Boxing Day 2023 Parks CLOSED

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 03/01/2024 at 8:40 PM, CR4ZE said:

People have a right to be upset. A day out at a park for a family of five runs you up several hundreds of dollars, and if your whole day amounted to ~8 hours of sitting in queues, you'd feel duped. Park-wide closures due to the weather, slow loads/unloads, 3-4 empty seats on ride cycles, single-train ops and so on all compounded together are giving paying guests a less-than-satisfactory experience, so of course they're going to speak up.

 

The park's operations are woeful. This is known, and it's been that way for a while. Absolutely, people have a right to be upset if this is the first time they've visited in several years - since that level of ops isn't a new thing. 

For the vast majority though, they've been more recently than 2020. And in THAT instance, they have no right to be upset about the state of the park following the storms and bad weather, as some of the worst shit the GC has seen in many years. 

Blind freddy could have told you that the first day back post-recovery was going to be a shit-show. Those who visited on that day did so knowing it would likely be hell for all concerned, but did so anyway.

They had options - I've no doubt the park would have been willing to discuss refunds prior to use of the tickets or some other credit or compensation if they had been asked. While disappointing your family by not visiting the park during your holiday isn't desirable - you're likely disappointing them by visiting a disaster zone still in recovery anyway, so why not save your money and choose something else?

No, the complainers, by and large, have no right to complain. Those who do are the exception, not the rule.

On 03/01/2024 at 10:29 PM, Dean Barnett said:

The least they could have done is extend the hours by a few hours, and not accept queue skips during those hours. 

I'm sure they'll just pull the staffing out of their arse?

You're aware that the GCCC requires MW to notify residents of late operations in advance? And that they're only allowed to do that a certain number of times a year?

They're trying to recover the park, and their other properties, and you think operating longer days is better for their team? get fucked. Many of their staff lived in impacted areas, and several I know of still didn't have power while they were attending their shifts. Some had no water (tanks) either so imagine not being able to shower, or eat food from home, but hey - this is ok, right?

On 03/01/2024 at 11:27 PM, Rivals said:

considering no one’s agreeing with what you’re saying i don’t think it’s us “off with the fairies.”

tickets are PRE bought. if the parks are closed because of the weather on days you planned to go while you’re on holiday, you go when the park reopens. it’s not that hard of a concept to wrap your head around babes.

I'm agreeing. And I've read your posts. The park has dealt with pre-bought tickets during covid. They can offer alternatives to guests who couldn't attend on another day. All they had to do was ask. Nobody just turned up to Cairns post-cyclone and expects their reef tour to be going ahead when the boat is beached on a rockwall. Nobody is giving the reef tour operator negative reviews because the water was brackish following river outflow.

On 04/01/2024 at 2:00 AM, Baconjack said:

As mentioned by others I’d say most of the people visiting at this time of year have pre bought tickets prior to going up north. So they need to go within a span of usually a few days they don’t have unlimited time to visit the parks.

Either way the problem is very manageable. It’s not by letting less people in but by improving what you do day to day to lower wait times. I like how in your post you used those quotes and missed this one:

What excuses are there for these? There are about 6 months in the year village could use to complete train rebuilds and get them online for peak time.

Back in the day both major coasters would run a 2 train service from Boxing Day to early feb, and allowed guests to do their own seatbelts rather having the 2 station attendants doing a whole train full of them. You’d figure if 2 of your majors were down at the busiest time of the year (with another being replaced) managers would figure out a way to churn through people an hour on each ride efficiently. That means training their staff based on how Universal does it, or by creating a culture that values efficiency. 

Sorry, but our culture values safety over efficiency. It's been debated numerous times why our safety systems are more stringent than foreign parks. I agree in many cases it's overkill, but nobody wants to go against the risk assessment because it's their neck on the line when shit goes pear shaped, and nobody wants to leave the country and work for some dive amusement park in malaysia.

We don't know the park's staffing situation. Perhaps their maintenance team were impacted and they couldn't staff enough people to perform checks on both trains. Perhaps they couldn't staff enough Ops to run two-train operations? I honestly am gobsmacked at the entitlement of people here, given what the parks have just been through.

