Looney Toons River Ride closed

[Derwan]

Just noticed this on http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/Attractions-Maintenance.htm: Looney Toons River Ride will be closed from 25th October until further notice. The lack of an end date suggests it's not scheduled maintenance. I wonder how long it'll be closed - or whether it'll go the way of the Mine Ride at Dreamworld?

[aussienetman]

Wow. Not sure what the past has shown us but it does not sound very promising. It's a bit weird but I'm a little sad I didn't get to say goodbye to the Riverride if in fact it isn't reopening. The Riverride script was the compulsory audition piece when I started at WVTP and the day I received that script in Thr mail was the start of a very exciting time in my life. Ill miss Foghorn Leghorn and roadrunner. I'll miss the earth drill. I'll miss the multitude of different looking Bugs Bunnys. On a side note, the rumor around the park on why all the bugs bunnies looked different was because WVTP approached many companies about building the animatronics for the ride. Each company was asked to produce a "test bugs" and then WVTP would decide on the company to go with based on the bugs they produced. WVTP then did the sneaky and decided to use all the prototype Buge Bunnies in the attraction, and that's why they all looked a little different to each other. I'm excited about The future though. The River Ride takes up a lot of space. I hope WVTP have something big in store that will fill the void which will be left by the river ride. Or, it could just be maintenance.. When Shrek 4D closed the maintenance page said it was "closed permanently to make way for a new attraction" or something along those lines. So maybe I will get to say bye to the river ride.

[Park Addict 93]

I am going to make a guess it is just matinence... Bermuda Triangle did not list a end date originally for its scheduled matience and now does

[joz]

The Attraction maintenance pages are all a bit of a mess. Take for instance this at SW;

Sesame Street Beach will be closed for scheduled maintenance from 29 November - 12 December inclusive. Heege Tower will be closed for scheduled maintenance from 29th November - 12th December inclusive.

Firstly, Heege Tower is what tech services call the ride, but the name "Bert and Ernie's Big Dive" might be more useful for guests. Secondly, the ride is part of Sesame Street Beach, so why is it listed separately if all the rides are going to be closed anyway? Are the others still open? If the others are open then what does "Sesame Street Beach will be closed" mean? On WnW's page:

Whirlpool Springs is a seasonal attraction and will be closed from 11th October until further notice. Whirlpool Hot Springs is a seasonal attraction open for the winter months only.

is the current useful advice. I'd suggest that the info on those pages isn't all that reliable, and "until further notice" probably means "We don't want to commit to a date at this stage", otherwise the word permanently would be used. Edited October 29, 2010 by joz

[MickeyD]

If the reason for the closure is not to make way for a future attraction then ''until further notice'' would suggest something pretty major like problems with the boat lift or pumps - something that is preventing the ride for an unforeseeable amount of time.. The boat lift was fully replaced back in late 90's/2000, not sure if it's been done again since but if it's too greater cost to repair perhaps it will remain shuttered and plans to push ahead for it's replacement fast tracked.. anyone know any more?

[Gazza]

Haha at listing Bert and Ernie's Big Dive as "Heege Tower".

[westical]

Wasn't Looney Toons closed only a few months back for scheduled maintenance? You wouldn't think they'd bother doing that only to permanently close it soon after.

[Original]

Maybe I only skimmed over it, but I swear when I looked at their maintenance page before I went to the park last week their was re-open date for the ride of about 2 weeks, because after that 2 weeks or so another ride after it was going down, not until further notice, because I went on it Sunday, day before it closed and the week before and there were parts where animatronics were not working? (rock fall) Maybe its going down to replace these before opening to Summer crowds?? I really hope it doesn't disappear for 20th anniversary both times I went it had a huge line and both days park was relatively quite (SE had 1 train taken off) its icon and should definitely remain to celebrate their birthday! Bugs to Movieworld is like Mickey to Disneyland! Also it appeared Roadrunner was getting a paint job? Either that or just a high pressure clean. While on the subject of paint, anyone else think SE needs a paint job, its clearly looking faded to the point it looks bad!!

[BNErider]

I hope they do some work on the ride for their 20th birthday. They could advertise that it's 20 years old and has been 'reworked' in celebration. They could update the ride's main logo with a special '20th anniversary' design. And I hope more of the park receives a high-presure clean. Some areas around Main Street (HSD entrance for one) need a good clean!

[Dazzleland]

What?! I've only been on it twice!

[erikals]

If it closes its a pity - I just found out BT (Bermuda Triangle) at Sea World isn't reopening At least Youtube has some onride videos

[erikals]

Looks like the river ride will open again The only ride on the attraction maintenance page is batwing spaceshot.

[joz]

The maintenance pages have been updated again, and on the Movieworld page we see:

The LOONEY TUNES River Ride will be closed from 14 February 2011 until further notice.

Don't let the 'until further notice' fool you. Word on the street is that this time it's final. Those wanting to get a final ride on Looney Tunes River Ride are advised to get to the park by Feb 13, as after this date there will be no more rides in Snowy River Sam's boats to find that Wascally Wabbit. There is also talk that the ride will actually close after this weekend, so don't delay folks! Edited January 25, 2011 by joz

[Spencer]

Great. This is such a stupid descision, there will be no original rides left if they keep it up. Morons. Movieworld is floating right down the river (not gonna say whether pun is intended or not).

