Star Tour All Access Pass - Behind the scenes at Movie World

[westical]

Quote

What attractions did you get to go backstage for? 

Arkham, Scooby, Green Lantern, Justice League and Stunt Driver. 

Edited July 30, 2016 by westical

[liz.wis]

Nice use of Parkz shirt in the Arkham shot!

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

seeing the first tour has ended.. who is going to the next one?

[Reanimated35]

Just because you wouldn't normally get to see it, this is the old 'jump car' used in HWSD1. It's currently decommissioned and chances of it returning aren't great, but it's not ruled out. 

[rappa]

I must say I'm surprised. With how everyone was gushing over this tour all week there has pretty much been no posting about it since it happened...

 

[Theme Park Girl]

Will this do? Direct from my blog this morning....

OK sorry for being a bit delayed in posting up my Star Tour review! It's been a couple of hectic days for me to say the least... by the end of last night I was barely functioning after 4 hours' sleep, and had somewhat wrecked legs from the Arkham climb (still recovering!) ?

Warning, this is going to be LONG!!! I've done my best to break down exactly what one can expect from doing the MW Star Tour, so peeps can weigh up if they wish to do it, and if it's something they would enjoy. It's a thorough review. I hope you guys enjoy reading it ??

*WB MOVIE WORLD VIP STAR TOUR REVIEW* 

OK, so to put it bluntly, the Star Tour is Amazing. Every little effort is made on Movie World's part to make you feel special, and you will get to experience many aspects of the park that no guest has previously done before. 

You start off your morning at 7.20am, where you drive into your VIP parking spot at the front of the park (you'll be contacted the evening before via SMS/email with directions on how to find this) and then meet up with other participants at the front gate. Here you will be met by your two bubbly and appropriately dressed Movie World tour guides, one of them being the "Director" who will be doing running commentary throughout the day. Everyone is checked in, personalised name badges are handed out, choices for morning tea and lunch are collected, and all participants are given small devices with earphones - an extra option which allows you to directly hear the Director's commentary at all times from anywhere in the group without loss of sound. I found this particularly useful during the Scooby Coaster area, but more about that soon ? 

Your tour immediately kicks off with your first of many back of house experiences- a strenuous climb up to the top of Arkham Asylum's lift hill, which was definitely the highlight of my day. Be warned, if you are not usually used to this sort of physical activity, you WILL have very sore legs by the end of the day! This is 178 stairs each way, and approximately 33 metres high. So it may not be suitable for those who have a fear of heights either, but don't stress if this is the case, as you will have the option to sit this part of the tour out if you don't feel comfortable doing it. I highly recommend it if you can do it though, because needless to say, the view from up there is absolutely breathtaking! You'll get a big talk about the backlot studios and other attractions in view, before a group photo is taken (no personal cameras allowed to be taken up) ☺️

After navigating back down, which is naturally a lot easier lol, you'll be whisked off to the Village Cafe to recover from your climb with a delicious morning tea, plus a private visit and photo opportunity with the Dark Knight & his Batmobile. We enjoyed fresh fruit & baked pastry/muffin platters with our hot drinks ordered earlier on, which were personally labelled and delivered to us ☺️

Next up, the Justice League track walk. Not only will you get to experience a full walk through of this ride in maintenance/lockout mode (ie. turned off but with house lights on) but you'll be allowed to photograph all the amazing dummies, props and technology used throughout the ride. If you're anything like me, you'll develop a new level of appreciation for the amount of work that has gone into this ride, given so much of its detail is hidden away in the dark and fog whilst it's in action. You'll also get to check out a couple of the ride's back of house areas, such as the storage garage, and 3D glasses sanitising area (but strictly no photos allowed here!) ?

Back out into the park again, and it's a short walk over to the rear entrance of the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster building, where inside you'll be able to witness (no photos allowed here either, just memories being created) the wild mouse coaster in action during its morning test run and learn more about its functionality. Seeing the ride's elevator in action from an outside perspective is quite a treat! You'll even be shown remnants of the classic Gremlins ride that once stood in its footprint. 

