9 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Curious how you can be so confident?

Zero faith in current management and their ability to operate the theme park effectively. I very well may be wrong, but I just don’t see them outlaying substantial capital to essentially replace the launch on a near 25 year old ride that realistically wouldn’t have a decade left in it without track replacement. The promised queue changes were not forthcoming. I believe they are operating it with the idea of running it until it stops running or they get through the summer holidays, whichever comes first

On 23/10/2026 at 12:35 PM, Brad2912 said:

Seems SE will go the way SDSC went.

Patch fixes until it become apparent patches won’t work, and then one day it will go into maintenance and never return (yes SDSC returned eventually but SE won’t)

The ride itself is mostly fine. There's no real issues with the track or the trains.

The issues are with the launch system, and there are two replacement options that can be done by various manufacturers. A LSM conversion could be done by Intamin, Zamperla, or Premier Rides, or S&S could replace the hydraulic system with a pneumatic system. S&S have already done a retrofit with Powderkeg at Silver Dollar City, and they have designed a faster launch on a shorter track with MaxxForce. So it could be done, if VRTP are willing to work with them again after GL.

Both options are more simple, have fewer moving parts and less maintenance than a hydraulic launch system. A pneumatic launch is clearly the spiritual successor and the better ride experience option, but the LSM option is likely cheaper to install and maintain. A pneumatic launch gives the ride a clear point of difference to ST at Dreamworld, and could be considered an 'upgrade' with more punchy acceleration. It would, however, be very loud and two pneumatic launch rides in the same plaza might be overwhelming - the solution would be to move batwing to a different area of the park but this adds additional cost.

An LSM conversion would therefore be the most likely option. Even if it cost $10M and they did a station upgrade at the same time, it would still cost less than the $30M+ they would need to spend on a brand new custom designed coaster to replace it in that space.

36 minutes ago, wikiverse said:

An LSM conversion would therefore be the most likely option. Even if it cost $10M and they did a station upgrade at the same time, it would still cost less than the $30M+ they would need to spend on a brand new custom designed coaster to replace it in that space.

Spending $10-$15m on a 25 year old coaster doesn’t seem to fit with VTP’s cut-cost, lower overhead model.

To get an upswing in visitation to justify that they’d need to do more then just upgrade the launch and make the station better - that’s not getting interstate visitors to book another trip.

Private equity park owners do like to pump $$$$ in capex while cutting costs on day-to-day operations though. If their asset has lots of shiny new toys it looks good for a sale down the track (might be better at proving a case for a ground up replacement tbf)

Pre-2016 Macquarie/Ardent were still adding new rides to dreamworld on a regular basis despite day-to-day operations being allocated pennies. I see a lot of that in village

To get an upswing in visitation to justify that they’d need to do more then just upgrade the launch and make the station better - that’s not getting interstate visitors to book another trip.

You could say exactly the same thing about Motocoaster, a ride that is nowhere near as much of a crowd favourite as Superman, but Dreamworld still did their due diligence and thought spending 18 months renovating it was a good idea. Renovating the station, the dark ride section and replacing the launch is still a lot cheaper than a new ride

Edited yesterday at 05:21 AM1 day by Baconjack

3 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

Spending $10-$15m on a 25 year old coaster doesn’t seem to fit with VTP’s cut-cost, lower overhead model.

What about spending that on a 21 year old coaster?

3 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

that’s not getting interstate visitors to book another trip.

No, but it will keep one of the parks most important coasters running for another few decades. And if it goes, nothing is replacing it.

1 hour ago, themagician said:

What about spending that on a 21 year old coaster?

No, but it will keep one of the parks most important coasters running for another few decades. And if it goes, nothing is replacing it.

If referencing MDMC, I’m not a fan of the idea. The only thing going for it is that it will be an entirely new experience in that it will be different trains, indoor sections. Proof will be in the final delivered product

a new launch only for SE doesn’t give them anything “new” to market. If they do the launch with a refresh to the internal dark ride section of then I think that could be a credible investment strategy.

Hey I wanna stress I don’t want SE gone. It’s in my top 3 in the country and I love it - I just am not sure management will do right by it

57 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

If referencing MDMC

I was referencing Superman, it opened in 2005!

58 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

If they do the launch with a refresh to the internal dark ride section of then I think that could be a credible investment strategy.

I don’t think they necessarily need to do a new indoor section. I personally think they just need to the queue/loading refurb they announced a few years ago and either do a major refurb to the launch system to either retain the hydraulic or the more likely option replace it was a more reliable launch system.

To be fair, none of us even know who management is now...
AND, these sorts of upgrades takes years of planning and ordering in advance, so it's likely anything would already be in play. I don't see anyone wanting to kill it off for more Parade Float storage.

From what I've also heard on the grapevine... I'd get those rides in while you can. Even with the VRTP issues. 👀