Dreamworld - the good and the bad

[liz.wis]

So Dreamworld gets a fairly tough rap here, and I'm not going to argue with that, but I went today for the first time in 10 + years, and actually had a pretty good day.

I was optimistic that a good number of people would be nursing their post-NYE hangovers, so thought the crowds (as far as school holidays went), wouldn't be too bad. I only had one wait today - of 40 minutes, for Thunder River Rapids, everything else we went on was walk on.

I've changed demographics since last time I've been there. Last visit, I went with my husband mid-week, on an on-and-off showery day, and we spent the whole time racing between thrill rides - I'm pretty sure 'Giant Drop' was the newest thrill ride at the time, it was definitely before Claw opened. Today we took Miss 5 years, who we let chose what we were doing. She's at a big of a funny age - we've had SW/MW tickets since she was 2, and is now less-than-enthused with the Looney Tunes area (with the exception of Rocket Rollercoaster). She's reasonably tall for her age, coming in at 112 cm, so still a good couple of years off being able to get on any thing else at the other parks (with the exception of Jet Rescue, which she was just under for when we last visited about 6 months ago).

I thought the Dreamworks area suited her age perfectly - rides like Gingy Flyer and Puss in Boots swing were a little more exciting than, for example, Tweety Bird Cages, the Yosemite Railway, etc. 'Escape from Madagascar' was a huge hit, we went on in 3 times. Reef Diver (which wasn't operating last time I was there) was another favourite.

The last time I went on Thunder River Rapids I was about 5 or 6 years old myself, and that was quite fun for the 'nostalgia' factor. I'm not sure what's changed with the theming (if anything), but I thought it still looked fairly decent. We wanted to go on the Log Ride, but it was closed at the time we were in the area. We were also in a hurry for lunch, and skipped MDMC, but I believe that's one more that will be fine for her height. It was my first time sighting it, and I agree it definitely should be classed as a family ride, rather than thrill ride.

We didn't get on any thrill rides today, as we plan to come back sans kids in the next few months. Had I wanted to go on Claw, Wipeout, or Shockwave, they appeared to be walk-on for most of the day. The lines seemed longer around TOT and GD, and BuzzSaw.

Being a hot day, I was really impressed with the fans that sprayed water they had located around the place. The food pricing was comparable to the others (husband was keen that they had Krispy Kreme). Chips were decent, I had a burger, and the innards were fine (for fast food), but the bread was a bit staler than I'd like. All the bathrooms I went in were well maintained, and seem spaced out really well.

You can definitely see the areas that are looking a bit run down - very sad to see Captain Sturt rotting away. I thought the theming around Dreamworks area was actually quite good - better than Looney Tunes at MW, and Beach Break Bay at SW. Looked particularly good around Kung Fu Panda.

We went in without a particular plan, and wasted a fair bit of time getting from one place to the other, next time, we'll plan ahead a little better.

Edited for: poor grammar.

Edited January 1, 2014 by liz.wis

[aussienetman]

Thanks for the review Lis. I have always enjoyed a day out at dreamworld and sounds like your family enjoyed it as well. Can I ask did you notice if any of wiggles world has been updated for the "new" wiggles?

[liz.wis]

I didn't make it to Wiggles World, my daughter is a bit "too cool for school" about that particular franchise. We have a 2 year old as well, who had to stay home today as she has a broken collar bone, but we'll pop in there when we bring her in a few weeks.

[mba2012]

Thanks for the review Lis. I have always enjoyed a day out at dreamworld and sounds like your family enjoyed it as well. Can I ask did you notice if any of wiggles world has been updated for the "new" wiggles?

I was there about five weeks ago. They have updated at least the major signage with the new wiggles.

[Gary86]

My postive notes on Dreamworld are... 1. Free storage for loose items on ALL rides 2. More rides than other Gold Coast parks 3. They gave me my first job

[aussienetman]

Thanks Liz and MBA. If it hasn't already I would assume big red car will get an update for the new wiggles. I'm a little to old and childless to ride this one solo to find out for myself haha

[Reanimated35]

I ended up buying a DW pass, so I should be heading down there in a few weeks and will give a review with pics too

[aussienetman]

Cheers reanimated.