[GoGoBoy]

^ What Spencer said! Worst decision ever. That ride was magical for kids. The elimination of 2 dark water rides (Bermuda and now possibly Looney Tunes) is very worrying. These were rides that helped to make the parks as successful as they are today. Please don't forget Village you are running THEME parks - it's hard to take guests on a journey or give them a really special experience without the use of decent dark rides

[themeparkgc]

Whilst I do not support the removal of both of these dark rides, I do think that they either needed a major overhaul (6mth+) or to be replaced completely. Last time I went on the River Ride, the tree was in a suspended falling state and did not move from its diagonal position; the rock didn't move; Road Runner was visible in two locations at once (because one didn't move down far enough out of sight) and some animatronic characters were completely still (where they were previously animated eg. croc). To add to that we had an attraction presenter who barely knew his lines and presented them in monotone with no enthusiasm whatsoever. Spencer, I wouldn't class the attraction I experienced recently as the same one that opened 20 years ago. If it had been maintained and staffed well, then I'm sure I'd be against its closure. Hopefully both parks will receive replacement dark rides that have high quality themeing like what we've seen from Castaway Bay.

[Spencer]

It's close enough for me. The river ride is one of the greats, I dont want to see it demolished to the ground.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Spencer

[MickeyD]

^Don't act surprised people! There have been plenty of warning signs out there for ages that the River ride is beyond it's prime, atleast in the eye of VTP management anyway. Truth is, things have changed around the place and MW is very much a different place to what it used to be. The Operations department has gone from being a starting block for young aspiring performers with today's attraction staffers simply requiring a smile and some enthusiasm to get the job done. Don't expect the Batride will hang around much longer either for this very reason Like I said in another post, management aren't so keen on complicated dark rides with too many moving parts, I guess partly because research has told them this is not what today's general public want and largely due to ongoing cost. A rather misguided view in my opinion. The general public are hardly experts on the subject and simply pay for entertainment and the whole WOW factor. I am a little worried that the substitutes for both Bermuda and Tunes will not have this. The Looney tunes characters are Core to MW and they most certainly need their own feature attraction to play in. I do not object to the replacement of the Looney Tunes River Ride but only on the condition that it's succeeder is the "Looney Tunes Adventure" - an exciting fast paced indoor/outdoor water ride adventure that features ground breaking surprises and engineering innovation. For the Park's 20th anniversary, something like this would be the perfect tribute

[BNErider]

Went to the park today. It looked terrible. Every building down Main Street was in need of a refurb... to the point where black duct tape was being used. Not to mention the many windows that were completely open (to the point where you could see the internal roof), to equipment sticking out, speaker covers flapping in the wind and electricity cords running from one window to another. Found it interesting that some things have been fixed up, but replaced with the wrong colour wood panels, or panels that were completely different the building's overall design. Many of the park's major rides are in need of some serious work (Wild West, Scooby Doo, Batman Adventure, Looney Tunes), including the queue lines and surrounding facades. In my opinion, the park is on a par with a somewhat decent Six Flags park... which is far from world class, and also consider that Movie World's "point of difference" is theming, storylines and movie magic. Back on topic... I think we won't see anything too "complicated" replace the River Ride. I believe that WVTP will not want to spend the money needed to maintain a ride like this, as MickeyD has said. I want to be proven wrong here, but if they won't/can't spend the money required to keep the park looking somewhat decent, how can we expect them to spend "big" on the next attraction (theming wise). Of course, things may change once the VIP passes expire. I feel the next big attraction (as well as Sea World's BT replacement) will debut once the VIP passes have finished.

Edited January 26, 2011 by ash.1111

[MickeyD]

Shame to hear the Park is needing some tlc.. I think you will find the cosmetic matters will be addressed and the place spruced up nicely in time for June 3rd.. I sincerely hope someone is listening to these concerns and I'm sure that you speak for most that care about being proven wrong. As a positive, they have done a stella job on delivering some top rate events (halloween, xmas) of late. If that's any indication of what the future holds, we have nothing to worry about. I guess we will just have to wait and see but I think you will find a decision has already been made. Will the Tune ride site be replaced with another new ride? Guaranteed. Will it utilise the same dark/boat ride format and character themes? doubtful.

[rappa]

I think it's pretty fair to say and obvious that Main Street is currently getting a bit of a spruce up since all the lighting was removed. This obviously can't be completed in one night and I'd sooner see a few out of place panels than the whole thing under scaffold. As for looney tunes, look at the recent capital projects, if we get anything close to castaway bay it should be pretty awesome. Don't really understand the 'current views of management' comments when all capital expenditure we've seen lately has been pretty awesome.

[BNErider]

Castaway Bay is great -- yes. I'll give you that. I am just going off my experiences from the last few months, and obviously all of today's examples. If you say that work is being completed then I am happy. I do ask though, how is it obvious? (did I miss something?) Anyway, as I said, if I am proved wrong then I am happy. I'm not out to bad mouth the park and give it a bad name, but rather express my concerns. After all, I remember a time when the park had an amazing atmosphere. But, unfortunately, now most of that has deteriorated in my opinion. Just my 2 cents...

[Spencer]

ash.1111. I agree 100% with you. Movieworld doesnt have that warm feeling it used to...with the addition of things like Hollywood Stundriver and so fourth. It just doesnt feel like what a MOVIE world should, it feels like an arcade.

[joz]

Wow melodramatic much? I agree that it is sad to see an original ride closing, but lets be honest here; it's not a timeless ride. It's not just the hardware that has worn out, the look and feel of the ride is dated. Also as much as it pains me to say it, MW is such a landlocked park that this sort of thing has to happen. There's bugger all room to really expand the park so the only sustainable option is to constantly replace existing attractions, and LTRR has been an ideal candidate for replacement for a long time now. Obviously this is all dependant on the replacement being good, but I'm optimistic that whatever takes over that building will be a solid addition to the park.

[Gazza]

wrong colour wood panels

Primer?