Movie World brings down the axe on jobs

[GoGoBoy]

Aaargh this is typical of the Australian public! It's so frustrating. Movie World gets a brand new coaster and attendances go DOWN! How encouraging is that? Meanwhile Dreamworld adds nothing and their attendances go up. It's the Wonderland scenario all over again. Seriously, if the general public doesn't respond to new attractions then parks will stop adding them which is not good. I just don't understand it. News article at http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=103809

[T-bone]

Maybe this says something for the customer service at Movie World. I can tell you everytime I have been to that park, the Service has been real bad, the rides that the park has were either closed, or they were kiddie rides, the ride ops were rude, and some of the customer service attendents really need some more training in the field of Customer Service. Let me also say this, just because Movie World's rides may be better in their theming department, compared to Dreamworld, and just because Movie World has a New Rollercoaster, you will never ever catch me in that park, ever again. Not even worth the money I paid for the discount tickets. However, you will see me at Dreamworld. Their customer service everytime I go has been excellent, and the staff have been very friendly, plus the rides there are also much better than any ride at Movie World. Sure, their theming may be crap, and their lines may be long, but when the end of the day comes, I would much prefer to spend a day at Dreamworld than Movie World.

[dreamworld_rulz]

I find SE crap and boring. Why couldn't MW get another coaster that gives you thrills? The ride goes for 20 sec plus the subway. They use one train instead of 2 so the line up is always long. They spend millions of dollars on a crap ride. I prefer DW as they have more thrilling rides. I've never met a rude op at either parks. I'll be at MW on Thursday. It's time MW lift their game and gave us something decent. .e.g a roller coaster like "X"

[GoGoBoy]

You know I would have to agree with that last comment re Superman Escape. I was actually planning to start a new thread about it. While I still think a new rollercoaster is better than Dreamworld's 'nothing', I really don't think SE is all that great. Throughout the entire ride I felt like I was having a brain haemorrhage (my friend actually came up with this name for the feeling we had throughout the ride). I just found it to be way too intense and way too quick. I really don't like the idea of a launch coaster, especially one that has such a confined space to work with. I always thought it would be much better if we got a massive continous circuit hyper first. It's something Australia doesn't have and it provides heaps of fun with not nearly as much 'painful intensity'

[Richard]

Ultimately I believe it all falls down to Movie World's poor execution of Superman Escape. The park set out to make cheap ride in the first place and I believe the public has caught onto this. Taking the emphasis AWAY from Superman and the fact that it is a roller coaster in the advertising certainly can't have helped.

Customer service would not have a profound effect on attendance. It would more likely affect the operating margins, but shouldn't directly affect attendance. Needless to say, you can't use a few isolated examples you've been involved with to suggest that customer service is lacking. I've had bad experiences at many, many parks, including all the Gold Coast parks and yet I would maintain that they all have excellent customer service on the whole. A few bad examples don't speak for the majority in this case. I don't think this is Wonderland all over again. It just shows that you can't short-change the public when it comes to new attractions. Dreamworld has proven that rides can just be "good" (yet pulled off in an effective manner) and do wonders for attendance. If Movie World put less emphasis on trying to make the best without a development budget to match, I think we'd be seeing much better things in terms of attendance.

[matty_o_911]

Maybe this says something for the customer service at Movie World. I can tell you everytime I have been to that park, the Service has been real bad, the rides that the park has were either closed, or they were kiddie rides, the ride ops were rude, and some of the customer service attendents really need some more training in the field of Customer Service. Let me also say this, just because Movie World's rides may be better in their theming department, compared to Dreamworld, and just because Movie World has a New Rollercoaster, you will never ever catch me in that park, ever again. Not even worth the money I paid for the discount tickets. However, you will see me at Dreamworld. Their customer service everytime I go has been excellent, and the staff have been very friendly, plus the rides there are also much better than any ride at Movie World. Sure, their theming may be crap, and their lines may be long, but when the end of the day comes, I would much prefer to spend a day at Dreamworld than Movie World.

