Main Street In for a Change...

[BNErider]

For all we know they might have designed the water to leak there to reduce weight in other areas from building up during heavy downpour? Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that wouldn't be a bad idea. How dark is it in real life? From the photos it looks dark but maybe that could have just been the position of the camera to the sun or something?

[mickey_079]

This issue surfaces again, replacing these 'old school' filming lights just wouldn't fit in with the theme, but hey neither does the 'sail'. Is keeping the lights on ALL day really necessary? I mean it's not as guest's can't see in front of them. Besides, aren't the parks going for a greener look now days, promoting the ways there trying to help the environment. Correct me if I'm wrong as I have no knowledge about it, but wouldn't those lights take a lot to power?

[T-bone]

I'm sorry, but I am going back to my original decision that this looks disgusting. They have completely ruined the effect Main Street had on me. It looks too much like a cheap outdoor shopping centre. The only benefit I suppose will be at night when all the buildings a litup and so on, which should look good, but how often is the place open at night?

[cadboy]

Yeh T Bone, I agree. It looks like the HyperDome Carpark. Mabey they could do a skylight sort of thing with the roof and put some thick plastic material instead of the normal skylight stuff used. However they would have already done this if they were going to or they would have to take them down again.

[DonjaiInLA]

I'm not the only one that looked at these photos and momentarily thought they'd installed some nice aestheticly pleasing Astroturf am I? Must be the way the photo was taken left the ground looking greenish under the sails. My question is does Movie World have a time they have to close because of sound or something? If not maybe this is the start of a gradual move to operating later.... you never know...

[rappa]

I said re-fit the lamps in those film lights, not replace them with new modern looking fixtures.

[S.W24]

DonjaiInLA you are right they have put in Astroturf or something similair i saw them laying it back a couple of weeks ago but really didnt think they would allow guest's on it seeing it will be hard to maintain clean because it was a bit of length to it and anything could get caught in it chewy ect. But it has been a hit with the guests sitting down for lunch on it getting all comfortable. One women yesterday had the whole picnic setup going on with a rug and all. But i would say there is a bit of fixing that will go on with the themeing because there has been cherry pickers in the street each morning fixing things and iv seen a lot of people looking closely at bits and peice's on the street so i asume they will probably give it all a touch up. And it looks like Boot hill will be getting a revamp also as yesterday john menzes was seen with some rep's holding plans and some people with measuring taps and stuff were discussing a refurbishment of the area as guest's walked past and listened in on what was going on i was also lucky enough to have walked past when it was going on. I didn't hear much, as many stood back and watched what was going on. They spent a decent half hour checking out the sight taking measurments and talking about the plan's, im shore we will hear more very soon.

[DonjaiInLA]

They seriously put Astroturf down? Roof I can handle, but plastic grass. Too far Movie World. Maybe they will redesign it to look more like the small Graveyard area at/used to have at Universal Hollywood... with like a big rusty old looking gate... and mist in the afternoon... could fit in with the theme of the area if worked right to

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Oh for god's sake -this is seriously starting to crap me to tears. They have not put astroturf down mainstreet. The photos are done by a crappy camera, and crappy digital cameras tend to put a green tinge on dark shadow.

[ShadowXL]

Im not a grass person but the grass does feel fake when you touch it.

[Gazza]

For all we know they might have designed the water to leak there to reduce weight in other areas from building up during heavy downpour? Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that wouldn't be a bad idea.

Klassen is indeed correct, Behind each of the main street facades is a rather steep skillion roof that slopes backwards. You can see from the design of the new roof that it was designed to go right over the front of the facade, so any water falling off of it would be delivered straight onto the skillion roof behind (Just a little side note, but I'd hope that the guttering system for the Main St buildings is capable of dealing with the increase in roof area they are now effectively servicing) However, the Harry Potter store is the only building which doesn't follow this pattern, since it has a roof that slopes foward...but not only that it doesn't seem to even have a gutter on the front. It's really just a consequence of the design they ran with...It would have looked silly to have an extended bit of roof going completely over the Harry Potter store...DJrappa got it in one, just whack a nice big gutter along the front of the shop, and that problem will be sorted. I'm not sure what you are saying about "water building up" because the roof is the same for the length of the street, so the water is going to fall evenly across it, and would have no place to "build up".

They seriously put Astroturf down? Roof I can handle, but plastic grass. Too far Movie World.

