Theme park theming and ride discussion

[rappa]

What does that post have to do with anything I said? If you read carefully (OR AT ALL) you will see I said that DW had the better ride package. However IMO the attractions that MW has in their own right are far superior. Look at WWF and Spooky Coaster, in terms of production value they leave anything at DW for dead. Im not saying MW is the better ride park, I'm saying that the rides that they do have are of a higher standard.

[Flea]

Movie world has lethal weapon, scooby doo, roadrunner and wild wild west as their thrill rides, thats it, when i went to movie world we completed all rides and attractions and was home by 2:00 in the afternoon.

That's if you rush around the park and don't enjoy your day. (seriously Shifty, why do you talk like that? Is it your computer's resolution?) I went back to my hotel at 5pm with slight disappointment that I didn't have enough time to re-ride all those cool rides I wanted to. To say that you can do the whole park in 4 hours is possible, but how the hell would you be able to enjoy your day at the park? I take it that you didn't bother to ride all the other awesome rides, or see the shows, because they are "crap" and don't go above 75km/h. Liam

[Nightshifter]

theres nothing much to enjoy, only the lethal weapon, scooby doo and the wild west falls. we didn't eat lunch there, we only watched the police academy, thats all there was there at the time. and simply rode the same rides a second time, but the park was empty, becasue we went at school time. Djrappa people only ride the rides not by who made the rides where the ride comes from or the production value. people ride roller coasters for enjoyment, the only ride rides for the fun of it, thats all. to me dreamworld's rides are very fun some intense and some really exciting, to me WWF is a lot of fun, but not scary, and lethal weapon would probably be the only ride up with dreamworld's rides that are exciting, fun, and intense, but you all have different opinions and this is mine.

[rappa]

You say this is your opinion but you are actually trying to say that this is everyone’s opinion. Do you just switch off and create your own fantasy when you read posts because clearly you take no notice of what is being said! I never said anything about who makes the rides or where they come from. IM SORRY BUT PEOPLE BLOODY WELL DO TAKE NOTICE OF PRODUCTION VALUES MATE <-and yes I am yelling Why the hell do you think that Disneyland is what it is and SFMM is what it is???? People don't go to DL for extreme thrills you dolt. Do you actually listen to the drivel your coming out with

people ride roller coasters for enjoyment, the only   ride rides for the fun of it, that’s all.   to me Dreamworld's rides are very fun some intense and some   really exciting, to me WWF is a lot of fun, but not scary

Where is this published as fact? There is a lot more to enjoyment of a ride than how fast it goes and how many Gs you pull mate. MW rides aren't supposed to be intense, they are highly themed attractions an entire experience not a one trick pony glorified carnival ride. There is a lot more to THEME parks than just Roller Coasters that's why SFMM is an AMUSEMENT park, its not trying to be Disney and that's why it will never have anything like the attendance of the joint up the road. I think its a bit sad that all you can see is your own interests and just can't accept that the greater public might think a bit different to you, and its just as well I might add! I think its about time you stop talking from your arse kid... ...sorry guys but he's ignorance has really pissed me off now.

[Slick]

I must admit, MovieWorld's theming is absolutely excellent, and coming from some one who would (metaphorically) die for DreamWorld, it is a tad hard to say. But you look at the Tower Of Terror. Curently, the head is not only being re-painted, but almost replaced as it partially caved in, which will make the TOT head, look fantastic when it's done, BUT, what about the other theming? If you can remember, black walls and some paint to represent a door on a wall is NOT going to cut out as themeing, nor is a Novelty sized tap head going to cut it for the Giant Drop. But now you look (thanks to Ian's great post at Ozcoaster.net) at the Goldrush sign, and that is a work of art. And also, how could you say that DreamWorld is cramp? I think some one is not only talking out of their ass but farting at the same time (see the pun there kids?) DreamWorld has land free at: a)down the sides of the park next to the ThunderBolt and RockyHollow area b)the middle island c) behind the quarantine centre at the Wildlife Experience d)the Thunderbolt site e)When BB finishes (which it will) there's some more land So think before posting, or you will be fired back at like some russel crowe movie. And that's my 20 cents, yes, it's worth that much more.

