Dreamworlds Next Rollercoaster?

[The Claw]

With the new trend in coasters these days being these new-generation Woodies that can do almost just as much as their steel counterparts plus the fact that the Gold Coast (or Australia as a whole) doesn't have a true Woodie (I'm not including the Wild Mouse Coasters and Scenic Railway), it would be a very wise decision for Dreamworld to invest in one for their next "E-Ticket" ride. Dreamworld's line-up of coasters right now doesn't compete with the international market, and being "Australia's premier theme park" they should be trying to. TOTII has no where the near the same "wow" factor that it used to have when launched coasters and vertical drops/breaking the 300ft mark were a new or rare thing. Cyclone is a coaster that barely competes with the Arrow Megaloopers from the 80's, Buzzsaw has already fallen into the same trap TOTII has and the less that is said about MDMC, the better. Escape From Madagascar is the one coaster they have that does what it's meant to do well, and that's be a family/kid's coaster. Dreamworld lacks a true signature coaster and they have ever since they got rid of Thunderbolt back in 2004. You could argue that TOTII or Cyclone is now but if your signature coaster is one that is 20 years or more behind the times, you have a problem. I'd also say that Dreamworld right now more than caters for the family market as in the last four years they have focused on this more than anything with the Dreamworks and ABC Kids area revamps plus the addition of rides like Shockwave and to a lesser extent, MDMC and Tailspin. While Dreamworld have added bigger rides in between like Buzzsaw and Pandamonium, it just doesn't cut it. Ardent Leisure recognised this problem with Adventure World over in Perth and rectified it by adding Abyss, which was a very smart choice of coaster to invest in. They need to do the same for their flagship park... once they have finished the refurbishment project, of course.

[Tim Dasco]

Wait did you say Ardent Leisure owns Adventure World?

[Santa07]

Claw, check your sources.

[iwerks]

Who's going to tell Steve Sicerich?

[pin142]

Something from Rocky Mountain would suit the park well. Doesn't matter if it is wood or steel. Biggest possible issue would be potential cost as they don't seem to be cheap.

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

Something from Rocky Mountain would suit the park well. Doesn't matter if it is wood or steel. Biggest possible issue would be potential cost as they don't seem to be cheap.

Outlaw Run was 10Million so maybe Dreamworld could do something like that.

[Brad2912]

But that isn't taking into account our terrible Aussie dollar, freight costs and land clearance etc.

you'd be looking at close to double that in the end 

[Ashley]

Wait did you say Ardent Leisure owns Adventure World?

No Omni leisure are the owners of the park who are owned by  Macquarie bank the original owners of Ardent leisure.

[coasterdude44]

It would be nice if we had a Nemesis like ground hugging B&M invert somewhere in the bush so it would be mostly hidden from view, but possibly running through trenches and whizzing around corners, possibly in the middle island but I'm unsure if that ground is stable enough to hold a ride like that

also, building a tight Nemesis like ride would also be a cheaper option instead of investing in something huge like Banshee or Alpengiest, and Dreamworld could probably add some outback/aboriginal theming and base the ride off some mythical dreamtime creature like the bunyip or something like that

[themagician]

I think the idea of a coaster there would be good and an outback theme would probably be good, but I doubt they would do an aboriginal theme, as it may be seen as disrespectful to the aboriginal communities and they would have to get permission from them to use that as a theme for a ride.

[The Claw]

Whoops, my apologies about that error in my last post. For whatever reason I was still under the impression that Ardent had ownership in Adventure World. Regardless of that though I still feel the same about the rest of my post. I wouldn't go as far as saying the price of an RMC Woodie in Australia would be double, maybe around $15 million (which is still extremely expensive for Dreamworld's standards). And as much as we all want a B&M in Australia it's simply isn't going to happen, not soon anyway. Frankly I think I would be more excited about an RMC Woodie coming to Dreamworld than a B&M coaster of any kind to be honest, they look amazing.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I wouldn't go as far as saying the price of an RMC Woodie in Australia would be double, maybe around $15 million (which is still extremely expensive for Dreamworld's standards).

Tower of Terror's original quoted cost: $16 Million

 

Not outside their standards, but definitely at the high end. given their recent cash splash, one could read two things -

1. they have no money for anything else because they've spent it all on the little things, or;
2. they're aiming for a long term improvement, and accept that it's not good enough to install big rides - but also to maintain the rest of the park, and in that case they're going to do both.

I'm hoping for option 2.

[djmcbell]

I know this is going to sound like a mini-review, but I went to Dreamworld back in February this year and really didn't think it was much cop - even compared to Movie World. Out of the coasters:

Madagascar - pretty good family fare

Cyclone - looks interesting, but seemed fairly boring

Buzzsaw - sadly closed at the time

Mick Doohan - short, and I think Velocity at Flamingo Land is better (and I don't think much of that coaster)

Tower Of Terror 2 - actually pretty good, didn't expect us to go out backwards

We mainly visit parks for coasters and were done in a few hours. We did go on a few other rides too, of which Dreamworld doesn't do bad at. Really should have brought our swimming stuff with us and gone to the water park.

