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Dreamworld Here I come

billyb67

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billyb67

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Well my WB annual pass finished a few weeks ago so I forked out for the DW 2 year 2 park pass. Went for the first time today 15-07-08 in about 3 years. As every other time I have been I went straight in and turned left. First off as I know the mine ride has been closed for ages, it was running the last time I came to the park and luckily I went on it about 5 times then and it seems to have closed not long after that. Next thing I see the rapids ride - closed Next thing I see - the abandoned cable car station. not a good start so far - 3 out of 3 closed... went on the Giant drop, only about a 10 minute wait - not bad - and it does seem a bit faster than the previous time I went on it... I didn't bother with the log ride as it was cold and I didn't wanna get wet.. Went on the model cars which have been moved way out the back - do those things actually run on petrol ? If so, how the hell can they afford to run them ? Walked through all the animal stuff and the tigers. Didn't bother with TOT as the line was out the door, which means at least an hour or so wait judging by last time I went on it. went on the angry beaver, always loved this ride... went on the vortex a few times, the thing that really pissed me off is that as soon as it gets up to a decent speed, it starts slowing down again ?! who the hell decided that ? stupid... went on wipeout - that thing kicked my ass, seems rougher than it was a few years ago - the line was short but I wasn't gonna ride again as my shoulders were killing me ... very aptly named ! the claw was great as usual, only about 5 minutes in line , went about 3 times Watched the Australian Imax film , had a little sleep in there LOL wasted maybe 50 minutes in the line for cyclone, man that is a crap coaster, i first went on it years ago just after thunderbolt was dismantled and you could still see it sitting in the lot and it didn't seem that bad, but it was pretty rough today - still its not lethal weapon but it was not very smooth at all. one more thing whose stupid idea was it to make the dodgems so small ? when they used to be next to thunderbolt the track was much larger, or was I just smaller ? it seems so tiny now , especially compared to the MW dodgems didn't bother with motocoaster as the line was long and everyone seems to think its crap so ill save it for a day when the lines are much shorter. so all in all it was a decent day, to me it has lost alot of the atmosphere it used to have in the olden days, it just doesn't have that 'feel' for me anymore, maybe it will take some time, I don't know. for those saying it looks run down, i don't agree, everything seemed to have pretty recent coats of paint on them, but as for gold rush, they might as well demolish the whole lot, the mine ride looks like it is never coming back, the rapids ride had been totally drained of water , the cable car station has been out of action for year... just close the whole part of the park... anyway, after 1 year of movieworld and going pretty much twice a wek, i will see how DW and WWW go for the next 2 years :)

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BNErider Rising Star

BNErider

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I've gone one better. I have the MW and DW-WWW 2 year pass. Anyways, I think Dreamworld needs to (as Blake says) 'micromanage' their park. So many parts need to be TOTALLY re-done from starch. If that was downe, it would return to being "Australia's Disneyland" - Well, as close as we are gonna' get anytime soon. Do yourself a favor and do the Motocoaster at least once. It's a fun coaster nonetheless but not worth a huge wait.

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DaptoFunlandGuy Veteran

DaptoFunlandGuy

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I've gone one better. I have the MW and DW-WWW 2 year pass.
Bully for you - who cares? Just see how many people you can one-up in every way.
So many parts need to be TOTALLY re-done from starch.
Good idea! Let's redo all of dreamworld from starch Give me amylose and amylopectin theme parks any day.
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stardust Explorer