I'll have to look when I'm there next, but some of the newer types of fake grass actually look very convincing. I remember seeing a number of companies flogging it at a home show as a water saving alternative to real lawn (Another side note, but what a joke, manufacturing it would use far more water than natural lawn, plus its non biodegradable) As for my thoughts on this, yeah it looks plain at the moment, and indeed looks like the car park of my local Coles, I would like to see them decorate the roof somehow with permanent fixtures suspended that reflect the movie theme....Imagine big star shapes, or giant 1m wide film strips weaving and twisting along the roof in an artistic manner.

They have not put astroturf down mainstreet.

Here. Edited September 9, 2008 by Gazza

[Swanny]

This is a joke. One of the key things that separates Movie World from Dreamworld is the fact that Movie World has a great atmosphere, unlike Dreamworld recently. But this ridiculous, unnecessary blocking out of the sun looks as though it is going to kill the atmosphere of the place. It's ugly and pointless. I just don't see how this could have benefited Movie World. They're getting no money from it, its unnecessary and is not aesthetically pleasing.

[joz]

I don't think its fair to judge the atmosphere of main street based on a dodge photo taken at 9.30ish in the morning before there are any people there. Nor is it fair to judge the aesthetics until its finished, and I will also point out, it looks much, much better in reality. I also think its a bit silly to overlook exactly how good this roof will be during rain, or in the middle of summer for shade. In the past the only shelter has been in the shops, now there's the entire Main Street and plaza which are under cover. As far as how it benefits MW, well now MW can now provide big functions in all weather conditions. In the past, if a big function for 1000+ on main street got rained out, the only option was to have the group had to be split up into the parks various restaurants, which is less then ideal. Now, that's not going to happen since Main Street becomes an all weather venue, and trust me, those big dinners bring it quite a bit of $$$.

[S.W24]

Well excuse the camera on my phone for the poor quality it is but im shore you would all better have seen it than not, sorry i dont carry my camera in my back pocket everywere. Joz is right this roof will bring in the dollars, Events cost thousands of dollars, of coarse depending what you do but they make big money from them. On rainy days everyone is going to go to mainstreet what are you going to do there watch shrek over and over probably not most people will SHOP, they will make so much money on rainy days from guest's spending there time in main street looking in the shops and buying. And yes there is astroturf in mainstreet im not shore if that is what it actually is it could be something very similar, but i would have to say it actually looks half decent when you are there and see it in real. All those saying they dont like it dont go and put your negative inputs out until you acctually go and see it, it looks alright in real it creates a more movie studio look for the street, im shore once lights go up which they will probably have on all day because of poor light for star photo's people taking pictures of the parade and so on they need some lights on which i think will happen soon. The overall project has been good i would have to say once complete it will be something most people will soon come to like. Its still early yet there is a bit to go.

[MickeyD]

^actually mate I appreciated the pics you took because I have been keen to see how the whole project is coming along for a while now - and I'm with you and others in agreeance that this is a positive move for the park. A lot of people just don't like change I guess?? I think the supports and in fact the ceiling itself will provide great frames to place up different decorations, movie posters, Christmas decorations etc.. I'm happy to wait and see how the finishing product looks.

[rappa]

I would imagine some lighting for day time to bring up the ambient levels but I wouldn't go expecting any special effects to run all day (this is not official park info, just my general personal thoughts) simply because of the expense and wear and tear on equipment to run for 8 hours a day every day. I wouldn't mind seeing something created to jazz up the parade though, that could be cool.

[Swanny]

I don't think its fair to judge the atmosphere of main street based on a dodge photo taken at 9.30ish in the morning before there are any people there. In the past the only shelter has been in the shops, now there's the entire Main Street and plaza which are under cover.

True, but I did make sure that I said that it looks as though it is going to kill the atmosphere, because I knew that someone would pull me up on that statement. Well, you do have a point. But, the shelter is only going up in mainstreet. The two main reasons that people would be walking down mainstreet would be to go to other rides and attractions, or to go into shops. I don't see that the roof will make much of a difference, considering that people will be sheltered inside shops or ride queues. People don't just stand in the middle of mainstreet for extended periods of time. The only time during the day that I can see it being any major help on a rainy day is during the Star Parade, but this is only a small part of the day. On a day were the weather was so bad that you need a roof like this, a large number of people probably wouldn't even go to the park in the first place. I don't really know enough about the events to really discuss them in relation to the roof. But if people are giving the argument that the roof will be great for night time events-great! The 2 days a year that Movie World is open at night will be spectacular! (and I'm joking, please don't come at me with things like "It's open more than 2 days"... you know what I mean) Trouble is, the other 363 days that its not open at night will have Mainstreet looking as if its night time anyway...

