Wizard of Oz - Movie World Arkham Asylum Replacement

[Baconjack]

6 hours ago, Lakyn17 said:

Looks nice. Do you think the emerald castle theming and the other theming is to do with the rides? Or something that people can just walk through?

 

I reckon it’s a pre show of some description that takes place in that building (like the old lethal weapon one), before you exit and queue one of the 3 rides on offer.

Oh by the way with the $50 million or whatever this project has been quoted at you’d figure there would be a bit more to it? Surely the coasters themselves wouldn’t cost too much given they are both off the shelf models. I suppose construction photos and actually walking through the land will be the judge in this case as CGI isn’t indicative of the final product. I’d be pretty underwhelmed if it wasn’t at the standard of Leviathan though given the budget.

Edited May 7 by Baconjack

[Aw hype]

7 hours ago, Baconjack said:

Surely the coasters themselves wouldn’t cost too much given they are both off the shelf models

From a bit of googling, a family boomerang in 2020 cost 4.5 Million AUD, and they got two of them. I recall Mark Shaw years ago saying on here that when you bring a coaster to Australia you essentially double it's cost due to our labour/material prices etc. I cant find any information about the SFC cost but i think it'd be fair to assume the 3 of them would cost somewhere around 25-30 Million AUD, although i reckon I'm going unders there.

The Figure they spat out probably included the cost of AA demolition as well because you know big number good.

When you consider Taipan cost 32 Million, it's a pretty good deal to cop 3 Coasters and a whole new themed area for only 50.

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I don't think it's fair to point to the concept art and claim anything less than that is a disappointment. If you were expecting the concept art to be delivered in its entirety after Atlantis, you had rocks in your head.

[New display name]

I don't know if I would be going off added CGI, as the final product either.

[TBoy]

Another comparison showing the whole land:

Looking at the differences:

• The Castles are both simplified significantly
• The House and the Barn have been combined into one larger barn
• All the rocks and gravel have been removed on FOTWW, making it look weird
• Kansas Twister does not go over the path anymore
• The Arkham station isn’t covered up (looks a bit ugly imo)
• Not as much trees blocking sightlines (not that movie world cares)

Next time we need to be reminded when we see concept art that the land is likely not going to be like this. Remember when Leviathan and Jungle Rush were going to have mountains?

8F9CEFAF-F0D5-4BB3-B8F9-0EA1A5BA9C05.webp

[themagician]

Thanks @TBoy, it's great to see the renders side by side for comparison. My thoughts on the changes:

- The simplified castle I expected, but I do hope it has the darker tonnes like the first image. There does seem to be a filter on the second image to suit the style they were going for, but the castle does look to washed out. It's colour is too close to the barn, when it should be a lot darker and more menacing.

- I prefer the new barn design. It's scale is much more impressive. I hope they plant out the entire area around the track to make it feel like a field because the first image makes it look empty.

- I do hope we get some kind of rockwork/gravel around the castle, because you're right... it does look weird now.

- I'm interested to see how you will actually access these rides and whether the paths to get to them will be seperate or it's one path and you pick which way you want to go. I know we can see paths with people on them, but it's still not clear where the entry/queues/unload paths are.

- The Akrham station is looking very ugly and makes it look like they aren't even using it (work has been going on inside, so I assume it will form part of a walkthrough/preshow). I really hope they are covered up/themed when inside the land because they were never pretty, but (I guess) it worked when it was LW/AA.

- When it was AA, this area definitley always felt excluded from the park because of all the surrounding buildings. It didn't give the feeling you were isolated because you could see the other coasters around and always hear Scooby, but I hope they take into consideration sightlines because they're promoting how immersive this land and well themed it will be.

