Gold Coast Report (6-10 December 2015)

[jhunt2]

Just spent the first half of the week up on the Gold Coast, post-Schoolies and pre-Christmas. I've got some interesting developments from Sea World, Wet'n'Wild and Dreamworld, and I'll be headed to WhiteWater World and Movie World tomorrow and Saturday. Pics are coming, my phone is glitching at the moment.

Sea World was seemingly running on half-capacity to try to make everything perfect for peak season. The SpongeBob Coaster spent the first half of the day closed. New Kids' World is pretty awesome, and includes the Zamperla Demolition Derby that for some reason, Parkz lists as "announced". Storm Coaster suffered a moderate technical glitch which saw the ride closed for most of the day, and mechanics climbing the lift hill on foot. When I rode later, the lift hill had decreased in speed dramatically. Further, Ray Reef was closed for maintenance, which appeared to be some sort of bird-proofing.

Wet'n'Wild had the Constrictor closed for some unseen form of maintenance or renovation. The entire area was surrounded in worksite fencing, complete with "DANGER: CONSTRUCTION SITE" signs. Any ideas? SurfRider broke down around midday, but I was assured by a staff member that it was a minor glitch, and they just wanted to make sure, what with peak season around the corner and all. There were a LOT of primary school pool parties on... So much for going a week early to avoid the lines...

Contrary to the other two, Dreamworld was running full-pelt, with every ride, bar the Cyclone for obvious reasons, operating for the whole day. However, all of the special effects, notably in the Tower of Terror and BuzzSaw, had been replaced by annoyingly out-of-context music videos. Rather than your average bone-chilling wait for the Tower of Terror, I was put through Magic's "Rude" and some other cheery songs that really ruined the pre-ride feel. Construction on the Motorsport Area is going ahead nicely it would seem. The "Grid Burger Bar" is looking fairly complete, and there's a lot of promising construction going on. I couldn't catch a glimpse of any activity around the dormant Cyclone tracks, though.

I'll update from the other two parks on Saturday night. Cheerio.

[Santa07]

Dreamworld TV has been in place for all the major attractions for a while now. I find it quite good for rides like the Claw and Wipeout where there's not much theming in the queue, but I do agree that it kinda detracts from ToT's atmosphere. But hey, at least it covers up that weird optical illusion that no-one really understood!