Dreamworld Q&A

[T-bone]

Hi Belinda

Firstly, thank you for joining and providing an official outlet for the people of this forum to use. First i'd like to take this opportunity to say,  It is very clear from the direction the park has been going over the past year and bit that Dreamworld is starting to get its mojo back. It won't ever be what it was, lets be honest, but its great to see things that management of the past decided to neglect get some love. Thank you. 

Now, can I ask a few question

1) With the refound interest in returning the Baldwin to service on a monthly service, are there any thoughts about the future of the Baldwin and ultimately the steam train service at the park? A few years ago I thought we would never see the day that a steam train ran on the tracks at Dreamworld in full steam again, now we have got to that, what is the future? Will we ever see the steam engine run full time again, worst case would the park be open to running the Baldwin more regularly? I understand there is staffing limitations, but there is always a way around that...

2) The Fire-engine which has been at the park since opening day if I am not wrong was recently returned to Main Street after many years of being blocked off from the general public. However on the last visit, the fire engine had disappeared from Main Street. Will it be returning? 

3) Back to the Baldwin, has the park ever considered doing a "steam train tour" in the same vein as you provide for the animals? The idea of the tour would be to give potential tour guests the opportunity to visit the train shed during a steam up? Not only would this help provide awareness, but would also generate some extra income. I understand there are staffing limitations, but this wasn't offered before the removal of steam years ago when there was a full roster of staff.

4) Has the park considered adding random entertainment to the train ride? Theres a few good spots on the journey around the park which would be good for an old fashioned "hold up", just like the old days...

5) It's been posted numerous times on this forum that hit music usually fills Gold Rush Country, is there any reason for this? I do like that you have recently changed the music played on main street to be less "hit" like.

That is all for now. Thank you for listening. I look forward to your response.

P.S, just on the suggestions above about some Halloween Screamworld stuff, The Blue Lagoon area would and could be a lovely spot for a Halloween scare zone  

 

 

[Theme Park Girl]

1 hour ago, T-bone said:

I do like that you have recently changed the music played on main street to be less "hit" like.

I'm gonna have to strongly disagree with this. For months now, all that has been played in main street is Disney music (both orchestral and movie songs, like Hakuna Matata and Be My Guest) and I strongly dislike it, as does hubby. In our opinion the music was heaps better when it was top 40 pop music, especially when it's the area where you're walking into the park and feeling pumped and excited. 

I know that Dreamworld was originally made as an re-imagination of a Disney Park, but it's long since changed and gone down its own path. As @The Original Belinda Brown previously mentioned, it has become a park to celebrate Australia and also emphasises and prides itself on being a park for thrill rides (ie. The Big9). 

So why oh why are we playing classical old Disney music in main street? 

I actually posted this same feedback on Dreamworld's FB page a few months back, but the post for some reason never saw the light of day. 

Please bring the top 40 dance and pop music back for this area. It suits the modern Dreamworld a lot more than what's playing now. It's Dreamworld, not Disneyland. Be proud of being the unique park that you are and we all have come to know and love ??❤️❤️

[rappa]

Each to their own. Possible question the public at large rather than just a couple forum enthusiasts before making sweeping park changes like music choice. 

[xRazzBerryx]

Music choice is such a hard thing! When I used to DJ at parties, the number of people that would come up and ask you to play a song was insane. No matter what music it is, there will always be some people that dislike it. 

[joz]

I like the idea of pop music in areas that suit it, so in Ocean parade it works, because it's the music that surfers listen to.  Does it work on Gold Rush country?  IMHO no.  What about Main Street?  Probably not.  The same way that it wouldn't work on Main Street at movie world.  What should they play?  Disney songs? Look I don't think so but I struggle to suggest something else that's both generic and magical.  Is Dreamworld the only park that has both Dreamworks and Disney represented?

[T-bone]

10 hours ago, Theme Park Girl said:

I'm gonna have to strongly disagree with this. For months now, all that has been played in main street is Disney music (both orchestral and movie songs, like Hakuna Matata and Be My Guest) and I strongly dislike it, as does hubby. 