I am NO fan of Village's current culture, their operations processes or their management decisions, BUT every park gets a pass for the past 14 days - everyone visiting right now is just lucky they got reopened as fast as they did.

On 04/01/2024 at 2:28 AM, Dean Barnett said:

No one can still answer why the ride attendants need to put the seatbelts on - when it’s fine for the guest to do it on every other park on the planet on this same ride model (most don’t even have seatbelts)

And as @Baconjack said - I’d you want to have train securing methods that are way over the top - put 4 people on the platform that their whole job is to secure the train - and let them check each row independently (not wait for an issue on the other side of the train to be fixed)

Get off the fucking merry-go-round. Everyone has answered that for you. you just don't like the answer.

Even if they did staff 4 people to check harnesses (which isn't affordable, I know overseas parks do it but they have the attendance to pay for it) our safety procedures don't permit one op to go on ahead of the other - it relies on ops cross checking each other at every row to ensure they're not missing anything. 

On 04/01/2024 at 8:33 AM, Park Addict 93 said:

For what it’s worth I attended on the 27th for the first day of Hooray for Hollywood, fully knowing how busy it was and have to echo the comments of others that ride operations simply do not work as effectively as they used to years back for whatever reason. They were running two trains on SE/DCR/RR.

The skeptic in me does wonder if there’s no sense of urgency in an effort to sell more fast track.

Slight note on that review FT is not automatically allocated front row, it depends on the operator and many take from general first. You can also always request which row you would like and wait for it.

There are things the park could have done to be better and avoid some minor guest triggers.

- Not advertise attractions as opening at 9:30AM on the website/app, staff aren’t even rostered to ensure this is possible. 

- WWF and HSD not being listed as closed on the website despite the park being aware it will be down all day.

- Have a backup of paper maps/showtimes when there are issues with the app and/or mobile reception.

- Crowd Management, was just chaos everywhere. Have some staff rostered simply to organise que’s/people especially for rides and shows.

1. We know ops are not what they're used to. I think some of this is attributable to TRRR and the safety reforms imposed on park operators. it won't change, and we're stuck with it.
2. The selling of fast track is not a motivator for ride operators who do not profit or benefit from those sales. I know several ride ops and they work their asses off and their hearts out within the confines of their ops manuals. Anything that isn't attributable to the TRRR reforms falls back to village procedures which they must follow or they lose their jobs. The park is to blame for these inefficiencies. Don't blame the operators.
3. Updating the website and apps is a task for one\a small number of people, who were potentially also recovering from the impacts of the weather. I work in emergency management and in the initial stages of event recovery, information isn't always reliable. It is preferred, and desirable, but you can't always do everything. Agree though that this would have helped.
4. paper maps would have been a good idea. Keeping them printed though would be wasteful with every update. They could easily have churned a bunch out on the office laser printer like sea world did a few years back though - though I don't think printing the current online monstrosity would have benefitted anyone really...
5. Crowd management - yes, the season sucks, and compounded by the storms, but also, they would have had less staff available due to callouts anyway, so solving the issue with 'roster more staff to do this thing' really isn't an option.

On 04/01/2024 at 11:33 AM, Dean Barnett said:

The hours are still shit - it needs to be like 11am to 9pm during the peak summer period. Keep the food places open for longer so people can eat dinner there too and that alone should pay it off. 

To compare - Universal Studios Hollywood is open 09:00 AM - 10:00 PM at the moment (middle of their winter) - and their halloween events run til 2am.

I'm going off the reviews that the attendants are still required to do the seatbelts.  Even more wild that at dreamworld they're required to rfid each row .. I'm still 100% certain someone saw them do it on Hagride and decided it would be a great idea for their ride (of a completely different system).

I know you love to compare apples with helicopters but you're still in a fantasyland. Universal can pull the hours it does because it gets the crowds to warrant it, and the parks are big enough that you can fill a day even when it's quiet. Universal Singapore is a closer comparison for size of park, and they only operate 10am-7pm - so barely two hours longer than the GCs regular trade (and they have the people to warrant it)

Shut up about the damn seatbelts. it's a safety requirement. it is not going to change. nobody is going to stop that procedure because it's their neck on the block if shit goes pear shaped and nobody wants another TRRR.

