2 hours ago, themagician said:

Works to expand the outdoor seating area of Kenny’s Fried Chicken are underway

I think what you mean to say is "works to repair the long dilapidated and rotting timber deck that used to be outdoor seating are still ongoing"

On 2/12/2025 at 6:00 AM, themagician said:

The Ocean Parade sign is getting a makeover

I haven’t got a photo, but this repaint was completed yesterday 

They were working on it earlier but all finished now 

DW is doing something right…

I’ve NEVER seen the carpark this full, not a single free park, the bus bay is full of cars, the mid-carpark road that lets you drive between rows is completed blocked by parked cars, and at 2:30pm there is a line up to get in the park.

Edited January 11Jan 11 by Brad2912

35 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

DW is doing something right…

I’ve NEVER seen the carpark this full, not a single free park, the bus bay is full of cars, the mid-carpark road that lets you drive between rows is completed blocked by parked cars, an at 2,30pm there is a line up to get in the park.

Hopefully they announce a new expansion soon. There is definitely demand for it.

1 hour ago, wikiverse said:

Hopefully they announce a new expansion soon. There is definitely demand for it.

The question is, what could it be? Most areas in the park have been added this decade (Steel Taipan, Dreamworld Flier, Rivertown) or have major refurbishments this decade (The Gold Coaster, Giant Drop, Dreamworld Express etc) they've already redone most of the park in the last 6 years.

From my understanding the only rides that haven't either been added or been significantly refurbished/rethemed this decade are Motocoaster (2007), Shockwave (2011), Tail Spin (2014), Play School Wheel (2018) and Sky Voyager (2019). Out of those Motocoaster has been renamed this decade and PSW has been relocated from ABC Kids World but they weren't significant enough for me to exclude them. And two of those rides are less than 10 years old so there's no reason to remove them.

Another thing is parts of the park that could be used for expansion until now have been rezoned for the hotel, shopping district etc. that Coast Entertainment wants to build.

Given Motocoaster sticks out in Rivertown, uses more area than most of the other rides listed and is the oldest of the bunch, I'd personally use that area for something new, something that fits in with the area rather than sticking out like a sore thumb in Rivertown. It'd also be cool if the shop was redone to match the rest of the area: not a big fan of the generic brown, would prefer something more temple themed like the rest of the area.

Edited January 11Jan 11 by TBoy

Great to see. How's the overflow car park looking?

15 hours ago, TBoy said:

The question is, what could it be? Most areas in the park have been added this decade (Steel Taipan, Dreamworld Flier, Rivertown) or have major refurbishments this decade (The Gold Coaster, Giant Drop, Dreamworld Express etc) they've already redone most of the park in the last 6 years.

From my understanding the only rides that haven't either been added or been significantly refurbished/rethemed this decade are Motocoaster (2007), Shockwave (2011), Tail Spin (2014), Play School Wheel (2018) and Sky Voyager (2019). Out of those Motocoaster has been renamed this decade and PSW has been relocated from ABC Kids World but they weren't significant enough for me to exclude them. And two of those rides are less than 10 years old so there's no reason to remove them.

Another thing is parts of the park that could be used for expansion until now have been rezoned for the hotel, shopping district etc. that Coast Entertainment wants to build.

Given Motocoaster sticks out in Rivertown, uses more area than most of the other rides listed and is the oldest of the bunch, I'd personally use that area for something new, something that fits in with the area rather than sticking out like a sore thumb in Rivertown. It'd also be cool if the shop was redone to match the rest of the area: not a big fan of the generic brown, would prefer something more temple themed like the rest of the area.

Park management have already flagged their future intention to retheme motocoaster to fit into Rivertown, so it's not getting removed.

The park also has the former sites of Rocky Hollow and the BB Studios to expand onto without impacting the current DA allocations. Trolls Village and the former Thunderbolt site are also an option, acknowledging the recent usage of trolls by BB.

Is there any news about the DA approval in the grapevine?

1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Park management have already flagged their future intention to retheme motocoaster to fit into Rivertown, so it's not getting removed.

