Dreamworld - no new roller coaster 2017-18?

[pin142]

Never had an issue with wedgie @Ryande16

[AllegroCrab]

If I was going to the GC with a bunch of people who want to ride everything, I'd happily pay for both, but it's hard to convince less enthusiastic people to fork out the cash for both.

If I had to pick between them I'd go for VRTP every time.

The best things that Dreamworld has to offer over the Village parks are in the flat rides department, and with the animal attractions. The Claw and the Giant Drop are up there as the best flat rides in the country for me (if you can call GD a flat ride).

As for VRTP, you have Green Lantern, Scooby Doo, Jet Rescue and Storm Coaster, which are much, much better than the moderate-high thrill coaster alternatives at DW in the Motocoaster and Cyclone (HWSW).

Wild West Falls is an incredible ride, and coupled with Viking's Revenge beats the Log Ride/Rapids at DW.

Superman Escape and the 2017 Coaster (if it lives up to the hype that those in the know have teased about) completely trump what DW has to offer in terms of extreme coasters. ToT seems really daunting from the outside but on ride I'm not phased by it too much. BuzzSaw is really intense, but it's just not enjoyable for me. I'd rather ride a good moderate ride like WWF or Scooby Doo than ride the Buzzsaw.

Granted I don't pay too much attention to the family attractions/animals, but @AlexB has already made a really good argument for VRTP in these departments above.

[Santa07]

12 hours ago, Ryande16 said:

Broooooo if you wanna  keep the skin on your back i suggest not to go on the wedgie. I remember my first time i couldnt sleep on my back for a week.

@webslave

Wedgie is significantly worse on your back compared to aqualoop, never had any problems with it but there is a bit of a sting as you get with a lot of body slides. Aqualoop has the padding, but it's also a pain to have to use/get on sometimes.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

16 hours ago, webslave said:

My family is currently in the process of planning another trip to the Gold Coast.  For demographic purposes you would have us as;

• Male, 25-35, thrill preference; high, water-park interest; med-high, animal interest; low.
• Female, 25-35, thrill preference; med-high, water-park interest; med, animal interest; med.
• Male, 0-3, thrill preference; low, water-park interest; med, animal interest; high.

Pricing

Verdict: VRTP group

Time

Verdict: Dreamworld

Rides

Verdict: Dreamworld has slightly more to do for the little guy, and even better it's in the one park.  For us there's probably more we haven't seen at Dreamworld.

Shows/Animals

Verdict: Sea World/VRTP.

You should travel with people who have a better idea of their demographic. (For obvious reasons) your little guy is the complete opposite of the two of you which does make things hard.

Pricing - not really anything to say there - VRTP does come out on top in that department.

Time - depending on the time of year you're travelling, it is debatable whether you would knock DW off in a day - although your little guy's age means you're not restricted to school holidays, so factor that into your planning to maximise time.

As for MW and WnW - Without a car it can be painful but not onerously so - if you're walking a pram and a backpack, the stroll over to WnW isn't too painful, but if you're lugging a little more stuff, take a taxi - it'll only be a couple bucks and still come in less than DW's tickets. I'm not saying this makes VRTP better than DW in the time department, but it minimises the impact.

Rides - 0-3 is a big age difference here. if he's on the lower end, it probably won't matter what rides he does. If he's closer to the top end, it will. I would base your decision here more on what the two of you wish to do rather than what there is for him. For the most part it would more come down to what character themes there are for him to enjoy and what he is interested in \ what photos you want to look back on. That said - most of what you've missed out on at DW are flats which aren't that big a loss (and neither is buzzsaw) although I will admit TailSpin is an awesomely different experience. There are less in the VRTP stable that you've missed, but i think they are a better quality and worthy of your time.

Shows \ Animals - Dreamworld's animal area are predominantly native australian animals, many of which are also available at Paradise country. If the weather is good you may find you'll spend a whole day at WnW in which case you can double up on MW and PC for the day which will give you much the same thing. The tigers are awesome, but Ti (though amazing with the new space) is akin to just another 'zoo' viewing area - depending on when they start the new show \ demonstrations - so the little guy is going to be watching tigers lounging around \ walking around not doing much. I think Sea World trumps them here - as there is a much larger diversity of animals, and further - you can get much closer to them \ see them do much more. I think Sea World is worthy of standing on its own in this regard.