In any case, what does it need? We didn't actually visit the "back" section of the park, but something big around there would be good (is that were Eureka was?). Doesn't have to be something hugely modern. Some people here have mentioned Maverick and Cedar Point (very good coaster) or something like Outlaw Run, but it just has to have a decent length and be quite fun to ride. From the coasters we've been on in Australia (Movie World, the boat one at SeaWorld - other one was closed, Dreamworld, Luna Park Melbourne), most of them seem to be over and done with quite quickly (Superman, SeaWorld boat coaster, Arkham surprisingly). Only really Scooby Doo, Green Lantern, Cyclone (possibly) and Scenic Railway seemed to have any decent length.

There are a fair few rides Dreamworld could do, given the space (or what I think their space is like). Flying coasters, inverted coasters... but I think what I'd ideally like to see would be a regular steel or wooden coaster. Of course that may not necessarily bring the crowds.

However, if you want to kill two birds with one stone... a few people have mentioned a dark ride. I'd say "why not combine the two?". Scooby Doo is an excellent way to combine a dark ride with a coaster, as is Raptor Attack at Lightwater Valley here in the UK (it's a small wild mouse-esque coaster, in a warehouse, in pitch black, with dinosaurs lighting up to attack you as you go past). There are loads of ways to do this (I always think one of the spinning wild mouse coasters would do the job, have it going through corridors and so on). Hopefully, if Eureka does reopen, it'll fill a gap.

[jjuttp]

[downunder]

^Ha ha good old Piss weak world, I reference that often, especially in relation to Dreamworld.

Whatever there new coaster, if they ever add another lol (like, they cost lots of money), it will be a disappointment. Dreamworld, so many mediocre worlds in one.

But seriously, something that goes out into the bush would be cool. Going below and above the treeline.

[pushbutton]

The Irish version of Piss Weak World, from one of my all time favourite TV comedies (Father Ted)

[Rabbit2014]

^Ha ha good old Piss weak world, I reference that often, especially in relation to Dreamworld.

Whatever there new coaster, if they ever add another lol (like, they cost lots of money), it will be a disappointment. Dreamworld, so many mediocre worlds in one.

But seriously, something that goes out into the bush would be cool. Going below and above the treeline.

that would be great, a wooden coaster thru the island and around the trees would be a fantastic edition for dreamworld but are they will to spend the money and cost to build it.

[KingdaKa]

Knowing Dreamworld, it will be a shuttle. With low capacity. That lasts for 30 seconds. Perhaps a boomerang but only with the Vertical loop. Cheaper that way.

[Slick]

I'm going to offer my two cents here for what it's worth and if we're being brutally honest, nothing has been as internationally defining or as iconic (thrill ride wise) as the Dreamworld Tower. Buzzsaw is certainly a local landmark through sheer presence alone, but it holds no weight against other great coasters of the world beyond being a one trick pony that's been repeated in several other parks around the world. In my eyes, it's essentially a modern Boomerang. It's not a bad ride by any stretch, it's a great bit of fun what with the whole "being upside down so high up with just a lap bar" element of things, but it's also no Superman Escape either.

And therein lies where Dreamworld should move next. I don't need a magic ball to guess that Movie World will likely create something big in the next year or two and Dreamworld will need to really plug the coaster hole it has to be able to go up against Village as a whole.

If I were Craig Davidson, i'd pick from two coaster types:

1) RMC Wooden Hybrid. Why? Nostalgia. Everyone's been on the Bush Beast at least once in their life. Adding a modern twist (inversions, steel track and even a launch) would not only peak local and interstate interest, but it'd put the whole park back on the world map as a place with an interesting, worthwhile coaster. Throw it in Blue Lagoon, and you've got amenities, facilities, and a stage for the ride to be built into ready to go.

2) Launched inverter coaster. Take your manufacturer's pick. Gerstlauer, Intamin or Mack. It just needs to look like Superman, talk like Superman, but pick up where Superman leaves off and roll a few inversions into the mix. It's a gimmicky tactic, but it's a marketable strategy where the general public can get behind it and go "Dreamworld's new one is like Movie World's one but it goes UPSIDE DOWN!" Think some kind of crazy Intamin Mega Lite, lap bars, the whole shebang.

Ultimately they don't need another one trick pony, the park is full to the brim now of them. They need a Thunderbolt successor. Iconic, impressive, long and unlike Thunderbolt, actually enjoyable to re-ride.

Edited October 2, 2015 by Slick

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

I'm still dreaming for an Intamin Invert to come to Dreamworld

[Santa07]

As in something like Volcano the blast coaster or an impulse?

I'm assuming it's the first but just checking

 

[joz]

I assume he means a launched coaster that also goes upside down.

[Santa07]

I assume he means a launched coaster that also goes upside down.

Well, Volcano is launched and goes upside down and is an invert coaster too 

[AUSTHEMEPARKS]

Something like Tornado at Linnanmaki would be awesome! 

[Wil_i_am_not]

Looks smooth!

Edited October 5, 2015 by Wil_i_am_not