On 05/01/2024 at 12:23 PM, CR4ZE said:

Yep, I'd be surprised if this wasn't the case. This would be the way for guests to "follow the Yellow Brick Road" into the Land of Oz, as envisioned in the announcement.

So: blue is the main entrance, purple the side entrance, and red (you feel as) superfluous and being closed off. It could still be a side-entry, or a "back-way", if you like, into/out of the repurposed Arkham building, leading to the SFC. Even if it is kept open, the general guest flow leads down Main Street anyway, and with appropriate signage and updated park map, the main entrance would still be the most-utilised as intended. However, I'll agree that it's not necessary to keep open, just that it will create a loop and help distribute some foot traffic.

The green circle (if I'm not mistaken) is a BOH storage extension that protrudes into the alley, and I would hope this will be removed to widen the alley.

I think this will happen in the future, but I'd rather they develop the area behind Wild West first to remove the dead-end in a meaningful way. It's been said before, but there's enough room to do a new section of the park back there and still utilise it for FN mazes. If/until that happens, I don't think there's much need to connect the pathway back that way.

The green circle is not storage, its a facade surrounding the plant and equipment (I think it's air conditioning) for Superman Escape. It COULD be relocated (maybe the roof?) but for now, it's not just 'storage' and isn't a simple thing to remove to widen the alley.

On 05/01/2024 at 2:09 PM, Levram__ said:

Pretty certain the entrance to the area is intended to commence from Superman Escape. Connection via the former China Town entrance was ruled out of the scope early in the piece. The recent TVC shoot in park with the Yellow Brick road leading under Superman also hints at the above. 

Sad if so.

On 05/01/2024 at 4:50 PM, CR4ZE said:

I read beautifully. The stoppage occured on the lift hill, not during boarding. They should've picked it up before that happened.

"This comes just seven years after..."

"they should've". 

I've seen no imagery of the item in question. I've heard it was on a rear bogey. Potentially not clearly visible until after dispatch. You've also no clue of what it takes to operate that ride, or when the item in question actually got caught. 

You're being pretty judgy over someone else's job without all the facts here.

On 06/01/2024 at 4:04 AM, Dean Barnett said:

Formula Rossa and other intense rides in the middle east require something to go over the top of religious head scarfs. Can be seen in the third row. 
 

Formula Rossa is also located in Abu Dhabi, a predominantly Muslim region where religious headwear is far more common, and therefore more likely to be catered to. 

I've just come back from Singapore over the break and their food courts have places for halal food trays, and non halal food trays. It would be quite pointless in Australia to cater to every worldwide requirement when those requirements are pretty uncommon.

I am aware that GC based ride operators will have a conversation with a guest if they are wearing anything for religious reasons (i've seen it occur in both parks). The conversation is discreet, and asks the guest to ensure it is secured adequately for the ride experience, and this should be sufficient... I'm sure someone like Spotty could elaborate further.

[aaronm]

28 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

We know ops are not what they're used to. I think some of this is attributable to TRRR and the safety reforms imposed on park operators. it won't change, and we're stuck with it.

Thing is, it's rarely the safety checks that slow things down. The Gold Coast ride ops seem to lack any sense of hustle when it's busy - everything is done at a very leisurely pace. I'm not blaming the park staff for this. At some point management have confused safety with just doing everything slowly, so there's no incentive or encouragement to reduce wait times. Add on non-safety related steps that lengthen load times further (such as waiting for the entire station to clear before allowing new riders to board) and it's no wonder operations are slow and wait times high.

 

40 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

paper maps would have been a good idea. Keeping them printed though would be wasteful with every update. They could easily have churned a bunch out on the office laser printer like sea world did a few years back though - though I don't think printing the current online monstrosity would have benefitted anyone really...

Agree paper maps are dead. A handful of printed map signs around the park, combined with digital wait/show time display boards would be helpful even when the app is working, and especially if it isn't.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

43 minutes ago, aaronm said:

Thing is, it's rarely the safety checks that slow things down. The Gold Coast ride ops seem to lack any sense of hustle when it's busy - everything is done at a very leisurely pace. I'm not blaming the park staff for this. At some point management have confused safety with just doing everything slowly, so there's no incentive or encouragement to reduce wait times. Add on non-safety related steps that lengthen load times further (such as waiting for the entire station to clear before allowing new riders to board) and it's no wonder operations are slow and wait times high.

