MW review 21/06/2012 including street performance times

[MaxxTheMonster]

So the wife and I went to the park today for our last time for the next few months. Had a wonderful day thanks hugely to the guest services representative we spoke to when we arrived. Before we walked under the arch MW have one of the animatronics on display advertising Dinosaur Island. As the wife is 39 weeks 3 days (4 days from due date) we hired a wheelchair. The representative then was nice enough to show me the days run sheet for the dancers as well as the show and entertainment team detailing all the minor shows and appearances throughout the day which will remain in effect until at least the end of the school holidays with the big focus on the DC characters. We continued up main street to see the Joker and Harley Quinn photo op outside the Roxy theatre which was getting a lot of light bulbs replaced ready for its relaunch for Ice Age 4. We passed forced perspective alley where Star Sapphire and Cheetah had their photo op. Headed in to the 11:00am HWSD which was probably one of, if not the best overall show I have seen despite a couple of small hiccups. We headed back to forced perspective alley so I could take in the eye candy that was the Catwoman dance at 11:30am (definately one for the males in the audience). Wandered out to Arkham Asylum, Superman Escape and Batwing before trying to see anything in the Justice League building with no luck. Green Lantern was testing almost all day and I have to mention that the carriages were going extremely slow, as in almost stopped going around the outside bank and through the corner into the twist. Work seemed to be continuing on two carriages with a section of the harness removed on both. Went to the Dirty Harry bar for our standard nacho lunch where I bumped into the Food and Beverage manager who stated that at this point in time there will not be a bottomless soft drink option at Rick's when I queried. There was also mention of the size of the souvenier cups given the recent rulings on the available sizes of cups in America (super size) and that we may soon see the souvenier cups decrease in size further. Returned to the top of main street for the Marilyn performance (12:35pm) which still pulls quite a decent sized crowd. Stayed to watch the Batman - Shadows of Gotham show (1:00pm) which still entertains but given they were advertising Dark Knight Rises just before seems a little dated. Given that the morning HWSD show left such a positive image, we decided to give the afternoon show a miss and went for a walk through the WB Kids zone. Speedy Gonzales Tijuana Taxis looks almost new given the fresh lick of paint and new covers on the cars themselves. Must agree with whoever commented on the viewing area for Road Runner Rollercoaster that if you did not know that it is an old queue you would not know, let alone the fact that the studio building actually houses a SBNO ride. Railroad is currently down, looks like it is receiving a fresh lick of paint as well. Returned to the Bonnie and Clyde bank (2:00pm) for the Wonder Woman routine (as the show and entertainment staff member referred to it as it lasts no more than 2 minutes). Stayed at the top of main street for the Batman and Harley Quinn routine (2:15pm) during which Batman wears a grey and black fabric suit as opposed to the black rubber suit, and Scooby Doo Disco Detectives (2:40pm). Did some window shopping before seating outside the Kodak store for the DC Comics Star Parade (3:30pm). This saw the return of the destroyed street float for Star Sapphire and Cheetah as well as a dance routine by the Joker and "his girls". As the parade continued we see that Batman is being held captive by Star Sapphire and so the Justice League appears to save the day. All up main street we have Hawk Girl taking on Harley Quinn, the Flash taking on two masked bandits (HWSD cast), and Wonderwoman taking on Cheetah. The Joker steers clear of the whole affair while Green Lantern remains on the Justice League float pointing over the ensuing battles at Star Sapphire. Batman meanwhile frees himself and takes care of Star Sapphire leaving Green Lantern the only hero not to achieve anything. Aquaman might have been more help. We left not long after the parade. Did not go on any rides as today was more for the wife to enjoy a day out of the house and I did not feel right leaving her waiting for me. Show times for these minor shows are at this point set for the next 2 weeks or so, but can see that they might continue this building up to the Justice League Alien Invasion 3D launch, which despite querying a date with guest services was unable to get more than Spring but they are hoping for the September school holidays. For anyone interested the street performances (someone asked in another thread) they are as follows. Austin Powers: Main Street 10:15am Catwoman Dance: Perspective Alley 11:30am Marilyn Tribute: Main Street 12:35am Batman - Shadows of Gotham: Main Street 1:00pm Wonderwoman Routine: Bank 2:00pm Harley Quinn routine: Main Street 2:15pm Scooby Doo Disco Detectives: Main Street 2:40pm DC Comics Star Parade: Main Street 3:30pm Also queried if there would be a change to the Catwoman outfit to match the new design from Dark Knight Rises and the introduction of a Bane character. No information on either query. Not a no though... Should probably rate the day... Shows: 8/10. (Wonderwoman was rather poorly executed, I also think that the Justice League fight would be better as a stand alone show and keep the parade as simply a parade) Staff: 10/10. Lots of joking around including one asking if the wife was going to go on Batwing to speed up the arrival. Food: 4/10. Nachos have become smaller and smaller as well as the appearance of the shell which is more like cardboard than a nice finish to the meal, churros are always a winner. Rides: N/A. Overall: 8/10.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Wyncenuros

[kujotess]

HARLEY QUINN? Awesome, was she in the Arkham outfit or the old one?

