Movie World Scheduled Maintenance 2024

[Tricoart]

13 minutes ago, ShakeShack said:

Really feels like you're moving the goal posts here...

Superman and Batwing have both been down to aid construction of both Flash AND Oz. Extended more so than their usual periods. From what you can see, a large amount of concreting has been done around Superman's supports to aid with Oz, if this wasn't done now (possibly extending it's closure) then it would have had to go down again later in the year for it. Which would you prefer?

I'd hardly call Doomsday a major attraction.

Doomsday is 1 of 2 large flat rides at the park, with the other one also being down (and, not really needing to be for WoO/Flash reasons). Superman being closed whilst Flash is worked on makes sense, but there is a large amount of time the park isn’t open that Flash could be worked on if they wanted to have Superman open, and Flash’s choice location in of itself is already a debated topic. Superman definitely doesn’t need to be closed for WoO reasons, though. They’re totally separate, and concrete pouring for it barely impacts Superman’s plot, can be done outside of hours/guest routes w/o closing Superman, not to mention taking a week or 2 max. They’re all closed because maintenance objectively wasn't planned well, because some rides are complete DuDs, and possibly because they don’t have enough resources/staff to perform fast maintenance or smooth operation (but that’s speculation).

[Rivals]

40 minutes ago, ShakeShack said:

Superman and Batwing have both been down to aid construction of both Flash AND Oz. Extended more so than their usual periods. From what you can see, a large amount of concreting has been done around Superman's supports to aid with Oz, if this wasn't done now (possibly extending it's closure) then it would have had to go down again later in the year for it. Which would you prefer?

Batwing and Superman always close around the same time every year for 2 months. normally early feb to early april. Doomsday is also always around this time too along with JDS but Doomsday remains closed until whenever it wants to.

Edited March 18 by Rivals

[New display name]

1 hour ago, ShakeShack said:

Really feels like you're moving the goal posts here...

Superman and Batwing have both been down to aid construction of both Flash AND Oz. Extended more so than their usual periods. From what you can see, a large amount of concreting has been done around Superman's supports to aid with Oz, if this wasn't done now (possibly extending it's closure) then it would have had to go down again later in the year for it. Which would you prefer?

I'd hardly call Doomsday a major attraction.

Nobody is buying what you're selling.

Edited March 19 by New display name

[Brad2912]

2 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Tassie Devil was a similar model at Wonderland too, and it was always popular. 

Was probably my favourite flat at Wonderland - in a close way finish with Wizards Fury

It would be fine as an attraction to fill a gap in their offerings - but i wouldnt be taking up valuable showstage realestate with it - it's would be just fine outside.

1 hour ago, ShakeShack said:

I'd hardly call Doomsday a major attraction.

when you only have 2-3 rides operating in your park suitable for anyone over the age of 5 - they are all major.  

[New display name]

MW only having 2 big rides open.

ShakeShack "It's fine"

 

 

ShakeShack " Look at DW"

[Dean Barnett]

Why can’t they just comp backwards rides on rivals .. if it’s open? 
 

Doesn’t cost them a cent and they’re already heaps up from not having staff to operate the closed rides. 
 

Free value add. 

[ShakeShack]

7 minutes ago, New display name said:

MW only having 2 big rides open.

ShakeShack "It's fine"

 

 

ShakeShack " Look at DW"

Standard dribble from you champ.

Point I'm making is, Village are/were being slammed for closing attractions for 2 months for maintenance, "but Dreamworld don't do it", yet I point out that they in fact do. Perhaps you can't see your bias, but it's draining and boring.

[New display name]

19 minutes ago, ShakeShack said:

Standard dribble from you champ.

Point I'm making is, Village are/were being slammed for closing attractions for 2 months for maintenance, "but Dreamworld don't do it", yet I point out that they in fact do. Perhaps you can't see your bias, but it's draining and boring.

If you had a clue, you would know, I constantly get slammed for picking on DW.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

41 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

It would be fine as an attraction to fill a gap in their offerings - but i wouldnt be taking up valuable showstage realestate with it - it's would be just fine outside.

Sorry wasn't the conversation replacements for Doomsday... which is outside showstage?

19 minutes ago, Dean Barnett said:

Why can’t they just comp backwards rides on rivals .. if it’s open? 
 

Doesn’t cost them a cent and they’re already heaps up from not having staff to operate the closed rides. 
 

Free value add. 

Another dumb idea from your brain. 

It's a paid experience. The park is lacking capacity for numerous reasons, and your solution is to open up TWO seats, that normally cost $30+ each, and make them free?

So for the approximately 350 people that they can fit on this in a day, wahoo. and for the rest, you end up pissing people off even more because they couldn't ride it. 

The only way you make backwards free on DCR is if you turn the entire train around and run one each way.

18 minutes ago, ShakeShack said:

Standard dribble from you champ.

Point I'm making is, Village are/were being slammed for closing attractions for 2 months for maintenance, "but Dreamworld don't do it", yet I point out that they in fact do. Perhaps you can't see your bias, but it's draining and boring.

