Leviathan - Operations and Soft Opening Complaints

[xRazzBerryx]

1 hour ago, Rivals said:

the ride is down again, it didn’t open until late and has operated for around an hour only.

 

2 hours ago, Inverted said:

When being told by staff that the ride is down, offer them a roll of duct tape & ask if it will fix the issue 😂

[joz]

Soft open is open. It's just a way of saying 'manage your expectations' as people aren't able to. As demonstrated in this thread.

 

Yeah it sucks, I get it's dissapointing, but there seems like a real lot of vitriol on here. Like it's intentionally done to fuck with you rather than just an unfortunate thing.

39 minutes ago, Dean Barnett said:

Like why even open the queue if it hasn't been handed over yet?

Because people will queue even if you ask them not to. May as well put them where they're meant to queue, particularly if you honestly think you will have the ride handed over imminently.

42 minutes ago, Dean Barnett said:

there's video billboards everywhere in Sydney right now advertising that it's open.. when it isn't. Airfares are $500 return to the gold coast/Brisbane right now.

Do you really think you've made a good point here?

[aussienetman]

Quite clearly should have had a soft opening 🤷 expectations are that it is open. Maybe if they'd done a soft open the last few days they could have worked out the kinks.

 

 

 

Hasn't been enough for me to renew my pass yet. Might wait till after the holidays and go for free to see if it's worth the effort. 

 

 

 

Looks good though from the pictures and videos. To bad it's not operating at it's potential yet but congrats to the lucky ones who have braved the crowds and been lucky to ride the world's most iconic woodie 😅 (marketing bs always makes me giggle regardless of park)

Edited December 4, 2022 by aussienetman

[Rivals]

The ride is down again for a minor delay, on top of this Vortex and Jet Rescue are also down.

edit: queue line has been emptied and ride is closed.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Rivals

[joz]

Far out like its closed like 4 times and it's only opened once

[Rivals]

46 minutes ago, joz said:

Far out like its closed like 4 times and it's only opened once

today so far it’s opened late (11-11:30), had 2 minor breakdowns then closed for the rest of the day at around 3:20. Vortex has been closed since 11ish and is only about to open now (testing is happening atleast but has been on and off multiple times today.)

Everyone in line when we got told to leave were very pissed off and heard some came back today as yesterday it closed. It doesn’t seem like it was open and was pushed to meet the opening date, a soft opening should’ve been done to iron out the kinks. Having all 3 rides of the new rides closed in an area that’s already been delayed so much + another ride broken down isn’t a great look.

[Brad2912]

3 hours ago, Dean Barnett said:

if I travelled up for the day as a GP I'd be very pissed. 

If you bought flights for a one day trip interstate solely to ride a coaster that is in the first few days of operation, you’re either too rich or a moron. 
 

if I see a billboard saying “Hamilton now showing in Melbourne” I don’t book flights on the assumption when I get there that tickets will be available for any date I choose to fly down. The advertisement is to peak interest and trigger you to look further into whatever is being advertised. 

By your account KFC billboards around the country should be pulled down at 10pm each night when the store closes incase someone shows up at 2am only to find the store closed when they wanted a zinger  burger  

6 minutes ago, Rivals said:

a soft opening should’ve been done to iron out the kinks.

And how do you expect them to do this? As others have said it’s either open or it isn’t. Rehearsals happened with staff days ago. Some issues have arisen in opening days as cycles have increased, again it happens with new rides. Be disappointed if you line up and don’t get a go, but anyone being “pissed off” needs some perspective in life 

[Rivals]

28 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

And how do you expect them to do this? As others have said it’s either open or it isn’t. Rehearsals happened with staff days ago. Some issues have arisen in opening days as cycles have increased, again it happens with new rides. Be disappointed if you line up and don’t get a go, but anyone being “pissed off” needs some perspective in life 

You’re telling me if over the past 2 days you lined up for hours only to be turned away you wouldn’t be annoyed? Staff previews were one day which they did have a technical delay half way through the session. Technical rehearsals help the park understand the ride more, while ironing out kinks, there’s a reason parks with high attendance, like Universal, do it. Look at Taipan, it was having issues during its passholder previews with the Tailwhip seats which they were able to fix prior to the opening, this should’ve happened. 

