My First trip

[thedivinemiss_m]

As the title suggests, I went to Dreamworld for the first time last week, and for a park that is said to have "the big six thrill rides" I left very disappointed. It didn't help that there were about 6 primary school groups there as well. Started out on Thunder River Rapids, expecting it to be like the Snowy River Rampage, formerly of Wonderland Fame. It was watered down, slow, and a little boring. The only reason I got wet was because I sat on a wet seat. Made our way over to the Mummy show, it was a bit of fun, but only because we were in there with three 11 or 12 year old boys who screamed like little girls every time a scary-thingy popped out... My hubby had a wonderful time tormenting them. Hilarious. Then went up to the Big Brother House, left very quickly because I simply do not care about that show nor have I ever cared. Went to line up for the Rocky Hollow log ride, the queue was massive, so we decided we'd come back to it if we cared enough. Queued for about half an hour for the motocoaster. I want that half hour of my life back. It was the most pansy boring ride ever. Walked through the wildlife bit, the salties were cool, and the tigercubs, though sleeping, were absolutely gorgeous. Went on the Reef Diver, was very dizzy afterwards. Queued up for the Wipe-Out, which broke down while we were queuing. So we went over to the Cyclone. Which broke down while we were queuing. Went over to the Claw, but left the queue quite fast when someone spewed near us, while waiting. Looked at the queue for Giant Drop and the Tower of Terror, but they were massively long since 2 of the other "decent" rides were broken down at the same time. Was so tired, hot and cranky by this point that we decided bugger this, let's get out of this dump. Not going back to Dreamworld, not worth the money. If Dreamworld were aiming to capture the kids market, they did it. But what about the rest of us?

[Lotl_90]

... It didn't help that there were about 6 primary school groups there as well.

There has been a hell of a lot of them around, whoever is doing school group bookings these days is working their butt off!

Queued up for the Wipe-Out, which broke down while we were queuing. So we went over to the Cyclone. Which broke down while we were queuing.

Wipeout is in its usual post-maintenance phase, where nothing works. All of last week it was going too slow to force the gondola to go upside-down, and if it was anything less than a full load the ride seemed to just give up and die, always on the most inconsiderate angle it could manage. But it does this every year, so im not entirely surprised. As for the cyclone... its the cyclone. Enough said really. Were there riders stuck half way up the conveyor? Edited November 10, 2008 by Lotl_90

[thedivinemiss_m]

Lotl_90, I understand that. It's the end of the year and it's party time for the kids. But I wanna party too dagnabbit! As for the Cyclone, I couldn't see anyone stuck on the lift hill, though it wouldn't have suprised me in the slightest. I really wanted to go on the Cyclone though, I never got to ride it at Luna Park Sydney when it was the big dipper. As for Wipeout, it looks kind of lame anyway

[jayw]

Considering you only got on 1 of the "big 6" and that being the motocoaster I'm not surprised you left dissappointed. Dreamworld's only real attraction is some of its big rides and certainly isn't the atmosphere of the place, if you don't get on the wipeout, giant drop and claw, which are the best of the rides imo, your going to leave dissappointed. Jay

[Gazza]

Considering you only got on 1 of the "big 6" and that being the motocoaster I'm not surprised you left dissappointed.

Yeah, I can't help but thing you weren't particularly perseverent. I mean leaving the Claw queue because someone spewed strikes me as odd (I would have taken a few steps back, or told a staff member it needed cleaning up) and it didn't seem to me as if you sought to get full value out of your ticket. Breakdowns can be unavoidable, and it often comes down to luck. Queues are an inevitable part (however unenjoyable) of the experience, so just need to bite the bullet for the payoff at the end. How long were the queues anyway (Or what was the wait time given?) I mean, you've gotta queue for some stuff, and you should have waited for stuff to be fixed, and then tried again. I'm guessing you might have had a better day if you went on the big 6 stuff first in the quieter morning period instead of wasting time on stuff like BB, Wildlife, Tiger Island, which can be done any time without queueing. Edited November 10, 2008 by Gazza