- The entry plaza area has definitley been stripped back quite a bit and the Emerald City has lost a lot of its dimensionality, but I hope it still gives that WOW factor. LW/AA's plaza always felt empty and like a waste of space because there was nothing in there.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

12 minutes ago, themagician said:

- I'm interested to see how you will actually access these rides and whether the paths to get to them will be seperate or it's one path and you pick which way you want to go. I know we can see paths with people on them, but it's still not clear where the entry/queues/unload paths are.

- The Akrham station is looking very ugly and makes it look like they aren't even using it (work has been going on inside, so I assume it will form part of a walkthrough/preshow). I really hope they are covered up/themed when inside the land because they were never pretty, but (I guess) it worked when it was LW/AA.

Way back when we saw this:

  

16 hours ago, TBoy said:

Inside:

I assumed this is what the lethal weapon building was being used for. There is a doorway on each side of 'the great and powerful oz' and I assumed one door lead to each attraction. I assume that leads to the pathways you can see scattered throughout the land.

[New display name]

7 roller coasters in one photo and only one of them is working. 

Edited May 8 by New display name

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

It's a bit rich to consider Green Lantern to be 'working' at the best of times.

[New display name]

1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

It's a bit rich to consider Green Lantern to be 'working' at the best of times.

Sorry.

[Ogre]

On 08/05/2024 at 10:40 AM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

There is a doorway on each side of 'the great and powerful oz' and I assumed one door lead to each attraction. I assume that leads to the pathways you can see scattered throughout the land.

This is what I've heard!

[themagician]

GCTP on YouTube has captured some theming and station gates being stored behind the park (alongside the ride leading to PC)

 

[Tricoart]

Forgot to post this in the chaos that was yesterday (for me), but FotWW’s castle has begun construction, as viewable from Flash’s exit.

[New display name]

Oh no,  they aren't going fake brick again are they?

[themagician]

The park have provided a BTS look at the progress of construction 

[themagician]

More BTS photos shared by the park 

[REGIE]

Nice photography. Not just a couple random pictures.  MW's Instagram is doing a great job at the moment.

Edited May 19 by REGIE

[themagician]

Destination Dad & Daughter shared this on their socials

Zoom in and look closely for a look at the project’s site plan 

[TV15]

21 hours ago, REGIE said:

Nice photography. Not just a couple random pictures.  MW's Instagram is doing a great job at the moment.

Would be nicer if they were up to date.
First & Third photo is old... the lift hills? are missing their catwalks for Kansas Twister and iirc they were installed sometime late March.
All photos that include flight of the Wicked Witch are also missing its catwalk railings, again iirc early to mid March.

The shots up close of the ride are very cool where you can see what they've done to smooth the track joints! 
It's pretty obvious they've used something to hide some things... and done it poorly, it's not even legible what it is/was and is blurry, zoom in you'll see what im talking about (the worst offender is the first one). 

Don't get me wrong these photos are awesome.. and to the GP they couldn't care less about when the photo was taken. But... when these potentially could've been taken 2 months ago, seems like they pulled it out of the archives to once again generate buzz/hype. More recent photos can be found here.

1 hour ago, themagician said:

Anyone know where this was taken from, I'm assuming its near SE's final break run and one of those doors were left open. it Basically confirms that the land will have a pre show where you enter in to the Emerald City then watch something and suddenly you're in Kansas! I wonder what the loose article policy will be for this.. let me guess it will go on their attractions page too /s. On another note, how will guests exit this land? Will there be a *end* show to transport you back to the Emerald City/Park, or will you get dumped back in Emerald City or have an exit along the back of SDSC and into the Doomsday Area.

I'm more so interested in what the Superman Loc.... is. Superman Lockout Procedures maybe?

Also, the new maintenance website states Superman Escape will reopen on Tue 28th of May... I'm assuming MW just picked a random date... but who knows!