NOTE: While not entirely related to this topic, I apologise for getting into a Movie World vs Dreamworld debate but I couldn't help myself. I couldn't possibly disagree with you more. Movie World is by far the more superior park in my opinion. I have been regularly visiting both parks over the previous year - at least once a month during Superman construction - and to distinguish the staff at Movie World as being so bad in comparison to Dreamworld is very wrong. Both parks would be quite even in terms of staff - the majority are very friendly and helpful and do their best to make sure guests are enjoying their time and occasionally some may not. Movie World by far does a better job in the entertaining of guests with performers who roam the park regularly and seem from my experience to go down very well with guests. Dreamworld - as I've noticed - sends two koalas on the back of a vehicle maybe once a day who merely wave. The rest of the time, Dreamworld just puts the occassional Nickelodeon character near the Cat-Dog food area for photos. And to suggest the rides are always closed is wrong to - maybe you just went on a bad day? or maybe even I was just lucky enough to go on 15 exceptional days? In terms of rides, I disagree also. I like to compare Dreamworld and Movie World by the types of attraction and its clear from that (in my opinion of course) which are better: Traditional full circuit coaster with lift-hill - Cyclone vs Lethal Weapon - despite the headbanging Lethal is far more interesting to look at, better themed, and more exciting. Movie World 1 - Dreamworld 0. Log flume - Rocky Hollow Log Ride vs Wild West Falls - theming, length, enjoyment give this one to Movie World of course. Movie World 2 - Dreamworld 0. Launching coaster - Superman Escape vs Tower of Terror - a bit more of a contest here, though in my opinion, Superman's better (while not perfect) theming, and also more intense acceleration and more interesting layout gives it the upperhand. Movie World 3 - Dreamworld 0. Theatres - Shrek 4D vs IMAX - Shrek is by far more popular - though Dreamworlds is usually good to watch and educational. Movie World 4 - Dreamworld 0. Family coaster - Roadrunner vs Reptar - difficult contest here because they are so similar, but I enjoy roadrunner more (and I always liked the cartoons) so Movieworld 5 - Dreamworld 0. Wild mouse coasters - Scooby vs Eureka - close contest and both have their pros and cons but I'm going to give it to Scooby for a backwards drop and elevator, as well as theming and generally fast load times. Movie World 6 - Dreamworld 0. I've run out of other comparisons so I'll give Movieworld another point for having Batman - but Dreamworld does have a number of other thrill rides that are both popular and fun so I'll give it 3 points for Giant Drop, Claw and Wipeout and an extra point for the extra rides and attractions it contains from being the larger park that Movie World doesn't have. In terms of rides and attractions, therefore Movie World 7 - Dreamworld 4. And so its not just theming - the rides at Movie World are generally of a much better than those in comparison at Dreamworld. The 4 points Dreamworld got were for only having a few more thrill rides that Movie World doesn't. I could rant for ever, but Movie World is my favourite park and I therefore shall jump to its defence, lol. On topic: its quite sad that the public doesn't necessarily realise how great Movie World and continue to go to Dreamworld despite not doing anything substantial now for years. It is just as sad to see them having to cut back on staff - especially in the performance and entertainment side of things for which Movie World has traditionally done so well with. Lets hope things improve for Movie World in the future and lets hope it catches up. Edited May 30, 2006 by matty_o_911

[nev]

