my day at dreamworld 30th may.

[revolutionx]

Last themepark of the holiday was Dreamworld, which I had been looking forward to all holiday (for the Giant Drop), on the 30th of May. The day before we went, there were forecasts of torrential rain on the Gold Coast, but we braved the rain and went anyway. Giant Drop was the first ride of the day, as it was one of my favourites last time, and I only got to ride it once last time. There was almost no line, so we were on in no time. A lot of the rides were closed at the beginning of the day due to the forecasts of wind and rain (MDMC, Cyclone, TOT), but Giant Drop was open almost all day. It was certainly windy as we rose up the tower in the morning, it was freezing up there, but I still loved it. They were only running one side of the tower all day, but there were no lines. The second and third times we rode were in a row, but we had to get off, run around, then go to the entrance again. Third time on it, as we started rising, the Tower of Terror went, which scared me ****less, as it made the whole tower shake, so I’d be absolutely terrified if it went up the tower when I was sitting at the top of Giant Drop. Tower of Terror was awesome, as usual, but it was closed for part of the day from the rain. We rode once, then again three times later. The later two times, we didn’t have to get off, we just stayed in the pod, as some girls in front asked the operator and he said okay. Got front row for two of those times, which I enjoyed, as I think front is the least scary part, because you can actually see the track. When youre in the rows behind, you cant see where youre going! We rode the Cyclone three times, and the last two times were the last two rides of the day. It was really windy at the end of the day, so we had to wait for 20 people so we could actually ride. I don’t really see the significance with this, and wouldn’t only half full be fine? Of course, Im not one to say this, as I don’t know the mechanical side of rollercoasters. I think the Cyclone has gotten somewhat smoother than when I rode in 06, which is surprising as most rides deteriorate their quality with time. In my opinion, they need to refurbish the exit on the inside a bit, as the turbine thing in the middle was looking weird with the what looked like streamers or something in the middle. But I think they need to do some sort of theming in the entrance, as there really isn’t much to connect the name to the ride with. Only rode the Claw once, as it doesn’t really suit my stomach. When we were lining up to go on, we were the next on and the ride operator announced to us that they had to ‘clean up some hair wax’ from the seat, and that it would be running shortly. Well, we all figured out what that meant, and when we chose where they were sitting everyone avoided that seat. Did the River Rapids three times in a row, which was great fun, even though it was pretty cold. I think with the Eureka Mine Cart Ride, if they just got rid of the visible track in the mountain, it would be a lot better, considering the River Rapids which run underneath. Ahh. The Mick Doohan’s Motocoaster. Im agreeing with everyone on this, its definitely not what I would consider a ‘thrill ride’. The only thrilling part is the takeoff, the rest is just boring and slow. If the speed kept up through the whole thing, it’d be a lot better. Not to mention the harnesses which KILLED my thighs, and hurt my stomach. We lined up for about half an hour the first time, before it started pelting down with rain. It had already been spitting lightly for a while, but the ride was still operating through it, but they had warned us that they would close it in heavy rain, so when it started pouring, it was closed immediately, which frustrated me as we were about the board when the rain started. So we had to wait about 10 minutes for the rain to stop, and they waited another 5 after the rain had stopped before actually testing the ride. We got to ride after the test run, but I tell you, it takes AGES for the ride to actually get started and for it to dispatch from the station. They take their time as they check the restraints, if the ride operators actually hurried up, the wait time would be shortened. The first time, my restraint wasn’t too uncomfortable, but on the second ride, my thighs were crushed, and my stomach was hurting from the back restraint pushing my back into the bike. Overall, it wasn’t worth the 45 minute wait the first time, the second ride it was better as it was a walk-on, but still not a favourite. Wipeout was hardly running all day, they said they needed 20 riders to actually run the ride, but no one was volunteering, and I certainly wasn’t, but I suppose I am regretting it now. We gave Rocky Hollow a miss, we were going to, but from watching the other riders, and we could tell we didn’t want to ride it. They got absolutely drenched, so we decided against it. Dreamworld was good, although the weather was a bit of a let down, it was a great day

[Lotl_90]

Wipeout was hardly running all day, they said they needed 20 riders to actually run the ride, but no one was volunteering, and I certainly wasn’t.

Wipeout has been like that for the last week. The last couple of days particularly has been abysmal with gaps of up to 90 mins between cycles.. then you might get two or three cycles, then another 60-90 min gap. Today being the exception with constant cycles on and off all day.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Tends to be a flow-on effect too. If there isn't enough people for a cycle, people go elsewhere, then others see that it isn't running, and think that it's closed, so they won't go, or they won't line up to wait for another 15 people to arrive. I think its crap they won't run unless they have 20 people. Dreamworld's cost cutting excercise. It's nothing to do with the operation of the ride. It can cycle without riders on it, its just too expensive to run a cycle without enough people on it, so in the absence of 20 to make it worthwhile, it sits idle.

[Gazza]

^I think on really quiet parts of the day they should make it a policy to run the ride at a set interval (Say on the hour, at 20 past, and at 20 to), even if only one passenger wishes to ride, just so people can be certain on when to ride, and to avoid a situation where guests are forced to stand out the front and spruik the ride. Fair enough they want to avoid doing a stream of cycles all day with only a couple on board each time as people trickle through the entrance, but at the same time they have a responsibility too to ensure guests are getting what they paid for out of their day, and make it easy for them...I know I'd be embarrassed if I had to stand out the front and ask strangers to go on. At least a minimum set inverval would allow them to budget for a certain number of cycles. Put it this way, this would be the sort of thing I would kick up a stink about at guest relations.

Edited June 3, 2008 by Gazza

[Dylaan]

^I'd say that's a good idea, but I see it as a challenge to try grab enough riders. What's worked for me, just get a group of friends to stand near the exit of say The Claw, when everyone gets off run excitedly towards the Wipeout... You either get a huge stream of people following you or look like a complete idiot, but it worked for me. Certainly can get annoying... Though it's interesting riding the Wipeout with only 10-20ish people, especially when it's just been raining and the gondola fills with water. (They get most of the water out in a test run though)

[cadboy]

What's worked for me, just get a group of friends to stand near the exit of say The Claw, when everyone gets off run excitedly towards the Wipeout... You either get a huge stream of people following you or look like a complete idiot, but it worked for me.

LOL I must try this if I am ever in this situation