[MaxxTheMonster]

The old outfit. Not sure the Arkham outfit would go down too well at a family friendly theme park.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Wyncenuros

[westical]

There was also mention of the size of the souvenier cups given the recent rulings on the available sizes of cups in America (super size) and that we may soon see the souvenier cups decrease in size further.

That's got to be the flimsiest connection ever.

[kujotess]

True, but i'd love for the characters to be around Arkham Asylum. What happened to the Sylvester and Tweety show? I'm going on Saturday, which is seeming to be the BUSIEST. DAY. EVER. Lots of teenagers hanging around for the Janoskians meet and greet. People are getting there real early too, some are even sleeping in their cars (NO JOKE)! Plus it being the first day of holidays. From what I saw yesterday over 800 people where attending the event on Facebook.

[MaxxTheMonster]

That's got to be the flimsiest connection ever.

My thoughts as well. I personally doubt it will get that bad... Not like they are 21 ounce cups.

[Gazza]

Good topic, thanks, I've always wanted to have a definitive list (Or make one) of all the smaller shows in the park...Hopefully this thread doesn't get lost.

[liz.wis]

I was hoping to go this weekend, as I didn't get a chance last weekend. What's the deal with these Janoskians? I know they're YouTube people, but have MW actually hired them for an appearance?

[kujotess]

I was hoping to go this weekend, as I didn't get a chance last weekend. What's the deal with these Janoskians? I know they're YouTube people, but have MW actually hired them for an appearance?

But they are going to get a lot out of it too, lot's more people paying for entry tickets.

[JacobSibbald]

I'm glad that the Janoskians meet and greet is on Saturday, that is 800 people that wouldn't go otherwise. I'm arriving from Melbourne with my family on Saturday and can't wait. Do you know the ride times as of today? even though you didn't go on any

[MaxxTheMonster]

Approx ride times displayed were: Batwing 30 mins Superman 15 mins Arkham 30 mins Scooby Doo 45 mins Wild West 15 mins

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Must agree with whoever commented on the viewing area for Road Runner Rollercoaster that if you did not know that it is an old queue you would not know, let alone the fact that the studio building actually houses a SBNO ride.

That would be me.

Did some window shopping before seating outside the Kodak store for the DC Comics Star Parade (3:30pm).

Pretty sure VRTP are now exclusively Fujifilm - if you were outside the Kodak store - you were in Coomera! Good to hear the streetshow stuff still has a presence. Personally I steer well clear of Main Street throughout the middle of the day to avoid the crush that occurs with those shows. The sooner the back-roads between superman and scooby are opened back up the better. I didn't mention it at the time, but the day I went on AA by myself for an hour - we had a heavily pregnant cousin of mine who also has a 5 year old. Having never seen What's Up Rock myself, and knowing it's meant for the littl'uns, I suggested they not miss that show. Now - My cousin is a prepinfant-primary school teacher - she teaches K-2 in sydney and I would expect is very used to the brain-numbing entertainment that children of these ages find fascinating - her 5 year old turned to her 5 minutes in and said 'mummy this is not a nice show. can we go back to the roller coaster? (he's less than an inch over the RRRC height limit - and it was his first time). At White Christmas, we saw the 'christmas' themed show, which I imagine isn't too different from What's Up Rock (without the christmas songs and theming). While i'd expect Christmas (being seasonal, and usually cobbled together whilst still performing the daily show) to be a little 'off' but the What's Up Rock show has been running for years. Half the people in the showstage left by the time the show was half way through. This show needs an overhaul. Does anyone remember when the WB LT show stage was actually IN WBKLTVillage? (it was where RRRC is now). It just seems ridiculous to have a show stage in a western themed area, on the other side of the park, showing a kid's show that doesn't really appeal to kids anyway. I may be biased here - but I know a professional illusionist who has worked in two Australian Theme Parks already that would fit perfectly into the show stage... and provide a show that would soak up MORE crowds, MORE often, and for LONGER... and with Rappa on the payroll, the technical modifications required for the stage would be easy. (I've just seen the improvements to AOS)...