For me, my family fits your demographics perfectly - although my wife does sit a little higher in the thrill department and a little lower in the water attraction area. If I were interstate \ far away and planning a once-a-year or less trip to the theme parks, i'd be putting my eggs into the VRTP basket. I'd aim for a day at WnW, a day at SW, and a day spent doing MW and PC. DW do have a lot for everyone, and in one place, but with a 0-3 year old, I wouldn't count on getting the whole park nailed in a day, and finding time to stop, and chill would be ideal. Having the same (or more) experiences included in the VRTP parks (including PC) spread across several days would mean less of a rush to get through the park in the time available.

Thats my $1.29 anyway.

5 hours ago, AllegroCrab said:

The best things that Dreamworld has to offer over the Village parks are in the flat rides department, and with the animal attractions. The Claw and the Giant Drop are up there as the best flat rides in the country for me (if you can call GD a flat ride).

Thanks for the kind words @AllegroCrab. I agree with your sentiments and reinforces what I said over quality rather than quantity.

On this point - it must be remembered (as I said above as have others) that VRTP are a FOUR park group. PC is the poor cousin, but it caters to the market looking for animal attractions that always look towards Dreamworld. Essentially the wildlife experience cancels out PC and vice versa, except in my opinion PC does it better. This then leaves the tigers standing alone against the entire Sea World contingent, which in my view - Sea World wins. Flat rides then are the only plus for Dreamworld, and whilst I regard many of them as solid attractions, they themselves would not be enough to sway me to the dark side... so to speak.

[Ryande16]

6 hours ago, pin142 said:

Never had an issue with wedgie @Ryande16

It must have been because i was really skinny back when i rode it and my position, because i had no skin left on both scapulars ans was bleeding.

1 hour ago, Santa07 said:

Wedgie is significantly worse on your back compared to aqualoop, never had any problems with it but there is a bit of a sting as you get with a lot of body slides. Aqualoop has the padding, but it's also a pain to have to use/get on sometimes.

100% agreed! I think they have the padding because to many people got stuck, not because of the pain.

[Santa07]

Yeah the padding is to reduce friction against the slide.

[webslave]

6 hours ago, AlexB said:

You should travel with people who have a better idea of their demographic.

Yeah, you're not wrong!

6 hours ago, AlexB said:

depending on the time of year you're travelling, it is debatable whether you would knock DW off in a day - although your little guy's age means you're not restricted to school holidays, so factor that into your planning to maximise time.

We're hitting the place the week before schoolies, and will do the parks mid-week, so I think that will give us the best chance.  Of course, I've just worked out though that it means Tail Spin is going to be down for maintenance.  That's a shame, because I was probably most curious about that.  

6 hours ago, AlexB said:

As for MW and WnW - Without a car it can be painful but not onerously so - if you're walking a pram and a backpack, the stroll over to WnW isn't too painful, but if you're lugging a little more stuff, take a taxi - it'll only be a couple bucks and still come in less than DW's tickets. I'm not saying this makes VRTP better than DW in the time department, but it minimises the impact.

That's certainly a good point.  I'd not considered that there would probably be taxis at either site that would fairly happily shuttle you between them (short trip, but chances of another fare are high).  We're weighing up the pro's and con's of transport at the moment - with me championing the cause of "Let's just grab a GoCard and get on the TX*", and her championing the cause of "Wait, we're getting a hire car aren't we?".

7 hours ago, AlexB said:

0-3 is a big age difference here. if he's on the lower end, it probably won't matter what rides he does. If he's closer to the top end, it will. I would base your decision here more on what the two of you wish to do rather than what there is for him.

Certainly.  He will be about to turn two (so the timing is actually more about the last time I'll be able to put him on the plane without buying him a seat to tell you the truth), so he's probably going to be fine on most things so long as he's with me.  The Mrs and I to be honest aren't really too concerned with stuff for us (well, I am more than she is - but mostly because of my connection to the industry) in part because we did SFMM just over six months ago, but ordinarily I'd agree with you.  I think we're keen to experience stuff with him for the most part, and then when he has his nap in the afternoon for a couple of hours we use the time to pick and choose a few rides that interest us.