Two month periods is being slammed as a cash saver. maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. but both parks seem to do it, and they never used to. So it could be a cash saver or it could be the post-TRRR consequence of modern regulation and maintenance.

But long term maintenance periods that occur at the same time ARE a problem.

• Scooby is down long term. By all accounts, unavoidable. necessary. shit happens.
• Doomsday is down - probably for good. it's been shit pretty much since open, unreliable so even if it were to reopen it isn't likely to stay that way. 
• Superman - down, for maintenance but apparently also to pour some concrete and get the rest of Flash ready to go. Ok, fair enough if its necessary, but concrete surfacing in an area that is normally guest accessible during ride operation doesn't prevent SE from running. Flash's area in the helix is also going to be guest accessible when opened, so some level of work could continue whilst Superman ran too. If the ride maintenance itself is done, getting SE back online should be a priority when the park is where it is. If it means closing it again later (When less other things in park are offline) then so be it.
• Batwing - down, allegedly for maintenance and also apparently for Flash, though I'm not sure I understand how Batwing is impacted by Flash construction?

[ShakeShack]

2 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Superman - down, for maintenance but apparently also to pour some concrete and get the rest of Flash ready to go. Ok, fair enough if its necessary, but concrete surfacing in an area that is normally guest accessible during ride operation doesn't prevent SE from running. Flash's area in the helix is also going to be guest accessible when opened, so some level of work could continue whilst Superman ran too. If the ride maintenance itself is done, getting SE back online should be a priority when the park is where it is. If it means closing it again later (When less other things in park are offline) then so be it.

The pour taking place is throughout the entire 'plaza' area outside of Superman, including around all of the supports, and the exit ramp. The backside of the entire ride envelope is also open currently to allow for trucks, materials and so on to enter for flash, obviously you can't run the attraction without any fencing.

Flash's area will be guest accessible in certain areas, but that doesn't involve cranes and so on within the Superman footprint.

 

6 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Batwing - down, allegedly for maintenance and also apparently for Flash, though I'm not sure I understand how Batwing is impacted by Flash construction?

Batwing has gone through it's annual rebuild, and is nearing completion for the photos we've seen posted online, but there are as far as I'm aware, a lot of temp services running through that area.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

17 minutes ago, ShakeShack said:

The pour taking place is throughout the entire 'plaza' area outside of Superman, including around all of the supports, and the exit ramp.

You can still operate Superman while pouring if you can work within the red area. It's a temporary issue from a DDA point of view (or steps could have a temporary ramp if necessary)

19 minutes ago, ShakeShack said:

The backside of the entire ride envelope is also open currently to allow for trucks, materials and so on to enter for flash, obviously you can't run the attraction without any fencing.

There are ways to ameliorate this. Vehicle access gates already existed facing the plaza, and temporary fencing can be used also. This particular point could have been worked around to keep the ride running if they had wanted to put in the effort.

20 minutes ago, ShakeShack said:

Flash's area will be guest accessible in certain areas, but that doesn't involve cranes and so on within the Superman footprint.

That's fine - if its necessary to do it, sure - but two things:

1. How much crane work still exists? The track is built so we need a crane to put the train on, and we need a crane to lift in the theming pieces? 
2. How much of that could have been done after hours - again if they had wanted to put in the effort (and pay the night shift rates?)

 

The point is, had it been operable, they could have run Superman for a lot of this. Even if the entrance side (green, above) needed new concrete, that takes you out for a week tops. Other fences exist to maintain the envelope even if the primary fence was taken down. They could certainly have planned lifts to occur outside of hours, or early morning with crews cleared by 10 or 11.

All of it is a cost, obviously, and the cheapest option is to just shutter it until everything is done - but if that be the case they shouldn't still be charging full price while taking the cheapest option. If they want to charge full price, they should be spending to keep as many rides open as is possible.

The fact you've already said they could have closed it later already proves there was a choice here - they made it, and it's caused backlash as a result. Fact.

[New display name]

@ShakeShackwhen The Dreamworld Flyer was built, all trucks/cranes were locked out during park hours not to interrupt the operation of the park.  A lot of tradespeople start work at 5am and are off site by 1pm.  MW could have worked in opening SE at 1pm with better planing.

 

(only mentioning DW because you like to compare them)

Edited March 19 by New display name

[Park Addict 93]

1 hour ago, ShakeShack said:

Batwing has gone through it's annual rebuild, and is nearing completion for the photos we've seen posted online, but there are as far as I'm aware, a lot of temp services running through that area.

Can confirm I’ve heard it has had a major refurb/service.

Was testing on Sunday albeit without all the seats.

[ShakeShack]

The point I am making is, these works are all been done at the same time to minimise the downtime later in the year. Would this not make more sense, if you're already servicing the attractions, to do the rest of the works required at the same time?

[wikiverse]

31 minutes ago, ShakeShack said:

The point I am making is, these works are all been done at the same time to minimise the downtime later in the year. Would this not make more sense, if you're already servicing the attractions, to do the rest of the works required at the same time?

I don't think anyone is disputing closing once and doing all the necessary work. 

