New Dining Experience and more coming to Movie World in 2024

[themagician]

A few weeks ago Movie World shared on their social media a general ‘park update’ (which was released during the time when they were getting a lot of backlash as only a couple rides were open).

Something that I haven’t yet seen discussed is the comment they make at the bottom of the post that states “a new dining experience, in park theming enhancements and experiences and so much more”

I’m hoping the new dining experience is that of a ‘themed’ sit down dining experience and not just another quick serve outlet. And it’s good to hear they want to add theming enhancements and experiences, but I hope that includes fixing and refurbishing the park as it currently is because as already highlighted, the parks got a lot of issues.

[Park Addict 93]

I'm firmly in the "believe it when I see it" camp with VRTP at present.  “a new dining experience, in park theming enhancements and experiences and so much more” is very vague.

I will note one change I noticed on the weekend some LT background music being played at the entry to WB Kids with speakers now hung in the tree.

Edited March 18 by Park Addict 93

[themagician]

That’s good they’ve gone to the effort to adding speakers and bringing back music to the area (because it definitely needed it). Maybe im being too harsh, but that feels like such a half assed effort of hanging speakers from a tree. Why not actually mounted them to a wall or somewhere more inconspicuous so you can’t see them. That tree is already cluttered with stuff, it didn’t need more adding to it.

The area needed music, but if this is the best they can do, maybe they shouldn’t have bothered. I don’t know! (someone feel free to call me out if that too harsh). It’s just disappointing to see this is how the park is managed now and they seem to respond to feedback in a panic and just see what sticks.

[aaronm]

A new dining experience could mean anything from a second hot dog stand to reopening Rick’s Cafe. Dreamworld is miles ahead in decent, reasonably priced food options these days, definitely an opportunity for MW to close a gap here.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

58 minutes ago, themagician said:

That’s good they’ve gone to the effort to adding speakers and bringing back music to the area (because it definitely needed it). Maybe im being too harsh, but that feels like such a half assed effort of hanging speakers from a tree. Why not actually mounted them to a wall or somewhere more inconspicuous so you can’t see them. That tree is already cluttered with stuff, it didn’t need more adding to it.

The area needed music, but if this is the best they can do, maybe they shouldn’t have bothered. I don’t know! (someone feel free to call me out if that too harsh). It’s just disappointing to see this is how the park is managed now and they seem to respond to feedback in a panic and just see what sticks.

TBH, I believe that tree always had speakers - though they were ground mounted in the garden. The little character stage obviously had those removed, but the audio lines were still there, so this was an easy way to bring music back without much effort. (It would have been nicer to recess them into the stage front, but it's better than nothing.)

Interested to see what the new dining experience will be. Hopefully it isn't a re-skinned Rick's, and weren't they doing a refurb on the dirty harry grill recently? I do hope it isn't something rehashed or recycled and its truly a new experience. They could always reopen Stars Cafe rather than keep it shuttered.

[themagician]

13 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

weren't they doing a refurb on the dirty harry grill recently?

They did, they ripped out all of the equipment inside and installed new stuff. It reopened last weekend and it looks like the menus all the same, but they now offer a QR table service option (like most pubs/taverns have done since COVID). Gotham City Cafe also now offers this.

[TBoy]

3 minutes ago, themagician said:

They did, they ripped out all of the equipment inside and installed new stuff. It reopened last weekend and it looks like the menus all the same, but they now offer a QR table service option (like most pubs/taverns have done since COVID). Gotham City Cafe also now offers this.

I think I saw @Ogre's latest video that also had western cafe with the QR codes, so I guess it is park wide. I guess we can expect it to come to Dockside Tavern and the other Sea World restaurants soon if not already, if its not there I guess they will be trialling it at MW and bringing it to SW later.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

21 minutes ago, TBoy said:

that also had western cafe with the QR codes

That'll be nice for the four days a year it's open.

[ShakeShack]

25 minutes ago, TBoy said:

I think I saw @Ogre's latest video that also had western cafe with the QR codes, so I guess it is park wide. I guess we can expect it to come to Dockside Tavern and the other Sea World restaurants soon if not already, if its not there I guess they will be trialling it at MW and bringing it to SW later.

All of MW's outlets have had this since the end of last year.

[Noll_57]

8 hours ago, themagician said:

That’s good they’ve gone to the effort to adding speakers and bringing back music to the area (because it definitely needed it). Maybe im being too harsh, but that feels like such a half assed effort of hanging speakers from a tree. Why not actually mounted them to a wall or somewhere more inconspicuous so you can’t see them. That tree is already cluttered with stuff, it didn’t need more adding to it.