Please bring the top 40 dance and pop music back for this area. It suits the modern Dreamworld a lot more than what's playing now. It's Dreamworld, not Disneyland. Be proud of being the unique park that you are and we all have come to know and love ??❤️❤️

Everyone has their own opinion, and I respect that. When I mentioned the main street music I was thinking more along the lines of the stuff that wasn't from the movies. I agree that the music directly from the Disney movies is an odd choice, but there are people who seem to enjoy it (I have seen people singing to that music in the park). With that mentioned, I'm interested in hearing from@The Original Belinda Brown If there has been a guest reaction from the new music, or has it gone unnoticed?

[Jakev8]

14 hours ago, T-bone said:

3) Back to the Baldwin, has the park ever considered doing a "steam train tour" in the same vein as you provide for the animals? The idea of the tour would be to give potential tour guests the opportunity to visit the train shed during a steam up? Not only would this help provide awareness, but would also generate some extra income. I understand there are staffing limitations, but this wasn't offered before the removal of steam years ago when there was a full roster of staff.

Would love to see them have a Steam train tour 

Edited June 25, 2016 by Jakev8

[Santa07]

Are there any plans to bring back the atmosphere of the ToT queue back to what it originally was? DW TV's music and screens everywhere completely ruined it.

[Brad2912]

1 hour ago, Santa07 said:

Are there any plans to bring back the atmosphere of the ToT queue back to what it originally was? DW TV's music and screens everywhere completely ruined it.

It would be nice, but can't see it happening. 

The effort and money spent to ensure dead fine in queues was a little more interesting seemed to dry up when everyone started having phones with them to keep them entertained

[Whombex]

Giant Drop's original (pre cage) queue room was awesome, best when the only people in there were the group for the next ride.

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

@The Original Belinda Brown we hope we didn't scare you again!!! (we hope you don't become that ex Dreamworld REP that was here back in 2014 I think?)

here's a question I have been waiting to ask for a while now, how many more food outlets are getting refurbished? I think 10 food outlets getting refubished is enough IMO, 

Edited June 29, 2016 by Theme Park Ninja

[themagician]

Well so far they refurbished/introduced:

Grid Burgers, Grern Bean, Ice Cream Parlour, Dough Bros, Sandwich Shop, Churros stand, they've moved the hot dog stand and they are constructing a new cafe in Tiger Island.

So they haven't refurbished Kai Kai cafe and Billabong Restraunt.

Which I think are fine, so I don't think any more are getting refurbished.

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

I heard they refubished Billabong Buffet back in 2014 not sure if that's true, they also refubished the cafe as well in Wiggles World and turned it into Full Of Beans (I think that's the name) 

[themagician]

Yeah I think your right about Billabong, and I'd forgotten about that cafe in ABC. So basically, unless Kai Kai gets one, there aren't any more refurbishments of Cafes happening.

Edited June 29, 2016 by themagician

[T-bone]

Yes they did refresh Billabong, but honestly it wasn't much of a refresh. It was more a case of remove any charm it used to have and give it a general flat food court theme and feel. Would love to see Billabong refreshed with a more exciting and inviting theme. Kai Kai was "relaunched" to Presto's Training Cafe this year, so doubt there will be much of a refresh there anytime soon.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

10 hours ago, themagician said:

Grern Bean

[The Original Belinda Brown]

Hi all, 

Firstly let me try and give some responses to the questions I have missed over the last week or so. 

@ClassyDaedra Yes,last Halloween we played with a lot more themeing and added ghosts to windows, more atmosphere and a few nice family style activities like a Trick or Treat for children across the park. It is not a space we want to dive heavily into as the parents of smaller children often check that we don't have "scary" characters wondering around and we can answer that in a positive as our Zombies are contained. So, we will continue to play with a more family friendly version of Night Events such as Screamworld Halloween. You mention challenging Movieworld, but I would question why when they do a great job and it is their appeal so we would most likely be the difference not the same. 