I love it, read the last 6 or so posts and it's just descended into an all out bashing session. Attendances were quoted in that article as being "up and down" and also "lower in the usually quiet month of May" Attendances are rocked by even the slightest occurences, and I hardly think that a few thousand people decided they were going to boycott the park for a month because of customer service. I'm sorry, but in reality, customer service is only a TINY part of the theme park experience. Think about it. Over the course of a day at any theme park, when do you have substantial interaction with staff on a 1-1 basis? When you buy your tickets, and your food and drinks. What do you define as rudeness, and what is merely the staff operating in an efficient manner? It's a pretty major generalisation to say that all of the staff are rude or don't care. As for the SE comments, please give it a break. So now it's too fast, too tight, oh and it's also apparently "crap and boring" as it was so eloquently described. If this is the case - don't ride it - there's a great Loony Tunes coaster next door that isn't quite so intense. Sure, the theming is a bit below par, but hey, at least they're not playing Nascar races in the queue line (ToT) and the queue line doesn't smell like a public toilet (Cyclone). If it was slower, you'd be on here whinging that it was too slow. If it was less intense, you'd want it more intense. How about you take a step back for a minute and realise that one theme park company had the guts to go and spend a bunch of money on an ORIGINAL track layout that does a damn good job of fitting into the space they wanted it to go into and does a great job at packing some serious punch. And I'm sorry, if you can't get even the slightest thrill from a 0-100km/h launch then I feel sorry for you So how about we here some justification behind these generalisations. Sure, it would be lovely to have a 300ft high hyper coaster roaring around the park, but it ain't going to happen any time soon. Might be time to stop throwing stones and actually just make some intelligent posts about things. Generalising that an entire park is 'crap' or that a ride is 'crap' doesn't do anybody any good and really just makes yourself look like a fool.

[dreamworld_rulz]

I don't find SE to intense. I just find it a bit boring and not long enough. You wait for ages to ride when you shouldn't hsve too. They have 2 trains so why not use them?

[goliath]

I'm sorry, but in reality, customer service is only a TINY part of the theme park experience.

I totally disagree. Rude operators/staff can completely ruin a day at a theme park, it really bums the guests out when staff are unhelpful or rude. Most of the day you're going to be dealing with staff (rides, food, admission, shops) and its not a lot of fun when they're a**holes.

I can tell you everytime I have been to that park, the Service has been real bad, the rides that the park has were either closed, or they were kiddie rides, the ride ops were rude, and some of the customer service attendents really need some more training in the field of Customer Service.

Personally I think MW really needs to work on their ride ops. I have had a few bad experiences with them also, and some of them are just plain rude. Also, I have to agree that Superman Escapes themeing was just laughable, it really was a poor job.

[Richard]

It doesn't have to be an all-out bash on Superman, nor a comparison of Dreamworld and Movie World (not sure why that topic was brought up at all). My point with the quality of Superman was more that they aimed for a "grand" concept, but didn't have the financial side to back it up, which resulted in a lackluster ride. I don't believe this would have been the case if they had either: allocated a larger budget (they spent the same that they did on Lethal Weapon 12 years ago, and it has a fraction of the immersive theming that Superman's concept required), or "settled for less" and built a more "no-frills" attraction (more along the lines of Lethal Weapon or The Claw), focusing more on the actual ride experience. I don't think I need to disclaim this by saying I enjoy Superman and think it is a fun ride, because I would have thought that is pretty obvious - if you genuinely don't enjoy Superman (or indeed any coasters out there) then I'd say you're on the wrong site. I have no problems in admitting I can be objectively critical of even my most favourite things. I'm really not a fan of blind worship. With Superman's intensity, I'm referring specifically to the way it rattles and throws you around. If the world-renowned Swiss and German engineering behind the ride couldn't make it as smooth as all the other Intamin coasters I've ridden then I think the footprint size is a negative point for the ride, given that this intensity comes from the very rapid succession of turns and hills. Now that we hear that attendance has been slumping (after an initial increase over the Christmas period), it suggests that Superman has missed the mark with the public. I can't remember a new attraction at any of our parks in recent years that has had such a short-term impact on attendance. I'd say this qualifies my earlier two suggested reasons for the slump - either its marketing attempts missed the mark with what consumers want, or the ride itself misses the mark. My guess is a bit of both. An unhappy customer is said to tell 20 people about their experiences. A happy one is only likely to tell only a handful. If people genuinely aren't enjoying Superman as much as they would have hoped (and I don't know this for a fact - this is merely hypothesising), then they would be more than happy to let this be known to anyone who asks them about their holiday/visit, and it is far more likely to influence their decision making than those who give all-positive feedback when asked.

