Dreamworld Flyer

[TBoy]

Thought I would start a dedicated thread for the construction of the wave swinger, seeing as we have ones for K&BD and Ocean Parade.

The globe has been removed and is being stored in front of Steel Taipan (thanks to Oliver Trunks via Jaggs Journeys)

Edited December 18, 2023 by Gazza

[Slick]

As the #1 focal point for guests, it’s staggering they didn’t spend the extra couple of dollars to temporarily rig this elsewhere. People are gonna arrive and the first or second thing they’ll see is half a globe and a bunch of disappointment they can’t get “that picture.” Here’s hoping I’m wrong and there is in fact a plan. 

[themagician]

@Slick hopefully it’s a temporary location and this was just where it was moved too after it was removed from Main Street. Maybe it’s going to be taken off site for refurbishment and this was an easy place to temporarily place it for trucks/cranes to access.

[Michelangelo]

Can I vote we correctly spell “flyer” in the title of this thread?

#grammarpolice

[Brad2912]

Seems a lazy and moronic place to store the globe if that is indeed its storage location and not just a stop over on the way somewhere more “permanent”.

it needs to either be presentable and able to be used as a photo-op, or stored somewhere BOH. 
 

Plonking it in front of your marquee attraction and blocking sight lines of the ST launch from the carpark is stupid. 

Edited June 2, 2023 by Brad2912

[joz]

Maybe they didn't, maybe it just sort of rolled there when they removed it?

[Slick]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid032tb6f37QvuR5YGTZh8oSAcfm4rtD8DLWNjQs3wVYMwdRjFEB3uMK9XMvDTqCgza6l&id=100071539044404

 

Looks like it gets worse - right now guests are greeted with a giant black wall. No doubt they’ll put a wrap on those walls eventually but I personally would’ve moved heaven and hell to make sure where the globe was situated somewhere accessible (at the minimum) and had a wrap put on the second the wall went up. One day of trade with black walls as your first impression is one day too many.

Edited June 3, 2023 by Slick

[Tim Dasco]

49 minutes ago, Slick said:

Looks like it gets worse - right now guests are greeted with a giant black wall. No doubt they’ll be a wrap on those walls eventually but I personally would’ve moved heaven and hell to make sure where the globe was situated (at the minimum) had a wrap put on the second the wall went up. One day of trade with black walls as your first impression is one day too many.

I disagree, I see the fact they have gone the effort of building a proper construction wall rather than cheap nasty temp fencing. So while it will take a tad longer to finish the impression from a guest will be much better than temp fence with rent as fence logos on it.

 

Re globe, its been put there for now, who knows if its just waiting to be moved elsewhere and just a temp spot. 

[yumyum]

I think it would look really nice at the entrance if they painted a Dreamworld mural or something on the black wall. 

[Slick]

52 minutes ago, Tim Dasco said:

I disagree, I see the fact they have gone the effort of building a proper construction wall rather than cheap nasty temp fencing. So while it will take a tad longer to finish the impression from a guest will be much better than temp fence with rent as fence logos on it.

 

Re globe, its been put there for now, who knows if its just waiting to be moved elsewhere and just a temp spot. 

It doesn't take days and weeks to apply a vinyl sticker to a wooden fence it takes hours, in fact it could've and should've happened after park hours or the literal second the fence went up, which is the point I'm making, not about whether or not they should've gone with some other kind of fence. Sorry, but there shouldn't be a giant black wall as the literal first thing guests see when they enter. Not now, not ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. If anyone thinks to the contrary my humblest of apologies but you're a Dreamworld apologist.

They'd have the whole project timeline and mapped out, but they didn't think to consider the guest experience and what it signals to guests when they're not met with a beautiful globe but rather a giant black wall as their moment of the day? Christ on a bike, shopping centres do this quicker and better - there's no excuse. Thing is,the path to profitability relies on guests using their annual passes at least twice but tell me, how many guests would feel their experience is worth coming back for when the first thing they see is a giant black fence and the iconic giant globe dumped out the front of the park?

32 minutes ago, yumyum said:

I think it would look really nice at the entrance if they painted a Dreamworld mural or something on the black wall. 

Exactly my point - anything would be better than this.

Edited June 3, 2023 by Slick

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 03/06/2023 at 12:05 PM, Slick said:

One day of trade with black walls as your first impression is one day too many.

Black walls are theatres version of go away green. 

