, but you can’t be making yourself look cheap with all of these half hearted details around the park (see: giant construction company banners on dreamworld flyer construction walls etc) for a park that charges $100 for a day ticket. 

Edited July 2, 2023 by Baconjack

[franky]

Is it actually just painted on though, or is it made via differing the sizes of the holes in the mesh? The latter would be much harder to fix.

To their credit, DW has been pretty proactive about fixing their signage when it's been pointed out (or at least that's the impression I get). Examples: Taipan lettering upside down, ABC kids world signage, flyer hoarding. The GD shelter has been pointed out before, and before the extended maintenance period. This tells me that it either simply does not worry them, or that the fix is a lot more involved than we think.

[Park Addict 93]

1 hour ago, franky said:

 

Is it actually just painted on though, or is it made via differing the sizes of the holes in the mesh? The latter would be much harder to fix.

 

It’s metal.

Ride was down most of today due to high winds, but when it opened up in the afternoon they were operating both sides.

 

[joz]

Look even having just finished a rant about a lack of control of details, you'd have to back them in that they can identify a lot of this stuff themselves. While I'm sure the odd useful nugget does get posted,  I don't think Parkz is why the Steel Taipan letter got changed to be the right way up. I don't think the sticker on the Wiggles sign was ever meant to be permanent, and the ABC sign wasn't finished when a lot of the conversations were happening.

 

2 hours ago, aussienetman said:

Omg soooo embarrassing to use this font!!! They must be mortified!!!! /s

Do you think you've made a point?

[aussienetman]

Let's hope so. Such a ridiculous complaint that requires nothing but a ridiculous response

[Rivals]

at the end of the day, no everyday guest gives a shit about the font used on top of a gondola, heck most probably don’t even notice it. the redesign is great, even i wouldn’t have noticed the font if it wasn’t pointed out, the only people that will care about it are enthusiasts looking for something to nit pick. the rides open after it’s year+ long refurbishment, can’t we just be happy it’s open and looking great rather then having to find something to complain about? it’s so boring and tiring at this point.

[REGIE]

5 hours ago, joz said:

You wouldn't notice, but when there are loads of things like this around the park you sort of leave going 'Yeah it was fine, the place just seems, I dunno, cheap? And I can't put my finger on why

You actually got a good point here. I didn’t think about it like that, but you’re right.  This on its own isn’t to bad but Things add up.  Like you said, you might not think you notice something, but your brain did. and it has its affect.  
 Enthusiast’s make a point of these things, but that doesn’t mean the average person visiting parks doesn’t subconsciously notice it too.

Edited July 2, 2023 by REGIE

[Spotty]

I did actually notice from Costco today that both sides were running and they almost looked like they were in sync. Are both sides controlled by the 1 op now and dispatched at the same time or can they be dispatched solo like they used to be?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

  

On 29/06/2023 at 2:17 PM, Gobbledok said:

If you were at the invite only opening you are probably biased towards the park

I was there and I would disagree.

14 hours ago, joz said:

you'd have to back them in that they can identify a lot of this stuff themselves.

I disagree about this. There's a lot of things that parks are blind to, mainly because they see them on the daily, and don't notice. The font thing is one thing - because it doesn't change - but many other things do. Its the boiled frog analogy.

It's the rotting speakers in the garden beds around movie world. The dust-encrusted air vents in Sky Voyager. 

Heck - even Disney has things pointed out to them by guests that they immediately take action on, but hadn't noticed until it was mentioned on some forum. There's a reason many parks review their fan sites and forums worldwide - and that's because enthusiasts have far more eyes in park that are critical for detail, it does their job for them.