All of the things you point out though can be classified under a banner of safety. It might be overkill, we might disagree with it, but somewhere, some risk analysis has said 'do it this way' and unless you get a brave risk analyst step forward to say 'we don't need to do this step anymore because it will make things more efficient without compromising safety' you're stuck with what you have. 

Funny thing about risk analysis is that most people are obsessed with eliminating risk instead of mitigating it, so you just end up nanny-stating things more and more with each review. You'll be hard pressed to find an analyst willing to contradict the previous ones to loosen things up - because if anything goes wrong its on their head.

[Dean Barnett]

Opening the gates before the platform is clear of the previous riders doesn’t change the safety margin at all. 
 

Lining up more than one train behind the gates doesn’t change the safety margin at all. 
 

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

5 minutes ago, Dean Barnett said:

Opening the gates before the platform is clear of the previous riders doesn’t change the safety margin at all. 

I don't disagree. But you need that to change in their policies. this isn't something cast can choose to do differently without the policy changing. we all hate it, but someone decided it was procedure and to change that needs courage, and most won't have that courage because of the inevitable "what if". this has been debated to death. stop shitting on the ops crew for it they have no control over it.

7 minutes ago, Dean Barnett said:

Lining up more than one train behind the gates doesn’t change the safety margin at all. 

From what I hear, they've been doing that at Rivals this season when they've had the staff to do so. so it does happen, when they're staffed appropriately.

[Spotty]

6 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

 

I am aware that GC based ride operators will have a conversation with a guest if they are wearing anything for religious reasons (i've seen it occur in both parks). The conversation is discreet, and asks the guest to ensure it is secured adequately for the ride experience, and this should be sufficient... I'm sure someone like Spotty could elaborate further.

I can confirm there are procedures in place for sensitive topics such as this. For rides with an entry host, the entry host would generally explain to them the rules for each ride. Otherwise the operator would. The general rule of thumb is that it needs to be tucked in if non removable (hijab etc). However if it is unable to be tucked in and is deemed too long or too much of a risk they will be declined the option to ride. 

It's very uncommon for an operator to reject a rider for this, and I only personally had to do it twice as it was an exceptionally long one and the guest refused to even tuck it in or secure it in a way that wasn't a risk. The operators will do what they can to ensure guest comfort as well as safety is ensured but sometimes it's just not possible. If it's anything around the neck it's a no go, but for the most part Hijabs, turbans and burka's tend to be okay as they are around the head mores and less likely to get lodged in a wheel assembly.

A scarf 100% shouldn't have been permitted on the ride though, but without actually knowing exactly what kind of scarf it was or the full circumstances it's hard to really say what happened. But at the end of the day, the operators are only human and sometimes things do get missed. At least in the end it was handled well and no one was hurt.

[New display name]

The item might have been stuffed into a pocket and the operator had no idea the person was carrying a loose item.  

[Tricoart]

they’re posting pr statements about trident stoppages now? sooner or later sw/mw’ll have 5 press releases a day about leviathan & GL respectively.

Edited January 8 by Tricoart

[Spotty]

1 hour ago, New display name said:

The item might have been stuffed into a pocket and the operator had no idea the person was carrying a loose item.  

If I had $1 for each time someone tried to do that when I worked at MW... I'd be rich. And if I got $1 for each time I spotted someone trying to do it... and then made them leave the line and put it in a locker and then re-join the line... I'd be even richer lol. Especially if I was at Superman entry and they tried to tell me they had nothing in their pockets... and then I got switched to load / sort and after they waited an hour and they ended up with something in their pockets... you can bet I wasn't letting them come back to the front of the line once they had given it to a non rider or in a locker.

"I told you so..."

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

13 hours ago, Tricoart said:

they’re posting pr statements about trident stoppages now?

They do when the gold coast bulletin posts a hit piece...