I remember decrying the green masking tape on the ground at movie world - and I was promptly shouted down by everyone - with photos of the same tape in use at Disney as evidence that it was perfectly acceptable industry practice.

I'm sorry but blank walls are a thing at disney and so  this should be accepted as the gold standard.

On 03/06/2023 at 1:45 PM, Slick said:

It doesn't take days and weeks to apply a vinyl sticker to a wooden fence it takes hours

Maybe the sign printers producing the artwork were delayed due to covid supply chain issues?

(For me personally i'd love to see Dreamworld get a bunch of local spraycan artists to do a mural type thing over it - perhaps they're doing a special 'paint and sip' session at the night markets? This is all very 'judging a book by its cover' here.

On 03/06/2023 at 1:45 PM, Slick said:

If anyone thinks to the contrary my humblest of apologies but you're a Dreamworld apologist.

I'm sorry Dreamworld. You should aspire to be better - like the park down the road.

 

On 03/06/2023 at 1:45 PM, Slick said:

how many guests would feel their experience is worth coming back for when the first thing they see is a giant black fence and the iconic giant globe dumped out the front of the park?

I'm sure most annual passholders are going for the rides, rather than the photo opportunity. The current construction is literally to bring the entrance plaza back to life as it is presently only used to get from Ocean Parade to Taipan. 

On 03/06/2023 at 1:45 PM, Slick said:

Exactly my point - anything would be better than this.

You first discovered these walls had gone up and posted on Saturday. The thread itself only started friday afternoon.

It's fucking 9am monday and you've already lynched them. Your bias is showing....

 

I'm keen to see what they do this week, especially in light of all this one-man-community-outcry.

 

Heres the 411 though: The industry uses blank construction walls a lot. A lot of the time (and especially when there is a big IP involved) the parks will stick some chracters on the wall, or some artist impressions to build excitement. Hell - in some cases disney only puts some contrasting lattice work in small frames to break it up.

But there are so many examples of blank walls out there at all the big parks that I think this is being blown up a tad more than is appropriate to the circumstances. It's a construction wall, not a turn-of-the-century cinema facade. Calm the fuck down.

[Slick]

2 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

I'm sorry Dreamworld. You should aspire to be better - like the park down the road.

If that was the Movie World arch and the first impression when you walked in, is that okay? Extending to that, are those mesh fences ever okay? Again you’ve fallen into the trap that by being critical of one must mean I love the other - this isn’t old school V8 Supercars where you have to pick Ford or Holden. Either can do stuff that deserves both praise and derision. 
 

I also love how you assume folks don’t care about the globe or taking photos. If it’s all about the rides, just put everything in shipping containers… oh wait. 

[Gazza]

Quote

 

I'm sorry Dreamworld. You should aspire to be better - like the park down the road.

 

 

 

 

What is this pic proving? This could only be seen if you poke a camera through a hole in the main fence.

And that main "hedge banner" fence is further out, and you can clearly see that beyond in the pic:

 

[Rivals]

it’s a temporary wall that’s going to be up for a couple months, it’s not that deep.

The plain black looks a lot better then the fake greenery walls, or the fencing blocking off the WoO area. It’s also only been up for a couple days, they could do anything to the wall but that’s not their main priority right now, the main priority is restoring the entrance to provide guests with a great entry experience in the future. 

[rappa]

I would think the best look would be some whimsical style artwork as a mural on that fence depicting what is to come for the area. 
 

Maybe that’s in the works?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

50 minutes ago, Slick said:

Either can do stuff that deserves both praise and derision. 

But it isn't this. Like I mentioned - I called out MW's use of masking tape on the ground and it was pointed out to be standard practice at the big parks around the world. 

The same here with the fence - it's pretty standard practice.

43 minutes ago, Gazza said:

This could only be seen if you poke a camera through a hole in the main fence.

It's lovely to see Dreamworld has improved on this design by building a fence you cannot poke a camera through.

44 minutes ago, Gazza said:

And that main "hedge banner" fence is further out

Those hedge banners should be burned. How bad is that as your first impression?

33 minutes ago, Rivals said:

it’s a temporary wall that’s going to be up for a couple months, it’s not that deep.

The plain black looks a lot better then the fake greenery walls, or the fencing blocking off the WoO area. It’s also only been up for a couple days, they could do anything to the wall but that’s not their main priority right now, the main priority is restoring the entrance to provide guests with a great entry experience in the future. 

This. This. This. This. This.