stardust

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Well my WB annual pass finished a few weeks ago so I forked out for the DW 2 year 2 park pass. Went for the first time today 15-07-08 in about 3 years. As every other time I have been I went straight in and turned left. First off as I know the mine ride has been closed for ages, it was running the last time I came to the park and luckily I went on it about 5 times then and it seems to have closed not long after that. Next thing I see the rapids ride - closed Next thing I see - the abandoned cable car station. not a good start so far - 3 out of 3 closed... went on the Giant drop, only about a 10 minute wait - not bad - and it does seem a bit faster than the previous time I went on it... I didn't bother with the log ride as it was cold and I didn't wanna get wet.. Went on the model cars which have been moved way out the back - do those things actually run on petrol ? If so, how the hell can they afford to run them ? Walked through all the animal stuff and the tigers. Didn't bother with TOT as the line was out the door, which means at least an hour or so wait judging by last time I went on it. went on the angry beaver, always loved this ride... went on the vortex a few times, the thing that really pissed me off is that as soon as it gets up to a decent speed, it starts slowing down again ?! who the hell decided that ? stupid... went on wipeout - that thing kicked my ass, seems rougher than it was a few years ago - the line was short but I wasn't gonna ride again as my shoulders were killing me ... very aptly named ! the claw was great as usual, only about 5 minutes in line , went about 3 times Watched the Australian Imax film , had a little sleep in there LOL wasted maybe 50 minutes in the line for cyclone, man that is a crap coaster, i first went on it years ago just after thunderbolt was dismantled and you could still see it sitting in the lot and it didn't seem that bad, but it was pretty rough today - still its not lethal weapon but it was not very smooth at all. one more thing whose stupid idea was it to make the dodgems so small ? when they used to be next to thunderbolt the track was much larger, or was I just smaller ? it seems so tiny now , especially compared to the MW dodgems didn't bother with motocoaster as the line was long and everyone seems to think its crap so ill save it for a day when the lines are much shorter. so all in all it was a decent day, to me it has lost alot of the atmosphere it used to have in the olden days, it just doesn't have that 'feel' for me anymore, maybe it will take some time, I don't know. for those saying it looks run down, i don't agree, everything seemed to have pretty recent coats of paint on them, but as for gold rush, they might as well demolish the whole lot, the mine ride looks like it is never coming back, the rapids ride had been totally drained of water , the cable car station has been out of action for year... just close the whole part of the park... anyway, after 1 year of movieworld and going pretty much twice a wek, i will see how DW and WWW go for the next 2 years :)
Wait.... compared to movie world dodgems? Those tiny kid ones? It's bigger than them. The motocoaster is fun, worth a ride. When I rode the TOT like 2 days before you the line was to the door but it look us like 25 minutes. :) So.... have I missed some big falling out or something? I want that DW/WWW pass it looks good. Not a MW/SW/WNW one because WNW sucks :P And MW only has batwing, superman, scooby doo, wwf and that's like it
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Gazza Veteran

Gazza

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Wait.... compared to movie world dodgems? Those tiny kid ones? It's bigger than them.
Movie World has two sets of dodgems, Taz's Hollywood Cars in the WB Kids Zone and the Dodgems in the Intensity Arcade.
So.... have I missed some big falling out or something?
I think the falling out happened the day MW opened Superman to be honest. Its been done to death, but to me DW is a very bleh/meh sort of park to me...and Motocoaster carried on this mediocrity, I mean, other than the launch, name one 'highlight' moment of the ride.
and that's like it
Like umm no, you like forgot, like Batman Adventure, and like Shrek 4D, and like Hollywood Stuntdriver. I like this joke.
Went on the model cars which have been moved way out the back - do those things actually run on petrol ? If so, how the hell can they afford to run them ?
Possibly due to the fact they move at walking pace, and are fairly light weight cars. Edited by Gazza
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S.W24 Explorer

S.W24

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Well i find this the most relevant thread to post on. I haven't been to Dreamworld in 5 years mainly because I'm a Movie World fan and nothing added to dreamworld in the past 5 years has been of much excitement for me to fork out 70 bucks. But i finally decided im not doing anything on Wed so i might go and check it out. Now basically does anyone have any tips for my day ride wise what to do first ect. places to eat so on. It would be of great help i would like to at least try and make the day in some way enjoyable without having a whinge about everything i seen that WVTP is better at or can do better. :D

Edited by klassen24
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DonjaiInLA Explorer

DonjaiInLA

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I have a quick side question, when your walking over the train tracks near the giant drop, you can see what looks like a delapetated old wooden walkway/bridge over the tracks further along. Assuming that was the old route down to log flume, what were the other paths and stuff along there like? (like was ther raised walkways or what)

Edited by DonjaiInLA
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S.W24 Explorer

S.W24

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Well after my trip to Dreamworld yesterday here is my current opinion. Well to start with it only cost me $45 dollars entry with a adults at kids prices discount i then added to that with a $10 early entry so i got in at 8:30. I then got a Q4U costing $10 and a copy of my credit card. total entry cost with Q4U $65 $3 cheaper than normal admission very happy with my winnings. Then after 1 hour i started using my Q4U as the park started to fill. As for Q4U i really liked the system it allowed for a more enjoyable day. As soon as i booked my place in the line i had time to ride at least 2 other rides like TOT and claw which were basically walk on then being able to get on Giant Drop (which booked) straight away, as for most attractions the Q4U entry is the exit of the attraction as for TOT you take a separate stair case which takes you under the track to the load station. As for my time in the park i was actually very happy it was clean, looked good. only thing i dislike is the moto coaster area. looks absolutely shocking. as for the day all together i was very happy.