The park also has the former sites of Rocky Hollow and the BB Studios to expand onto without impacting the current DA allocations. Trolls Village and the former Thunderbolt site are also an option, acknowledging the recent usage of trolls by BB.

There is an island in the middle of Murissippi which could be used for a walk-through/adventure attraction, as well as the Murrissippi itself which could have a boat ride. There is also the sheep shearing space and, at some point in the distant future, all of the land being used by Tiger Island.

DW actually has a lot of room for expansion within the current footprint of the park.

But if they wanted to backtrack on the change-of-use applications to use the land for park expansion, they would receive zero push-back from council. There's just no chance that DW would need to expand that quickly.

I've no idea where I read it but I recently saw discussion of the possibility of DW returning a boat ride to the Murrisippi. The island could pose environmental concerns given it has been essentially an untouched eco system for many years - I could see them developing it for use but it would come at the expense of the river \ boat ride, which in my opinion would be the better usage over a walkthrough area.

As for the sheep shearing area - if they are to develop the boat ride concept - i'd rather that land area be given over to the boat experience.

It’s great to see the place full and thriving.

Real competition between the parks only drives further improvements and developments which is a win for all.

They have heaps of space they can expand, only need to look to European parks to see how much can be done within small footprints.

Sounds like good times ahead on the Gold Coast.

Took a trip to White Water World and Dreamworld with the kids last week (after renewing the annual passes), and broadly speaking, have mostly positive things to say about the trip.

Spent the morning at WWW - Despite the lack of new attractions or expansion, the park doesn't feel that tired, and the effort to apply some level of theming across the park during initial construction has largely held up imo.

Expansion that included a lazy river (like once planned) and one more large attraction would take it from being a smaller add-on benefit of my annual pass that I visit a couple times a year to a drawcard in itself (and would help justify an increase in annual pass cost that is surely coming down the line), particularly if it came with increased operation hours.

Ride operations do make me reflect on a time when slide towers were unmanned, the honour-based traffic light system was in play, and there wasn't a set of scales to be seen...but it was another time, and I'm old now...but waiting for splashdown pools to completely clear means some of the main attraction cues move at a glacial pace, and the "slide express" lines makes it feel even slower. But the staff are friendly, seem like they want to be there and carry so much of the end user experience.

We jumped over to Dreamworld at 2 pm for my first visit since King Claw opened. The extra hour of opening time was great. Queue times dropped throughout the afternoon, and in 4 hours we rode Steel Tiapan, Gold Coaster, Jungle Rush Twice and King Claw Twice with a couple of rides on some smaller kids attractions thrown in.

Jungle Rush remains a hit and feels the most like an overseas level attraction, but it's due for some maintenance...family I was visiting with didn't notice what wasn't working till I pointed it out...which shows how much it still holds up...but water features, audio and the crystal weight movement missing from the switch track room really take the ride from fun rollercoaster to themed attraction. Hopefully it's returned to its full function after school hols. The ride really hits the mark as a family attraction accommodating a wide range of thrill levels.

Moving to my impressions of King Claw...the ride experience is great, an upgrade from the claw, comfortable to ride and not too much of a "spin and spew" - ticks the required boxes there, but on the execution - Dreamworld have hit this out of the park. It feels like it belongs in Ocean Parade and really carries the theme of this space now. The audio track that runs in sync with the ride is barely noticeable while on the ride, but it sets the atmosphere in the queue and pre-ride superbly. The whole thing gives me DisneySEA mysterious island vibes, signage, queue theming, the shack across the path for Sturt Brothers sea monster tours, which has a QR code leading to a page of tour reviews, the classic Dreamworld nostalgia nods that are everywhere (the turbine sign) all show the attention to detail put towards the delivery of this ride and sets a standard for how a flat ride can and should be done. Loved it - and will ride again for the immersion of the space first and foremost, and the actual ride itself second.

After holding annual passes for Village parks for 10 odd years, I haven't had a pass there or visited for several years now, and the last few times I visited while I did have a pass, operations were so bad we left without riding anything and went to Dreamworld. I'm keen to get back to Movieworld in particular and ride their more recent attractions, but Dreamworld is doing a great job of making that hard to justify.