Quote

MID-AIR, MID-RIDE STOPPAGE A 'NORMAL FAULT'

One of the Gold Coast’s newest thrill rides - a 42-metre high supercharged merry-go-round - has had a mid-ride stoppage. Sea World’s Trident ride in its new Atlantis precinct was momentarily stopped on Monday afternoon, with patrons suspended in the air when an announcement was made. It spins users around for 360-degree views of the Gold Coast Broadwater but park visitor Soraiya Fuda who witnessed the stoppage said “shoes” were dropping from the riders held in the air for an estimated 15 minutes. “There is about 30 people stuck on this ride in the air, they have been told to calm down and rescue crews are on the way,” Ms Fuda said just after 3pm. Ms Fuda, visiting the marine park with her family on Monday, said she could see a technician sent to the ride before it slowly descended to the ground before staff offloaded patrons. “Families were hugging each other, and people were distressed coming off,” she said. A Sea World spokesperson said it was a “normal fault” and all guests are “safe and clear”. The spokesperson said the Trident ride sensor was activated causing the minor stoppage on Monday. It is understood ride stoppages occur due to environmental and weather factors such as rain, wind and heat, power surges, sensor adjustments and guest behavior can all trigger a halts to the ride. “Given it has so many sensors it could be any number of readings, so what we will do is inspect it all, clear those reading and open as normal.” The Trident - a ride that’s weather dependent - was operational again soon after. “Our ride will stop, and our operational and technican teams will inspect and clear it all and once its ready to re-operate it will re-open,” the spokesperson said, describing it as a “routine stoppage”

Honestly the media goes full ham on shit like this so I think it's good that they're getting on the front foot and issuing statements to counteract the sensationalism. 

I just hope they don't release it on instagram again - they did a video version of the Rivals media statement and it was so cringe.

[DJKostya]

It's been a while since I was at Movie World but what really annoyed me on my last visit was how militant they were on Superman. I had a tissue in my pocket and the ride loader saw it. I was told it had to go into a locker and no loose items were allowed on the ride, no problem it's just a tissue is there a bin nearby I can put it in? No, you have to exit and put it in a locker. I actually went into the shop to get change for the locker to put it in to prove a point (that's how long ago it was LOL) and the lady at the counter was laughing hysterically.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Yeah they really should have a bin right beside the greeter for shit like that that you completely forgot about.

[STRAWS]

4 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Yeah they really should have a bin right beside the greeter for shit like that that you completely forgot about.

I'm not trying to join the bandwagon of people hating on village. But I generally dislike a lot of the staff members there the guest services however are great when virtual que wasn't working for me and it became full when it did work, they gave me a pass to skip the line on any ride of my choice and she was super friendly. 

My worst experience was a couple team members at the Wild West Falls where I asked if the ride Might reopen later because it broke down one of them said get lost. I was infuriated to say the least it's not like I was being rude or anything. I understand that they probably get asked that question multiple times but with how much people pay to go there even annual pass holders should be treated far better. I didn't complain but I probably should have. 

Also, a lot of the ride ops look like they hate their jobs which I'm sure we all do at times but it's not good to show it off because it makes the vibe negative and that is opposite to what a theme park is all about. 
 

Has anyone else had negative experiences because of staff members? 

Edited January 9 by STRAWS

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I've observed some ops that are just clearly dead inside. I often wonder whether it's the idiot guests or the draconian management and company culture, but it matters not. it happens. you have to hire the right person to work in a theme park. When you aren't attracting the right people, you're not offering enough, and you end up settling for bums on seats, so to speak. 

But i've also observed some ops who absolutely bust a gut to deliver the best guest experience they can. they are shining stars in a sea of darkness. A long time ago I stopped offering negative feedback about poor experiences with cast members as I just couldn't be sure I knew what that person was going through that day. Instead, I try to make an effort to identify anyone who is delivering a great experience, and I offer a cast compliment whenever I can to recognise them. Disney makes it easy as you can do it there and then on their app. I try to stop into guest services on the GC on my way out to offer the same sort of feedback, but i'm not sure what they do with it. Hopefully those cast are recognised or rewarded in some way, though clearly it is not enough of an incentive to revive the others back from the dead.

[New display name]

32 minutes ago, STRAWS said:

Has anyone else had negative experiences because of staff members? 