[Brad2912]

I caved and bought DW passes last night with the final day of renewal discounts. Starting the day tomorrow at SW for our first ride on Storm, then heading up to WWW to cool down

[Jobe]

Nice!! Looks like despite it's problems there is still some love for Dreamworld!!

[Zanstabar]

As much as we all hate on Dreamworld, it does have a variety of positives. It's nice to acknowledge these for once.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

It must be said though that Lis's positives for the best maintained areas are those that were most recently installed (and therefore aren't showing a need for maintenance yet) such as the broader dreamworks installation, and the later Kung Fu Panda installation.

Comparing that to the WB Kids area, which in some places has been around for 2 decades is a bit skewed.

As a side note for 'loose items' boxes for free at all of the DW rides, arguably this is because each attraction only has a single train gondola carriage (and fairly poor capacity in busier periods).

Arkham has the one train, and it has free loose items boxes, and even Green Lantern now permits loose items (not backpacks) to be left at the station.

I'd rather pay $1 for a locker if some of Dreamworld's more popular thrill rides had multiple trains better capacity faster loading unloading cycle time.

[alex_1]

I will admit, though I bag it out quite a bit I do enjoy a day at Dreamworld. It's the best park for families, and has a nice mix of attractions. Oh, and Giant Drop is still one of the most intense and best rides in the country.

Also, Dreamworld is $5 cheaper than MW or SW since MyFun's ridiculous price raise that I somehow didn't discover until I checked their website yesterday. Dreamworld raised their prices too, but not as much as MyFun.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I guess you can afford to keep your price rises to a minimum when your signature new attraction for the summer is a revamped laser skirmish.

It's hard to keep prices low when you're installing multi-million dollar attractions in your parks every other year.

[liz.wis]

We had a few spare hours yesterday and went down again for the morning, this time with the 2 year old, so we mostly planned the time we had around what she'd like.

Started at Thunder River Rapids (no line this time), walked around to the log ride (completely dead around there, walk straight on) - this is still a fairly good family ride, could probably spruce up the theming a bit, and there was some random props around that look like they'd been dumped from elsewhere. We had a quick look at the animals (didn't fully go in coroboree), paid $1 for a bag of Roo food, which the kids enjoyed, then made it to Wiggles World.

I'd never been there before, I think I was a bit underwhelmed with the size of the attractions, I was expecting the 'Big Red Boat Ride' to be a little bigger - very low capacity. 2 year old enjoyed it though. I thought the Rosie Tea Cups were decent - my 5 year old who doesn't like the Wiggles still managed to have a bit of fun seeing you can spin them at your own speed. We had to line up for about 15 minutes for the Big Red Car - 5 year old thought it was 'boring' 2 year old thought it was fabulous, so I guess it hits the younger end of its demographic. The majority of the theming had been updated to the new wiggles, there was a picture of sleeping Jeff rather than the new one, and something went wrong with the audio in the Dorothy the Dinosaur section before the exit. The shop had a mix of old Wiggle and new Wiggle stuff, probably the most overpriced merchandise they (Dreamworld) were selling - IMO the Dreamworks stuff is much better value, and I quite like I haven't seen some of it elsewhere - Miss 5 is mad about 'Turbo' and they had some Turbo stuff I hadn't seen outside the park.