[thedivinemiss_m]

Gazza, I left the queue when someone spewed, because if I smell, or see vomit, then I am extremely likely to vomit myself. I can't help it, it's a reflex I've had my whole life. You're right, I didn't persevere much with Dreamworld, because the atmosphere sucked, there were loads of kids running around, jumping the queue and swearing their heads off, and quite frankly, when I've been told that it's "the best theme park in QLD" I expect a little more than 2 of the bigger rides breaking down at the same time. In all the years I went to wonderland (every year since I was 4 till close), Nothing ever broke down while I was queuing to ride it. As for "wasting time" at other attractions which require no queue, I was also spending sometime with my husband, who had a slightly gammy shoulder on the day thanks to WWW the day before and being a decent human being, I didn't want to make him "hold my bag" while I had fun and he looked on. The plan was to do the big stuff at the end of the day so he could go on it too and not worry about being injured for the rest of our day there. I understand that you have to queue for stuff. We went mid week to try and avoid it a little and it was still crazy busy. Jay, it's not that I didn't want to go on the big rides, I did, I had every intention of doing so. I don't know what the wait time was for the big ones, I saw the queue, full of screaming kids who were jumping around and knocking into people, and I decided, hmm, no freaking way. Had the WipeOut and Cyclone not broken down at the same time, maybe I'd have stayed and tried again later, but that, combined with the spew in the queue for the Claw, was the last straw. Dreamworld is a rip off in my opinion. Wet n Wild rocks.

[Lotl_90]

Which day did you go? Wednesday? Wednesday was the horrible rainy day, The only queue line that peaked over 25minutes was tower, purely because of the rain. I was around nick central all day and I can assure you it wasnt busy. Drop was running both sides, only because the staff werent needed anywhere else but had to have hours. I dunno, sounds like you found a bad day.

[Gazza]

Gazza, I left the queue when someone spewed, because if I smell, or see vomit, then I am extremely likely to vomit myself. I can't help it, it's a reflex I've had my whole life.

But that's what I mean, there is no reason you couldn't have gone back later once the vomit had been cleaned up. In not going back, you missed one of the best rides in the park.

Had the WipeOut and Cyclone not broken down at the same time, maybe I'd have stayed and tried again later, but that, combined with the spew in the queue for the Claw, was the last straw.

But the spew in the Claw queue wasn't their fault at all, so how was it the last straw? Thing is, two major rides breaking down in succession is a very rare event (you can bet the maintenance staff were pulling their hair out), and not something they would have done deliberately to piss you off. I mean, by the sounds of it you were having a good day until that point (apart from motocoaster, but everyone knows that sucks) but you let a couple of setbacks spoil your day. I mean, with Wipeout you couldn't have wasted more than about 10 minutes on that. Im also unsure as to how screaming kids make Dreamworld a rip off. When I was at Knotts Berry Farm the place was packed out with school groups, which meant long waits for everything, which limited what I could get on, but there was still heaps to do. Dunno, If i were in your position i would have stuck it out till closing time and focused on getting done what I wanted to get done. If the day didn't pick by the end, then I'd chalk it up as a loss and not bother returning. If it did pick up, well then it means I got to ride some fun rides, and would have some happy memories.

[MaxThrust]

Went Sunday. It was pretty empty. Only went to pick up our 2 year max action passes. Strangely thunder river was moving quickly, I think there was about 5 boats last time I went. Motorcoaster was broke, which is good as its about as real as a 50cc scotter with my mum driving. Went on cyclone for the first time.. don't they have smooth coasters in Oz ? As usual specs off in case I notice how slow it is. Honestly tower of terror is the only ride I really like there, but its the local park and get take the kids for a few hours of fun whenever.