I think if we are going to hit WnW it will probably end up only being for a half-day since there's not a lot there that's new to me, and given my wife and kid's low enthusiasm for water parks.  Who knows?  I may go there while they hit up PC since I'll have probably had enough animals by that stage.  We're covered on a water play area for the little guy by the resort we're booked at for the most part.

In thinking about it, without Tail Spin being up it probably (in terms of stuff I actually want to ride) weights things more heavily to VRTP.

7 hours ago, AlexB said:

Dreamworld's animal area are predominantly native australian animals, many of which are also available at Paradise country.

Knowing what I now do from you guys with regards to PC I'd think you're right - PC basically evens things up with Dreamworld on its own, with Sea World being an added bonus.  

Certainly your suggestions and commentary are right-on.  Apologies to anyone if I accidentally turned this into a discussion on my trip planning for a bit - my intention was simply to use a real-life example to evaluate the parks themselves against our market.

[Santa07]

I've done DW the week of schoolies - it wasn't awful, so I'd think you could get DW done in a day the week before.

[New display name]

@webslave I have a daughter around the same age as yours.  When I took her to DW I had an interesting time taking her onto some of the rides.  Even though the merry-go-round said over 1 they wouldn't let me take her on it but MW didn't have a problem with it.  I went to go on the rapids ride and handed my daughter over to the wife.  The ride attendant said she could ride with both of us which surprised me because the website says over 2.  I think we just had undertrained staff or new staff that didn’t understand the ride policies because the next week they didn’t have a problem with my daughter riding the merry-go-round.

[webslave]

@YLFATEEKS thanks for the tip.  I do often wonder/worry about this type of thing from attendants, given I'm usually pretty good at looking stuff like that up before I go and would naturally be unhappy to find them making it up as they go.  I was actually just checking whether our parks offer 'parent swap' like most in the US seem to.  It worked out very well for us at SFMM since we were in a group of four plus the little guy.  The thing I found most interesting about it was that in some cases as the first group of us would get off the ride and move to the exit we'd walk the little guy through the coaster car itself to get him to the group now waiting at the exit.  It wasn't a problem in the least, but I somehow couldn't have imagined the Aus parks letting us walk him through an area considered part of the ride envelope...

[Santa07]

Attendants at the park are generally pretty good and friendly. Unfortunately, you do have the occasional bad apple.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

8 hours ago, Ryande16 said:

It must have been because i was really skinny back when i rode it and my position, because i had no skin left on both scapulars ans was bleeding.

100% agreed! I think they have the padding because to many people got stuck, not because of the pain.

Scapula - that tells me that you weren't holding your arms in the correct position. if they are properly crossed over your chest, your scapula should lay flat against the rest of your back. I couldn't find the link, but this is one of the reasons why body slides require you to cross your arms.

47 minutes ago, webslave said:

@YLFATEEKS thanks for the tip.  I do often wonder/worry about this type of thing from attendants, given I'm usually pretty good at looking stuff like that up before I go and would naturally be unhappy to find them making it up as they go.  I was actually just checking whether our parks offer 'parent swap' like most in the US seem to.  It worked out very well for us at SFMM since we were in a group of four plus the little guy.  The thing I found most interesting about it was that in some cases as the first group of us would get off the ride and move to the exit we'd walk the little guy through the coaster car itself to get him to the group now waiting at the exit.  It wasn't a problem in the least, but I somehow couldn't have imagined the Aus parks letting us walk him through an area considered part of the ride envelope...

I haven't yet attempted to take my little guy on rides, but I fully intend on a visit to guest services before I do. A ride card (DW) or wristband (VRTP) is marked by guest services with the rides a person can \ cannot go on. I would imagine they would do this for small children as well, but I could be wrong - having not attempted to do it myself yet. The band \ card then serves as an indicator to ride ops (especially those who may be inexperienced) of what guest services have determined is appropriate.

Of course a ride operator has final say and if they believe the risk is unacceptable they have every right to stop you riding, but i would think these would at least help. The trip would also be beneficial to discover from guest services what rides they allow parent swap on, and how each one of them operates.

[Ryande16]

Yeah i was young and stupid @AlexB, i remember arching my lower back and legs to have as little contact with the slide as possible to gain as much speed ahah( not a good idea). I think this put extra weight on my scapulars so as i slided over each groove it just peeled my skin off! 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

So your poor review of the wedgie was actually just an admission of your own stupidity... since (for me and @pin142 at least) nobody seems to have any issue with it.