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S.W24 Explorer

S.W24

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If i were actually to say something that i really disliked about my day at Dreamworld i would give customer service a huge cross. first encounter was in the moto coaster shop all three shop attendees had there own little conversation about this weeks episode of desperate housewives i find it funny though that the part they were talking about prob wasn't something i lot of guests would have liked to hear still they talked and talked and didnt even bother to see if anyone was right until one woman said excuse me in a very disgruntled voice. My next encounter with this issue was on the claw all 3 attendees decided to have a chat after we were all head checked and ready to go they talked for about 4mins then once they were done having there little laugh and so on one went on his break and they then decided to run the ride all all customer service i was appalled, I sent a email to Guest services on wed night and got this reply this morning. Dear Nathan Thank you for your response on your days visit to Dreamworld on Wednesday. Your experiences with our staff have been sent forward to our guest relations department, and shall be looked at in the next few weeks. Kind Regards Sam like hell i will see any changes within the next month. In saying all that there was actually one chick who worked on Reptar Coaster who was really nice we had a conversation about how annoying it is when everyone is in there seats and someone shichens out and ya have to release all the harnesses and go again. One thing i also noticed was Dreamworld don't follow a rotational systems when it comes to ops staff they all stay at the same ride all day and the same position on that ride all day. Unlike village with the rotational system IMO gives for a better day at work.

Edited by klassen24
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Lotl_90 Explorer

Lotl_90

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If i were actually to say something that i really disliked about my day at Dreamworld i would give customer service a huge cross. first encounter was in the moto coaster shop all three shop attendees had there own little conversation about this weeks episode of desperate housewives i find it funny though that the part they were talking about prob wasn't something i lot of guests would have liked to hear still they talked and talked and didnt even bother to see if anyone was right until one woman said excuse me in a very disgruntled voice. My next encounter with this issue was on the claw all 3 attendees decided to have a chat after we were all head checked and ready to go they talked for about 4mins then once they were done having there little laugh and so on one went on his break and they then decided to run the ride all all customer service i was appalled.
To be fair though, i myself have encountered similar situations at Movie World several times. Its quite a universal problem. I suppose its unavoidable with the amount of 'younger' employees the industry appeals to. Doesnt make it anymore acceptable, its just a contributing factor.
One thing i also noticed was Dreamworld don't follow a rotational systems when it comes to ops staff they all stay at the same ride all day and the same position on that ride all day. Unlike village with the rotational system IMO gives for a better day at work.
The sheer amount of Ops staff in the park would make rostering something like this quite painful. Also, before anyone brings up the idea of having set rotations (as in allocated rides to a rotation, every day, which would be a great idea in theory), Dreamworlds rides run in levels of classification, so say you had an operator who had only one Senior level ride, how would they rotate in a loop full of senior level rides that they werent trained on? EDIT: Also, if you end up with two operators on a ride that are trained in both positions, than they are quite welcome to alternate throughout the day, and do often. Also rides in sets of two (i.e Dora's Sea Planes/Swinger Zinger and Mighty go Round/Blues Skidoo) the operators alternate running the rides at their leisure. Edited by Lotl_90
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DaptoFunlandGuy Veteran

DaptoFunlandGuy

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Painful you say? Size for Size and Op for Op, I reckon Wonderland had it over Dreamworld in that area, and they managed rotational staffing quite easily. It's quite simple - you group your like-skilled rides together, and when a new guy starts, he trains up on all of those.... say 3 rides. Do your time and move up to a higher rotational. You don't get skilled in ONE ride, you get skilled in 3 at a time, and spend morning on one, midday rush on the next, and afternoon shift on the last one. One person to do breaks for all three. Now before I get my head bitten off about how you can't learn more than one at a time, you can, you simply don't "fly solo" on the more technical ones for a few weeks, and you "buddy" with an experienced op until you can be confident, and competent in them to go your own. Rotational staffing is above all else a safety thing. A staff member doing the same thing all day is going to get bored, lose interest, and stop paying attention. Particularly on amusement rides, that is a dangerous mix. On some of the bigger rides I know that where multi-staffing was in play, each staff member would rotate through the positions, loader, unloader, despatcher, etc, and on the smaller rides, would rotate through the rides. It doesn't matter how you try and justify it, Dreamworld running the same Op on the same ride all day is dangerous, unsafe, and a fatality waiting to happen.

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Lotl_90 Explorer

Lotl_90

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Fair enough. My Argument was based on Dreamworlds current operating schedule, using the level of classification system. Who knows, rotational staffing could be in the mix anyway, Its used in WWW for both lifeguards and slidies, so its not an entirely foreign concept to the Dreamworld ops team.

Now before I get my head bitten off about how you can't learn more than one at a time, you can, you simply don't "fly solo" on the more technical ones for a few weeks, and you "buddy" with an experienced op until you can be confident, and competent in them to go your own
No head biting. Several of the more technical rides, even under the current training system require an operator to be buddied for more than one day. All training sessions are completed by the senior instructing operators, who sign a legal document authorising the person to operate that ride. If they dont feel the person is competent/confident in operating the ride/position safely, then they are not cleared, simple as that. And believe it or not, it happens. Again, making reference to the dora/swinger type rides, they are already trained as a set of two, so not to far to stretch. It would be interesting to see how the system would cope being transitioned to a rotational system, with training on several rides at once, for more of the rides. Edited by Lotl_90
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