4 minutes ago, rappa said:

I would think the best look would be some whimsical style artwork as a mural on that fence depicting what is to come for the area. 
 

Maybe that’s in the works?

No, we can't possibly allow for any other possibility than the day one presentation must be the final product, and judge it harshly and accordingly.  /s

DW had custom wraps for Dreamland, with corflute boards providing info about the new \ rethemed area. The fences went up on Friday and it's only monday... so i'm with you - there's more to come.

[Slick]

I think you've backed yourself into a corner.  I've pretty clearly written that I have no doubt there's more to come, the issue for me is that the first impression for any theme park should never be having the park's icon dumped out the front and inaccessible and then immediately followed up a giant black wall, particularly when guests are expecting to take a photo at that spot as part of their day. I'm pretty flabbergasted that people are happy to give any park a pass on that, it definitely shows a lack of objective criticism on those who side with the park.

And in the process of trying to defend something obviously very, very average, you've chucked everything in plus the kitchen sink - from photos that require you to be peeking through other fences through to positioning me along an opinion set that has nothing to do with me. I don't think you're being objective so much as you're being a contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian.

30 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

the main priority is restoring the entrance to provide guests with a great entry experience in the future. 

You're soooo close to getting it. Thing is, you can have your cake and eat it too. A park can really easily go "hmm... first impressions matter at a time when we're really trying to build consumer confidence, and we're about to do this major temporary change to one of the most iconic bits of the park. We should definitely make sure that whatever we do we minimise anything that damages the guest experience in the interim. Let's make sure that when this bit of fencing goes up, we have a wrap on it straight away that clearly explains what we're up to. Because so far this year we've done lots of transparent communication, and people love us for that, so it'd be strange for us to do the polar opposite and leave black walls up for even a second. Especially when we've got night trade on too. It's not a good look for us. We did put wraps up late for Sky Voyager and this is even more of a prominent change to something people would obviously get upset about and there's a bunch of research that shows first impressions for experience and revenue matter, so let's make sure our project managers are all over this tiny but critical detail. If we have to spend an extra grand getting someone in before park open to apply the wrap, it's totally worth it. Also, let's make sure the globe's out of sight from guests as they drive in, that's such a massive slap in the face, especially when if they were to then get hit by a giant black wall with no information on it."

Edited June 5, 2023 by Slick

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 03/06/2023 at 12:05 PM, Slick said:

One day of trade with black walls as your first impression is one day too many.

Your unreachable standards could not be met by anyone. 

49 minutes ago, Slick said:

so let's make sure our project managers are all over this tiny but critical detail.

And you're right. it's a tiny detail.

But it isn't a critical one.

[REGIE]

It’s not bad.  I do agree though that eventually having some nice concept artwork of what’s to come would help make people want to come back to check it out.  
 

I am guessing the globe is probably going to be taken out on a truck to go somewhere. That’s probably why it’s right next to the car park.

[Guest 239]

Perspective is key. Wall is ugly, but its not important. First impressions are mostly digital now. A good majority of guests will gather their initial thoughts from things such as their online ticketing experience, cost, ease of use, or park and user generated content. 

The important factor once guests are inside is whether they decide to come back. Dreamworld are missing out on a memory making opportunity and a 'wow' moment here but that's about it. The biggest factors for whether a guest returns remain as satisfaction and value. This ugly wall wouldn't even make a dint in those compared to other issues such as Giant Drop still being closed.

[Michelangelo]

Please tell me these pitiful stickers are temporary and a proper mural is in planning, or the vinyl is currently being printed…

 

Photo credit: Zac via Dreamworld Times News & Discussion FB Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2817564521854077/permalink/3478173402459849/?mibextid=W9rl1R

[Gobbledok]

Right artwork

wrong scale

Why isn’t the wall that blue colour too

[Slick]

3 minutes ago, Gobbledok said:

Right artwork

wrong scale

Why isn’t the wall that blue colour too

Could be because it’s a knee jerk reaction to this thread. 😂

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

21 minutes ago, Slick said:

Could be because it’s a knee jerk reaction to this thread. 😂

Absolutely - this smacks of "oh fuck, they're right. get something up there"

I'd rather they'd waited a week to have full height corflute artwork run off (see Dreamland construction hoarding for ideas) than to have overnighted this cheap shit.

Actually - i'd rather plain black walls than this shit.

[Gobbledok]

Surely dreamworld managers are not running the place based on parkz