[Ryande16]

31 minutes ago, AlexB said:

So your poor review of the wedgie was actually just an admission of your own stupidity... since (for me and @pin142 at least) nobody seems to have any issue with it.

Most likely ?? but aqualoop is still a lot smoother.

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

TBH - having ridden both without stupid surfboard backpacks, rash shirts etc, I can honestly say i've experienced no difference between the two rides.

[Jamberoo Fan]

I agree with you @AlexB. Obviously Whitewater World is equivalent to Wet 'N' Wild but come to think of it, Dreamworld is like Paradise Country/Movie World combined.

On 20/09/2016 at 9:21 AM, Ryande16 said:

You could technically add in doomsday destroyer and arkman asylum to that list! I still prefer quality over quantity 

Yeah, true but firstly, Doomsday Destroyer hasn't officially opened yet and secondly, Arkham Asylum was originally built in 1995 but themed as Lethal Weapon. I did actually forget about Doomsday Destroyer so the 5th dot point I made can be ignored:

On 20/09/2016 at 1:04 AM, Jamberoo Fan said:

This might be coincidental but since 2011 when Gold Coast won the Games hosting rights, DW has opened 2 new high thrill rides while MW has opened none. This might be due to strategy for the Games - MW focusing on the 2017 rollercoaster while DW focusing on building multiple flat thrill rides. In the end, we'll have to wait & see.

 

On 20/09/2016 at 11:19 AM, ashhole157 said:

Could the fact they have boarded up the view to Blue Lagoon mean they are trying hide building going on or just leaving another closed area out of peoples memory?

I think it is highly unlikely that they are 'hiding' any construction or trying to make people 'forget' it either. I think I saw somewhere recently an aerial image of the former Blue Lagoon area with heaps of cars parked in there so I think it is now a staff car park and that's the last thing Dreamworld Express riders want to see.

On 20/09/2016 at 3:12 PM, webslave said:

Have I forgotten something?  Talked about something that doesn't exist?  Got something wrong?  Do tell!

No to all of the above.

19 hours ago, AllegroCrab said:

Wild West Falls is an incredible ride, and coupled with Viking's Revenge beats the Log Ride/Rapids at DW.

Doesn't Rocky Hollow's final drop soak everyone much more than the other 3 rides? Theming wise, I think Viking's Revenge & Rocky Hollow are fairly even. Rocky Hollow does have 1 extra drop compared to Viking's Revenge though.

Edited September 21, 2016 by Jamberoo Fan

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I can honestly say I rarely get wet on Rocky Hollow... And it might have a second drop, but Vikings Revenge has a Castle, and interesting stuff to look at throughout the ride... I mean you get to go under another roller coaster!

We've discussed here ad nauseum about what each park has, does, and is about to do. The problem here is that regardless of how many flat rides Dreamworld installs, they will still be regarded poorly against ANY competitor who opens a roller coaster - regardless of how many flats were installed and how many rides weren't installed by either of them. We all know a coaster brings all the boys to the yard. It may not be what everyone wants, but go onto any park facebook page and ask the question of their followers and the majority will ask for a new coaster every. single. time.

By not doing so, Dreamworld has chosen to play second fiddle. Whatever their reasons - whether it be because they're trying to refurbish other attractions (MW has done so whilst still almost concurrently building two new ones), reinvigorate the parks shops and facades (shit, MW has done that too - still while building two new rides back to back), or just holding out on spending more capital when you seriously just want someone else to buy the park from you so you can focus on your arcade business in another country because it delivers quicker returns for the investors (...THAT definitely does not sound like the strategy of a company operated by a bank...yeah got nothin here /sarcasm)

What efforts they have done in the past few years are now about to be obliterated by a left-right hook combination delivered by the twin forces of Intamin and Mack.

So long Dreamworld...

[Jamberoo Fan]

9 hours ago, AlexB said:

I can honestly say I rarely get wet on Rocky Hollow... And it might have a second drop, but Vikings Revenge has a Castle, and interesting stuff to look at throughout the ride... I mean you get to go under another roller coaster!

Soakness must vary on those rides then. (I forgot this but...) I was referring to Viking's Revenge pre-Storm Coaster. I've never experience Viking's Revenge in it's current environment. Whilst it does provide good views, I like the castle as part of the theming but when on the ride itself, I found it a bit odd - once on top of the castle, you can't really tell it is a castle except when going under those arches. That's just what I think anyway.