 

[themagician]

11 hours ago, TV15 said:

when these potentially could've been taken 2 months ago, seems like they pulled it out of the archives to once again generate buzz/hype

What’s wrong with generating buzz/hype with older photos? If they shared up to date photos it would be hiding most of the coasters track because of the buildings and scaffolding now on site. For the last few months they’ve been focusing on promoting/sharing BTS for The Flash, so I don’t see what’s wrong with waiting to share these photos. They’ve got to give their posts some breathing room to maximise the reach of all of their content, so it doesn’t overload viewers and then not perform as well. They did also show current progress on site in their updates video last week, but these photos just add to that and provide much more pleasing to the eyes photos. Scaffolding almost never looks good no matter how well you photograph it.

12 hours ago, TV15 said:

Anyone know where this was taken from

I’d assume it was taken from the exit from of Superman Escape looking over the fencing into the former AA building and one of the roller doors was up at the time this photo was taken.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

11 hours ago, TV15 said:

Would be nicer if they were up to date.
First & Third photo is old... the lift hills? are missing their catwalks for Kansas Twister and iirc they were installed sometime late March.
All photos that include flight of the Wicked Witch are also missing its catwalk railings, again iirc early to mid March.

First we're complaining that one park doesn't take enough angles and the next it's that the other park's photos are... not taken recently enough?

Fuck me enthusiasts are fucking dog shit.

These photos are the 'sexy' shots enthusiasts salivate over. Our parks have never gone to this sort of effort before, and instead of being 'wow, that looks great, I can't wait to ride it' we're just gonna shit on them for the effort? Fuck off.

And then

11 hours ago, TV15 said:

It's pretty obvious they've used something to hide some things... and done it poorly, it's not even legible what it is/was and is blurry, zoom in you'll see what im talking about (the worst offender is the first one). 

First - I can't see what you're talking about so maybe we need a clickbait circle or arrow to point it out to everyone? (There is a small blur in the first photo at the bottom, and i'd say maybe they've cloned a vehicle out of the shot or something but that really doesn't detract from things...)

Second - maybe they need to hide things. I saw all the 'secret' shots of the leviathan station taken by one of the tradies working the job, and i was still 'wowed' when I first entered the ride. Maybe there's things they want to keep a surprise, or maybe it has people, or companies that did not consent to being filmed?

And so what? the photos are meant to get you excited about the three new rollercoasters they're building - and you can see all of that, right down to the fucking track joints. 

So just shut up. say thankyou and be fucking grateful someone in that company actually made a fucking effort for once. Because lord knows, they didn't have to.

[red dragin]

1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Fuck me enthusiasts are fucking dog shit.

And then wonder why the parks don't interact with them.

It's common across many hobbies/interest groups to have the same issues. 

[TV15]

2 hours ago, themagician said:

What’s wrong with generating buzz/hype with older photos? If they shared up to date photos it would be hiding most of the coasters track because of the buildings and scaffolding now on site. For the last few months they’ve been focusing on promoting/sharing BTS for The Flash, so I don’t see what’s wrong with waiting to share these photos. They’ve got to give their posts some breathing room to maximise the reach of all of their content, so it doesn’t overload viewers and then not perform as well. They did also show current progress on site in their updates video last week, but these photos just add to that and provide much more pleasing to the eyes photos. Scaffolding almost never looks good no matter how well you photograph it.

I understand your point about generating buzz and hype with older photos. It wasn’t my intention to criticise the park’s efforts to build excitement. I realise now and if I had my time again I wouldn't have worded it the way it was, but the photos even if they’re older, can still serve a valuable purpose and they do in this case.

1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

First we're complaining that one park doesn't take enough angles and the next it's that the other park's photos are... not taken recently enough?

My comment was meant to highlight the discrepancy between the photos and the current state of the precinct. However, I understand now that the park might have strategic reasons for releasing certain photos at specific times. Your explanation about scaffolding makes sense. 

1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

First - I can't see what you're talking about so maybe we need a clickbait circle or arrow to point it out to everyone? (There is a small blur in the first photo at the bottom, and i'd say maybe they've cloned a vehicle out of the shot or something but that really doesn't detract from things...)

