Captain Sturt Closed at Dreamworld

[Slick]

So much for Dreamworld promising "new uses" and all that jazz.

[Reanimated35]

^ Maybe the "new use" for the scrap wood will be to patch holes in main street buildings?

[Slick]

End of an era, folks.

[Slick]

I don't get it though. They've now decided to rip apart an icon of the park but in the same pic they've left those damn chairlift pylons up for how long?

[Gary86]

I find it really sad that they are destroying more of the classic Dreamworld we all grew up with. I don't think John Longherst will be impressed if he saw what they've done to the paddle boat.

[Reanimated35]

I don't get it though. They've now decided to rip apart an icon of the park but in the same pic they've left those damn chairlift pylons up for how long?

It's ok, they'll probably leave the track in the water

[BigKev]

Apologies as this is probably very old ground but I don't think I ever saw this operating.

What sort of ride was it?

[themeparkgc]

It was a slow boat ride that opened with the park. Up until the early 2000s the ride featured a bushranger show. Popularity declined after the removal of the show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVKE_uu8pwQ

[Reanimated35]

This looks like it's final resting place. For now at least. Interesting to note they've put a tarp up around it so you can't really get a clear shot.

[themagician]

I have never noticed this before, but because of the suns position I could see it. Was this track in the water around the river used to guide the paddle wheeler around, similar to how Disney does?

[Jdude95]

19 minutes ago, themagician said:

I have never noticed this before, but because of the suns position I could see it. Was this track in the water around the river used to guide the paddle wheeler around, similar to how Disney does?

It was indeed

[StingRay]

#tractorReef

[ejpdtd]

So simple, yet it always gives me those submechanaphobia feels.

[Whombex]

On 19/06/2021 at 2:44 PM, themagician said:

I have never noticed this before, but because of the suns position I could see it. Was this track in the water around the river used to guide the paddle wheeler around, similar to how Disney does?

It's a fair thing not to know, considering how many years it was covered in weeds.

[joz]

In a world where DW isn't on life support, it'd be nice to see a boat ride go back on there. Doesn't have to be a big paddlewheeler, I think that ship has kind of sailed but something more on a Jungle Cruise or Snake River Expedition scale would be a really nice way to get a 100% family friendly ride in the park and get some kenetic energy on the river. Doesn't have to be themed crazy either, just have it be a nice leisurely boat ride.

Edited June 22, 2021 by joz

[StingRay]

Chuck the train on the rail and be done with it. 

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, StingRay said:

Chuck the train on the rail and be done with it. 

 

#DrainTheSwamp!

[StingRay]

1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

#DrainTheSwamp!

 

[themagician]

Im sure this rumour isn’t true, but would everyone be happy to see it return? Would it be worth it?
 

I personally would like to see it return, I remember it being such a nice gentle journey to see the park from a new perspective and I always enjoyed the show 

[joz]

I would not like to see it return. The Dreamworld it made sense in died many years ago. I would like to see a boat ride on the river, even using the same track if possible, but more on the scale of Jungle Cruise or Cedar Point's western river expedition.

[Cactus_Matt]

4 hours ago, themagician said:

Im sure this rumour isn’t true, but would everyone be happy to see it return? Would it be worth it?
 

I personally would like to see it return, I remember it being such a nice gentle journey to see the park from a new perspective and I always enjoyed the show 

Loved the Paddle Steamer back in the day, "back in the day" being the operative phrase here. As for what you'd see from that "new perspective": a glimpse at Steel Taipan followed by a reminder that the Tower of Terror is gone, the Log Ride is gone, the animal section is still somehow there, then a whole lot of nothing, a buffet that's been closed for 2 years, then a poorly maintained kids area and then back to the start. Oh and turtles.

3 hours ago, joz said:

I would not like to see it return. The Dreamworld it made sense in died many years ago. I would like to see a boat ride on the river, even using the same track if possible, but more on the scale of Jungle Cruise or Cedar Point's western river expedition.

