Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster Reopening [Dec 26, 2016]

[Jamberoo Fan]

21 hours ago, themagician said:

They don't allow cameras on any of their rides, whether or not you can take loose items onto the ride. Without special permission from the park, nothing can be photographed or filmed.

Not disagreeing with you (in case their website is not up to date) but why would they specifically mention cameras on their Ride Restrictions webpage then?

6 hours ago, iwerks said:

Could be the licence to SD has expired...

If that was the case, they would've removed all references to Scooby-Doo immediately and re-named it with a generic theme.

[Hypermarket Hero]

I was stupid enough to drop in to Movie World today to check out Scooby and after two hours of waiting understood the necessity of opening this attraction. It's ugly and disappointing and feels like some temporary fairground ride set up in an empty show stage but I guess they had no choice. The park is packed and anything to suck in a crowd is a good move.

A-frame signs are now full size and in multiple locations using very similar wording to as what has been suggested on the forum.

Some of the fake wood paneling that was rife with graffiti and general wear has been nicely repainted during the down time (correct me if this happened earlier) suggesting that the station is not an issue..

It was darker inside than the photos but the temporary construction fences were very fairgroundy. A few sounds still played like the laughing guy that spins around and I believe the "scooby doo where are you" in the elevator. The ride camera was still snapping photos leaving the flash to illuminate the building . I saw one "animatronic" in the darkness eerily just sitting there giving a five nights at Freddy vibe which could be said of the whole attraction. It reminded me of when I went on a near abandoned flume ride at night at jerudong park brunei in 2005 but that is another story for another time.

The disco room remains as is which leads to the rude shock of tribal music playing as you enter a square black room that over looks the rest of the track. After the final drop the ride halts leaving plenty of time to look over the rest of the ghost train section track until it's time to unload and in my case listen to the lady behind me try to convince her friend that this ride used to have things in it.

I'm glad I got to see it in this strange state (it's like ridding it while it was being tested for the first time) and it was truly a spooky coaster making me feel uneasy seeing something so familiar gone without replacement. The sad part was hearing exited children talking about seeing monsters and scooby doo in there and as a kid I would have been greatly disappointed having two hours of a themed queue (and that awful video sans the AOL logo) hyping me up to see nothing.It's all temporary and will be back but I feel it may have been a better used opportunity to remove or cover the scooby branding for this holiday season and have some form of temporary generic name for the attraction and add more lasers/atmospherics projections? something and sell it as a new limited time experience. Again I don't know how much time there was after the decision was made but I feel it would have been cool!

[MickeyD]

Guest Services contacted me yesterday regarding my complaint. 

They advised that during it's recent downtime, there were a number of issues surrounding the Ghost Train section of the ride. One thing lead to another and given the ride's age of 15 years, these things couldn't wait any longer and needed to be addressed by way of removing everything and starting all over again with a clean slate. 

The time frame would only allow for removing everything and unfortunately not the dark ride scenes. A fairly last minute decision was to reopen the ride for the school holidays to help with crowd capacity and give people the opportunity to experience the roller-coaster. The ride will remain open in it's current form until the Crowd levels subside. My guess until the end of January. 

They added that they understand how immensely popular with visitors and it's for this reason that it get's the chance for a new lease on life. I really hope this is true because Scooby-Doo is still a very marketable and valuable franchise to the MW brand.

I gave my feedback to GS to pass on regarding the lack of communication to Park goers and that a clear expectation needs to be set for would-be riders (including foreign visitors) so they know and understand what to expect, especially after waiting two+ hours... yikes! I asked for Ride Attendants to be more vocal about this which they said they would pass on.

After reviewing the opinions of all and speaking to them directly, I'm willing to give MW the benefit of the doubt and look forward to seeing an improved rebuild of the ride using today's show technology.

[GoGoBoy]

I have to say I'm more comfortable with this now that they've put up those signs alerting guests to the ride undergoing 'thematic enhancement'. Let's just hope that this does end up being the case, with a decent replacement of what was there before. I am all for rides being refreshed and renewed, but I am nervous that this could end up being a downgrade, especially considering the (I'm assuming) unbudgeted expense. 

I do actually remember Disney undertaking some minor refurb work on their Haunted Mansion attractions while they were still operating, with specific scenes being curtained off. But it was nothing like the scale of Scooby's gutting, and certainly no temporary fencing to be seen. I can sympathise with MW in this instance to a certain extent, with the need to keep the holiday crowds happy and the loss of Doomsday. It's definitely a rough patch for our parks though.

[pushbutton]

I went on today and the whole ride was in almost complete darkness. Nothing to see. So in a way (not a very good way) it was still sort of spooky, a BIT!

I couldn't see any temp fencing though, which was good.

[themagician]

Someone posted one of these photos inside the ride on MWs FB page saying how shocked by it. Probably wasn't the best idea for that person to do that because MW comment asking them for their private details so the park can contact them. I assume in regards to how they got the photo. Hopefully they doesn't have major consequences on the person that took them.

