Massive Dreamworld Expansion

[GoGoBoy]

Ok here's something we've sort of missed. I was looking over the Australian Amusement Fanatics forums and found a recent article about Dreamworld's not too distant expansion plans. It's looking pretty major. We have discussed the proposed Coomera Town Centre and possibility of a hotel before, but this article bascially confirms it all... and more. Apparantley over the next few years they are looking at almost doubling the size of the existing park with new attractions etc.

[T-bone]

Yeah, i saw that article to thanks to slick. It's some positibve news. Thats for sure.

[spoleweski]

Anyone have a link to this article?

[T-bone]

Ask slick, he will give you the file.

[Flea]

I've attached the article.

[T-bone]

That's alot clearer than the one i had.

[Slick]

Yep, that's the article alright. Thanks liam, hmm... again.

[Clairey]

Wow! That sounds very interesting.. imagine a uni/tafe at dreamworld

[steve$]

Learn all about physics by riding TOT all day long!

[Rocky]

Nice. Hope it will be quick.

[Ian]

I read this in the bulletin a couple weeks back but wasnt that impressed I mean I could be wrong but it sounds like there expanding for a local commuinty rather then making it a international destination, and they dont really talk about adding rides. Its still a good move as I can see Dreamworld becoming more of a family parks and Movieworld becoming more of the Knotts Berry Farm type park from rumors I have heard. anyway lets wait and watch before making any final judgement.

[Richard]

I have to agree with rabid disney on this one. There's been very little to suggest, both in the above article as well as my own (more in depth) ongoing research into this, that it will be made up of chiefly theme park elements. It sounds nice and all, but more for a growing community than to the theme park. I personally find it insulting to even suggest that Dreamworld will ever be as good as Disneyland. I respect Dreamworld for what it is, but it isn't and never will be of a Disneyland-standard. It does hint at bigger new attractions which is good to hear, especially after an 6-year break from the large thrill investments. However I would much rather see reinvestment in the form of more spent on staffing and upkeep, rather than a few big fun rides. I find it downright insulting to see that their response to lengthy queue times is not to increase the capacity on rides, but to install a few LCD screens to keep people occupied. Unless some changes are made to the way money is spent, I can only see Dreamworld head further and further down the path lead by Six Flags Magic Mountain, regardless of any new fangled resorts or whatever.

[Rocky]

I read this in the bulletin a couple weeks back but wasnt that impressed I mean   I could be wrong but it sounds like there expanding for a local commuinty rather then making it a international destination, and they dont really talk about adding rides. Its still a good move as I can see Dreamworld becoming more of a family parks and Movieworld becoming more of the Knotts Berry Farm type park from rumors I have heard. anyway lets wait and watch before making any final judgement.

The solution is in building brand new amusement park, I guess if there's not enough place for big rollercoasters... Gold coast deserves more.

[scott]

Hmmm,it"s a pitty that Dreamworld will never be great as Richard said,but Australias a small country and you have to remember that.It can"t support parks much larger than Dreamworld.

[Slick]

I'm so sick of people saying that. Come on, let's take Las Vegas for an example. Let's think : it's in the middle of a desert and in the middle of no-where. But because of the amount of hotels and casinos that went in to the construction, the people came. Now, do you think that when they first started making Movie World and Wet 'n' Wild, did Warner Bros. think "Gee, there's already two parks, that should be enough. Afterall, Australia's a small country." No. When you build, the masses will come, and when the masses come, it better not be in off-peak or i'll have some serious revenging to do.

[Rocky]

Hmmm,it"s a pitty that Dreamworld will never be great as Richard said,but Australias a small country and you have to remember that.It can"t support parks much larger than Dreamworld.

!?!?!? Australia in a SMALL country !?!?!? I't true that it's small continent but Australia is Giant and rich country with lots of tourists. There's enough room and money to build amusement park even bigger than SFMM.

[Slick]

Thank you. Serious, finally a theme park has realised that something as big as Disneyland is feasible, I mean, look how many people in Australia want to go to Disneyland in California? People would applaud the idea to save on an international ticket and head down the road, even if it means the entrance fee is a little higher.

[spoleweski]

I remember when I was doing a business report I researched Dreamworld and asked them to send me out a bunch of stuff. In it was the plan to build a resort near the park but nothing of this magnitude, mind you this was back in 2003.