[Dylaan]

Well IMO, MW staff aren't that bad. We were there not long ago and they happily answered my questions and let me jump the queue for a re-ride. It could just be that certain staff members had bad experiences with rowdy teens. DW's staff are good too, IMO there's no difference.

[Gazza]

With Superman, I think its weird how people are bagging it now for being intense, painful etc when a few months ago everyone was raving about how much they loved the launch and the airtime and how it was nice and smooth because it was Intamin, and how they would gladly ride it a bazillion times in one day because it was so fun, if Intensity and pain was really an issue would this be the case? IMO the ride itself was fine. And as for the ride time, well Xcellerator goes for about 22 secs, and lets not forget TOT goes for about 28 secs, launched coasters are just an inherently short ride. Yes, i agree that SE could have been done a bit better, it opened late, still has a crap locker system and the theming has been underdone, and they still persist with 1 train when its too busy for it the latter 3 should have been rectified by now, and it is to their detriment that they continue to ignore this. Also, here in the southern states we havent really seen that much in terms of advertising for the ride, and as Richo said, they dont stress the qualities of the ride well enough, i mean at my local corner shop the ice cream case has promotional stuff to do with the Streets promotion for SE. On this material the font style is the same as other SE promotion, and the MW logo as well as an image of the front car is inculded, but there is absolutley no to SE or is features. An unknowing member of the public may have no idea what ride is being depicted. I think in all ads for the ride they need to get some nice shots emphasising the top has as well as the 0 to 100 in 2 secs tagline, these are vital features and are much more interesting than just a shot of a single car. But i think with the upcoming release of Superman Returns we could see some more cross promotion, i think they might just be hanging on to do this, in which case i think it could have been smarter to have opened SE this year in line with the movie, and just let shrek 2 have more time in the limelight. With the general quality of the ride, i think just an extra $250000 would have basically clinched it and enabled them to really do some nice finishing touches, but hey, its their decision As for customer service, all parks were about the same, it was pretty good and I had no real bad moments. But as with any buisness, they are only as good as your last visit, so they need to work to ensure 100% service is delivered all the time. I think the main reason for MWs problems can only be attributed to the park themselves and their actions, not really the whims of the public.

Edited May 30, 2006 by Gazza

[T-bone]

Did everyone like totally miss the part where I was saying I was bagging out the previous movie world? As far as I know, the park may have improved on all these services, since Scooby Doo Spooky Rollercoaster was built, but due to previous experiences, I do not want to find out what it is like. You may also say the customer service is something small, but just think about it. If you were say told you were wrong, or the customer service at say a Woolworths (or Safeway) supermarket, what do you walk away saying & thinking? I am not so sure about you guys, some of you always seem so enthusiastic about everything, but I know I would say "You ain't getting my money anymore", and you switch to the competition. In this case Coles. Customer service is a big thing even in a theme park, you can either walk away from a park and say "Well that was a great day, and those staff members really helped play the role, and were just SUPER", or you can walk away saying "Man, did you see that wanker operating so and so ride? Man she was a wanker, I will not be going back to that park again".

[Gazza]

But arent you sort of burying your head in the sand by ignoring improvements the park may have made? Its a fair point you made about supermarket, but the thing with that is you visit often, (up to several times a week) so you get a good picture of customer service and you can make a fair judgement. But with a theme park you might only visit yearly or less, so its hard to gain a proper perspective, but notice some of the people here who visit often say that the parks are fairly even, i think it would be worth listening to these people as they would be able to make the fairest judgement. But anyway, on my visit they were all good in terms of service........ I think you might have just had some bad luck, If its really that bad, complain, and if they dont somehow make good at that point then you could say fairly that the service is genuinley bad.