Second - maybe they need to hide things. I saw all the 'secret' shots of the leviathan station taken by one of the tradies working the job, and i was still 'wowed' when I first entered the ride. Maybe there's things they want to keep a surprise, or maybe it has people, or companies that did not consent to being filmed?

I apologise if my comment came off as overly critical. As I said, if I had my time again, I wouldn't have worded it the way it was. I was attempting to point out what I perceived as an issue with the photos, but I understand that there could be valid reasons for obscuring certain details. 

14 hours ago, TV15 said:

Don't get me wrong these photos are awesome..

Yeah, these photos are awesome. Your point about maintaining surprises of the precinct is well taken... and I should've thought of that.

I do appreciate the effort that goes into these updates and the work done by the park to engage with enthusiasts like us. My intention was never to undermine their hard work. 

Edited May 21 by TV15

[wikiverse]

5 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

First we're complaining that one park doesn't take enough angles and the next it's that the other park's photos are... not taken recently enough?

I'm not particularly concerned about the recency of the photos for an update, but it does raise the question of why Village waited to post these photos if they had them in late March.  The rides are still a long way from being finished, with no official opening date, so this isn't to build hype and promote the ride to families booking holidays (although it may have that effect, but the social accounts are also filled with negative reviews, so who knows).

This and the recent video are reactions to the ongoing closures.  Village let the bad reviews and negative sentiment set in, not just with enthusiasts but with the general public.  One can only assume that visitor numbers are down and people aren't renewing passes, so they've started some crisis PR to try to save the park's reputation because they've finally realised that reputational damage = real financial damage.

So the complaint about recency for the sake of recency definitely is 'fucking dog shit' as you put it, but in the context of all the problems the park is facing and the lack of communication, why did they sit on these photos for so long?  If they're part of the solution now, then they were part of the solution 1-2 months ago when NSW was still in school holidays and all of the roller costers, WWF and JL were closed for several days.

Yes, people can say 'they've posted it now, so they're doing better', but the real measure will be whether they can keep rides open for guests, whether the communication continues, and most importantly if there is a change in staff attitudes toward guests which has been pretty terrible for 12 months.

I'm hoping that this is meaningful, sustained change, but the same management and social media team was telling people 'F*** off, no refunds, you should have checked the website', just 3 weeks ago.

I guess the point is that it's not just about communication anymore.  They've done real damage to the trust that guests have in the park to provide them with a great experience.  A PR campaign and some social media posts just aren't going to fix the underlying problems with the management of the park.  That's what they need to fix to rebuild the trust.

Edited May 21 by wikiverse

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

42 minutes ago, wikiverse said:

I'm not particularly concerned about the recency of the photos for an update, but it does raise the question of why Village waited to post these photos if they had them in late March.

I would have thought that the timing would be fairly obvious - They wanted the focus on Flash. 

Now Flash is opened, they've moved onto the campaign for Oz. Honestly using pictures from March are the smart move because it shows the three tracks unobstructed. 

If you look at the recent video, the entire site is covered in scaffolding and isn't the sexy glamour shot you're looking for

46 minutes ago, wikiverse said:

They've done real damage to the trust that guests have in the park to provide them with a great experience.  A PR campaign and some social media posts just aren't going to fix the underlying problems with the management of the park.  That's what they need to fix to rebuild the trust.

I 100% agree with you on the park's current contempt for guests. change takes time, but we are seeing positive change. I'm prepared to give praise when they do good as much as I will pour shit on the bad stuff and call it how I see it, but I do believe if we shit on the good stuff, they won't bother to do the good stuff because "why bother?".

Management definitely needs to change, and the trust needs to be rebuilt. 100%. Forgive me for the corny analogy, but -

...Toto is currently pulling back the curtain on the man behind the curtain, and we're seeing a side of the park that they've almost never given us before. 

That to me is positive, and i'm going to applaud it to encourage more of it.