[Grantus]

I had no idea that MW had so many shows. Will have to definitely get down there soon to check it out. Thanks.

[kujotess]

People left Kwazy Christmas mostly for the fact that the night was short and they had more things to do, not because the show was bad. What's Up Rock is an okay show, I hate the fact that they make the Looney Tunes sing songs from the popculture of today. Why not make up their own classic Looney Tunes songs? Instead of '4 minutes' that turns Lola Bunny into a slutty Madonna with brown hair. Looney Tunes Music Revue was better because at least the songs they sung were classics. I miss Taz in What's Up Rock, because his part of the show was a song (classic) with Marvin & Foghorn featured (on the screen of course). I remember back when it was Looney Tunes Village, when they used to have random shows throughout the day on the stage. One of them was a Talent Show featuring Foghorn and Daffy. Lastly, I miss the days when Pepe Le Pew, Foghorn, Yosemite Sam, Taz, Porky Pig etc. used to roam Movie World.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

People left Kwazy Christmas mostly for the fact that the night was short and they had more things to do, not because the show was bad. What's Up Rock is an okay show

No - Kwazy Kwistmas was bad. And according to it's target audience - so is What's Up Rock.

I would love for WB to redevelop a Looney Tunes "hub" too... perhaps after Justice League, they could focus on returning some of the Looney Tunes specific themeing to the park

The problem is that LT are no longer current. Space Jam was your last big LT moment IMO - and that was almost 20 years ago. Theres a reason LT Village became WB Kids - because Kids these days can relate more to a 'generalised' WB theme than they can to Looney Tunes. 40 Year old women holding on to their last vestige of childhood with Tweety are really all thats left. There will always be a place for LT - but not the big extravaganza of days gone by - take a look at the children's area at Sea World - how many licensed themes has it been through now - at least 3? Parks need to keep their children's attractions current in order to keep interest.

[kujotess]

No - Kwazy Kwistmas was bad. And according to it's target audience - so is What's Up Rock. The problem is that LT are no longer current. Space Jam was your last big LT moment IMO - and that was almost 20 years ago. Theres a reason LT Village became WB Kids - because Kids these days can relate more to a 'generalised' WB theme than they can to Looney Tunes. 40 Year old women holding on to their last vestige of childhood with Tweety are really all thats left. There will always be a place for LT - but not the big extravaganza of days gone by - take a look at the children's area at Sea World - how many licensed themes has it been through now - at least 3? Parks need to keep their children's attractions current in order to keep interest.

Do you feel good dissing a child show that wasn't even bad. Yeah, it's pretty sad. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck are as current as Bugs Bunny and Tweety. But Disneyland still has them around don't they? You can make a come back saying how they have Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse on Disney Jr, but don't the Looney Tunes have their own TV show on Cartoon Network?

[Reanimated35]

These new ones are actually pretty funny http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Looney_Tunes_Show http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/looneytunesshow/

[liz.wis]

I ended up heading down there today - it was packed, as expected. We had the kids, so most of the day was spent in the kids area. For the size of the crowd, everything seemed to be moving along there fairly well. Was the first time we've been that the Tijuana Taxis were working, that was quite popular with Miss 3. She also went on the kids dodgems, I'm not sure if we've just never made it up to that back corner before, or they weren't operating, but it was something new for her. We got in one ride of Road Runner Coaster, though took longer than normal, with the maintenance guys having to fix something up just before we were due to get on. Was keen for a ride on Superman, but the queue was 90 minutes, and we weren't prepared to wait that long. Does it typically take an age loading/unloading? Husband had his stopwatch going, and it was taking over 6 minutes between rides. We saw the new Ice Age 4D - it was pretty good - I thought visually it was slightly better than some of their previous showings, the rest was most of the same effects. Was very pleased to see it was running every 20 minutes or so throughout the day - we were just walking past before it was due to start, and went straight in. We saw most of the Justice League parade, it was okay - the kids thought more of the bubble machines than anything else. It was pretty cool to see a mass of bubble all up main street. There were way more characters walking around the park than usual - it was the first time I'd seen the Looney Tunes characters in the kids section for a long while. Didn't see the Janoskians - well, I assume I didn't, wouldn't know them if they were right in front of me. Did see plenty of teens and tweens sporting their hoodies, and various signed body parts. We didn't have time to eat beforehand, so had expensive burgers at Gotham Cafe. They were no better or worse than we expected them to be. The animatronic dinosaur promoting Dino Island at SW looked better in person that it did in the pictures. Dinosaur obsessed daughter now keen for another SW visit.