Besides this experience, based on 1 ride the ride is very different to anything else in the country, Top 3 with Taipan and DCR but unsure where it is placed. The next group of riders being released into the station as a train dispatches would make a lot more sense, sending the next group when a trains been emptied and sitting there, while the other ones already halfway up the lift, slows down the operations a lot and makes the second train sit in the sun forever.

[New display name]

3 hours ago, rappa said:

Yeah and I’m saying no one would get it. The ride would brake down and everyone would be on here bitching that screens weren’t working and they came all way there and didn’t get to ride, etc etc. 

As usual your posts are living in a fantasy land. 
 

Does it suck the ride is going down? Yes of course it does, but it happens. 
 

Steel Taipan was an off the shelf ride with a car port for a station from a manufacturer that already built one 5 mins down the road. Leviathan is a one off custom built coaster and the first one for the manufacturer in a country that has INSANELY different safety standards to the rest of the world. You really can’t compare the two. 
 

Like I said, it sucks. But throwing around things like “they’ve handled the entire ride building poorly” is a bit if a stretch. 
Reality is, it’s annoying, people get annoyed and then have a vent. Which is fine, but let’s have some perspective at the same time. 
Be mad at things to be justifiably mad at. The ride going down in its first few days of opening isn’t one of them. 
 

As for communication, no park ever including Disney has told guests how long a ride will be down for or what is wrong with it when it is. 

Rivals had a soft opening with a sign indicating what was going on.  Nobody in the queue was bitching because the ride didn't open to 12.  MW didn't raise people's expectations that they would get a turn.

[Brad2912]

13 minutes ago, Rivals said:

You’re telling me if over the past 2 days you lined up for hours only to be turned away you wouldn’t be annoyed?

I wouldn’t haven’t lined up for hours on opening weekend or opening week.
 

The same people lining up today, would have been the same people lining up in the “technical rehearsal” and would have had the exact same complaints and annoyance and frustration. Having a A-frame with “technical rehearsal” on it that 99% of people wouldn’t have read or even understood would have changed nothing 

[Rivals]

5 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

I wouldn’t haven’t lined up for hours on opening weekend or opening week.
 

The same people lining up today, would have been the same people lining up in the “technical rehearsal” and would have had the exact same complaints and annoyance and frustration. Having a A-frame with “technical rehearsal” on it that 99% of people wouldn’t have read or even understood would have changed nothing 

Technical rehearsals aren’t promoted, and they are told even if they don’t read it there’s a chance it won’t open. As it’s not announced and most of the people who were mad aren’t coaster enthusiasts, they wouldn’t even know it’s open, and travel once it is promoted as being open. 

[Inverted]

32 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

I wouldn’t haven’t lined up for hours on opening weekend or opening week.
 

The same people lining up today, would have been the same people lining up in the “technical rehearsal” and would have had the exact same complaints and annoyance and frustration. Having a A-frame with “technical rehearsal” on it that 99% of people wouldn’t have read or even understood would have changed nothing 

Incorrect.

I lined up today cause they advertised it as a brand new ride open from 2nd Dec.

I wouldn't have lined up the week or two previously if I knew it was soft open and they were still having issues with a new ride and that It might be a very long wait or not get a ride at all if i line up during soft openings.   Which is why I wouldn't go.

Should have soft open from 2 Dec and opened 2 weeks later imo.

I also don't get the issues, it's a brand, designer and manufacturer who have built this ride in other location.  Yes the layout is different but the control systems and train I would have thought would have had the bugs ironed out of it many years ago. 

Also the fact it's nearly 2 years late and still not right    🤔

However I'm still a massive fan.    Great ride. Great theming.  🐉

[GoGoBoy]

All new rides everywhere have teething issues! They are extremely complex pieces of machinery! Enthusiasts should know that far better than the GP. It's not like SW would be wanting these issues

[New display name]

2 minutes ago, GoGoBoy said:

All new rides everywhere have teething issues!

That's why you have soft openings.  It may not be SW fault it has issues but SW knew the issues would happen.  

