Wet n Wild well and truely still in PEAK season

[rival81]

Those who may be thinking the parks are coming off peak season, think again. I went to wnw on Saturday, and know of a group who went on Thursday. Both days, there were extremely long waits on all rides. In fact, when i went on saturday it was so crowded that i gave up after 45 mins of waiting to go down one slide (the single rider slides next to terror canyon). With one rider being allowed to go every 3 minutes or so, it translates to only very small numbers of people getting down each hour - maybe 30 or so if you're lucky. The line i was in only had about 50 people in it, and after 45 mins i was barely half way towards the front. I gave up and after a quick dip in the wave pool, went home. Considering how stormy it was on saturday i'd hate to see it on a sunny day! Bring back the good old days when the slide operators would let one person go every 10 seconds, and didn't have to wait for the entire ride to be empty before letting the next individual go down! Seaworld was not as bad... i was able to get 5 rides of the Jet Rescue there in the space of one hour. Looking forward to the off peak season.

[cadboy]

Bring back the good old days when the slide operators would let one person go every 10 seconds, and didn't have to wait for the entire ride to be empty before letting the next individual go down!

That is safety issue so it won't change. But I do agree with the other stuff. The flumes have terrible capacity even with 4 of them they have a really slow moving line which is not worth the wait unless it is still inside the building which still takes about 20 minutes. I think they are good rides though and I don't no why most people dislike them. I rode the one closest to the Terror Canyons and though it was great.

[Gazza]

Yeah, I'd agree that the River Rapids seem to have an excessively slow moving queue...Definitely one of the rides you want to hit first thing actually. To be honest, I wouldn't complain one bit if they decided to build another set of 4 body slides elsewhere in the park....while a lot of the more recent water slide innovations are great, a lot can be said for classic body slides.

[Gold Coaster]

Exactly...something low to the ground with some theming and landscaping... help take some load off the other slides and it'll be in the style we want.

[cerberus584]

Wet'n'Wild is definitely still having very busy days. Yesterday we had an approx attendance of 8600, almost double what I would have expected in any other year. The main reason for this, other than the heat is the Q150 pass...almost all the people coming through the gates have one and it also means that people are still walking in at 4pm to have an after school swim. I still think that after the Easter holidays attendance will drop significantly though.

[rappa]

Yeah when I drove in on Saturday mid afternoon the car park was jam packed!

[pin142]

Yesterday was a great day for it though. I was surprised to see people still walking in when I left at 3:30pm. The way the weather is at the moment can still see it being busy on the weekends. I got there early after the wait at Sea World the other week and knew it was going to be busy. There were quite a few people there but found queues for most things not that bad.

[cadboy]

The main reason for this, other than the heat is the Q150 pass...almost all the people coming through the gates have one and it also means that people are still walking in at 4pm to have an after school

How are the other parks going attendance wise? are they also still in peak season? WVTP have truely done a great deal by introducing the Q150 pass. The pass must be helping the company stay firm in these tough economical times.

[S.W24]

How are the other parks going attendance wise? are they also still in peak season?

Peak season is Nov to end of january attendence just happens to be keeping up quiet well at the moment. Most parks are seeing a increase due to the passes but it isnt really keeping the parks firm as for one they don't need to stay firm they are still doing a good job all these passes are really doing is creating a one person admission then from there on are basically being used as a way to increase in park sales.

[cadboy]

Peak season is Nov to end of january attendence just happens to be keeping up quiet well at the moment.

Yeah I know but the topic title suggests otherwise "Wet n Wild well and truely still in PEAK season" kind of like a figure of speech. It is not really peak season but the crowds make it seem like it is. BTW wat happened to all the other peak season times in the year. It is not just Nov to Jan....what about Easter holidays, Winter and September.

[mickey_079]

Hope it quietens down a bit, I'll be arriving Saturday arvo. Speaking of weather does anyone how its going to be next week?

[Gazza]

Keep checking http://www.weather.com.au/qld/gold-coast ....Saturday to Monday looks to be pretty fine, with a tiny bit of rain on Saturday.

[joz]

I wonder how many of those 8600 odd people were expecting dive in movies to still be happening, since they traditionally have been at this time of year. I also wonder how many of those 8600 people will decide to do the same thing next year. In any case, expect to see attendance ramp up from now until the end of the year, as more of the Q150 passes are sold.

[mickey_079]

Thanks Gaz. Hold up... Dive in movies is not on anymore? I asked less than three months ago and was told it would still be on at this time of year.

[rival81]

dive n movies finished end of january i believe.

[cerberus584]

Dive in Movies finished in the 25th of January. To be fair though I've only been asked by one person if they were still on, most people seem to have checked the website or have seen the sign out the front of the park which up until last week said "Dive in movies will recommence next summer." Also FYI Joz, the Q150 passes are only valid till the 30th of June, not the end of the year.

[mickey_079]

Hmm bummer. I called the park a few weeks before Christmas and was told it would end in April some time.

[joz]

See, I went straight from reading all the market reports to this thread, hence my "End of the year" thing. How about ramp up till the middle of the year Traditionally, dive in movies have run on Saturdays through to ANZAC day, and to me it's a bit of a shame that they aren't on. Seems a pity to kick a few thousand people out of the park rather then let them stay and buy stuff.

[cadboy]

Seems a pity to kick a few thousand people out of the park rather then let them stay and buy stuff.

Yeah, I mean they must make heaps when almost everyone buys dinner.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Honestly I think the Q150 passes might not make too much of a difference to overal budgetary figures, unless they cut back on everything - such as dive in movies and the like. The reason is that while they have generated some short term income that they might not have gotten otherwise, it is at a massive discount. I was just about to buy an annual pass to all three parks, so by offering this to me, they've actually missed out on some money this financial year. In theory, guests will buy food and beverage, and merchandise, propping up income streams. In practise, repeated visits to the park mean that less purchases will be made per capita, as each person coming through is more likely to have "been there, done that" and with a Q150 pass, there is nothing to stop you leaving the park for food \ carpark picnic before coming back in. In these economic times, guests might buy the Q150 where it works out cheap entertainment for 4 months, but in reality, the additional spend is unlikely to be high. No efforts are being made by WVTP to cater for the additional guests in the park. Attractions are closed for maintenance as per their usual schedule, so there are less rides open, and the rides that are operating are running on off peak scheduling, meaning those with multiple operator and multiple train options are not being utilised where possible - eg: SE, Lethal, JR etc. The most recent visits i've made to SW and MW have disappointed me - with queues impossibly long (ok - so not boxing day long, but still long), and yet the staffing and capacity of the attractions is not increased to cope with the demand. This is beneficial to the park, as with more guests in the park, and less overheads on staff wages, and attraction maintenance (as opposed to the costs of operating when there are two trains instead of one), the park is running on off-peak staffing, and attracting on-peak guest levels, so therefore technically saving money. The reality of this will result in an overall negative opinion of the parks by the park-goers. They are not going to remember that they got a solid 120+ days worth of entry into all 3 parks for the cost of a single day entry... they will only remember how long the queues are, how long they waited, and how poorly managed the day was.