The thing that people are pointing out is that they're doing that on SE AND Batwing AND DD (which has other issues) AND Scooby all at the same time, with a lot of unplanned stoppages/late openings/closed seats on GL, Rivals, RR, and WWF.  There have been several days where MW were charging $110 single day entry for people to watch HWSD2, and see Batman showcase because every single adult ride has been closed, as well as Road Runner - meaning there was not a single roller coaster or thrill ride operational.

That is an unacceptable situation to be in and is 100% due to the park's management failing to invest adequately in the maintenance of their rides, plan maintenance schedules properly, and replace defunct rides in a timely manner when it is clear that they've reached the end of their lifespan (SD, AA, DD). 

But also due to the types of rides and attractions they operate. A simulator ride like Batman could operate even if one or two simulators failed - just at reduced capacity. The Movie Magic show could still operate if one of the show elements failed, other areas of the show could be padded out and the host could still explain how things work with other demonstrations.  It also means that annual maintenance can occur on part of the attraction while it is still operational, reducing the amount of time it would need to be closed.

It is also apparent that there are management issues from staff attitudes toward visitors. Staff are not friendly, none of them want to be there, and replies to customer complaints on social media have shown absolute contempt for visitors that just wanted a fun day out with their family.  Compare that with DW, where they acknowledge they are in a state of transition, they know most of the park is a construction zone, but the staff are engaging, friendly, courteous, and genuinely want to see people enjoying themselves.  I visited DW for the first time since 2015 the other week and the staff were the single most memorable part of my day. The staff issue at MW is what really indicates this is a top-down problem because the front line workers are unsupported and have no power to fix the situation for unhappy visitors.

A theme park is a retail business, a service industry business, an art/design and performance business and a heavy machinery business.  Movie World was once the stand out performer in Australia for all of these, but it's fallen behind in all of them and completely bungled the last one.

People are rightfully pointing out that 2 month closures should be unnecessary, and planned overlapping closures are just bad management.  But 2 month closures when you've got so many other closures - planned or temporary - happening in the park to the point that people are paying full price entry and cannot go on a single ride, is what most people in this thread are complaining about. 

Yes, DW have some extended closures for various reasons, but the difference is in the broader context of the park's offerings and operations.

[Brad2912]

*Incorrect thread*

Edited March 19 by Brad2912
Oops

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

5 hours ago, ShakeShack said:

The point I am making is, these works are all been done at the same time to minimise the downtime later in the year. Would this not make more sense, if you're already servicing the attractions, to do the rest of the works required at the same time?

To the park? It makes sense.

To the passholder? It's annoying, but it makes sense.

To the day guest? The full price gate ticket on a once in a lifetime visit to the park who is confronted with the abomination that is HWSD, Roxy and Wild West Falls as the only adult level attractions who gets told by the park's social team they should have checked the website? get fucked.

[themagician]

On 06/03/2024 at 8:40 AM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Even if intending guests check the website - Scooby doesn't appear in the maintenance sections, and it definitely looks like they're trying to hide it by putting it at the bottom. IMO, it should be at the top, since its a family favourite.

Someone at Village heard your cries

[Dean Barnett]

They're now gaslighting guests by gaslighting other guests!

 

 

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

7 minutes ago, themagician said:

Someone at Village heard your cries

Another 'A' step, but its still in the right direction.

[ShakeShack]

1 hour ago, Dean Barnett said:

They're now gaslighting guests by gaslighting other guests!

 

 

 

The amount of attractions that go down purely due to guest behaviour is insane. How is that gaslighting them?

The amount of times I've seen West have to evacuate because some numpty jumped the fence to retrieve a lost item is next level. Crawl back into your little hole king.

[New display name]

I was about to write queue @ShakeShack but ShakeAttack reply beat me.   Must of had a fast pass. 🤪

[Spotty]

4 hours ago, ShakeShack said:

The amount of attractions that go down purely due to guest behaviour is insane. How is that gaslighting them?

The amount of times I've seen West have to evacuate because some numpty jumped the fence to retrieve a lost item is next level. Crawl back into your little hole king.

Funny you should say that... I worked at the park for several years, and Wild West Falls was one of the rides that I operated the most (along with Scooby) and not once did I ever have to stop the ride or witness a ride stop due to someone jumping the fence. It really doesn't happen often at all, people standing up on West was much more frequent but with the new harnesses it would be pretty much impossible to do that now. 

[mba2012]

3 hours ago, Spotty said:

Funny you should say that... I worked at the park for several years, and Wild West Falls was one of the rides that I operated the most (along with Scooby) and not once did I ever have to stop the ride or witness a ride stop due to someone jumping the fence. It really doesn't happen often at all, people standing up on West was much more frequent but with the new harnesses it would be pretty much impossible to do that now. 

Honestly I'm surprised to hear that. It was probably happening every other week when I worked on it; I never stopped the ride myself but was there when it happened more the once. 

[Dean Barnett]

 You're missing the point - blaming guest behaviour for having most of the rides closed all day (when it's actually due to maintenance) is wild. 

I've also personally never witnessed a ride stop due to guest behaviour.