Carnivale 2017

[pin142]

19 hours ago, themagician said:

That pink skull totally fits in with the Creatures of the Deep in the background! Did anyone actually put any thought into the placement of things. Sure this might be a visible high traffic location but it doesn't fit in with the surroundings at all.

[Reanimated35]

Given the completely different themes, would it really fit anywhere? 

Maybe the kids area? 

[MickeyD]

Ok..

so can we assume the Floats are stationary for SW Carnivale?

Hmmm...

Right. Trying to accept that idea as now.  . ..

.

...

........ OK fine!! Cough, cough and... Pill swallowed,,,

check! 

And then what.. ? 

Will the Floats/ Scenes come alive as the night progresses? ? ?

So..

instead of a typical Parade where the Audience watches everything roll by, can we expect the Audience to essentially be the 'Parade' to keep this Carnivale going??? 

Ummmmmm ?

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by MickeyD

[liz.wis]

On 21/12/2016 at 5:54 PM, MickeyD said:

There was the "Serpent Slayers" event in the early 90's.  It was largely a Laser Light and Pyrotechnics Extravaganza that also featured a Giant puppet fire breathing Serpent and a lot of water and jetski stunts. - EXTREMELY reminiscent of Disneyland's Fantasmic! and no doubt inspired by it.

The show was held after nightfall over the Ski Lake the Summer before Bermuda opened I recall (BT opened Easter the following year)

I just tried to search Google for more on this one with no luck.. @joz perhaps you have memories of it? It was a great show for it's day and was extremely well received by the Crowds who seem to happily wait behind an extra hour or so after the rides had closed for the day. -No doubt they spent truckloads of moula on Popcorn and Postmix whilst waiting for the night to fall..

 

I went to this one - I actually filmed it, but have no idea what happened to my parents' old recorder - it would have filmed on tape, and playback was by plugging the recorder into the TV, I'm not sure if there's a way to get that footage back.  I definitely remember the helicopter.  

I'm almost positive Bermuda was operating at this time, as I know I went on it when it was in its first year, and I don't remember going back to Sea World for many years later again.

[Reanimated35]

Back at Fright Nights when I first heard that Carnivale was moving to Sea World in 2017 I was shocked and disappointed to hear of it leaving Movie World, even if just as a temporary test. 

Right up until last night I was hoping it failed miserably so that would return to Movie World. 

Usually the first night of any event is the worst where everything goes wrong or doesn't go to plan. If that was the case last night, then the rest of this event is shaping up to be pretty damn good. 

Of course, as with anything there is a few tweaks that could be made here and there, but the majority of the event went off without a hitch (or at least a publicly noticeable hitch).

Some thoughts and feedback in no particular order:

Audio: In the 'holding area' just near Dockside at the beginning of the night, the speakers are stationed inside/on Dockside which means that most people who are standing at the front of the queue won't really be able to hear the announcers. If it's practicable, they could use a speaker mounted to the crocodile float so everyone can hear. One of the speakers in the plaza near the frozen coke stall was pretty crackly and distorted at one point during the night. It did appear as though there were some techs around it so it seems like that should be a non-issue now. 

Holding area/Opening: When everyone is being held outside of Dockside for the opening, it's great that the staff try to hold everyone back, but if they're going to do it, they need to actually commit to doing it. We started at the front of the pack on the line they were holding everyone back to. By the time the event opened, had we not been moving forward with everyone else, we would have been a good 5 rows of people back. It probably wouldn't hurt, especially as the nights are about to start getting busier, if they set up some rope like they use for crowd control at MW. 

Entertainment: While yes, most of the nights entertainment and music is a copy/paste of last years (and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year.....) it was pretty good. The majority of it seemed to go off without a hitch which was great. My only thought with this was that there was a lot of performances quite early on all back to back. After that it was more spaced out and slower paced. If their intention was to get the main acts out of the way first then give people time to go do rides or wander around or whatever, then it's fine, but if they were aiming for constant entertainment while people are hanging out in the plaza, then it wouldn't hurt to spread out the entertainment a bit. The finale last night was a DJ, which despite the announcements of him starting at 8:30pm, took the stage and commenced his performance at 8:18pm. Once the crowd started to fill in, it wasn't too bad, but the having a DJ play is really not a Carnivale vibe IMO. 