Much as I hate to admit it, the Dreamworld of today doesn't need a paddle steamer any more, sure it'd earn a bunch of nostalgia points for those of us who grew up with it (and our parents) but along the list of priorities for the park redoing the paddle steamer is like one of the last things that needs to be done if you're going to make a list of things to do to make Dreamworld what it was. Family water rides heck yes, put 'em in yesterday. Big old boat that looks at nothing, no thanks.

[jhunt2]

I'm wondering if we will see any improvements to the river or anything over the 'other side' for quite some time. With the exception of the Corroboree/animals/vintage cars section, nothing is really functional over there at the moment, and it's a long trek back there for really no reason at all, especially while the train is not operating.

If I were in charge at DW, I think the priority would be rebuilding DW's reputation, not as the biggest theme park in Australia, but the best. High quality attractions like ST and SV will help, but it might even be healthy for DW to put the river on the back-burner for a while, and focus on running a slightly smaller park and running it well. It's a cliche, but quality over quantity any day. We're going to have a completely different DW emerge from this era in its existence, and I'd rather it be a smaller park but a better one than for them to stretch their resources just trying to fill unused space.

That being said, if they aren't going to do anything on the river for a while, they could at least try their best to get the water circulating so that it's not visibly a filthy swamp.

[themagician]

22 minutes ago, jhunt2 said:

focus on running a slightly smaller park and running it well. It's a cliche, but quality over quantity any day.

I think that’s part of why they closed a lot of attractions in such a short period of time. The rides closed weren’t running well and needed a lot of work done that they didn’t see worthwhile. Potentially better investment to close those old rides and build new ones (which unfortunately takes a long time)

24 minutes ago, jhunt2 said:

That being said, if they aren't going to do anything on the river for a while, they could at least try their best to get the water circulating so that it's not visibly a filthy swamp.

The river has been looking pretty good for the last few months, so I think they’ve finally done something to tidy it up. Hopefully the train will return in time for Easter and that will bring some more energy around the back of the park. When they have the farm animals it certainly helps, but between the kids world and Giant drop (travelling around the back of the park) it’s usually pretty quiet. The lack of log ride doesn’t help that either. 

[Slick]

This aligns well with what @joz mentioned in the tributes thread for John Longhurst's passing - they're so keen to be like Disney or tap back into the past of Dreamworld without understanding the question of "why?" 

In this particular case, why build another Captain Sturt when towards the end of its life the Captain Sturt was robbed of any purpose? Initially the boat was an elegant and beautiful solution to meet up with the steam train and put hundreds of people in-front of where the bushranger show was being performed. But for close to a decade after the show stopped, all it did was ferry Japanese tourists to the koalas and, occasionally, have the Wiz put on a hand-magic show in the back.

It was originally a large audience mover, but it was eventually a boat to nowhere, and like so much of John's legacy, was misunderstood, left to rot and eventually bulldozed. Rebuilding the Captain Sturt at a time when the park can barely get enough people in the door to watch the light version of the bush-ranger show out the front of the train station would be wasteful spending at best, and at worst, nostalgia for nostalgic sake. It's akin to nearly building a lazy river for WhiteWater World at a time when driving gate was critical and park throughput and capacity was anything but critical (which is precisely why Fully6 was built and not the lazy river.)

If it were up to me, i'd be building attractions on the island FIRST, and then building some cool, smaller, steampunk style boats (like Tokyo DisneySea's) to navigate the waters and build on the park's kinetic energy.

[joz]

5 minutes ago, Slick said:

bush-ranger show

That's another part of it though. Why is there a bush ranger show at Dreamworld now though? Dreamworld used to have River Town, Rocky Hollow, and Gold Rush, all themed lands which while not expressly about bushrangers, fit hand in glove with them. What do bushrangers have to do with Dreamworld now? 'It used to fit with the theme of the park' isn't a good answer.