Edited January 1, 2017 by themagician

[Brad2912]

There is no major consequences, they haven't broken a law. The worst repercussion would be expulsion from the park, but the person has already left... a banning from future attendance would be overkill.. 

[rac2703]

Cameras are allowed on Scooby though, why would there be any consequences? MW always asks for private details to discuss complaints, nothing out of the ordinary. 

[westical]

8 hours ago, themagician said:

Someone posted one of these photos inside the ride on MWs FB page saying how shocked by it. Probably wasn't the best idea for that person to do that because MW comment asking them for their private details so the park can contact them. I assume in regards to how they got the photo. Hopefully they doesn't have major consequences on the person that took them.

@themagician, meet @MickeyD.

[MickeyD]

Who.. ? Me ???

[rac2703]

Just rode Scooby, it is very dark, making it hard to see the temp fencing which is in place. The final room did have haze and the laser lights working. It was a very eery feeling riding in its current state. 

[rac2703]

Can confirm that the axes are still swinging and at least animatronic is still in place but not operating. 

Edited January 2, 2017 by rac2703

[jake_hunt]

If the axes are still swinging, I'd be more inclined to think that this will be a renovation of the SD theme, not a retheme. After all, if they were changing all the theming, why would they not remove it all at once while they could? They wouldn't leave the axes unless they intended on keeping them.

[Jobe]

1 hour ago, jake_hunt said:

If the axes are still swinging, I'd be more inclined to think that this will be a renovation of the SD theme, not a retheme. After all, if they were changing all the theming, why would they not remove it all at once while they could? They wouldn't leave the axes unless they intended on keeping them.

Why?? The axes are not intrinsically related to Scooby and could be utilised for any number of other themes that they could possibly employ.

[TomiJ]

20 minutes ago, Jobe said:

Why?? The axes are not intrinsically related to Scooby and could be utilised for any number of other themes that they could possibly employ.

I think they may be part of the scooby doo movie. I haven't seen the movie in a while but I vaguely remember seeing it, here is a short video. 

Lols anyone remember if this is from the movie. 

*Can confirm it is in the scooby doo movie and seems to significant enough for me to remember it.  Here is a better video*

 

Edited January 2, 2017 by TomiJ
Researched it and added video

[MaxxTheMonster]

Yeah almost everything in the ghost train section was from the movie...

[Park Addict 93]

I don't know why people are still questioning if it is keeping the Scooby theme, why keep the name with all the internal theming removed if you are not going to reopen it as that attraction. Would make more sense to reopen with a temporary name/without the brand and then announce/launch the new name/attraction when ready.

Also worth noting I heard (unreliable source, but it makes sense) that the Scooby licensing the park currently has relates to the film, as such comes under the main Warner Bros. contract.

[Brad2912]

You wouldn't re-open a ride with a temporary name, from a branding point of view that's just Stupid. Then re-name again in a few months? Nope. 

 

Ive seen nothing to suggest we are losing Scooby as the theme for the coaster, despite personally thinking it wouldn't be the worst idea. But if it was to change, the signage just comes down in the next maintenance period when the theming is installed

[Park Addict 93]

Think about what happened when Dreamworld moved to Dreamworks from Nick. The area had a generic name as did the rides. Reptar became "Sky Rocket". Apart from a sign or two and change on the park map its not hard or expensive to do temporarily.

I doubt Warner Bros. or Hanna-Barbera would want the ride operating as "Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster" without all the Scooby Doo theming, unless it was only in the short term.

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

The timing on which they have closed the ride is during possibly the most popular time for tourists. With that said, its obvious Movie World wasn't fully expecting for the changes to have to be made, otherwise they would have been made before holidays. With that said, if you were a tourist, and you visited Movie World, would you be more dissapointed if you couldn't ride sdsc at all, or if you could ride but without scenery. So from a tourist standpoint it's a better outcome than a complete closing of the ride. I understand the standards of village roadshow theme parks and how they aren't met with the current state of the ride, but in the long run, more people got to experience the sdsc. And if you were a tourist, although you would be dissapoined, it wouldn't be as bad of an experience if you hadn't rode before. That's my opinion 

[Brad2912]

3 hours ago, Jordan M. said:

I doubt Warner Bros. or Hanna-Barbera would want the ride operating as "Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster" without all the Scooby Doo theming, unless it was only in the short term.

Well that's exactly how it's currently operating, and there is nothing to say it will be a long term problem. I'm sure the will close as soon as the holidays are over. 

[themagician]

Mystery Inc Van has been seen on a tow truck leaving the park. But have heard from others that in the past it has been seen leaving the park due to it breaking down. 

[Brad2912]

Maybe it's going to SeaWorld to sit in a garden bed for photo ops...

Credit TPSN for the photo...

[XxMrYoshixX]

2 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

Maybe it's going to SeaWorld to sit in a garden bed for photo ops...

Credit TPSN for the photo...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that part of the old theming from Scooby? I'm not sure, as I haven't been to the park in years and I've never seen a Mystery Machine in the ride building.

[themagician]

^No that's the van which drives around the park, and is usually with Shaggy and Scooby-Doo during character apparences