@T-bone You had a few questions so here we go. 1) No plans to have Baldwin run more regularly. The old girl doesn't like it like she used to but she enjoys the first Saturday of each month and we love seeing her out, so that keep everyone happy for now. Staffing is not the major factor here. 2) The Fire Engine has gone for a make-over and will return. You will see many of our stationary props go out for some love and come home again now. We've already done the hearse from Gold Rush and many more, and they come back restored and shining. 3) I'm not sure anyone has considered a Steam Train Tour, but I am happy to float that idea around. Great suggestion. 4) Ah - well, yes it (train ride entertainment coming back) has been considered. First we have some track cleanup to do but that is not out of the question for the future.  5) Hit Music in Gold Rush...hmm. It should be more themed and I will pass that along to the music gods. 6) There was a 6th :-) Lighting doesn't exist in that area of the park so that would be a longer term plan for night events. 7) Yes, there was a 7th too! Have we received feedback on the music, absolutely. Most love it and if comments are to be made it is usually around volume not content. Or letting us know if an inappropriate song sneaks in to the playlist somewhere (which we are very grateful to be told). I am not surprised that the Disney songs in Main Street are hit and miss for the opinions on here, the staff who listen all day would agree with the "miss", but for me, as an ex-Disney employee it is the best and I have a great time. So this is personal opinion for which most feedback so far has been really positive. 

@Santa07 We collected that many comments and requests for screens to be added to this queue-line that we listened to the majority, sorry. 

@Theme Park Girl You mentioned a few things that were themes touched on by the above so I hope I have your comments and questions covered up there too.

@Theme Park Ninja Yes, Billabong is getting another refresh in a few weeks but that will be it for a while. And, don't be concerned, I didn't get scared. To the contrary... this has been fun. To my knowledge we haven't had a Dreamworld endorsed person on here before?

However, after some lengthy discussions I may have to stop participating in this forum and out of respect for the site managers I have been quiet for a while while we chatted. I don't think he would mind my sharing the conundrum, so I will explain. By posting as Belinda Brown it seems I fall into a Commercial Category, which comes with a sponsorship fee. This thread was changed (not by me) to be called a Dreamworld Q&A and this also had an impact on how my engagement appeared. My idea and objection was to have some fun, provide some clarity, and answer some questions, not to be on here as a commercial opportunity (that is not my role within the park either). So, since I am not able to be here representing Dreamworld without being a paid sponsor of the site, and being here as me personally would be a conflict of interest, we are at a bit of a stalemate. I can also fully appreciate where Parkz.com is coming from, the last thing I have wanted to do was cause any fraction to a relationship we've been working to foster, so I am treading carefully.  I am sure we will continue to talk to find a happy medium. 

[Whombex]

If you're going to be able to answer the Q&A, Belinda, that's great. A question:

Are there any longer term plans for the car park area? Could the carpark be flattened out from the height of Foxwell Rd, and another level of carpark added above, but still keeping visibility of the entrance building from Foxwell/The M1? My basis for this would be if an entertainment precinct (such as Universal Citywalk/Disney Downtown) were to go in to the north...

[Richard]

Before anyone gets confused or lost, I've split the sponsorship-related posts off into their own topic.

[Reanimated35]

I wanda what's going on here?

[themagician]

2 hours ago, reanimated35 said:

I wanda what's going on here?

Kenny and Belinda are visiting China.

In seriousness, it might just be a marketing campaign.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

This gives a lot of fuel to the Wanda discussions.

Pity Belinda isn't around anymore.

[Reanimated35]

I very much doubt that would be something she'd be willing to share if she was

[Troy81]

She hasn't replied cause she has been in China right.  I hope she makes her way back to this forum.  I loved hearing her responses from your questions.

[Theme Park Girl]

Looks like Dreamworld is getting on the Christmas bandwagon this year lol... 

 

Edited August 2, 2016 by Theme Park Girl