Edited May 30, 2006 by Gazza

[Richard]

Well maybe it's just me, but if I had a single bad experience at Woolworths, I'd continue to shop there as long as it was the most convenient and economical choice. I'll save my political stances for things that actually matter in life. If it were a problem every time I visit then maybe I'd do something about it, but yet you freely admitted that it was a single visit to Movie World a long time ago and that things may well have changed, yet you aren't willing to give the park another shot. I'd say that is pretty stubborn and only serves to adversely affect yourself if you're the one who's interested in theme parks. Superman is a much rougher ride than any other Intamin coasters I've ridden, including rocket coasters. I've never raved about its smoothness but we're digressing from the original point - not WHAT is wrong with Superman, but rather WHY the ride hasn't had the impact that other rides in recent years have.

[Superman escape]

Mabye becuase they aimed the advertisements at a teenager demographic?

[joz]

Well, to me the words "up and down" sound kinda like what DW is doing. They were down for Feb and March, and back over expected levels in April. In fact, Feb and March were very quiet across the board, which is a change from the recent trend of holiday periods being not as busy as in the past, but being busy for longer periods. I think if MWs attendance is down, then there's either a negative perseption about the park, or marketing isn't doing their job. Seriously, there are not one, but TWO new attractions drawing the crowds, both appeal to different demographics, both are very good, solid attractions (SE sucks? You gotta be kidding me). If the attendance drops with two new attractions and a third on the way then you have to be wondering what's going on. I think Gazza makes a good point when he mentioned the fact that all you see in the posters and whatnot are the MW logo and one coaster car. Half the ads on TV are given to unrelated images of people of people sky diving or whatever, so that could be something worth looking at. Overall though, I want to see the numbers at the end of the year, and more importantly, the numbers for next year when there will be 3 relativly new attractions, and see whats going on then. As for the customer service side of things, well, maybe the lockers ARE causing alot of bad feelinds on the street, or maybe in hindsight a coaster with a 140cm requirement wasn't the best move to make, but we'll find out how things pan out in the next year or so. Don't jump the gun yet when attendances have been "up and down" everywhere, not just MW.

Edited May 30, 2006 by joz

[Gazza]

Just another point to highlight WVTPs poor advertising; Have a look at their other big investment, Extreme H20 zone. On their website all they have is a short description that poorly describes the slides (you would think they would milk it for all its worth and list it as 4 new rides (black hole, sidewinder, freefall, jet streams) and no images of the slides. Instead on their website they seem more intent on advertising the re-opening of Whirlpool Springs. If this is the sort of regard they pay to their new rides........

[aidan]

I noticed about the h2o zone too and how it has poor advertising. Dreamworld has so many adds even if they dont have a new attraction but with movie world wet'n'wild ect.. they only have adds when they have a new attraction and they arent on for long.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

