MW Closures & Lockers

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Well on the subject of closures, I'm at the park now... Batwing is down, lethal is down, superman running 1 train, scooby now has a no loose items sign out the front - no bags, sunglasses or hats... Wild west does look amazing after the refurb and the drop felt much faster, but with ba-tr and lt-rr closed, movieworld is very boring, and the queues that are open are extremely long.

[Bmull19]

I heard rumors about Scooby having a no loose item policy soon, but didn't think they'd enforce it. Do you know if it's just like a warning but you can still take loose items on or if they're actually turning people away? If the latter, then there's going to be a lot of upset guests. Soon it'll be you pay to get into the park, but then you HAVE to pay to get a locker.

[aussienetman]

Annoyed at no loose items on scooby... Bloody stupid if u ask me. Movieworld may be getting a new coaster but they are makibg some very bad decisions lately.

[Reanimated35]

Movieworld may be getting a new coaster but they are makibg some very bad decisions lately.

Sure it might be annoying, but lets look at the possible scenario.... A guest with a bag at their feet goes on the ride. At one of the higher points of the ride they accidentally kick the bag out of the car. The bag then hits someone on the track below. Movieworld is responsible for the injury to that person for not taking due care in preventing the accident. The ride would also then be likely closed while the bag is collected and track inspected to ensure nothing has been caught on the track. Lets say that process takes 20min all up. Then (I'm assuming here but might be wrong) the ride would have to be sent around at least once with an empty test cycle. So all up including load and unload times you would be looking at 30-40 minutes downtime which could have all been prevented by not taking a bag on the ride. Yes there are several thousand rides overseas which allow loose items and that's great for them, but they also are likely to have more relaxed laws or more income to cover any legal bills.

[keadz]

Hasn't been that much of a problem for the last 10 years (sorry 3408 days...scared of not being 100% accurate here) has it? Seems an unnecessary.

[aussienetman]

My thoughts exactly keadz. It's never been a problem before. Guests are asked to put stuff on the floor. Just a revenue raising exercise by VRTP under the guise of "guest safety" . Really glad I went with Ardent annual pass this year. VRTP keep surprising me with decisions which are negativly impacting guest experiene.

[Bmull19]

Quickly on the topic of revenue raising and covering it under a different name... I brought this up on the Fright Nights page, that the noise restrictions are actually 10pm (Businesses) (11pm for residents on Saturday nights). Movie World staff continue to say that rides must stop at 9pm due to noise restrictions. Even Dreamworld have the rides until 10pm for Screamworld and they have rides like TOTII which produce so much more noise. Cost cutting being covered up here? Back onto Scooby, it's just another one of those things. If it truly is for guest safety, we're becoming too much of a 'nanny country/state' where nothing is too safe.

[aussienetman]

By decreasing the cost of a ticket, mw have also decreased the iq of its average visitor. Mw is a shell of its former glory.

[Reanimated35]

As far as noise restrictions go. Did MW have a lot of issues with complaints from the local residents already? The noise regulations state 10pm HOWEVER a complaint can be made to council at ANYTIME for excessive noise. As far as the safety goes, I don't care if it is just for revenue. If it means more money for park expansions I'm happy to pay a bit more. I've also always though loose items on an coaster is a bad idea regardless of how tame the ride is or how secure the items are

[aussienetman]

Expansion? One rollercoaster but the closure of multiple attractions does not equal expansion. Mw need to replace at least 3 attractions before we can say they are "expanding"

[Bmull19]

As far as noise restrictions go. Did MW have a lot of issues with complaints from the local residents already?

Maybe from last year?? I didn't go last year, so how late did the rides run to? As for complaints this year, I don't think they had any factor in the time as they decided on 9pm before the first night.

[CruiseSF]

On the case of Scooby and no loose items, I'm 100% sure this would of been introduced because of the incident the other month were a bag was thrown out of one of the cars on California Screamin' at Disney California Adventure and landed on the track. This caused another car to be rapidly slowed when it hit the bag (bag was sitting over the track). The train barely made it through the loop then got stuck just after causing the Disney to call the fire brigade to help get people off the ride.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Cruiseshipfan

[Gazza]

Movie World staff continue to say that rides must stop at 9pm due to noise restrictions. Even Dreamworld have the rides until 10pm for Screamworld and they have rides like TOTII which produce so much more noise. Cost cutting being covered up here?

But MW and DW have differing urban contexts...I thought this would be obvious.

, scooby now has a no loose items sign out the front

Where do they get stored? Edited October 16, 2011 by Gazza

[Bmull19]

^ What do you mean 'differing urban contexts'?

[themeparkgc]

The closest house to MW is about 100m away from the park border. DW has about four times that buffer zone.