[Ian]

^thanks slick Djrappa everything you said is true and you are making alot of sense to me. Nightshifter you are probably a nice guy and I have nothing against you yes dreamworld has more rides and after last weeks visits the park is improving, but thats it, as for MW top 3 rides they all have great elements that other rides dont offer eg backwards drops ect, but the one thing MW has is atmosphere. I know if I enjoy a park I cant do it in a day. Try to do all of MW Rides and Shows in a day to see what I mean. batman, lt music review, movie magic, marvin the martian, bat attack show, Austin, marilyn, Bettlejuice and street thearte shows, Matrix stunt show, LT village and its rides, scooby doo, main st parade, matrix exibition, blazzing saddles, WWF. and photos with the characters and shopping. so in summing up yes Movieworld may not have alot of rides but neither does universal hollywood because last I heard work was a movie theme park not sfmm. and finally ask anyone on these boards who has been to america about Disney vs Sfmm and you will see what I mean **Note** the above post was posted by a theme park worker and fan of alll parks**Note**

[joz]

Dreamworld has some ok themeing elements scattered around the place. I was quite impressed with some of the new things which have been added the other day. Dreamworld also has 3 really cool rides TOT, Wipeout and GD. To say Dreamworld's theming is anything compared to MW's is a bit of a joke. MW's is a bit mismatched, but its quality. Dreamworld's theming is, for the most part, sparse, low quality (new additions and really old stuff excluded) and mismatched. Tell me why there are Dinosaurs in Thunder River? Or why there is this huge 'Oil Rig' in the middle of the Model T lane. Perhaps you could explain to me why there is modern walkways all over Rocky Hollow, or how you can find Big Brother crap plastered all over old world stuff? Why not let us all know what the theme for Tower of Terror is, and what the hell its doing in Rivertown? I could go on, but I think you get my drift. Nightshifter, what did you think of Marvin the Martian, the Special effects show, the Bat Attack and the street parade? How did you enjoy sitting down to eat that lovely food that is sold is Movieworld? What about Harry Potter/Matrix? Did you try Road Runner (kicks the crap out of reptar let me assure you) or the River ride? No to most or all of the above? Then you missed the point of going to a 'theme' park. Maybe you should go back and have a look at the whole park. If your not interested, go stand in the never moving queue for Cyclone.

[Slick]

Alright Joz, just settle down.... ....settle............. Like I said before, dreamworld's theming in certain spots is utterly crap, but there was an insentive. Just look at Ocean Parade and WipeOut in particular. I think you'll notice that the themeing for that is damn nice, with the shark, the working waterfall, the malibu surfboards on the sides, the annual repaint, the sand, the housing etc., they are all nice (nice is an understatement, by the way ). And you look at the job they have done on rennovating of what is now Nick Central. Man that place has an atmosphere of its own, when there's not 1000 people there, that is. But now you look at what they have done to the Tower Of Terror since they shifted the entrance to the other side. THE THEMEING IS BLOODY SHOCKING, and if you look closely, the theme is just to hide those real electrical cables overhead. And to prove this, next time i am at DW (some time this week hopefully) i will take photos of this menace of paint gone wrong. So here's a message to anyone who bags DreamWorld, I AM WATCHING.

[Richard]

I think you've got it spot on there. The grass is always greener on the other side, and that certainly goes here. The Six Flags and whatnot might be very alluring when you're over here, that's human nature. After all, what could be better than 16 coasters in a single park. The rides are good, but the atmosphere is terrible or non-existant and the staff are uninterested or rude and things are just shabby in places, bordering plain disgusting. Honestly, you'll be hard-pressed finding parks as good as ours, including Wonderland, anywhere else in the world. Disney have about the only parks that left me truly amazed. Even Universal have a hard time matching our parks in terms of the overall quality - the sum total of rides, theming/scenery, cleanliness and friendliness. And you'd be surprised, it's really the last two that make most of the difference.

[rappa]

I too think you are exactly right which is why I've always taken things like a big SF park here in Sydney with a grain of salt. If you do visit SFMM you have to get it in your head that your there for the rides and try to switch off from the rest because it just plain sucks! Only exception was the Scream crew when I was there... If you look at our GC parks they are fantastic in terms of staff and cleanliness. And yes we do have some world class rides. I will say though in terms of WL there is really only a single world class ride being Probe. Anything else is a dodgy park model flat or a boring clone. However the park used to be beautiful in terms of aesthetic beauty and staff. In my books the sort of overseas park you want is Knott's, friendly staff, clean park, great attractions and a good atmosphere amongst fellow guests. Much like we see on our GC parks. "Well Put" I say to you!

[Slick]

I must say though, that Giant Drop is unparalled in its "thrill factor". At Rainbow's end in NZ, they were continuously rumbling on about how good the GD was, and "its such a good example etc. etc.

[rappa]

I must say though' date=' that Giant Drop is unparalled in its "thrill factor".