[cadboy]

Yeh klassen, your photo update was greatly appreciated. I too was very interested to see how constuction was progressing. Is there any sunlight that is let through or will they rely completely on artifical light? I think it will look great a Christmas, especially if they use tinsel draped throughout the frame work and string chrisse lights everywhere.

A lot of people just don't like change I guess??

Except when it comes to new ride additions Edit: Swanny what you say is true about the amount of time MW is open at night but mabey, just mabey, this could be the perfect time for it to start opening regually at night time say once a week. Wet;n;wild can do it so why can't MW. Edited September 10, 2008 by cadboy

[Richard]

Yeah I'm really not buying all the fanfare about how great this is as an addition to the park. I've compiled all my thoughts on this in an article I may or may not publish on the site down the track (depending my thoughts on the finished product) so I'll keep it brief for now. Make no mistake, this is an addition solely to facilitate events after hours. The simple fact that the area it covers contains only one attraction should make that pretty clear. Of course that's not to say they won't use it as a selling point -- calling Movie World an undercover theme park for instance. This wouldn't be a problem in itself if the roof wasn't so damn ugly and completely ruined any semblance of a cohesive theme this area of the park once had. Simply put there were vastly superior ways they could have gone about this.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I'm not the only one that looked at these photos and momentarily thought they'd installed some nice aestheticly pleasing Astroturf am I? Must be the way the photo was taken left the ground looking greenish under the sails.

Original post referring to "ground" under the sales

DonjaiInLA you are right they have put in Astroturf or something similair i saw them laying it back a couple of weeks ago but really didnt think they would allow guest's on it seeing it will be hard to maintain clean because it was a bit of length to it and anything could get caught in it chewy ect.

Second post that says there is "quite a length to it"

They seriously put Astroturf down? Roof I can handle, but plastic grass. Too far Movie World.

And yes there is astroturf in mainstreet im not shore if that is what it actually is it could be something very similar,

All of these posts led me to believe that the ENTIRE STREET had been astro turfed - and that was what I was referring to with the "green" tinge on the dark asphalt. Astroturf in the little garden area I can live with - but believe me it will be more expensive to maintain that, than to pay a gardener to trim it once a week - as said above - chewing gum and numerous other contributions from guests - cigarette butts (i know - designated smoking areas - but its going to happen, believe me) and everything else under the sun means its going to wear out VERY VERY quickly.

[cerberus584]

I was sent to work over at Movieworld yesterday and personally I think the roof looks great. It does seem to make everything much louder though. When the Batman and Scooby shows were on under the big screen, people were going into the ice cream parlour because outside was to loud for their 3 year old kids. Also as we left, they were setting up an event on main street outside the theatre and the glow from the red lights looked awesome. It keeps the light from escaping so I'm sure it'll be a great benefit at Halloween. John Menzies walk down Main Street at one point; from what I could tell he was happy.

Edited September 18, 2008 by cerberus584

[Original]

I have a mixed reaction about this, I like it and think its great, but still there's somethng about that I just don't like and I can't put my finger on it. I think that it might be the trees gone, I use to love that about Main Street. Also with the other barricading around the right side of the car park, not where shelter stuff was kept but the opposite side, its fairly large and you can't see in, there doesn't seem to be anything in there. Does anyone know what's in there.

[Gazza]

The Hollywood Stuntdriver training track from memory.

[Original]

That's right ... Weren't they going to practice there while they were building the set. It sure will be a sight for people coming to the park to see glimpses of the stunt show!!!

[S.W24]

Well the roof should be coming on near completion very soon as i read today, "The new all-weather venue will officially be opened by Chief Executive Officer of Warner Village Theme Parks John Menzies at a gala event on Friday October 10th 2008" finishing touches are being down on the street and from what i can see so far and from what i have seen they have been fixing up little things that theme park junkies like my self look at in fine detail like paint work broken off sections of building that have been fixed last week on monday i think it was the park didnt open till 9:50 because there was a cherry picker in main street fixing things up. Has anyone else seen the new bins down main street they look very Disney like.