[zaneymon]

I read on the draemworld web site that DW founder purched 85 ha of land and that there is still 55 ha for future development if you don't belive me check out the webpage i saw it at http://www.dreamworld.com.au/dw/dreamweb.nsf

[steve$]

yeah,They wont use any of that space for years though. They dont need it yet

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

"insert two cents" Dreamworld is currently built on only part of the land it owns Wonderland was built on only part of the land it owned. I can accept that MLT are "in for the long haul" so to speak, but I seem to recall Stephen Galbraith saying the same words 3 years before wonderland announced its closure. This announcement talks only of a retail precinct to be constructed on the undeveloped land dreamworld owns, and a few new things here and there... all revenue raising mind you... While I understand dreamworld opened before wonderland did, and that Stephen Gregg and team have stated they are doing long-term planning, I can't help but notice the similarities to what is currently happening at dreamworld, and what happened at wonderland 5 odd years ago. having said that, it would be great to see dreamworld expand. I too, am offended, as was Richard, by the impression that Dreamworld will turn into a Disney style park, as nobody comes close, however, I am inclined to believe that this is more of the opinion of the writer than the park. the writer quotes "industry analysts". analysts who obviously don't know crap. and dreamworld has one hell of a spin on their "improvements". Mr Gregg talks wonderfully of how they have made their queueing system better by providing entertainment while you wait. now nothing can be done about the existing rides they own. thats a legacy from the parks creation. the river rapids ride is one example, and this was an inherent problem that Snowy River in Wonderland had also. the problem exists simply that you cannot make water flow any faster, and to put more rafts in the water simply clogs up the return chute. however the new rides they have purchased, while being record breaking, don't do well in regards to capacity and queue lines. Wipeout is a great ride, but it's cycle time, as well as the time it takes to load is just too long. ToT only holds .. what.. 15 people? GD is the same, low capacity, high turnaround time. cyclone was a design problem simply because the coaster was designed around a rocky cliff, so the entrance had to be up high. however other parks have coasters with a higher profile station near the top of the coaster, and don't have the same issues with capacity. the queue line design is just too ridiculous. The claw goes somewhat towards improving the park's overall capacity, because it doesnt take too long to load, but essentially dreamworld is now attempting (as a result, im sure, of people such as us complaining constantly about park queue lines) to put a band-aid on a broken arm. you can't FIX the problems that exist by a bunch of tv's. the problem can only be rectified by redesigning the queue lines that exist, and putting more planning, thought and effort in the design stage of each ride that is installed prior to its construction, rather than build it, and then go "ummmm.... people need to get on this... oh i know, we'll put in a spiralled ramp all the way to the top with a cyclone thingy inside it. for anyone that has used Roller-Coaster tycoon or other similar games, you will have experienced at one time or another a problem where you have built this awesome coaster, only to realise that you can't fit in a suitably sized queue line because of landscaping or other obstacles, or you dont have enough room to put in a long enough queue, OR that the ride takes too long to cycle that even with a full length station, to fit 3 full length trains, there is still a gap between when the last train leaves and the first one comes back. i think by now its pretty certain that dreamworld reads these forums... lets hope they get some ideas from us. we complained for ages about shocking queue times and capacity, they came back with lcd tv's. lets give them some ideas that WORK! also - i strongly hope that this isnt the beginning of the end, and that dreamworld isn't going down wonderlands path, even if its another 10 years yet...

[joz]

I think the queue TVs are good. The problem is if they are installed as an alternative to fixing the real capacity issuse. On a ride like ToT and to some extent Thunder River where you can't make the queues move much quicker no matter how you tried, then I think its a great idea. The other thing you've gotta wonder is just how long the TVs will be turned on for, or how long they'll have sound on. As for Dreamworld trying to turn into Disneyland, well, good luck to them. The funny thing is how its being mentioned this like its a new thing, when in reality Dreamworld has been trying to be like Disneyland for years now.

[Nebuchanezzar]

And I have to point out a mistake that someone said before. They basically said that Australia has a lot of tourists. Well, saure, maybe for a country of this size we do but in comparison to Japan, England, France, USA, Canada etc etc etc, we don't have a huge number of tourists.

[kennykoala]

its funny how ppl say they are trying to be like disneyland, maybe the front entrance and main street, and even the river in the middle, but dreamworld is a thrill park, we do have world record holding rides, we do have rides that actually turn u upside down....disneyland has none of this, disneyland is a very family park, lots to look at the rides r awsome, but they r not rides like dreamworld have at all. Disneyland is a great park, but there is no point saying dreamworld is trying to be like them because they are total differnt.

[Slick]

I beg to differ. People are correct in saying that Disneyland has its own special charm that alot of us have experienced at one point or another, a certain charm that indeed will not be able to be repeated by any other park. But what Walt Disney did to get the park where it is today could be a totally different formula that Dreamworld will be using to expand their park within the coming years. Just because Drisneyland is a "family orientated" so to speak park doesn't mean that the same "basic" guidelines can be used to build a thrill park much like what Dreamworld has planned up ahead. Who says that Dreamworld can't fix up what they have now? Who says that given the amount of money they currently have (ranging in the hundreds of millions) and the brains (the happy and very savvy CEO and overall great park employees) can't turn this park around into something that us enthusiasts can say "hey, I remember when the park had an arrow coaster, that is before it got denolished and replaced with an Intamin Rocket coaster."