[jjuttp]

The problem is that LT are no longer current. Space Jam was your last big LT moment IMO - and that was almost 20 years ago.

Wasn't that Back In Action? In like '02 or 4?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Do you feel good dissing a child show that wasn't even bad. Yeah, it's pretty sad. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck are as current as Bugs Bunny and Tweety. But Disneyland still has them around don't they? You can make a come back saying how they have Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse on Disney Jr, but don't the Looney Tunes have their own TV show on Cartoon Network?

Then why the change from LT Village to WB Kids? Because it's more recognisable and current. I didn't say LT don't have a place in the park, I just said - not the extravaganza they used to - the area is now themed WB Kids, and this gives the park the freedom and the flexibility to utilise other WB children's based licensing. I've done shows and events - even children's shows - and I found Kwazy Kwistmas a poor showing. I've never seen what's up rock, but when a child who is the target demographic says it isn't a good show, and a prepinfants school teacher says the same thing, i'm inclined to believe them. You're entitled to your opinion, i'm not saying you're wrong or I'm right - i'm just saying, from my personal (and somewhat educated) opinion, it's not a good show. I'm glad you (and several others) have raised the comparison between LT and Disney characters. And yes - you're right - Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse - hell I'm pretty sure theres at least 4 different disney channels available on pay television - the point isn't the last movie they made (I used space jam as an example of currency, not the yardstick of it) - the point is that Disney continues to market (and market well) their flagship characters. The LT group are part of WB - VRTP only own license to them - they don't own the brand - and WB just don't seem to be interested in plugging the brand like Disney are. Ok - so I didn't know about some of the more recent LT films - shows how 'blockbuster' they were. Children of today still know 'Mickey Mouse'... ok - they probably don't know Horace Horse or Clarabelle Cow, Brer Bear, or even Pluto for some... but your staple characters - everything from Mickey, Minnie, Chip n Dale, Goofy and Donald Duck are still out there and popular - Hidden Mickeys in everything Disney does, from hotel rooms to the shape of pools, the brand hasn't been abandoned. They may not be releasing feature films, but the characters are still there - on everything from TV ads promoting Disneyland (although Buzz Lightyear takes the stage in the most recent one), to 3 or 4 pay tv channels that continue to show classic disney alongside the new generation - that is - Pixar characters etc. I'm not calling for a removal of the LT brand from the park - I'm just saying that the marketing of that brand - both by WB in general, as well as VRTP isn't anywhere near Disney. There are many themes that could be worked into the LTRR replacement that would still fit WB Kids, and have relevance, without utilising the LT brand - will they do that? No - they'll probably stick with LT - but while you'll generally get kids recognising Bugs, Daffy, Elmer, Tweety and Sylvester, not so many will recognise Coyote, Foghorn, Speedy, or Granny. I've deliberately left off Marvin, Taz and RoadRunner because their popularity is debatable - for some they're their favourites, and for others - they've never heard of them. And at the end of the day - i'm not suggesting the park remove LT, my main point was that the relevance of LT in a WESTERN themed area doesn't work. The show, in it's current form doesn't work (based on hearsay), and my opinion is that if it's anything like Kwazy - it DOESN'T WORK. FYI - I stayed for the whole Kwazy show, despite my thoughts on it - because i didn't want to judge it based on half a show. And I don't buy 'it's a children's show' - I've seen theme parks on the same and lower budgets put together a childrens show, with childrens characters that are more of a struggle than LT (think HB) - and still have popularity, good reviews, and plenty of revisits. I've seen Mr Croaker put together some great (and some REALLY shit) shows in his time - and I wouldn't be surprised if he had an involvement in Whats Up Rock... It's worse than the current iteration of the seal show at SW. Lastly - i'm not 'dissing' anything. I'm providing a critique - something that most people in showbusiness are used to - both positive and negative. Most people in the business enjoy receiving critique because it helps them identify where they can improve. I recently saw a very large-scale production, and happen to know someone who works on the technical crew of that show. Apart from being told that i'd enjoy the show, I was given no further information before I saw the show. After I saw it, I was asked what I thought - and I provided a slightly disjointed, but completely honest viewpoint on many aspects of the show, including the technical side of things (being somewhat involved in that technical aspect myself). Many issues I raised in that feedback were things that this person agreed with me on as flaws or faults that weren't great, but in most cases couldn't be helped or couldn't be changed. I had not a single issue or complaint that this person either wasn't already aware of and couldn't fix, or simply had no control over. My point is - if Kwazy is anything like Whats up, and I assume it would follow a fairly similar running order - it needs a change - a revamp - an overhaul. This was all I intended in my original post, and is still all i'm saying now. Having an LT show, on the other side of the park to the children's area isn't the best fit, made worse by the fact that SOME of the characters in the show are not recognisable to it's target audience, and worse still by the corny, dumbed-down storylines.

