Movieworld Update September 2011

[joz]

It's been a long time since we did an official Parkz Update, and despite best intentions, it'll be a bit longer still. However, with so much attention focused on Dreamworld's Buzzsaw coaster opening soon, now is a good chance to let people know what's going on down the road at Movie World. This mini update is brought to you by Joz's iPhone. Happy reading! Movieworld Update September 2011 With Looney Tunes River Ride now closed and with no immediate plans for the show building, Movieworld has made a bit of effort to hide that a ride was ever there. These efforts amount to re-surfacing the the old queue and turning it into a Road Runner viewing area with some gardens and tables and chairs. The net result is that, while there is still a huge building looming over WB Kids zone, it no longer looks like it used to be something with only one unpainted logo giving away the building's former life, so unlike Bermuda Triangle, it doesn't really impact on guests. The one clue that there was once a ride here. Well that and the building. The arch at the entrance has been repainted, removing the Looney Tunes River Ride lettering. A painted wall hides the entry to the old ride, and a garden has been added across the path. On the whole it is actually a rather pleasant little area, and a good reuse of the queue, and while Bermuda Triangle sticks out like a sore thumb at Sea World, the new area is in my eye, rather acceptable. At present there are no plans for this area, but there's no point pulling down the building as it'll probably be reused down the track, so good on Movie World for making the area as nice as possible in the meantime. Western Town / Wild West Falls Wild West Falls is getting a major re-furb, and while it's unlikely to see any of it's original features restored, the ride is getting a good refresh, with much of the ride being repainted, as well as having many of it's 13 year old components replaced (most notably the final drop and lift hill). While this happens though most of the western town is a ghost town, with nothing to draw people through it, Movie World have taken the unsurprising (though slightly disappointing) decision to close Wild West Burgers, and by 3pm, all the games as well. In a previous update we mentioned that the dodgem cars had closed for maintenance, we're pleased to report that they did reopen ages ago, making a trip into intensity a worthy one. As it happens the games were also doing a roaring trade. Just outside however, it's 3pm, so it's time to close the carnival games. While the theme park purist will say these games have no place in a proper theme park, Joz says that much worse is closed facades. Is there not a way to run these games with less staff later in the day to make it worth keeping open? In related news, Wild West Burgers has changed it's menu, and now focuses on Hot Dog and 'Loaded' chips. Lets try the new menu shall we? Or maybe not. That might be a cheap shot, but I hate to look of closed facilities. Further down the road Movie World have erected a short barrier just beyond the Western Backdrop. If anyone from Movie World is reading, I love the shot barriers for update purposes, and the Sylvester sign is nice too. The placement still allows the western show to take place, but keeps people with an iPhone from getting close enough to the ride to take photos of the ride without a drop. If you look closely in this photo you can just make out the ground under where the drop normally is, as well as a shiny new lift hill The entrance and Rio Bravo shop are also getting some love.

[joz]

Over at the show stage work has begun on this years Fright Nights event, relegating What's Up Rock? to main street for the duration. Another pat on the back for Movie World here, it would have been just as easy to not perform the show while the show stage was unavailable, but it's nice to see they've taken the effort to still do the show. So far this is the only evidence in park that preparation of Movie World's increasingly excellent Fright Nights is underway, but behind the scenes things are well advanced. So far Movieworld have announced the return of the Saw maze, the Psycho 3D maze, a new Arkham Asylum maze, as well as new shows for Main Street, Circus of the Damned, and Club Blood, an age restricted nightclub which takes over Stars Cafe (with the promise of Sexy Cage dancers!) which will make this years Fright Night the most ambitious so far. Tickets are only $30 ($29.99) and Fright Nights only run for 7 nights in October, so get your tickets now! For your convenience, tickets are available here. Speaking of extra charge events, work has already begun on the Christmas lights for Main Street. The lights that had been only taken down off the roof a couple of months back are already back, and early work has begun on the buildings The lights stretch all the way from the end of Main Street to just past the photo center with the promise of more to come So far the only lights attached to the buildings are of the subtle rope light variety. We only noticed these because we were looking. No ugly pieces of timber this year! Of course not all the lights were subtle, but these were mercifully in an alley, and not something easily spotted from Main Street. Some hooks have appeared on some buildings in anticipation of more lights. Again, these aren't as intrusive when you're in the park and not looking for them. In other Main Street news, Guest services has reopened in it's traditional spot after being refurbed, and it looks great! Across the road however the lights on the Roxy facade could do with some love And finally on Main Street, the Boutique has closed for it's own refurb. Have you ever taken the time to look and admire the details on the buildings on Main Street? Movie World have also announced that a new 20th anniversary parade will replace the current Streets Stars Parade for the holidays. While new details have been announced, it is believed that the parade will follow the "Parade, followed by street party and dancing" which has been the basic format for Parades since the success of the DC comics parade last year. New floats weren't the only improvement to the parade which the DC comics parade brought last year. The parades at Movie World now descend into a 'Street party' for the return leg, as characters walk up and down Main Street handing out Ice Creams and interacting with guests to dance music. It's a huge step up from the parades of only a couple of years ago, and early word on the street is to expect the same basic format for the 20th birthday parade. Stay tuned for more on the birthday parade as we find out.