The area needed music, but if this is the best they can do, maybe they shouldn’t have bothered. I don’t know! (someone feel free to call me out if that too harsh). It’s just disappointing to see this is how the park is managed now and they seem to respond to feedback in a panic and just see what sticks.

I’m pleased to hear that they’ve finally added music back to the area after having nothing for so long. But the park really needs to get the ground speakers around the Splash Zone and the rest of the land working again too, as the only place you can currently hear the music is directly under the tree and nowhere else. You used to be surrounded by music throughout the entire Looney Tunes area and it really added to the experience, but most of the land is still without audio at the moment. The WWF area also desperately needs its music back, as it hasn’t played there for years. Still, it’s great that the park is at least attempting to sort out some of their audio issues and this is definitely a step in the right direction. 

[BNErider]

Guys, they've hung two PA speakers in a tree. That's not a step in the right direction, that literally the least amount of effort possible. 

Movie World has always been my happy place, but the place now is honestly a glorified shopping centre with 2 decent coasters, a long void of anything interesting and then a water ride. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

9 hours ago, BNErider said:

That's not a step in the right direction, that literally the least amount of effort possible. 

On the contrary, the least amount of effort possible is what they've been doing - nothing. 

This is literally 'A' step.

[Park Addict 93]

10 hours ago, BNErider said:

Guys, they've hung two PA speakers in a tree. That's not a step in the right direction, that literally the least amount of effort possible. 

I find it hard to give them credit for it as it is such a low effort.

But I guess it’s better than nothing? 

[New display name]

I give them credit for finding something that works at MW, that they can hang in a tree, in the first place.  

Edited March 20 by New display name

[Noll_57]

Those speakers aren’t even new, they’ve already been up in that tree for at least a couple of years. Really all MW has done is bother to actually turn them on. The fact that this area and WWF have gone for years without any audio whatsoever is absolutely pathetic, that’s why I still consider this to be a positive “step” (even though it’s the absolute bare minimum). Real progress will be when they finally fix the rest of the speakers in the area and around the park. 

[Spotty]

Real progress would be seeing the park sold to a company that knows how to run a theme park, and actually cares about the place. I know there are still some people who work there that are actually passionate about the industry, but I feel like they are probably being cut off at the knees by people higher up.

[Noll_57]

5 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Real progress would be seeing the park sold to a company that knows how to run a theme park, and actually cares about the place.

Absolutely. Ever since BGH Capital’s takeover of Village, the guest experience has taken such a dramatic nosedive and their poor management and cost-cutting is destroying the park’s reputation at a pretty alarming rate. It’s clear they only care about profits and don’t have a clue what made the park so special in the first place. So sad to see a place I loved so much fall so low. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

We all knew that was the case with BGH. They weren't in the game to run a park, they were in the game to make money. They need to increase the value of their assets while cutting operating costs to make the books look good.

What they need to do then is flip it to someone else before their actions completely ruin the park. That's the race they're in now. Hopefully to Kirby's bail in the deal too.

[Naazon]

What do you expect from a company when this is one of its portfolios

 

Quote

That wording to me is honestly scary.

[webslave]

44 minutes ago, Naazon said:

That wording to me is honestly scary.

Then I'd say you honestly need to harden up.  There's a whole wide world of actual scary out there.

[TBoy]

I am hoping if BGH does end up selling Village Roadshow it goes to an operator like Merlin or Parques Reunidos, if it is the latter WNWGC and RWS will be reunited, as well as Movie World and the other WB parks.

But I cant see a sale of the parks without the cinemas and studio, which I can't see Parques or Merlin wanting.

[Gobbledok]

I cant imagine the kirbys bailing out anytime soon

[New display name]

41 minutes ago, TBoy said:

I am hoping if BGH does end up selling Village Roadshow it goes to an operator like Merlin or Parques Reunidos, if it is the latter WNWGC and RWS will be reunited, as well as Movie World and the other WB parks.

But I cant see a sale of the parks without the cinemas and studio, which I can't see Parques or Merlin wanting.

We have learn't in the last 15 years, the quickest way to destroy a theme park is for sell it to a investment /financial company.   

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

2 hours ago, Gobbledok said:

I cant imagine the kirbys bailing out anytime soon

Can you imagine someone wanting to buy BGH's stake in the business with the old owners still attached?

[TBoy]

2 hours ago, Gobbledok said:

I cant imagine the kirbys bailing out anytime soon

IIRC the Kirby's still own 22% (according to the AFR article posted a few months ago) so the company could acquire BGH's stake and own 78%, with the Kirby's owning 22%.