Lighting: In past years, at any night event, my main gripe has always been the lighting as it directly impacts my photography. Yes I'm aware this is a personal complaint, and your mileage may vary, but this is my review after all. I must give a huge wrap to the lighting guys last night. They've managed to light the event really well and do away with the over abundance of purple lighting that really killed the photos from other events. The mix of purple magenta, yellow, and green lights, really fits in well with the Carnivale theme/colours and does a lot towards making some great lighting for photos. The only one downside to the lighting was the DJ stage as there was still quite a lot of purple on that one and could have used a little more of a Carnivale mix. 

Getting out: Getting out of the carpark was somehow much easier than it is at MW. We left maybe 30-45 minutes after it all wrapped up and the carpark was fairly well empty by that point. Of course that may change on a busier night. 

Overall: Despite the longer drive to get there and the lack of parade (to be expected), I no longer want the event to fail and return to Movie World. MW has enough events, so as long as they don't try to go poaching Fright Nights or White Christmas I think I could used to Sea World Carnivale. For a rating of the first night, I'd give it a solid 7/10. They've done a surprisingly good job. It will be interesting to see how it goes tonight with a larger crowd. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Sounds like they did alright.

Only views I have on your review is that the exit to the carpark is made far easier as there is no traffic lights immediately outside the property - with multiple directions to head to before you hit a red light, people can get out and disperse far more before a bottleneck forms.

[Reanimated35]

6 minutes ago, AlexB said:

Sounds like they did alright.

Only views I have on your review is that the exit to the carpark is made far easier as there is no traffic lights immediately outside the property - with multiple directions to head to before you hit a red light, people can get out and disperse far more before a bottleneck forms.

True, I was thinking of more the lines to get to the carpark exit itself regardless of lights. But I guess that relates back to the lights anyway. 

Edited January 7, 2017 by reanimated35

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

yep, and with a roundabout, and very minimal north spit traffic at that time of night, it'd be a clear run around the roundabout and down SW drive. Minor congestion at the roundabout next to the yacht club, with maybe 15-20% peeling off to stop at venues or accommodation, or going left down macarthur to main beach parade, with the remaining 80ish% going right to head to the GC HWY, some 2.3km away... that length absorbs a lot of the exiting cars that form the initial bottleneck at MW... so while its far more painful to travel there (especially from the north), traffic management is a lot easier - despite not being next to a freeway (which you would think would make it easier). 

[Reanimated35]

Makes sense. Will be interesting to see how it goes tonight with the first real busy night. 

Edited January 7, 2017 by reanimated35

[Brad2912]

I'm with you TPG..

so is it the same re-hashed menu from last year at MW or is there some new options?

[westical]

They really put zero effort in describing the food offerings on the website this year.

[Reanimated35]

I didn't review the food as I didn't try it last night. 

[Brad2912]

41 minutes ago, westical said:

They really put zero effort in describing the food offerings on the website this year.

Ain't that the truth, I thought it may have been an early design Just to get it up when they first put the website up, and had hoped they'd add detail afterwards but has never happened.. 

[MickeyD]

I went to MW Carnivale several times last year and had a ball eating and dancing my way through the event.

Even though I have the ability to, I won't be going to the SW one. The line up of DJs and Live performances are pretty third rate and their really isnt anything new to draw people like me along to see it.

Sure for $20 I think it's great value and wouldn't be at all surprised if many Tourists decide to negate a full day at the park in favour of this. 

The whole thing is really half arsed and 'meh' if you ask me. Even some fireworks at the end of the night could have at least been something!!!

DW and the Fire Machine with extended trading and WWW is definately the season's winner in my opinion.