i feel compelled to discuss the points above, even if they aren't directly related to the main topic, so here goes. I recently made my yearly pilgrimage to the gold coast. (pics to come later when i have the time). Now these are isolated incidents, but they are part of the conceptual whole that I have about two two big parks. On my last trip to DW, to ride the Claw, and we experienced 3 instances of queue jumping. claw, cyclone and wipeout. In all three instances we brought this to the attention of the operators or queue masters, and in all three situations, little (if any) effort was made by the dreamworld cast. Last week in WBMW (with Rappa in tow), we rode Scooby, and experienced a group of about 5 people bypass the main (left) queue line, by walking down the right side of the fountain and join the queue at the doorway to the hallway... which coincidentally was only 3 people in front of us. We brought this to the attention of the queue master at the entryway, and she closed the queue off, walked down to where we were, and confronted the group. The group argued with her briefly, before she calmly excused them from the queue and got them to requeue at the back of the queue, which had since grown by another 30 people (big kudos to "lorna" working the queue there - well executed, and what I have come to expect from a Disney park, let alone Warner Village cast). I experienced a similar result on SE later in the day, with the same timely response from the queue master. I have had many instances of queue jumping at both parks in recent years, and always have been very satisfied with MW's response to the issue. I would very much like to see the response echo Wonderland's, where queue jumpers were immediately ejected from the park, but still and all, they are fair and just. Theming wise, MW is letting themselves down. SE is very lacklustre, and as has been said numerous times, a few extra hundred thousand could have topped it off nicely. Coming back to attendance - which is the core issue, we went on a saturday, and one would expect a reasonable amount of people in the park. SE had about a 10 minute queue, scooby as always was closer to 30 minutes, with most others being walk ons, so I can agree with the figures of MW being "down"... but all parks open 365\4 days a year will experience slow days, and I'll guarantee it was better than most days at wonderland... now we all know wonderland did not close because of poor attendance - the park made money - it was all just siphoned off to Sunway Lagoon. So long as the park covers it's costs, i see no problem with low attendances in quiet times - which april and may are. One question I would like answered - if someone can provide on (djsupersleuth maybe?) is why multi-trained coasters don't run both trains on average days? I mean for rides like bush beast - on quiet days its the only option, but especially for SE, which has separate load and unload stations, why can they not run two trains? it would cut a 15 minute wait down to 5, with no further effort on the operator's part except more frequent loading? its ridiculous! im all over the place tonight.... lack of sleep - so heres another one - (as has been said) perhaps movie world have decided to hold major promotion until the release of the movie? great tie in opportunities... although opening later seems like the smart thing to do -what better way to alleviate the always catastrophic christmas holidays, than with a high speed, high capacity coaster? And lastly... it will be an interesting 2007, with what all the parks have in store for us. WBMW, WnW, DW all have big plans announced, in the works, or under construction (say goodbye to lethal's "movie theatre"... shhhhhh......) So far, the only park without big plans (that i know of) is sea world... so it will be interesting if they announce something new in the second half of this year. 2007 will be a big year for the big 4, but don't expect to see big attendances across the board at all parks, because the public will have to choose what they see and spend their money on, and it all comes down to the marketing teams. the 3 park pass will probably tip the scales, but DWWP may have an effect that is yet to be predicted here... only time shall tell.

Edited May 31, 2006 by AlexB

[rappa]

Well regardless of who I may work for I will stand by the fact that I think MW is a far superiour park as a package. Dreamworld lost it years ago when it took its focus to be purely a thrill park (ala Six Flags). Now if that is your think then great, go to Dreamworld, have a great time. The two park have two very different philosophys on what consitutes a 'theme park' and you really can't compare the two. My theory on where they went wrong with Superman is they went for a 'thrill seeker' type advertising compaign for a park that markets itself as a themed entertainment destination. They hit home with no one was the problem. The trill junkies dismiss it because they want to go to dreamworld because it has HEAPS of big rides. The families and people after a themed experience dismiss it because it was marketed as a thrill ride. I do believe the parks outlook is changing and it is trying to shift more towards a ride based park but at this point that is still not the perception the public has of it. This is all before anyone even steps foot in the park, let alone Superman. What is strange is this comes out of the same marketing department that took care of AOS and our marketing campaign has been anything but unsuccessful. People are coming in droves, so makes you wonder how they got it soo wrong with superman. As for the ride itself. I really can't understand anyone here... the ride kicks arse. Yes the theming isn't up to scratch for Movie World standard (which is a shame because it stops it from being perfect) but if it was at Dreamworld you would think it rocked. It does the job to at least add something to the ride, think of it as a pre-show. The coaster portion you really can't fault, its high energy, loads of airtime, and very intense as far as coaster experiences go. To say it throws you around I don't understand, let's compare it to Lethal. One of the most praised coaster designs is B&Ms batman inverts, they are 'intense' but that's different from throwing you around. Yes it's short, but that's the design, can't fault it for that. As far as smoothness, it's pretty damn good, it has some slight 'intamin shuffle' in a couple of the transitions but they all have that. Ride Xcel or Calif Screamin lately and it's very much there. Although you can feel it, it's not uncomfortable, the ride really does rock. I just can't believe we finally get a world class coaster and everyone wants to pick the crap out of it. THIS THREAD WAS ABOUT PEOPLE LOOSING JOBS, how did it get to bashing a coaster???