While we were up that end, my husband took 2 year old to get lunch, and I took 5 year old on MDMC, this was the first time on it for both of us. I think they need to do something about the queuing section - the line was fairly long, but they were sending around empty side-car carriages, as the divide between riders heights wasn't until further along in the line - it's good they do have a separate part, but it needs to divide further back I think, we could have got on about 15 minutes earlier otherwise - everyone else was over 130cm, only a couple of people wanting to use the side car as well. The ride was better than I expected - I think the launch was actually pretty decent. It's the fastest ride my daughter is able to get on (just over 110cm), and she liked being able to ride a 'grown up' coaster. I found the seated position way more comfortable than jet rescue. I'm of average height, and small build though. My husband is 6'1", and when he went on later, found the part over his back really uncomfortable. My daughter suggested it would be better if it were themed to 'Turbo', to match all the other Dreamworks stuff, and I like her point, other than the fact I don't think the movie would be particularly memorable to most people, and it's also out of the way of the Dreamworks stuff.

We also had a look at the Big Brother house - I wasn't aware you could actually go in the house, for some reason I thought it was the just the camera run part. I haven't watched it for years, so it didn't mean much to me, other than the pool area was MUCH smaller than I would have thought. I took a stack of photos for my mum, who really got into the last season, and she thought it was great.

Food - it was the second time the bun on my burger was barely edible, the rest was pretty good. Went to the MDMC area cafe, and there was hardly anyone there, we got served straight up, and plenty of tables in the undercover area free.

[Reanimated35]

That's what I forgot to mention in the other thread. You're right. That "Big Red Boat" is really really small. I was expecting something bigger than that.

More like this

https://www.knotts.com/rides/Children-Rides/Lucys-Tugboat

[Gazza]

^I thought the big joke when the Big Red Boat had it's planning application was that it was a "Mini Disko" and how tiny that model looks.

[Reanimated35]

The big red boat is to a mini disko like a matchbox car is to a stretch limo

[liz.wis]

That's what I forgot to mention in the other thread. You're right. That "Big Red Boat" is really really small. I was expecting something bigger than that.

More like this

https://www.knotts.com/rides/Children-Rides/Lucys-Tugboat

That's what I was expecting.

As a sidebar, I went to Knotts in 1990. I don't remember a great deal about it, as I was pretty young, with the exception of the animatronic dinosaur ride, which was probably my favourite part of the entire holiday (which included a few days at Disneyland).

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

My first visit to Knotts was in 1996... and i'm struggling to remember an animatronic dinosaur ride... any more info on this?

[themagician]

I found the seated position way more comfortable than jet rescue. I'm of average height, and small build though.

Oh really. I'm 6'2" and I find the MDMC really uncomfortable. Especially my legs. The padding has all worn off and it isn't thick enough anyway. My sister is 5'6" and she even finds the ride really uncomfortable. I much prefer Jet Rescue. Even though its story line is pointless (I'm sure if they didn't have one at all people would complain about it) it is a better ride and more comfortable.

[Gary86]

Jet Rescue is way better then Motorecoaster since it doesn't crush peoples legs.

[liz.wis]

My first visit to Knotts was in 1996... and i'm struggling to remember an animatronic dinosaur ride... any more info on this?

Here's a fairly average video -

This is the most information I can find on it - http://micechat.com/forums/knotts-berry-farm-cedar-fair-parks/157102-kingdom-dinosaurs-ride-ruin.html

Apparently it wasn't hugely popular, and from what I can gather, has been SBNO for a long time.

I agree that Jet Rescue is a better ride, I just didn't think MDMC was as bad as it's described here.

Edited January 13, 2014 by liz.wis

[Reanimated35]

• Kingdom of the Dinosaurs (1987) (primeval re-theme of Knott's Bear-y Tales)

http://www.knottspreserved.com/Site/1971_-_1981/Pages/Knotts_Bear-y_Tales.html

http://bear-ytales.blogspot.com.au/2009/12/knotts-bear-y-tales.html

http://meettheworldinprogressland.blogspot.com.au/2010/06/kingdom-of-dinosaurs-remnants.html

http://www.yesterland.com/bearytales.html

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

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Reading the description on Micechat, it sounded a lot like the dinosaur type attraction shown in the finale of Beverly Hills Cop III, however after watching the video Liz posted - the train looks nothing like the gondolas... so as if this topic hasn't drifted far enough off course - does anyone know whether the dinosaur attraction at the end of BHC3 was real?