Dreamworld Ride Opening Hours

[New display name]

Awesome reply www worker. Found it very interesting what you said and the most paramount information you have ever given.

Edited March 7, 2013 by skeetafly

[JacobSibbald]

Funnily enough he has given very good information in the past.....................

[jjuttp]

Belinda Brown-" Hi Justin, our parks are on normal trading hours and the closing times you experienced must have been on a day where the weather was unpredictable. WhiteWater World is still 10 - 4pm and Dreamworld is 10 -5 pm. We do have an off peak Attractions guide which is worth grabbing of our front entry staff so you can better plans you day and make the most of the short wait times to experience the whole parks."

[rappa]

Hmmm sounds a bit fishy. They state they are on normal trading hours of 10-5 but then say to get the 'off peak attractions guide' which sounds to me like something that shows which rides close early. I could be wrong, but doesn't quite sounds right to me.

[Gary86]

There is a link to the "off peak attraction guide" in my original post. I don't like the idea of closing certain rides at 4pm. It didn't bother me that they opened later as I didn't get to Dreamworld till after midday (spent the morning over at Wet n Wild) but why close populer rides like the Thunder River Rapids. I usualy like to ride those type of rides at the end of the day till the park closes. There wasn't any long line that day (last Tuesday) so even though I wasn't there all day I did ride all rides that were open but ALL rides should repain open till 5pm - with the rapid ride and log ride closed what about the older guests who don't like thrill rides?

[T-bone]

What I don't get is if they want to cut park hours, that is fine, it is there park to do it with afterall, but don't do this stupid "close most of the park except for a few select rides" schedule they have opted for, just adjust the opening hours of the park during off peak and be done with it, heck why not close the park mid week? This ride schedule system they have going is just being dishonest to their customers, and is damaging the park brand, and with the competition down the road doing as well as they are, the last thing you want to be doing is pissing off your customers.

[joz]

Wow, the only thing open at 10 is Wiggles World and Dreamworks, and pretty much everything except Ocean Parade and Dreamworks closes at 4 or earlier.

[Brad2912]

the main rides are open 10-5 still

[Gary86]

the main rides are open 10-5 still

The Giant Drop, Thunder River Rapids and Log Ride close at 4pm. This is on weekdays only and all rides operate 10-5 on weekends and school holidays.

[Brad2912]

I certainly wouldn't consider rapids and log ride as the major/main rides TOT2, Buzzsaw, Claw, Pandemonium, MDMC are open full operating hours

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

They're sectionalising the park. Wonderland used to do this by opening Gold Rush at 11am. It saves staff wages by clipping an hour off the day, and also ensures that you've got people clustered to maximise the day. If the park had always operated by having different 'worlds' open later (like Wonderland) then no-one would be complaining as it is just standard policy. (Even on the busiest days though, Gold Rush @ WLS never opened early) I can see why they've set it up this way - most parts of the park cut back by an hour - some by opening later, others by closing earlier. In off-peak periods (and especially with the unseasonably cold and wet weather) most people will have been on the water rides earlier in order to dry off before they go home. By closing GD, RH and TRR, pretty much that whole side of the park is shut down. Realistically, security can secure that part of the park, which then saves time at closing when trying to clear the park (one of the most annoying things about working at a park is having to stand by your post until security has cleared it to ensure guests aren't flogging merchandise or otherwise getting up to mischief). I don't condone Dreamworld's move... early closure is not desirable - but late open isn't something i'd have too much of a problem with. If they open with Dreamworks and Wiggles (And since its in the middle of things, open ToT too), and then open Ocean Parade and Gold Rush Rocky Hollow Giant Drop say an hour later at 11am, they'd save a fair chunk of cash, and on mid-week quiet operating times, I can't see them pissing too many people off by doing so. ToT is still open for the thrillseekers, as is pandamonium and to a lesser extent escape from madagascar, all the kiddy rides are open, so families with young kids can get them through some rides before they crash for the afternoon, and then everything runs until closing... simple. If it's quieter than that, then you need to staff attractions opposite each other with staff who can run both (for example - run wipeout and shockwave on alternating hours... or wipeout and claw). I get the argument from those saying that all rides should be open all day... but we must remember that this is a business, and businesses cannot justify spending money on things that aren't making them money. Hypothetically speaking - lets say we have a high-capacity 10,000 people in the park, with all rides fully operational. and lets say that the park makes a 25% profit margin for the day after covering costs of staff, ride operation etc. Now lets take a mid-week day, with say - 1000 people in the park - we've got 10% of the people, but we expect the park to still be running at 100%? Suddenly, the profit turns into a 75% loss for the day (these numbers aren't intended to be accurate or indicative, just to put the suggestion in your mind). Now if the park makes a 75% loss on 5 days, and a 25% profit on 2 days (weekends)... how long do you think they're going to survive? Ordinarily, mid-week operations don't have much of an issue, they've obviously survived up until now - but with the weather events we've had recently, people are obviously avoiding the park due to the risk of poor weather, and the park is suffering. We've recently heard an unconfirmed rumor that the park is investing $25M on two attractions in the short to medium term. If we want to see these new attractions, we've got to understand that sometimes, the park can't run at 100% and still deliver blockbusters (not that they have recently, but maybe this is the reason). Having said that, dreamworld's facebook page did announce the following:

The AVPX war will end at Dreamworld on 31 March, but we have intelligence that a new enemy will arise in 2013! Now is the time to go one final round.

I wouldn't tout this as a 'major attraction' but it will certainly involve a re-theme of the battle-maze, and is definitely down for 2013. I'm thinking perhaps the licence for AvP has expired, and we'll just get to see a generic theme take its place, but perhaps we will see a new franchise installed here instead? Again, it isn't a major new attraction, but it's good to see them preluding the closure to encourage fans to get one final round before it goes down for the re-theme refurb.

[Reanimated35]

I'm going to guess a generic re-theme, and cashing in on the zombie craze. Or something like the Battle For Sydney one before Strike took it over.

[Brad2912]

Or they could potentially just brand it to Ardent's other laser arenas - M9 - which are generic and found in a few AMF Bowling centres

[Reanimated35]

Yea but they're kind bland and 'meh' - it needs some kind of theme IMO. In saying that I didn't realise they owned M9 so I guess that's what we'll get, probably with M9 branding all over it and ads for AMF. Yay marketing!

[joz]

Given all the complaints on Dreamworld's facebook page I'd suggest that the late opening/early closing thing is a negative issue for guests. If it's one of those days where there are a couple of hundred people in the park, I'd kinda go along with it, but to make it standard operating procedure on weekdays is incredibly poor form. This all seems to be in concert with having rides on rotation too, not instead of it. To me it's just a real shame that they're no longer interested in being the market leader in anyway.

[rappa]

Yes open late, not close early. The early closing just causes dissapointment to guests. Try being a parent and explain to your child they can't have their last go on their favourite ride because it's closed early to cut costs. People often save something to the end of the day, not realizing its closed at 4 and then they miss it. The Goldrush thing at wonderland was ok because it was at the bottom of the park and there was plenty to do at the entrance. Dreamworld just isn't laid out like that. If they ran the wildlife experience from 11-4 I'd have less of a problem with it.

[themeparkgc]

I wouldn't tout this as a 'major attraction' but it will certainly involve a re-theme of the battle-maze, and is definitely down for 2013. I'm thinking perhaps the licence for AvP has expired, and we'll just get to see a generic theme take its place, but perhaps we will see a new franchise installed here instead? Again, it isn't a major new attraction, but it's good to see them preluding the closure to encourage fans to get one final round before it goes down for the re-theme \ refurb.

I'm going to guess a generic re-theme, and cashing in on the zombie craze.

Just a wild thought here and I doubt it would ever actually happen but I'll post it anyway. Below is an extract of a post

The main game arena for AVPX is in a tent which was previously used for the Mummy, Nightmares, and the Dream Room (hired for events) on the Blue Lagoon site (see picture below). This tent could easily be moved back to the Blue Lagoon site (if they've packed it up and moved it across the park before they can do it again). The briefing rooms are located within the building that once housed the Vortex / Gravatron. These briefing rooms could be rebuilt in the food and merchandise stores at Blue Lagoon. The only reason why they didn't built it here in the first place is because it is so out of the way from the rest of the park. I've layered the plans over the top of the current satellite shot - the right one I have made the expansion semi-transparent. The expansion definitely will require the relocation of AVPX. It will also require the demolition of the Vortex / Briefing room building and part of the old Thunderbolt station.