By this time the park will be beginning to open to the public, so you can expect to see regular park guests wandering around outside as you continue your special VIP Tour morning ☺️

Now usually the Star Tour features a visit to the Superman Escape rollercoaster at this stage. However with this particular ride being currently down for track painting, we were instead treated to a sit through of the Green Lantern rollercoaster going through its morning safety check procedures. This was followed by a visit down underneath into its maintenance bay to learn more about its trains, and more interesting ride and park facts. You'll also get to enjoy the very first ride of the day, once the safety checks are completed and she's good to go! 

This will conclude the back of house ride visits for the morning, however there is still a couple more places of interest to visit before lunch. 

Your tour group will be taken into the STARS building kitchen to be introduced to some of the busy kitchen staff, and taste test some of the lovely treats being cooked up. Get your sweet tooth on! Refreshments are also provided at this stop, and you'll be offered a treat or two to take home with you. 

Next, you'll be whisked down to the track of Stunt Driver 2, to check out the back of house areas and meet some of the talented drivers of the show. When the first Stunt Driver show of the morning begins shortly afterwards, a roped off VIP section of seating will be waiting for you and your tour buddies in the audience seating area, complete with cushy padded seats and a prompt visit from a mobiles attendant to deliver you a fresh cup of popcorn. Now this is watching the show in style ?

After the show and just before heading off to lunch, the tour Director will take you up to the control room to meet the SFX staff and see the technology used during the Stunt Driver show. 

Now it's time for lunch at the Dirty Harry bar! A formally set table will be awaiting your arrival, and jugs of water and soft drinks delivered whilst your lunch of choice is freshly prepared. Expect a couple more exclusive special character visits in the meanwhile (in our case, it was Superman and Bugs Bunny!) and more photo opportunities. 

This concludes the tour part of the program, so memorabilia bags are handed out, and wristbands for both fast track rides and unlimited ride photos individually handed out. After lunch, you'll be briefly escorted to lockers to store your belongings whilst you enjoy these benefits at your own leisure for the rest of the afternoon, along with a VIP section reserved for the tour group at the 3.30pm parade. 

So that pretty much wraps up what to expect with the Star Tour! 

What made this experience so special for me was, as mentioned, how much trouble the park staff go to in order to make you feel special. You'll receive ongoing pampering thoughout the morning with lots of food & treats, and exclusive visits from park characters which will leave you genuinely feeling like a rock star. 

Picture this...  walking down Movie World main street, nobody else around because the park is still closed to the public. It's just you, your tour group of 8, your two tour guides and private photographer. Then, as you're being led toward your morning tea table filled with delicious treats, a Cafe attendant comes out and personally delivers your custom ordered coffee with your name and a smiley on it. Whilst taking a sip of your yummy warm drink, you suddenly spot the Dark Knight rolling down the street in his Batmobile, purely to pay you and your group an exclusive visit. 

The wow factor here is 11/10... I kid you not ???

Being able to access restricted areas, being marched straight past the general public whilst they patiently wait in queues, well you can't help but feel special doing that as well ?

The other highlight of the tour was the amount of information provided throughout. The Director will be giving ongoing talks about each ride and attraction, the ins and outs of everything, fun facts and even point out a few easter eggs around the park that you may have not noticed before! Any questions you have will be enthusiastically addressed and answered in the best way possible. They say you learn something new everyday, well you'll walk out of the park with a huge wad of new information after this experience. 

So much food is included, photos taken on the day are included, fast tracks & locker hire is included. You literally will not have to pay a cent for this tour other than the initial booking cost, so leave your wallet at home for the day. 

Overall, I thought this tour was nothing short speculacular, and worth every cent. The added bonus of attending the first ever one for us was that we had the park manager, Mr. Greg Yong himself, tag along for much of our journey, which was a lovely surprise! And he was happy to chat and answer any and all questions as well. 