[stardust]

thedivinemiss_m: The primary school groups are your fault, never go at this time of the year The rapids seem to have gotten less wet over the years Haha, it makes it so much funner if you scream Yeah, log ride has the biggest queue of the park On the 14th I got on in 15 mins though! The motocoaster isn't that bad I like it. When things break down they get fixed pretty fast, just hang around. The claw's pretty good, don't let that put you off. You skipped all the good rides so, that's your reason why you hated it. Yesterday on the cyclone it rained, and we were going up the hill, and it went down the small drop, SO SLOWLY, so we panicked, then down the big drop, it barely moved at all, and I was panicking that we wouldn't have enough speed to make the loop, but then we sped up :S Oh no, NEVER wait to do the big stuff! (If you can't put up with queues.) Mid-week is worse around this time. The "screaming kids", I doubt they were that bad, on EVERY ride. People scream on the rides but you never see lines with kids knocking around screaming constantly :Z Yeah, the spew wasn't their fault. Did you try the bumper cars? The Nick coaster (front seat is fun).. the vortex?

[Gabs]

I went to Dreamworld with a mate of mine this Tuesday (2nd December) and it is interesting by your experiences, because our's were very similar. To make this short, I was not very pleased with the rides and attractions at Dreamworld. I have to admit, it was my own fualt because I planned my visit during 'schoolies' (forgot about it until I got there!) and the queues for the attractions were 3 hours for each ride. I spent a whole day there and got on 3 rides. My mate and I were so cranky we actually gave a 2-world pass away to our hotel staff because we were adamantly sure that we will never visit dreamworld again. Although, I'm sure Dreamworld would have been great if it was not schoolies. It would have been actually a good idea for Dreamworld to close its doors during the schoolies season - and open it exclusively for the schoolies, as we found out they gave out a 20-50% discount to schoolies. If we have known that previously, we would have made other arrangements. Anyways, it was a good time overal at the Gold Coast. Pity SYdney doesn't offer as much fun!

[Nebuchanezzar]

Seems a bit rough to say that you won't go back. Go back on a week day in the middle of a school term or something like we did. The park was quite empty.

[Spotty]

3 Hour waits? That does indeed sound rather exagerated. Considering the park is only open for 8 hours and you said you went on 3 rides with a 3 hour wait... that means you waited in total 9 hours? Doesn't seem right to me but anyway. Rides like the Claw and the Wipeout would only have 20 - 30 minute waits at the max because that is how much there queue lines can physically hold. I've NEVER seen the Giant Drop or the Tower of Terror with a line longer than 75 minutes even in peak season ever (With Attendance up around the 9,000 mark) The weather however could have played a minor part in the queues being so long because if it was raining the Tower wouldn't be running. But 3 hours does seem to be a bit of an exageration. Also Dreamworld would NEVER close down their park for a full day / week etc just for Schoolies as they would loose the local, interstate and international market for those few weeks. It would just be stupid if they closed the gates to anyone but schoolies people.

[Lotl_90]

I've NEVER seen the Giant Drop or the Tower of Terror with a line longer than 75 minutes even in peak season ever (With Attendance up around the 9,000 mark) The weather however could have played a minor part in the queues being so long because if it was raining the Tower wouldn't be running. But 3 hours does seem to be a bit of an exageration.

This last week, With the Giant Drop having motor problems in conjuction with running only one side, and the park being steadily busy (lots of school groups!) queue lines have been getting close to 90mins quite frequently, but at no point in the last 8-10 months have the queue lines for drop been any more than that. I dont think weather is so much of an issue in that respect, If weather looks like it is going to be set in or hanging around for a while and they have to cease operation, and your second operator/DH will head straight down to the ride entry to advise people, while the number 1 operator advises the existing queue line. 3 Hour waits are totally unrealistic. In all my time around the park, I have never seen a 3 hour wait. Never. As much as you may all complain about dreamworlds operating inneficiencies.. if a queue line gets that big, they pull relief operators/supervisors to those rides to assist in moving people.

[stardust]

I've lined up for the Cyclone numerous times in peak time, near Christmas, when it was at it's most inefficient, and it was never more than 45 minutes. And that was the slowest line, besides the log ride.