[joz]

Tell you what, despite my constant DW bashing, I still enjoy spending a day there. I think last week when I was there I missed GD, TOT, Eureka and a whole bunch of other stuff, but still had a good time walking around. I do tend to be critical of the parks operations procedure, but otherwise its ok. To back up what everyone's saying about how our parks are better, a SFMMtrip report has been published on Westcoaster where the author talks about how good his day was. In it, he lists 2 or 3 (depending on how you look at it) closed rides, 1 train op on many rides and the like, while saying the park was in good form. You would've never heard the end of it if I'd done the trip report

[mx5_boy]

Guys, I'm glad some of you see the irony that we have here. Whilst we'd like monster coasters and fantastic rides built every year it's just not feasibly possible. Although, all our major theme parks have done tremendously in providing what they have. That's not to say they should sit on their heels and do bugger all. And I don't think they have, but in this day and age no-one throws money into the wind and we just have to accept that. However, when you look at the demographics of say Sydney and the local and connurbation population there does seem to be more than enough people to support an American style *big* theme park. That is if your an American style city. And I don't think anyone here would agree that Sydney is anything like an American city. Why do you think there isn't monster theme parks in the state of New York? Or not on the per capita basis that we might well think for. LA has big theme parks as it's a huge city plus it has an enormous amount of tourists that visit the place to see them. How many people would come to the GC from overseas to visit the theme parks? Or for that matter who on earth would visit Sydney to see WLS? Most o's tourists would visit Sydney to see the city. Ride a ferry. Visit Sydney Tower and maybe a few wildlife parks. Taronga etc etc. Unlike most American cities Sydney is blessed with 100's and 100's of things to do for tourists. WLS wouldn't rate very highly on that list. Which is probably why no major US or World Theme Park company has ever bothered to take advantage of our weak dollar and set up shop somewhere here. And another thing to remember a trip to a theme park for the majority of Australians is not necessarily a once in a lifetime trip. For far more Americans a trip to a theme park or Disneyland for example is often considered a *once in a lifetime* event. It might no look like that is the case with what we hear, but once you have travelled extensively in the USA (and meet different people) you certainly realise that we have it made here in Oz. You'd not be hard pressed to travel the short distances on the east coast of Australia to the GC and be able to buy a $90.00 return flight to the GC from Sydney or Melbourne, pay an entrance fee and return in the same day without spending more than $200 in total to visit one of them. I have American friends who pack up the wife and kids and spend upwards of $3000 USD dollars just to visit Disney and they drive themselves in Winnebago's or something worse for the trip of a lifetime. And what would we basically pay for a Disney trip? Not much and even far less for a GC trip. Yes the grass is always greener. **steps off soapbox** mb

[joz]

Exactly mx5_boy. However, don't forget that in the early days of Seaworld, people said getting 1 million through the doors was an unrealistic dream and never going to happen. Now 4 separate parks in Australia can make the claim of dragging 1 million through the doors. As the old saying goes "Build it and they will come".

[DisneyDoll]

this is in response to mx5_boy Quote I have American friends who pack up the wife and kids and spend upwards of $3000 USD dollars just to visit Disney and they drive themselves in Winnebago's or something worse for the trip of a lifetime. Well then your friends must be staying either a hell of a long time at Disney or are staying at Disney resorts to blow that kind of money ESPECIALLY if they are driving. Most off site hotels can be had for $48.00 a night upwards with special rates for families available...I would also suggest that who ever you spoken to in the USA were quite wrong about going to Disney as a once in a lifetime experience. Who ARE these people your talking about...Do they live in trailers???? Yes we may not have the population that the USA does & quite frankly, I'm thankful for that. Nor do we get searched by security guards when we go thru the turnstiles at WL or DW or MW as you do at Disneyland, Six Flags etc...another thing I'm thankful for. However, this doesn't mean we should have to settle for second best regardless of our population. Wonderland has NOT added a new ride in eight (8 ) years. Regardless of the demographics this is deplorable & there's no excuse for such lack of imagination & vision. BTW...Paramount was considering a park in Melbourne a few years ago as Disney was considering building in Queensland, but our government wouldn't come to the table with costs for land improvements so...they went to China instead. Also...People MIGHT think about coming to Sydney to visit WL....IF it was worth visiting in the first place to begin with.

[joz]

Well they don't promote themselves to incoming tourists, perhaps that could be why those people don't visit them?

[DisneyDoll]

I agree Joz....What is there to promote?

[joz]

If I'm not mistaken, Wonderland is home to rides, native Australian animals, a waterpark (easily the best in Sydney as sad as that is) shows and Marvel comic book characters. Maybe they could start there?

[DisneyDoll]

Yes Joz...you are not mistaken...it all just goes back to what I said about lack of vision. Comic book characters aren't going to keep people coming back unless there is a wonderful land/ area with themed attractions etc...WL just seems to always take the easy way out & I'm frankly sick of it. There was a time when I ALWAYS had a Wonder Pass but I bought my last one 8 years ago. Since then, rides have closed & not been replaced & they even closed an entire section Hanna Barberra Land. I know that their licence ran out with Hanna Barberra but they still could have re themed this area instead of making up some story about how the park was too big for visitors.