The things Dreamworld are doing continue to remind me of world-class parks (I could go spend a week hanging out at Tokyo DisneySEA without batting an eyelid). On the whole, the staff do a fantastic job, are friendly and fun. Pricing in the park isn't crazy, and annual passes are probably too cheap. The Park seems to be carrying the increased attendance well, also.

As a side note, all hints around the park point to the Captain Sturt Paddle Steamer making a return. Someone on Parkz recently pointed out how much focus it has in the new mural in the retail space, and the Rivertown area along the water appears to have been designed to accommodate something. I think we'll see something here in the future, and I'm looking forward to it.

49 minutes ago, jayw said:

Took a trip to White Water World and Dreamworld with the kids last week (after renewing the annual passes), and broadly speaking, have mostly positive things to say about the trip.

Spent the morning at WWW - Despite the lack of new attractions or expansion, the park doesn't feel that tired, and the effort to apply some level of theming across the park during initial construction has largely held up imo.

Expansion that included a lazy river (like once planned) and one more large attraction would take it from being a smaller add-on benefit of my annual pass that I visit a couple times a year to a drawcard in itself (and would help justify an increase in annual pass cost that is surely coming down the line), particularly if it came with increased operation hours.

Ride operations do make me reflect on a time when slide towers were unmanned, the honour-based traffic light system was in play, and there wasn't a set of scales to be seen...but it was another time, and I'm old now...but waiting for splashdown pools to completely clear means some of the main attraction cues move at a glacial pace, and the "slide express" lines makes it feel even slower. But the staff are friendly, seem like they want to be there and carry so much of the end user experience.

We jumped over to Dreamworld at 2 pm for my first visit since King Claw opened. The extra hour of opening time was great. Queue times dropped throughout the afternoon, and in 4 hours we rode Steel Tiapan, Gold Coaster, Jungle Rush Twice and King Claw Twice with a couple of rides on some smaller kids attractions thrown in.

Jungle Rush remains a hit and feels the most like an overseas level attraction, but it's due for some maintenance...family I was visiting with didn't notice what wasn't working till I pointed it out...which shows how much it still holds up...but water features, audio and the crystal weight movement missing from the switch track room really take the ride from fun rollercoaster to themed attraction. Hopefully it's returned to its full function after school hols. The ride really hits the mark as a family attraction accommodating a wide range of thrill levels.

Moving to my impressions of King Claw...the ride experience is great, an upgrade from the claw, comfortable to ride and not too much of a "spin and spew" - ticks the required boxes there, but on the execution - Dreamworld have hit this out of the park. It feels like it belongs in Ocean Parade and really carries the theme of this space now. The audio track that runs in sync with the ride is barely noticeable while on the ride, but it sets the atmosphere in the queue and pre-ride superbly. The whole thing gives me DisneySEA mysterious island vibes, signage, queue theming, the shack across the path for Sturt Brothers sea monster tours, which has a QR code leading to a page of tour reviews, the classic Dreamworld nostalgia nods that are everywhere (the turbine sign) all show the attention to detail put towards the delivery of this ride and sets a standard for how a flat ride can and should be done. Loved it - and will ride again for the immersion of the space first and foremost, and the actual ride itself second.

After holding annual passes for Village parks for 10 odd years, I haven't had a pass there or visited for several years now, and the last few times I visited while I did have a pass, operations were so bad we left without riding anything and went to Dreamworld. I'm keen to get back to Movieworld in particular and ride their more recent attractions, but Dreamworld is doing a great job of making that hard to justify.

The things Dreamworld are doing continue to remind me of world-class parks (I could go spend a week hanging out at Tokyo DisneySEA without batting an eyelid). On the whole, the staff do a fantastic job, are friendly and fun. Pricing in the park isn't crazy, and annual passes are probably too cheap. The Park seems to be carrying the increased attendance well, also.

As a side note, all hints around the park point to the Captain Sturt Paddle Steamer making a return. Someone on Parkz recently pointed out how much focus it has in the new mural in the retail space, and the Rivertown area along the water appears to have been designed to accommodate something. I think we'll see something here in the future, and I'm looking forward to it.