[Bmull19]

^ Yeah, I measured the distances. That's only for WWF though (which doesn't operate on Fright Nights). Lethal weapon is about 320m away from the closest resident with Superman being even further. There's 380 metres or so from Ocean Parade & TOTII station to the residents next to Dreamworld. You're probably right, though. They probably generalize all of Movie World based on their border.

[rappa]

I'm not going to offer any personal opinion here just some clear facts for everyone... Firstly all business require permits to operate, it's not just a case of blanket noise restrictions as quotes above. Movie World only has a permit from council to operate external rides until 9pm. That's it, end of story. It's also not just as simple as running the rides any time they feel like until 9pm. The park needs permission for all night time operation. If say a bunch of staff were going to ride an attraction on a normal day of the week at 8pm they would have to do so without screaming to avoid getting the park in trouble. You see its not the rides that are the noise problem, its actually the people riding them. Secondly for anything like a no loose articles policy, or any of the safety type matters that may concern people... It's not the parks (or any business) that dictates these policies, it's the insurance companies. Simple as this, you can't run say a ride without insurance (and if you could you'd be a moron) and insurance companies won't insure you unless they are happy. So if for instance the insurance companies after 20 years decided they now want no loose articles on a ride, that's, it, park has no choice. So it's the insurance companies, and from my observations across the country Australia would by far be the worst country in the world for stupid insurance stuff, much worse than America and just a joke compared to Europe, that create these policies, not the parks revenue departments. One opinion I will give is that for the modest amount the park would make from lockers, its not worth having a no loose items policy just to create that revenue stream. It's much easier just to let guests on unchecked and even saves money in wages. As for ride closures, if it's not scheduled maintenance then its sadly just bad luck. Given the massive storm we had last night, I'd dare say it may have something to do with the above mentioned rides no operating today.

[T-bone]

On the case of Scooby and no loose items, I'm 100% sure this would of been introduced because of the incident the other month were a bag was thrown out of one of the cars on California Screamin' at Disney California Adventure and landed on the track. This caused another car to be rapidly slowed when it hit the bag (bag was sitting over the track). The train barely made it through the loop then got stuck just after causing the Disney to call the fire brigade to help get people off the ride.

This has been in motion for a while, long before this incident occurred. So in this case, you are 100% incorrect in stating that this change has occurred because of this incident.

[Bmull19]

Thanks DjRappa for clearing that up.

[GoGoBoy]

Firstly all business require permits to operate, it's not just a case of blanket noise restrictions as quotes above. Movie World only has a permit from council to operate external rides until 9pm. That's it, end of story.

Easy solution to the above mentioned problem: build more dark rides!

[Randy23]

At Dreamworld it is 10pm for all thrill rides and small rides such as Bumper Beach closes at 11pm Sharp! Even if there is a queue in the line once it hits 11pm the ride cant be turned on!

Edited October 16, 2011 by Randy23

[CruiseSF]

This has been in motion for a while, long before this incident occurred. So in this case, you are 100% incorrect in stating that this change has occurred because of this incident.

So its been in for awhile. It didn't sound like that when I read it, but even if that's the case it still shows why they create this rule. By the way I was relying on what was said as I cannot access the parks as I live in Sydney.

[raymond265]

The residents nearby need to harden up. Its not like they are open every night. Try living near a pub or night club. They make noise to the early hours of the morning and yet they are allowed to operate. There is so many sad people in the world that have such a boring life that they have to complain about everything. On the issue of the no loose items, of course it is revenue raising. If it wasn't the lockers would be free.

[Bmull19]

^ They COULD make lockers free, but there'd be so many issues around that one way or another because Scooby operates so many cars at once (16?) and they have a different exit to entrance. And if they made lockers like the Superman ones free, then anyone could use them, even if they weren't riding. The logistics behind free lockers on a ride like Scooby are just impossible. EDIT: And I agree on the noise thing. Maybe the parks could be really nice to all the residents close by? Hahaha.

Edited October 16, 2011 by Bmull19

[aussienetman]

Agree with you Raymond. The only reason to close batride and river ride meant lowered maintenance and staff costs. Movie world is now a 2 hour park and people are going to remember this when their passes are up for renewal. The movie magic that was once a draw card is gone. Movie World will always be my "home park" but the park and current direction is lacking. While Fright Nights is drawing the crowds and green lantern will keep interest for a littke while Movie World need to get back to interactive, immersive experiences. One of the best moments of HWSD is the audience interaction at the start. Movie World will never compete with Dreamworld on the quantity of attractions, but by focusing on the quality of the attractions they have and by making smart decisions over the next 3-5 years is what will set it up as a viable competitor. Closing ltrr and batride with no sign of replacements are cost cutting measures only. If you need lockers for every freaking ride then they should be free. Just wait til the day when u can't take ur things on wild west for "safety" reasons. The glory days of mw are long gone and the focus on thrills over substance spell nothing but doom. Dreamworld has the carnivale ride side down pat, mw must focus on interactive, immersive experiences.