[rappa]

I would also suggest that who ever you spoken to in the USA were quite wrong about going to Disney as a once in a lifetime experience. Who ARE these people your talking about...Do they live in trailers????

Okay I may be wrong here because I know nothing about you Dinosaur but that sounds like a pretty immature comment to me. MX5 is actually pretty spot on with the whole 'big America Disney trip' thing. Families do indeed pack up the kids and make a big journey over to Disney. They'd easilly stay 5 days there at least...look at the DLR 5 day pass man. I know when I was a kid we would go as a family to the GC and easily blow 5 grand on a 2 week holiday so why is it so hard to believe yanks would spend 3? Just because you wouldn't do it doesn't mean its totally wrong... And as for a Big park in Sydney if your talking about the Six Flags style of park with a heap of coasters costing millions upon millions each all being something of decent quality... that's just not going to happen, we just don't have the market for it here. I'm not saying that WL is the best we can have (because its ****) but don't expect too much.

[Jaggie]

Nor do we get searched by security guards when we go thru the turnstiles at WL or DW or MW as you do at Disneyland, Six Flags etc...another thing I'm thankful for.

We do get our bags checked by security when we enter wonderland as of late. They check for any weapons and that we dont have glass or alchohol.

[Ian]

Now I totally agree with Mx5boy on what he is sayin and I know we have great parks, and I know we wont have 16 coaster like sfmm has. But as for Queensland parks we still need to spend money to make money which we have stoped doing over the past few years. Disney does that so did seaworld san deigo with JTA this year, and im sayin this for a big attraction for the parks every couple to five years not each year like the states as we dont have the numbers at the moment, as a employee I know this is one of the big complaints from staff on the inside is we are not spending the money to make the money. Now as for Wonderland if that park was redesign by a new company and lots of money put into it, it could do so well with the 4 million population in Sydney and the national population of Australia and New Zealand. because Sydney is just as big as any Usa Theme Park city with the exception of Anaheim and Orlando. well there my thoughts anyway

[Bussy]

Why do you think there isn't monster theme parks in the state of New York?  Or not on the per capita basis that we might well think for.

What about SF Darien Lake and SF Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom, both os these are in NY state. There are also 3 other SF parks (Great Adventure, Hurricane Harbor and Wild Safari) in New Jersey, just 74 miles from NY city. 5 SF parks in a small area, to me that sounds like a lot of parks and rides per capita. "The Bus is now leaving for New York Jump Ups, Western Australia"

[Richard]

I think the "once in a lifetime" Disney trip is really a thing of the past. Maybe back when it cost a fortune to fly, back in the 70's and 80's. These days, you'd be crazy to drive for any more than a day to get there with domestic flights from anywhere to anywhere under $200 per person. I'm not saying they do the trip on a regular basis, I mean, it is a holiday, and people who go on holidays generally don't want to visit a place they've been to within the past five or so years. The reason you only go once is because if you're spending money on a holiday (or vacation if you will), you're not going to do the same holiday. Disney holidays aren't really the holiday dream they once were, because you can fly there in three hours, and you can buy a simple package straight from Disney that has your week set out for you. Unless you're doing it on the cheap, you're not going to have to go anywhere past disney.go.com or your local Disney store for your holiday. The Disney parks are destination parks. They're not the Six Flags or the Paramounts where you go to them every other year or more, which are the regional parks. You plan a trip around a destination park - it's the reason for your going, but a regional park you'd go to as another attraction on a trip to the area. For instance, a family will plan a trip to Disneyland and they'll see an ad for Knott's and then pay it a visit. Families plan a trip to the Gold Coast solely to see the theme parks. They're more destination parks than regional (but they're not so inaccessible that they're not also an easy way for a Brisbane or Gold Coast family to spend a day every few years). Wonderland comes in as a strictly regional park, with the exception of the wildlife park. You're not attracting people solely to see the park - they'll come to Sydney and spend a day there towards the end of the trip, which is what my family did on our family holiday in Sydney back in about 1992. I think it's exactly right that parks need to spend money to get more people through the door. A million guests a year is a lot, but you're kidding no one if you don't think that could double over the next ten years. Dreamworld's on the right track, with serious investments every few years, but I think Warner Village need to stop doing things "on the cheap" and really expand Movie World in particular. The park still has the same number of attractions that they started with! Of the Gold Coast parks, Movie World gets the most bloated when it's packed. Think about it, it has the same attendance as the others, but it's about half the capacity. There's no denying the quality of most of the attractions - that's why their attendance is so high, but while they keep replacing old (but still perfectly valid attractions) with new, that park is only going to go downhill.