Totally agree that at some near future stage the Captain Stewart paddle streamer maybe re-introduced back into the theme park. Not only are there too many clues having been provided by dreamworld such as the Murals, but a 1920s paddle steamer would tie nicely with the new King Claw which was incidentally open up with the assistance of Captain Stuart and the whole jungle Rush and James restaurant 1920s themes.

Weather the Captain Stewart paddle steamer would be a movable vessel or a fixed structure that may act as a bridge to connect the main Jungle Rush area to the bigger island, is yet to be seen.

Dreamworld have shown themselves with Jungle Rush, Jane’s restaurant and King Claw that they have the ability to elevate ride theming to the next level. I can see a paddle steamer fitting in beautifully on the river and compliment the whole 1920s era of Jungle Rush and King Claw perfectly.

For any designer and someone with a creative mind, the Captain Stewart Paddle streamer could be an incredible attraction that just ties everything into a nice neat story.

Planes, trains and automobiles the only thing missing at dreamworld is a boat.

if the Captain Stewart paddle steamer is introduced in the park the most likely area would be on the river, close towards Janes restaurant which intern would attract more visitors to the area, codify the 1920s theme and attract more people into the restaurant.

connecting one of the train stations near the boarding platform of the paddle steamer and in close proximity to Jungle Rush and Jane’s restaurant seems to make perfect sense.

Land development

In regards to the new 30 ha multipurpose land development project, the Queensland government has given coast entertainment holdings the owner of the dreamworld and white Waterworld theme park until 21 February 2026, to respond to 7 simpleton questions in total.

Those seven issues raised by the Queensland government as part of the call in process requires the company to provide actions in relation to each of those issues raised.

Without going into too much details in regards to stages of reviews leading to final government approval, it looks like likely that March/April 2026 maybe the period in which the government announces approval of the land development.

Once land development has been approved, assumed to be no later than April 2026. Coast entertainment holdings will shortly thereafter, release information through the Australian stock exchange relating to joint venture and financial arrangements and agreements.

Once Coast entertainment releases that information, construction can happen shortly thereafter. The total completion of the project is scheduled for 2030 shortly prior to the Queensland Olympic Games.

https://morningsidenews.com.au/historic-kookaburra-queen-i-paddleboat-sells-for-550000-at-murarrie-auction/

"Mystery Gold Coast buyer" - pure conjecture on my part, but some comments on a Facebook thread said it was out of survey (registration I'm guessing). Popping it static into the Murrisippi might not require that.

Interesting but unlikely it would be connected to dreamworld, especially considering the waterways do not connect.

The original Captain Stewart paddle steamer was built on site at dreamworld and was operated by an underwater track.

If dreamworld did reintroduce the captain Stewart paddle steamer, it would be more likely to be a construction at site project.

The steamboat was referenced as being sold through auction by a Gold Coast unnamed buyer and was sold as an ongoing business and water ready albeit, work is required to bring it up to scratch. It would seem more likely for the 16 buyer to renovate and re-introduce back onto the river as a restaurant or something similar..

The vessel is also way too big to fit into the man-made river at dreamworld.

2 hours ago, Gold Coast Theme Park said:

especially considering the waterways do not connect.

You do know that boats can be manoeuvred on land via trailers and trucks?

2 hours ago, Gold Coast Theme Park said:

was operated by an underwater track.

An existing paddle boat could be modified to connect to a track

2 hours ago, Gold Coast Theme Park said:

it would be more likely to be a construction at site project

I highly doubt this. It is much easier to build boats on land than in the water. The river has also become an active ecosystem in recent years and I can't see them wanting to significantly disturb that by building a boat on the water.

2 hours ago, Gold Coast Theme Park said:

The vessel is also way too big to fit into the man-made river at dreamworld

I'm no boat expert, but looking at photos to compare them both, I'd argue they are of similar scale?

27 minutes ago, themagician said:

I'm no boat expert, but looking at photos to compare them both, I'd argue they are of similar scale?