So, overall, to wrap things up, I highly recommend this experience. The only downside now is that the bar has been set high for future park visits, it's not going to feel the same again having to visit as a regular guest! ? But in my opinion, it's totally worth it and a dream come true experience for any park enthusiasts or Movie World fans out there. Trust me, you'll bloody love it. 

A massive thumbs up from me, well done to the MW team for coming up with such an amazing new guest experience ????❤️

Edited July 31, 2016 by Theme Park Girl

[iwerks]

You know it's this kind of experience that might actually make me go back to the Gold Coast again in the near future.  Funny thing about these 'gold class' exclusive events is that it's hard to go back to being a regular visitor to the park.  It's kind of like when you get a cabana at Adventure World - very nice.

Congrats on the coverage, TPG, great review.  You guys look like you're getting along famously.  Which Facebook pages covered yesterday's ST?  It seems like there were a bunch.

[Reanimated35]

25 minutes ago, iwerks said:

Congrats on the coverage, TPG, great review.  You guys look like you're getting along famously.  Which Facebook pages covered yesterday's ST?  It seems like there were a bunch.

https://www.facebook.com/GCthemeparkgirl/ Has posted a great review and photos.

https://www.facebook.com/MovieWorldGC/ Will be sharing a review and photos soon.

https://www.facebook.com/AussieAirtime Will be sharing photos and possibly a review?

https://www.facebook.com/ReanimationImagery/ Will mostly have photos but a review will be popping up somewhere soon. 

All 4 of us are on Instagram too so they'll be more photos there. 

Edited July 31, 2016 by reanimated35

[Santa07]

Wow, that really does sound truly amazing.

Turns out my birthday coincides with the second last star tour (I think?), so hopefully I'll be able to beg family members for some cash. Only problem I see is if I have a midsem exam on that day, which looks like it might be rather likely seeing I have 3 of them. Maybe I'll be able to do the last one, although I get the feeling that that one is going to book out quickly and I won't be able to get the cash early.

But the real question is, who is the coolest parkz member outside of the forums???

Edited July 31, 2016 by Santa07

[joz]

Great write up!  I did Utimate Terror Tour last year, and will probably give it a go again this year.  This sounds like UTT except taken to the next level, sounds cool.

 

On a side note, it's nice to see members put money where their mouths are, and support these events.  Hopefully the good reviews that you give (which they earned btw) will show parks that the members here are a group of people worth reaching out and appealing to.

[westical]

Greg Yong (hi Greg!) pretty much said that when we were chatting to him over coffee. 

And I'm obviously the coolest. 

[WalleyWorld]

Thanks for the in-depth review @Theme Park Girl! Sounds like a great tour; you can feel the excitement in your writing. Did anybody ask if the tour will continue to run past September?

[westical]

Subject to level of demand from memory. 

[Reanimated35]

Yep and they said it will be all based on demand. 

[downunder]

^I definitely want to do it, just a matter of when. Is there a minimum number of people that need to book for the tour to take place or do just more than zero people need to book? 

The word I got on the tour was that it was awesome and would do it again.

[Theme Park Girl]

Thanks guys! Don't forget to check out everyone else's reviews as well, as per the links @reanimated35 posted. This was just my perspective on things, so it's always good to get multiple opinions. I look forward to reading what they thought as well ??

I do hope that this tour is popular enough to be ongoing. I'll certainly be continuing to promote it. When you add up the cost of all the inclusions, plus the fact that you have at least 3 staff who are personally assigned to stay by your side and tend to your every whim throughout the entire tour period (approx. 5 hours) you can clearly see first hand what great value this experience actually is.

I am not exaggerating either on how special you feel when you're amongst the general public... I admit I was gloating a little - ok, maybe a lot, haha - whilst we were being walked into restricted areas, given first dibs on rides (and personally guided to them, at that) etc. whilst they just stared and thought "wtf?" ? When we had Superman and Bugs visit our dining area in Dirty Harry over lunch, there were tourists jumping into it and lining up trying to get photos, only for them to be informed it was a private photo session and promptly (but politely) booted out. 