[MaxxTheMonster]

Came tonight...  Leaving already...  Even their standard food outlet in the area is selling speciality food so nothing little Mr or I can eat...  Would have thought that they would at least be selling chicken tenders or something that still fits the theme but apparently not...  Also doesn't help the one entrance to the Plaza area has food stalls at one side and the performers are choosing to perform right there as well...  Very disappointing...  Glad we didn't pay to attend or would be asking for a refund ?

While we arent the only vehicle leaving at least there is no queue to get out ?

Edited January 7, 2017 by MaxxTheMonster

[red dragin]

We left at about 4.45pm today, they where offering free tickets to people already in the park. 

[pin142]

1 hour ago, red dragin said:

We left at about 4.45pm today, they where offering free tickets to people already in the park. 

From what I understand they were also doing that yesterday.

[Reanimated35]

So glad I went Friday too. Tonight was kind of 'eh' compared to it. I think because it was more crowded. In saying that, I had an odd feeling that night 1 was actually better organised that night 2. 

I think that was more centred around the start of the night. Friday we were held outside Dockside and the band joined the crowd then performers came out etc. We were all lead to the plaza by the performers. 

Tonight they sent everyone to the plaza and the performers followed the crowd. I guess it was a safety thing with the number of people maybe, but I still prefer Friday's intro. 

Had my first ride on Storm tonight. Short and sweet ride. Got sufficiently moist. 

[Park Addict 93]

5 hours ago, MaxxTheMonster said:

Came tonight...  Leaving already...  Even their standard food outlet in the area is selling speciality food so nothing little Mr or I can eat...  Would have thought that they would at least be selling chicken tenders or something that still fits the theme but apparently not...  Also doesn't help the one entrance to the Plaza area has food stalls at one side and the performers are choosing to perform right there as well...  Very disappointing...  Glad we didn't pay to attend or would be asking for a refund ?

While we arent the only vehicle leaving at least there is no queue to get out ?

Dominos was open... as was Dockside Tavern and I think Plaza Burgers had normal fish and chips too. I agree the pathways are difficult to navigate and it would be even worse if it was a "sellout".

[ShakeShack]

15 minutes ago, reanimated35 said:

So glad I went Friday too. Tonight was kind of 'eh' compared to it. I think because it was more crowded. In saying that, I had an odd feeling that night 1 was actually better organised that night 2. 

I agree with that too Jason, after experiencing both Friday and Saturday nights, I fell like tonight wasn't as good as the first night. I honestly can't put a finger on exactly why that was the case. But I defiantly walked away from tonight not as satisfied as I was the previous night.

[Reanimated35]

18 minutes ago, SamCash said:

How could you go to Carnival and not eat ahahahahah

lol, humble brag much? I heard about it b4 then

Same way I went to Carnivale tonight and didn't eat the food? 

Nope, many people knew about it long before I did. In context with the rest of the story it set the understanding of how long I'd had somewhat of a distaste for the idea of moving the event. 

[Reanimated35]

^ Yep that was me. I never show much emotion and those who know me know full well why I'm not an overly happy person at present. 

As for feeling the music? I felt it and felt it was ok for the event. None of the Sony acts are even close to my taste in music (Rock, Heavy Metal, Electronic Metal, Melodic Death Metal) so I'm not really going to "feel" that music too much. The carnivale party music around the plaza was a good fit for the event as usual though. 

[ShakeShack]

I'm not a fan of any of the acts this year either. In saying that... I have experienced both concerts so far, the performers have defiantly gotten the crowd into it whether or not they were actually a fan. They have been running an autograph signing session each night so far at 7pm, there defiantly hasn't been a crowd anywhere near as big as last years ones.

[Reanimated35]

12 minutes ago, Luke Beazley said:

 gotten the crowd into it whether or not they were actually a fan. 

We were at the same event weren't we? 

This was mid performance tonight 

 

[ShakeShack]

Hahaha I'm more referring to Friday night. 

Tonight they were more enthusiastic at getting up and leaving once the band was off the stage. After going through the list of performers again, I honestly have only heard of like 2 of them. I do love that you had a photo on standby, showing off the energetic crowd.