[Ian]

As someone who is very close to the situation I stayed very clear of saying anything. But will answer some question that I can. (1) Attendance I can tell you my budgets are alot higher on weekdays then weekends, our weekends are always quieter then weekdays come to the park on a Monday to Wednesday then return on a Saturday and you will see what I mean. Yes May has been quiet, but the local taxi drivers have told me that there work load is dead at the moment so that a general Gold Coast thing right now. We had good numbers Febuary to April, But at the moment we have alot of guest from India and China as there are more flights to Brisbane now but they dont spend as much as some other nations, where yesterday I sold alot of photos to Koreans. (2)Adverstising (my opinon off the record) Superman should have been advertised differently I would have had A 6 month build up before the ride opened And would have advertise to everyone not just Teenages, doing a website and teenage slang doesnt impress alot of people. I think they need to realise for every 11 to 18 year old on the net, there are still a huge number of 18 to 40 year olds as well. I guess to sum it up people learn from there mistakes.

Edited May 31, 2006 by rabid disney

[GoGoBoy]

Well there is certainly one thing that we all agree on - the marketing for Superman Escape was very poor. The moment I saw that terrible website with its ridiculous attempt to tap into the 'teen' market. I don't even think the try-hard teens they were aiming for would have fallen for it. Has the marketing department changed recently? Let's hope they do better with their rumoured next attraction

[rappa]

That's one thing I forgot to mention, the coast really is dead. Go out into town any night (even fri/sat) and there is no bugger here... Compare that with 12 months ago and mon especially but most other nights too were huge in surfers... there just aren't the people around in the area at the moment.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

After years of entertaining guests from around Australia and the world, Warner Bros Movie World closed its gates for the last time this evening. A turbulent history and a lack of true corporate backing could be held responsible for the closure of this Gold Coast icon, even if the park's management says otherwise. The park always had potential, but often failed to live up to this, with only three major attractions added in the park's history. Many more were removed over the years, particularly towards then end of the park's somewhat shaky history. Reasons cited by management for the closure included, SARS, September 11, Ansett's collapse and a whole host of other scapegoats. The site is to be turned into an industrial area, creating an alleged 9,000 jobs. Homes for the rides is not known at this stage, though all the major rides are expected to be sold, with the park seeking expressions of interests from interested parties. Their fate could be said to rest in the hands of Australia's other theme and amusement parks. Seems a bit far fetched doesnt it? Actually this is a slightly modified version of a news article posted by Richard around the time that Wonderland closed, and for the most part tells Wonderland's story. Most people who saw this article about wonderland in say - early 2003 would have laughed it off as a joke too... Possible for movie world? probably not... but in reading all the comments of low attendance and so on, I kept having flashbacks of the same sort of posts pre-wonderland's announcement of closure.... lol There have been significant job losses at WBMW, however the details and sources of this i cannot post, as I have not asked any permission from those who have informed me. It is sad to see such a world class (Can I use that word about Warner?) Park is resorting to cost cutting measures, which is causing their attractions and their cast to suffer... all the while maintaining a brave face with new attractions across the board. The new attraction soon to enter the atmosphere near SE and Lethal had better come quickly, and it had better be marketed better than SE was, and to a broader range of people, unless we are to see the gold coast go the way of Wonderland... slowly, im sure, but inevitable if the trends continue...