Now, suppose the $25 million investment figure is correct. If the park were to take this opportunity to relocate AVPX to the Blue Lagoon site, they could potentially add a second drawcard attraction to the area (i.e. a decent full-circuit roller coaster) within the year. Both of these attractions could form a zombie/apocalypse themed area (Dreamworld would already have a headstart on theming this area - remnants of Blue Lagoon, Eureka, Skylink, Sturt etc ). Going back over to Ocean Parade, last year Dreamworld closed and removed the Stingray with no replacement. Along with the relocation of AVPX, this opens up the area to a potential expansion of WhiteWater World similar to the original plans above from years ago. Anyway, this is all hypothetical - I know it will never happen (especially considering the topic of this thread) but I think it would be nice if it did

[pin142]

The really odd thing with the expansion of WWW is that it is all approved, just they haven't actually laid out the cash and built it. Given the way WnW is going they are extremely stupid to think the park can continue to be a relative alternative when down the road there is a rightfully claimed biggest and best. Sure it wouldn't make WWW the biggest but it would add something new which hasn't been seen since they rushed a slide to try to compete with the Aqualoops. I have no problem with part of the money being spent on expanding a park that badly needs it. Back on topic I am with most other people in saying that opening later is a much better option than closing earlier. A 11am weekday opening would also help get those travelling just a bit further out of peak hour traffic and a better run to the park. On the topic of AWE closing that whole area of the park after 4pm is a good idea in the quieter times, the only downside that comes with it is closing the koala photos. In regards to the train there is no reason why it just can't go past the station with an announcement saying the train will not stop at the station.

[Slick]

It's an awfully executed idea. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how else Ardent cock up Dreamworld.

[New display name]

The really odd thing with the expansion of WWW is that it is all approved, just they haven't actually laid out the cash and built it. Given the way WnW is going they are extremely stupid to think the park can continue to be a relative alternative when down the road there is a rightfully claimed biggest and best. Sure it wouldn't make WWW the biggest but it would add something new which hasn't been seen since they rushed a slide to try to compete with the Aqualoops. I have no problem with part of the money being spent on expanding a park that badly needs it.

I think the approval would have lapsed by now. A DA approval I believe only last for 2 years.

[Gary86]

Guess what? Dreamworld now won't operate the train on a weekday! So if going to Dreamworld on a weekday you need to walk since there will be no transportation rides open.

[rappa]

This park just cracks me up, it's turned into complete joke of recent years.

[Reanimated35]

It was bad enough Seaworld getting rid of their train, but DW now only running it on weekends? Anyone else get the feeling if this keeps up that DW are going to need a new buyer soon?

[Slick]

I was there Monday week ago and had a ride-operator out the front of the Cyclone telling guests that the ride closed at 2:30pm for no other reason than that's when it closes now, which was way earlier then when it SHOULD have closed. Could they not have just had her operate the ride instead of flagging people off? (And for those who ask, the operator has been with the park for a very long time AND Dreamworld recently botched the queue line yet again so they could in fact operate with one person.) I'm with djrappa, it's down right pathetic these days. You know shit's bad when you need a security guard minding where you handle your complaints during business hours. So, just for reference, we've got: - Completely random ride closures - Pissweak opening hours - Paddlewheeler rotting in a hidden part of the park - Mine Ride just sitting there waiting for basically a few parts, still in totally fine condition - Chairlift remains - Blue Lagoon remains - Restricted train hours - Trains being replaced by crappy diesel counterparts - Crappy theatre instead of IMAX - Tower of Terror travelling slower then ever before - No Giant Drop photos Have I missed anything? (and let's not even bother with the clusterfuck that is WhiteWater World)

[rappa]

I made a somewhat joke that it will be a housing estate soon enough... but really, I'd give it 5 years and it will be closed for land value.