The amount of extra food we were offered completely exceeded my expectations as well. The inclusions listed on the promo material just say tea & coffee and lunch, but we also got lots of extras thrown in such as freshly baked cookies, bottles of water, fruit platter, popcorn etc. Although by the time lunch came around, I think we were all struggling to finish our meals ?

It's a wonderful feeling to be fussed over and made to feel so important like that, I think everyone deserves that attention at least once in their lifetime lol ?

As mentioned, it was also fantastic to have Greg accompany us for a portion of our introductory tour, and then visit us all again later at lunchtime before he popped on his construction cap and went off to do another Doomsday inspection. He seemed genuinely happy to have us all there, and obviously given his role in the park, it's great to have a chat and get his insight on everything - including have a laugh with him over the ongoing fountain jokes and what not ?? There's no doubt that he is an incredibly busy bloke, so for him to take so much time out of his day to spend with us was really appreciated by all in the group. And needless to say we made the most of it too, we had a lot of questions for him hahaha ?

Since I've come home, there's only one thing I've since thought of feedback wise which I wish I had mentioned at the time, and that's maybe just making the VIP parking section a little more obvious. I'm embarrassed to admit to took three of us about 10 minutes to find it, despite the instructions we were given via SMS the evening before ? Although it seems @JaggedJanine had no problems, she found it straight away, so maybe it was just us? ?? Either way, if they had a sign or something other than just the current little signs that can only be seen in front of the park itself, it would make life a lot easier. 

All in all, it's incredibly awesome. Still obviously buzzing here, hahaha ??

I'd love to do it again soon, although I may have to wait a while now. I've got a massive hole burnt in my pocket after financing my Star Tour, Ultimate Terror Tour & PJ party night within the same fortnight ??? All so very worth it, though... this is the stuff that theme park enthusiasts' dreams are made of  ?❤️

Edited July 31, 2016 by Theme Park Girl

[westical]

I checked Google Maps before I went and worked out what parking area they meant, so I had no issues there. Did initially go the wrong side but nothing a quick u-turn didn't fix. If I hadn't checked the map I likely would have struggled though.

[Reanimated35]

12 minutes ago, westical said:

I checked Google Maps before I went and worked out what parking area they meant, so I had no issues there. Did initially go the wrong side but nothing a quick u-turn didn't fix. If I hadn't checked the map I likely would have struggled though.

You got an email about parking? 

[westical]

No, just the SMS. 

[Zanstabar]

Everyone has really said all that's needed to be said about the Star Tour. It was an absolutely amazing experience that I'm probably never to going to forget. It's up there with my first trip to Disneyland as one of the best times I've ever had at a theme park. Congrats to Greg and all the team that put their time and effort into the day. It was truely special, and everyone should be extremely happy with the product that they have produced.

[Santa07]

If you had the money, is it something you'd definitely do twice or even more times?

[Reanimated35]

7 minutes ago, Santa07 said:

If you had the money, is it something you'd definitely do twice or even more times?

I'm booking another one in a week or so. (Not doing the tour in a week or so, but buying a ticket in a week or so for a future tour). 

[JaggedJanine]

10 minutes ago, Santa07 said:

If you had the money, is it something you'd definitely do twice or even more times?

Absolutely, It was only the first tours so as it progresses and they find out how popular it may become they will add things change things up and take stuff out, to see if they can improve or make the experience better. So there is a 1000% chance i will do it all over again. Even if they didn't change it, It is still definitely worth the experience.

[AllegroCrab]

Climbing AA must have been an incredible experience. That view of Superman is a really nice one indeed, and one that most people haven't seen, I'll see if I can have a look over my shoulder next time I ride.

[westical]

16 minutes ago, Santa07 said:

If you had the money, is it something you'd definitely do twice or even more times?

If Superman and Wild West Falls were included at a future date I'd very much consider it.