It's hard being a staff member, when you are constantly abused for things out of your control.  

[Spotty]

4 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

I've observed some ops that are just clearly dead inside. I often wonder whether it's the idiot guests or the draconian management and company culture, but it matters not. it happens. you have to hire the right person to work in a theme park. When you aren't attracting the right people, you're not offering enough, and you end up settling for bums on seats, so to speak. 

But i've also observed some ops who absolutely bust a gut to deliver the best guest experience they can. they are shining stars in a sea of darkness. A long time ago I stopped offering negative feedback about poor experiences with cast members as I just couldn't be sure I knew what that person was going through that day. Instead, I try to make an effort to identify anyone who is delivering a great experience, and I offer a cast compliment whenever I can to recognise them. Disney makes it easy as you can do it there and then on their app. I try to stop into guest services on the GC on my way out to offer the same sort of feedback, but i'm not sure what they do with it. Hopefully those cast are recognised or rewarded in some way, though clearly it is not enough of an incentive to revive the others back from the dead.

Not sure if they still do it, but back in the 2000's Village Roadshow had what was called a "Shining star" program. If good feedback was received about a staff member, or a supervisor noticed something out of the ordinary you would be given one. You could accrue them over the year towards prizes and whoever got the most in a year actually got a pretty decent prize. One of the years the winner got a 7 night cruise for 2 people.

One of the really good ones I received was a guest provided feedback about me on an attraction to guest services. A few days later I got the feedback in writing from the attractions supervisor as well as a thank you note from John Menzies (CEO at the time) as well as 2 of these "shining stars" and a $50 voucher for lunch in the staff cafe (meals were about $3.00 back then, so that was a decent amount of lunches). Little things like that really did boost morale, but I'm not sure if this is still done.

Dreamworld used to have a similar thing called "dream dollars" which would randomly be given to guests coming into the park. They were encouraged to hand them to staff members who went above and beyond. Similar thing, you collect them to trade in for prizes. 

[CR4ZE]

4 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

I often wonder whether it's the idiot guests or the draconian management and company culture, but it matters not

Porque no los dos?

I've never had an overtly bad experience with any op. I feel they largely do their best with what they're given. You do often get an air of dissatisfaction and general lack of enthusiasm about being there, particularly over the peak period. It's not a high-paying job and they do cop a lot. At DW last week, a teenage son tried to cut all the way to the front of Motocoaster where his parents were already queuing and was told off by the op, who sent him out. The dad loudly and aggressively berated the op and called him a "fucking idiot" or similar. The op was the bigger man (figuratively) and walked away.

On 08/01/2024 at 11:25 AM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

You're being pretty judgy over someone else's job without all the facts here.

Not "judgy" in so much as just making an observation. You're right that nobody knows with certainty what/how it got through.

[Baconjack]

7 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

I've observed some ops that are just clearly dead inside. I often wonder whether it's the idiot guests or the draconian management and company culture, but it matters not. it happens. you have to hire the right person to work in a theme park. When you aren't attracting the right people, you're not offering enough, and you end up settling for bums on seats, so to speak. 

Well to be fair being a ride op is not exactly the most well paid job and quite a few people wouldn't really care about the job, which is completely understandable given the pay and the fact most would be doing it during uni to earn cash before moving onto greener pastures. Having idiot guests definitely exacerbates the problem but I digress, in those kinds of jobs you need to maximise morale where possible, have the right kinds of managers who don't treat the joint as some sort of a power trip, and create room for staff to build relationships with one another.

I used to work for a business in the same industry as the parks, was paid quite poorly and had to deal with entitled guests and it burned me out from time to time.

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

14 hours ago, CR4ZE said:

Not "judgy" in so much as just making an observation. You're right that nobody knows with certainty what/how it got through.

No, you don't get to wash over that. Own your statement. You said (my emphasis)

Quote

The stoppage occured on the lift hill, not during boarding. They should've picked it up before that happened.

So in acknowledging that nobody knows with certainty what/how it got through you are admitting that your previous statement that they should've picked it up before that was completely unjustified. Totally judgy and in no way an observation - which as defined would be a statement based on something that you have seen, heard, or noticed.