[Jobe]

10 hours ago, AlexB said:

 

What efforts they have done in the past few years are now about to be obliterated by a left-right hook combination delivered by the twin forces of Intamin and Mack.

So long Dreamworld...

Whilst I can certainly appreciate the enthusiasm behind your sentiment, am I the only one thinking that perhaps your "So Long Dreamworld" comment could be a tad over the top? No one here has concrete news on Dreamworld's future plans and I think its a little early to predict Dreamworld's demise or their throwing in the towel. Just my opinion.

[GoGoBoy]

13 hours ago, AlexB said:

By not doing so, Dreamworld has chosen to play second fiddle. Whatever their reasons - whether it be because they're trying to refurbish other attractions (MW has done so whilst still almost concurrently building two new ones), reinvigorate the parks shops and facades (shit, MW has done that too - still while building two new rides back to back), or just holding out on spending more capital when you seriously just want someone else to buy the park from you so you can focus on your arcade business in another country because it delivers quicker returns for the investors (...THAT definitely does not sound like the strategy of a company operated by a bank...yeah got nothin here /sarcasm)

So long Dreamworld...

I agree with this; except for the part suggesting Dreamworld is operated by a bank. Macquarie parted ways with Dreamworld long ago, if that's what you are implying. No bank involved now. But still, I agree with the sentiment. For a long time it has been pretty clear Ardent has tried to get maximum gain out of DW with minimum investment. They are incredibly reluctant to spend any serious capex on the place. Possibly even more so under the new CEO. Not to the extent of the old Sunway/Wonderland of course, but still not good. And with MW's giant coaster around the corner (plus Doomsday, plus the better VR experience, plus everything) and absolutely no sign that DW will be doing anything significant in response, well, it's all looking a little sad. And yes, it is looking like the Dreamworld asset may be the next thing Ardent offloads to focus on overseas arcade interests.

[Reanimated35]

25 minutes ago, GoGoBoy said:

except for the part suggesting Dreamworld is operated by a bank. Macquarie parted ways with Dreamworld long ago, if that's what you are implying. No bank involved now. 

[GoGoBoy]

21 minutes ago, reanimated35 said:

And I respond with...

Edited September 22, 2016 by GoGoBoy

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 9/22/2016 at 6:55 PM, Jobe said:

Whilst I can certainly appreciate the enthusiasm behind your sentiment, am I the only one thinking that perhaps your "So Long Dreamworld" comment could be a tad over the top? No one here has concrete news on Dreamworld's future plans and I think its a little early to predict Dreamworld's demise or their throwing in the towel. Just my opinion.

I meant that in the sense of "they won't be seeing me until they spend some big dollars on something to pull me back" rather than 'the park is going to fold because they didn't build what I wanted them to"...

That said people have been predicting Dreamworld's demise for years. I probably have once or twice, but that was definitely not my intention here. I just feel like they're treading water. They have a huge international exposure grade event happening on their doorstep and so far they've shown no intention to capitalise on it by building... either there is no money left in the piggy bank, which in an of itself is concerning. The Australian Financial Review recently referred to Dreamworld within the Ardent portfolio as (quote) "A decrepit basket case".

The fact that Ardent lost about 30% of it's share value on appointing Deborah Thomas was pointed at as the sole cause of this loss... where she was criticised because she 'doesn't even know how to operate a roller coaster' - her response was that she doesn't need to know how to operate it, just how to get people to pay money to want to ride it.

I love the improvements the park has made, but a shiny new store won't bring people through the door. BIG RIDES do that. Without it - they will continue to lose market share, and the fact that the Main Event centres are prospering whilst the theme parks languish is what points me to believe that Ardent is trying to offload it. Who they sell it to will be the big deciding factor in what happens to the parks future, and if indeed it survives and flourishes, or fades quietly into obscurity, like Wonderland before it.

[Brad2912]

With the announcement yesterday (finally) that the Coomera Town Centre will begin construction in Jan/Feb 2017, with a late 2018 opening, the plans for the new gate may come to fruition and form part of a mini-relaunch of the park with some new attractions. A lot happening on the coast in 2018, they may be late to the party currently but they still have time to get things moving