[MacPark]

Was keen for a ride on Superman, but the queue was 90 minutes, and we weren't prepared to wait that long. Does it typically take an age loading/unloading? Husband had his stopwatch going, and it was taking over 6 minutes between rides.

Movie World load times have become a joke. I was there the other day and the loading for AA and Batwing Spaceshot were a joke. It takes 2 people to load you. They do a pocket check and then the other person re-does the pocket check and then they check your harness only to have another person re-check your harness. Its over kill. 4 checks is too much. AA is just as bad having to wait for them to do every person up and again check from one person and a recheck again. Superman is not so bad with the checks but they just seem to take ages to get people on the ride, seated. locked in and then press the button. Scooby is the total other way. Quick load and a quick check. They even were letting people line up behind gates them self and no be counted into a place. I understand safety is priority but when you compare to parks around the world or even at Dreamworld its just soooooooooo long at movie world. Its starting to get on my nerves. Seriously the bat wing really annoyed me the other day. At one point the girl said "no paper in your pockets" Overkill.

[xRazzBerryx]

I don't think they are that bad.. Scooby Doo is fast because it is just a simple lap bar.. Where as AA is new trains so you would expect some delays every now and then.. I think Superman is very fast TBH. They get you in pull the lapbar down yourself, do up your seatbelt, the attendent comes and checks it once and then they press the button. Maybe it was just the people you saw? not sure. Maybe some people had things in their pocket which caused a delay.. If you think about dreamworld..they are pretty slow. Wipeout, Claw, Buzzsaw (sometimes), MDMC, Shockwave. They all have pretty long times before the ride starts. Where as there fast loading times are probably TOT2 and GD. Just my opinion on my experiences..

[kujotess]

Movie World load times have become a joke. I was there the other day and the loading for AA and Batwing Spaceshot were a joke. It takes 2 people to load you. They do a pocket check and then the other person re-does the pocket check and then they check your harness only to have another person re-check your harness. Its over kill. 4 checks is too much. AA is just as bad having to wait for them to do every person up and again check from one person and a recheck again. Superman is not so bad with the checks but they just seem to take ages to get people on the ride, seated. locked in and then press the button. Scooby is the total other way. Quick load and a quick check. They even were letting people line up behind gates them self and no be counted into a place. I understand safety is priority but when you compare to parks around the world or even at Dreamworld its just soooooooooo long at movie world. Its starting to get on my nerves. Seriously the bat wing really annoyed me the other day. At one point the girl said "no paper in your pockets" Overkill.

When I went there last Sunday, the guy loading Arkham Asylum was a stupid dick. He was trying to act funny and cool singing to my sister, then got all up me for doing up my seatbelt before they tell you not to. He was around 18 too. I seriously wanted to punch him in the face, really wasn't worth the 2 hour wait.

Didn't see the Janoskians - well, I assume I didn't, wouldn't know them if they were right in front of me. Did see plenty of teens and tweens sporting their hoodies, and various signed body parts. The animatronic dinosaur promoting Dino Island at SW looked better in person that it did in the pictures. Dinosaur obsessed daughter now keen for another SW visit.

I met the Janoskians twice, I won't say how early I got there or how long I waited though. I didn't see the Ice Age 4D attraction or do any rides, but I did see the inside of the Roxy building. It was lots of big pictures, but lit up well. Not like the old Journey backdrop or the Spongebob 3D backdrop at Sea World. AlexB, seriously, I read what you said above but after, I don't remember any of it.

[Brad2912]

who the hell are the Janoskians??? never heard of them until MW posted on FB that werent allowed to camp out at the park overnight waiting for them... WTF??

[Reanimated35]

from the 2sec look on youtube they appear to be a bunch of dicks who copy other "pranks" they see from comedians on tv/online. Just a bunch of kids with their heads stuck up their ass really.