[joz]

Of course the reason you're all reading this update isn't the interesting things that are happening in the park, but the things that are happening outside it. Work is progressing on the parks new coaster, but while Dreamworld's Buzzsaw is in testing stage, Movie World is still doing the ground work for it's new ride. There really isn't too much to it so far, a bit of Earth moving and heavy machinery and drills for the footing, but nothing terribly exciting to see here. Told you there was machinery here. The drill digs the holes, the footings go in. I wonder if they considered using the now unused Earth drill on stage 2? Some supports. Still not terribly exciting but more exciting than dirt. Some people have "guessed" that the ride will be an S&S El Loco based off "Looking at the supports" Good on them. Heading back in the park, work is continuing on the new shop by the main entrance. This gives you an idea of the size of the shop. While it's much bigger than the old Bat Shop, it's still not huge. The building is basically done, with only finishing touches to be done. Having said that, there are a ton of finishing touches to make, such as a path to the back door Looking straight through the shop. Clearly the plan is to have this be used as an exit from the Bat Ride/ New Coaster. In Health and saftey news: A ton of these signs have appeared around the park in various queues. While we understand the need for safety signs (sort of) it is a shame that they haven't been themed to better blend in with the queues they are in. This one was taken in Scooby, and there are 10 or 20 the same just like it in the Scooby Doo queue alone. Have we mentioned though that Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster is still an awesome ride? A couple of things on the ride weren't working properly today, but they are different to the effects that weren't working on my last visit a couple months ago. In other words, yeah stuff breaks, but things are most definitely being fixed, and on the whole the ride looks better than it has for years. Well done Movie World! Phew! That's us pretty much caught up on everything since our last update. As you can see there's been heaps of stuff happening in the park over the last couple months, and while there are a couple negatives, the park is overwhelmingly looking great. Aside from the new ride and parade, there are new shops, shows, Halloween, Xmas as well as other projects moving through the pipelines and the continuing refurbishment of existing attractions. They've really got a lot on their plate at the moment, but despite all this the park is looking amazing, and kudos to them for keeping on top of everything. Thank you for reading, and putting up with what I'm calling "the iPhone months". The next update will be with a real camera Richard promises See you at Movieworld!

Edited September 5, 2011 by joz

[GoGoBoy]

Thanks for the update! In regards to Wild West Falls, are they actually re-painting the mountain too? Also, is it unusual to fully replace the lift hill and drop of a ride that is only 13 years old? Can't be cheap

[joz]

It's hard to make out in the pictures, but I've been told that the facade has been painted. While overcast weather can do amazing things, this comparasion to earlier in the year would suggest that there has been some painting going on. Mainly that the mountain isn't grey this month Yeah, it's pretty normal to replace the drops on these rides about that often, at least at Village Parks anyway. It may not seem like it but the drops on water rides put up with quite a bit, when you think there's 2 or 3 boats going over every min for 7 hours a day, with heavily clorinated water flowing over them the whole time you see it starts to add up.

[JadeMacabreWalters]

Thanks for the extensive update joz! This is actually my first post ever after four billion months of lurking the forums, so hey! Figured I'd better start contributing to keep these forums as active as possible

[GoGoBoy]

Welcome Jade! Great to hear from you. Yes, the more active the better!

[joz]

Thanks for the extensive update joz! This is actually my first post ever after four billion months of lurking the forums, so hey! Figured I'd better start contributing to keep these forums as active as possible

^^ Glad you enjoyed the update, and good to see another person not just lurking and posting Have fun!

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I must confess, while I advocate quality pictures every day of the week, i'd much prefer i-Phone to nothing. In terms of construction updates etc, the building progress of an attraction can easily be seen on the iphone, and the further on we get, the better quality are the cameras in those phones. I still agree that the "published" updates should be done with quality equipment, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with a forum-iphone-update - i'd love to see them more often!

[erikals]

Told you there was machinery here. The drill digs the holes, the footings go in. I wonder if they considered using the now unused Earth drill on stage 2?

LOL they so should have - brought it out and got it to work - but made sure it was only set to drill to 10m down or whatever and not to Australia