At best, you expressed an opinion, and your opinion was unfounded in fact. 

You're making broad statements about someone else's job without the knowledge or experience to do that job. And you're wrong to boot.

11 hours ago, Baconjack said:

in those kinds of jobs you need to maximise morale where possible, have the right kinds of managers who don't treat the joint as some sort of a power trip, and create room for staff to build relationships with one another.

Cannot agree with this more. This is exactly the primary issue at play and what anyone coming into a management role in a theme park needs to read over and over again. My time in a theme park was spent with managers that inspired us to do our best, encouraged us to push for our best to ensure we delivered our best for each and every guest. 

I left because a new manager entered the space with a background in fast food, and she entirely obliterated the culture, destroyed morale and made it a not fun place to be.

[kujotess]

On 9/1/2024 at 5:13 PM, Spotty said:

Not sure if they still do it, but back in the 2000's Village Roadshow had what was called a "Shining star" program. If good feedback was received about a staff member, or a supervisor noticed something out of the ordinary you would be given one. You could accrue them over the year towards prizes and whoever got the most in a year actually got a pretty decent prize. One of the years the winner got a 7 night cruise for 2 people.

One of the really good ones I received was a guest provided feedback about me on an attraction to guest services. A few days later I got the feedback in writing from the attractions supervisor as well as a thank you note from John Menzies (CEO at the time) as well as 2 of these "shining stars" and a $50 voucher for lunch in the staff cafe (meals were about $3.00 back then, so that was a decent amount of lunches). Little things like that really did boost morale, but I'm not sure if this is still done.

Dreamworld used to have a similar thing called "dream dollars" which would randomly be given to guests coming into the park. They were encouraged to hand them to staff members who went above and beyond. Similar thing, you collect them to trade in for prizes. 

Village rewards their staff who have received great guest feedback with a shout-out on the facebook group, where they post the guest’s feedback along with your embarrassing first day photo, so to some this can feel more like a punishment. 

 

Reflecting on previous years, usually at Christmas time they reward staff with 2 extra day-passes in their bank to use for friends and family, this year it was replaced with a free lunch, that’s if you were working that one specific day!

 

Dreamworld used to do “happy cash”, but I think that was scrapped this year, because no one would be bothered to go and trade in multiple paper slips for what I remember being like a free $3 coffee. 

 

Top-golf seems to have a good staff reward system, where they can spin a wheel for prizes. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Employee recognition and rewards are a great way to boost staff morale - but it has to be something that people want \ appreciate - and it doesn't fix all the problems if you're running the place like garbage or treating them like shit every other time. 

Swapping from something you can use whenever you prefer to a free lunch only available on a certain day sounds very much a step backwards.

[themagician]

10 hours ago, kujotess said:

so to some this can feel more like a punishment. 

Absolutely, especially if the employees aren’t fond of working for the company in the first place, it comes across as lame and you become known as that person who was mentioned by the boss, which can suck

10 hours ago, kujotess said:

this year it was replaced with a free lunch, that’s if you were working that one specific day

I’ve worked for companies that have done this too and you can always tell the bosses are giving themselves a big pat on the back for doing something like that, but in reality it’s just shit because staff remember the times where they got so much more

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

52 minutes ago, themagician said:

staff remember the times where they got so much more

It can be a (very poor) strategy by management. The old timers leave because they no longer feel appreciated and remember the good times, the new guys never know anything different and accept it as par for the course.

The end result is you lose the institutional knowledge - like the 'why' we do things a certain way - which leads to two possible outcomes - 

1. people don't change outdated and inefficient processes because they were taught to do it a certain way for a reason that no longer exists - "that's the way we've always done it" - (See the 5 Monkey experiment)
2. people change equipment or procedures to remove something that ensures safety because they don't understand the risk "what could go wrong?" (for example - removing slats on a conveyor belt to reduce the weight on the conveyor motor)

[Gobbledok]

Generally people just fit their surroundings if they come into a workplace where everyone is upbeat and busting ass they will rise to that too

If everyone is lazy and slack and miserable they will see that as the acceptable level and quickly settle into that same work ethic and attitude 

[themagician]

Paradise Country and Farmstay will reopen January 26