I've been on the Kookaburra queen and can assure you it is significantly larger than the Sturt. It would dwarf the river and not really suited to anything other than a dining venue. it would cost more to move it into the park than it would to built a new purpose built vessel on site.

Some sad news out of NSW - Timbertown is closing down.

But that presents a great opportunity for Dreamworld - all of their assets are being auctioned off in May - including their Fowler Steam Train.

https://timbertown.com.au/portfolio-view/timbertown-steam-train-experience/

It would need the gauge changed back from 595mm to 610mm like it was before Timbertown bought it, but DW could pick up an actual historic stream train again if they wanted to. I'm not going to hold out too much hope, but I really hope DW use this opportunity. They're a rare breed, especially in Aus.

Edited February 1Feb 1 by wikiverse

I wouldn't expect Dreamworld to buy it. They'd need boiler ticket qualified staff (several of) to operate it. Much higher outlay of wages than operating an amusement ride vehicle.

I guess this is the annual reminder Dreamworld is a Theme Park not a Historical Museum

4 hours ago, Naazon said:

I guess this is the annual reminder Dreamworld is a Theme Park not a Historical Museum

What is this nonsense? Steam trains in theme parks account for more passenger trips per year than all other steam trains combined.

Dreamworld had a steam train for 35 years. At one point they were running two of them.

The Dreamworld Express and the Model-T cars are the only surviving opening day attractions left at Dreamworld. If Dreamworld can take a crap ride like the Vintage cars and turn it into something as great as Murrissippi Motors - which requires a lot more maintenance and grounds keeping than the previous version of the ride, they could absolutely do the same with the train.

I'll accept arguments about cost vs. Dreamworld's current financial capacity (I agree, which is why I said I'm not holding out hope), but the idea that steam trains are for museums and not theme parks is demonstrably false.

For parks that have existing steam trains, the equipment and expertise and importantly staff to run them - sure, as they are a quaint nod to the past and not something one can experience elsewhere.

For parks that do not have it, establishing it in this modern time when the equipment, and the knowledge to operate them is slowly dying, it is not nonsense, just reality.

If DW were operating a steam engine, and had all associated people and equipment in operation, but that loco was due for retirement, picking this engine up in the firesale would make perfect sense.

But re-establishing a new engine after the park has retired it's steam capability in both equipment and staffing is simply ridiculous.

And pointing to Vintage Cars as proof they can do it with trains is not comparing apples with apples. lawn mower engines and rolling chassis can be maintained by many mechanically minded blokes in their backyard and is an entirely different kettle of fish to a pressurised boiler. The landscaping is simply not a factor either as they already employ gardeners.

17 hours ago, wikiverse said:

I'll accept arguments about cost vs. Dreamworld's current financial capacity (I agree, which is why I said I'm not holding out hope), but the idea that steam trains are for museums and not theme parks is demonstrably false.

Everything is cost my man.

Dreamworld are not a Museum. That is not their target audience. They are not targeting Steam Train enthusiests. They are targeting Familys and Young Adults. Yes there would be some crossover, but thats cross over, not their Target Market. The cross over likely wouldn't justify the expense outlay or they would have made the move long ago, so not viable and they will continue to focus their time money and effort on other ventures.

People who want transport from one side to the other generally don't care what gets them there as long as its safe, reliable and regular.

A steam train isn’t a museum piece, it’s an experience that belongs in a park.

Diesel works as transport. Steam works as theatre.

Steam breathes, hisses, chuffs, and smells of oil and adventure. Even non-train fans instantly read it as something special.

In a theme park, that matters. Diesel moves guests from A to B. Steam is the attraction. People line up for it, photograph it, and react when it rolls past.

Theme parks trade in sensory moments, and steam delivers with sound, motion, heat, smell, and visible power. Diesel offers efficiency, not character.

Steam also slows the park down in a good way, creating calm, memorable moments. Over time, it becomes an icon. Diesel is forgotten as soon as you step off.

Theme parks are memory factories and what Steam train doesn't create a great memory.

Edited February 3Feb 3 by New display name