[Rivals]

8 minutes ago, GoGoBoy said:

All new rides everywhere have teething issues!

uh-huh, that’s why rides everywhere have soft openings.

people on here were giving Dreamworld crap for having teething issues during their soft opening of Taipan which had no guarantee to open, so why’s it wrong that SeaWorld’s getting crap, mainly from the public, for a new rides unreliability after a 2+ year delay. 

they’ve opened the area, Trident isn’t even fully commissioned yet, Leviathan just passed and has had only 1 day of riders prior to opening, and by the looks of it the theming isn’t finished. Even a December 12th onwards opening would’ve been better, less rush on opening, more theming finished, and hopefully less technical issues when the ride officially opens with the help of a soft opening period.

[BNErider]

I went to Sea World yesterday. I was extremely disappointed in the park opening when things clearly aren't ready. For me, I don't mind. I have a pass and can come back whenever. I expected issues. But for the poor people who spent $100s of dollars, I would be extremely angry. I saw no signs explaining that these are new rides and to expect delays. Trident and Vortex were down (at least until I left around 2pm). Jet Rescue 1 train (no surprises) to take up the slack...

What Village should be doing (same comments I said during school holiday madness at MW with rides closed) is organise the essentials for guests - signage, shade, water fountains, communication. It's the little things that help guests feel cared for.

[Tricoart]

If Rivals & Steel Taipan had soft-openings/passholder previews (and, if I’m not mistaken, even Dingo Racer had somewhat of one), why is it so hard for some of y’all to admit that Levi should’ve had one too? Cause yeah, new rides obviously have teething issues, but just blatantly speaking, the ride shouldn’t have been marketed to families, interstate or not, for months to hold it’s grand opening on a date where it wouldn’t even be close to properly operational. Having an unpublicised soft-opening/passholder preview before the grand opening makes it abundantly clear that any early guests are lucky to be experiencing an ultimately unfinished & ‘alpha’ experience, thus any resulting issues/faults are to be expected and rectified before opening day. MW knows to do it, DW knows to do it, AW knows to do it, most global parks know to do it, why is it a point of contention as to if SW should’ve? Maybe it’s just my current distaste for SW (after coming back from a very unpleasant stay there) speaking, but IMO there’s just been fumble after fumble with how they’ve managed New Atlantis’s opening from the get-go.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Tricoart

[rappa]

You realise Movie World and Sea World are the same right? Its the one company and management…

 

How about maybe there just wasn’t time for soft openings? If they had announced dec 02, and then ran into problems and pushed it back then people would complain about that. 
What if people booked a trip and then a week before they said no, not opening? Those people would then be upset. 
Like there is no perfect way to do this and at the end of the day 100s of happy guests have ridden it already. 
 

Its a bloody theme park ride. The hyperbole over what a catastrophe it is because it hasn’t been smooth sailing is just ridiculous. 
Do you know how many people a week queue for an hour or more for Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland only to have it break down before their ride and they be offered no expectation on when it might open again? And that ride has been OPEN for years. 

[Rivals]

4 minutes ago, rappa said:

You realise Movie World and Sea World are the same right? Its the one company and management…

 

How about maybe there just wasn’t time for soft openings? If they had announced dec 02, and then ran into problems and pushed it back then people would complain about that. 
What if people booked a trip and then a week before they said no, not opening? Those people would then be upset. 
Like there is no perfect way to do this and at the end of the day 100s of happy guests have ridden it already. 
 

Its a bloody theme park ride. The hyperbole over what a catastrophe it is because it hasn’t been smooth sailing is just ridiculous. 
Do you know how many people a week queue for an hour or more for Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland only to have it break down before their ride and they be offered no expectation on when it might open again? And that ride has been OPEN for years. 

Leviathan wasn’t fully commissioned when they announced the opening date so they had no idea what issues could’ve happened. They should’ve waited for both rides to be fully commissioned, then decided and announced an opening date with either daily employee previews, soft openings or pass holder previews. 

No one’s saying it shouldn’t be having issues, it’s a new ride it’s expected HOWEVER a period of time to allow for daily operations with whoever should’ve been done. Comparing a brand new ride advertised as now opened after years of delays to a normal ride that’s been open for a while and having a technical issue in normal day to day operation doesn’t make sense.

[Tricoart]

Also, I believe everyone here recognises that SW and MW are both owned and operated Village, but that’s pulling at straws to think that nullifies the fact that MW handled DCR better than SW’s been handling New Atlantis. And I’m one of the lucky hundreds that got to ride it multiple times on the opening day, so I’m not personally affected by it not being currently operational. It’s just a fact that the way it’s currently operating is unsuitable for it’s grand, widely-advertised opening.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Tricoart

[rappa]

1 minute ago, Rivals said:

Comparing a brand new ride advertised as now opened after years of delays to a normal ride that’s been open for a while and having a technical issue in normal day to day operation doesn’t make sense.

Yes it does. Because there is a greater expectation that a ‘fully commissioned’ ride thats been open for years wouldn’t have as many problems as a brand new one. 
 

Let me ask this. What is ‘fully commissioned’?

Like at what point are they allowed to set an opening date, book advertising, arrange billboards, book the media? All of which has decent lead times?

And then what if the day before a $50 component in the motor drive or the lift motor fails, blows up the drive and its 6 weeks to get a new one and make repairs? How angry are we allowed/not allowed to be then?

Actual legitimate questions.

 

I was just in Las Vegas, a new show has opened there that was years in the making. It had months of dress rehearsals and previews (ie soft opening). A week after official opening colleagues of mine spent several thousand dollars on tickets to the show. 
That night the main ending of the show failed, it ground to a halt and ruined the whole thing. 
Are they allowed to be angry? Should the show have never opened knowing there was a chance something could fail? Just want to know where the line is here?

1 minute ago, Tricoart said:

Also, I believe everyone here recognises that SW and MW are both owned and operated Village, but that’s pulling at straws to think that nullifies the fact that MW handled DCR better than SW’s been handling New Atlantis.

No, but you are saying Sea World don’t realize a soft opening is needed and Movie World do. Its the same people so how does that make sense?

[New display name]

5 minutes ago, Rivals said:

Leviathan wasn’t fully commissioned when they announced the opening date so they had no idea what issues could’ve happened. 

That's not how the real world works.  You set a date and you work towards it.  Things like advertising take many months to get into place. 

[Tricoart]

13 minutes ago, rappa said:

No, but you are saying Sea World don’t realize a soft opening is needed and Movie World do. It’s the same people so how does that make sense?

It’s a much more simpler way of saying “The management decisions made for the opening schedule of DC Rivals (among other opening schedules, like that of Steel Taipan) were more thought out, planned, better implemented, and certainly more well-recieved than the management decisions made for the opening schedule of Leviathan, Trident, and Vortex, also known as the New Atlantis precinct (though, mainly Leviathan is under scrutiny in current context).”

Edited December 4, 2022 by Tricoart

[Rivals]

5 minutes ago, rappa said:

Yes it does. Because there is a greater expectation that a ‘fully commissioned’ ride thats been open for years wouldn’t have as many problems as a brand new one. 

When a ride has also been opened for years the general public know a breakdown can happen here and there for every ride, not a brand new one, which when advertised as now open the public expect to be now open.

 

8 minutes ago, rappa said:

Let me ask this. What is ‘fully commissioned’?

Like at what point are they allowed to set an opening date, book advertising, arrange billboards, book the media? All of which has decent lead times?

And then what if the day before a $50 component in the motor drive or the lift motor fails, blows up the drive and its 6 weeks to get a new one and make repairs? How angry are we allowed/not allowed to be then?

Actual legitimate questions.

The week of Staff previews was when the ride was fully commissioned and all checks had been completed, no one was allowed to ride until that day which means it was a couple days prior to opening. As it wasn’t commissioned yet when they had announced the opening date, they should’ve waited till it was done, announced the date, then done previews to sort out issues then opened. If a motor blows up or whatever happens be transparent, release a statement saying so, like they should to the families who have traveled and spent their money to come out and ride the ride that has been years in the making. 

8 minutes ago, New display name said:

That's not how the real world works.  You set a date and you work towards it.  Things like advertising take many months to get into place. 

You work towards an unannounced opening date, Taipan was fully commissioned and had staff previews prior to the opening date announcement, same with Rivals, Big Dipper and even Dingo Racer. Just because you have a date in mind doesn’t mean you announce it when you don’t know what’s going to happen.

[aussienetman]

Comparing Rise of the Resistance (arguably the most advanced technical ride in the world) with a gravity woodie... train go up hill, train go down hill... is a stretch 🤣

Not surprised operation are terrible.. this is village we are talking about here