Eureka Mountain replacement dark ride

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

Temporary fencing is now gone

TRR fence goes all the way down now 

Bring on this new dark ride

Edited February 17, 2018 by Adventures With JWorld

[pushbutton]

22 minutes ago, Adventures With JWorld said:

Temporary fencing is now gone

TRR fence goes all the way down now 

Bring on this new dark ride

What new dark ride? 

[Slick]

Another solid update from @Adventures With JWorld - cheers mate!

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

2 hours ago, pushbutton said:

What new dark ride? 

Gary Weiss announced it alongside with the I-Ride attraction and the WWW expansion last year

[Brad2912]

Not aware of that at all. Think it was speculation 

[Slick]

2 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

Not aware of that at all. Think it was speculation 

https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/dreamworld-unveils-plans-for-new-flying-theatre-attraction/

I'm pretty sure it was in a Parkz article too - I know I had written about it on OurWorlds too.

[pushbutton]

5 hours ago, Adventures With JWorld said:

Gary Weiss announced it alongside with the I-Ride attraction and the WWW expansion last year

I'm certain he was saying he hoped to reopen Eureka Mountain once the mountain was demolished, and the plan was to build a new structure in place of the mountain. So it would have been the old derelict wild mouse inside a shed.

Not exciting!

I'd love to be wrong but I haven't seen or heard anything that remotely suggests they have plans to build a new dark ride, I'm afraid!

[Tim Dasco]

In the article above, its says they plan to build a new dark ride and a significant expansion to WWW.

[Whombex]

I'm stumped that pushbutton doesn't know about an upcoming Dark Ride.

[pushbutton]

31 minutes ago, Tim Dasco said:

In the article above, its says they plan to build a new dark ride and a significant expansion to WWW.

Ah. Maybe it's a possibility then. Not going to get excited until something definite is announced, and then only if it sounds good. We'll see, but given they're focused on building the flying theatre attraction this year, I doubt anything will be announced until at least next year.

[Slick]

Parkz, OurWorlds and Australasian Leisure all reported it. I linked it already. It’s a thing.

my impression is that it’s their intention and it’s not 100% concrete yet. With Weiss, anything’s technically possible. 

[Mc coaster]

If DW do get a dark ride I hope it would be an omnimover because of there high capacity and being able to go be amazing theming. e.g. the haunted mansion

[Wil_i_am_not]

I think Dreamworld would be more likely to get a Trackless dark ride, like the new-ish Symbolica at Efteling.

Edited February 18, 2018 by Wil_i_am_not

[joz]

You can theme literally any ride system to the same standard, the fact it's an omnimover has nothing to do with it. As far as trackless rides go, possible, but I don't think the price has come down enough on them just yet, besides they've already gota trackless dark ride.

 

If they intend to still build a 'dark ride', my bet is still on an indoor wild mouse themed to gold mining.

[New display name]

I believe a dark is only on a wish list.  One must also consider the talk about the dark ride was before the change to the I-Ride and until very recently, before the increase to the I-Ride capacity.

 

Somebody else can do the sums here:

25 Million to spend

Flyover Australia              $00.00

Dark Ride                          $00.00

WWW expansion             $00.00

 

Flyover Canada cost U$16 Million.  The capital outlay covered the cost to build a new 60-seat theatre that includes a 20-metre diameter screen. It also covered production costs for the exhibits.

Flyover America U$20 Million.

Both FOC & FOA are built in existing malls but I don't know if new buildings were built or how much of this money was spent on renovating the buildings to fit the I-ride.

According to Wikipedia & Parkz SDSC cost 13 Million and this is coming up to 16 years ago.  In today’s market it would cost 18,806,441.12.  Don’t forget MW already had a shed to work with.

 

[Richard]

Prior to the Dreamworld announcement, Brogent were the ones spending ~$30 million bringing the concept  to Brisbane. Brogent have referred to Dreamworld as their 'operating partner'. Dreamworld have referred to Brogent as a 'core partner'.

Brogent has leasing and profit share arrangements with some i-Ride operators around the world. This is almost certainly what they were planning for Brisbane when Dreamworld jumped in and ostensibly became the home for that project.

It's unlikely Ardent are spending a whole lot of their own capital on this ride.

 

[Slick]

None of this is as black & white as you make it to be though @Skeeta

For one thing, it hasn't been confirmed if Ardent Leisure is 100% footing the bill for the i-Ride or if they've entered in to some sort of leasing agreement with Brogent, which is something Brogent have wanted to do for years now in new markets. That means if there was an arbitrary number being thrown around by Weiss/Ardent, we have no idea how much of it is actually being spent from that figure.

With that being said, increasing the size may not even be a cost Ardent/Weiss is paying upfront, but rather something deferred over time.

EDIT: Richard beat me to the punch by seconds.

This is also a really strange time for Ardent & Dreamworld, and nothing is set in stone, financially or otherwise. Even with the recent articles and press the park has put out, they're not being forthcoming with any real plan for the "surplus" land or their grand plan for the park (which was supposed to be released last year.) Who knows what they're going to sell, how much they're going to spend or if what the real intentions are at Ardent right now.

Adding to this, Weiss has been buying shares and spending money left, right and centre with no heads up, so much so Ardent put out a notice to the ASX about it after the fact.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

3 minutes ago, Richard said:

Prior to the Dreamworld announcement, Brogent were the ones spending ~$30 million bringing the concept  to Brisbane. Brogent have referred to Dreamworld as their 'operating partner'. Dreamworld have referred to Brogent as a 'core partner'.

Brogent has leasing and profit share arrangements with some i-Ride operators around the world. This is almost certainly what they were planning for Brisbane when Dreamworld jumped in and ostensibly became the home for that project.

It's unlikely Ardent are spending a whole lot of their own capital on this ride.

 

How does the arrangement work out then?

Unless it is to be an upcharge (which I find completely preposterous) where do Brogent profit from the deal? Dreamworld gives them a percentage of the gate? of course not...

When they were bringing it to brisbane, it would likely have been a standalone product that would succeed or fail on it's own - and profits or losses based on a 'per ride' basis.

if this is to be included in park admission (and it had better be) then I can't see brogent paying for the entire concept without something in return... what could that be? a chance to demonstrate the tech and sell more of these things around Australia? possibly - but hardly something worth ~$30M in a demo... and if DW are to pay 'licensing' or 'usage' fees - its going to end up costing them the same - just in a long game... and if i were brogent - i'd be hesitant about a 'deferred cost' arrangement over the long term in a park whose long term future is being regularly questioned at present...

[Slick]

I see it simply as Brogent being a one stop shop for the entire ride, including financing.

Edited February 19, 2018 by Roachie

[New display name]

15 minutes ago, AlexB said:

How does the arrangement work out then?

Unless it is to be an upcharge (which I find completely preposterous) where do Brogent profit from the deal? Dreamworld gives them a percentage of the gate? of course not...

My first thought was an upcharge when DW switched to I-Ride.   I don't believe this to be the case but the thought did cross between ones ears.

@Richard

I don't think DW will be spending the whole capital either.  I'm only pointing out that it could be a reduced capital from originally planned that DW might have left for a dark ride.

Edited February 19, 2018 by Skeeta

[Richard]

A lease arrangement tied to ridership or overall attendance isn't that unheard of in the theme park industry. Do you think Movie World were paying the same amount for the rights to Shrek 4D as Universal Studios? Plenty of ways to make such an arrangement work for a single-price theme park.

@Skeeta if there were a different simulator ride planned initially then it's quite possible that a deposit was paid before the i-Ride fell into their laps. If that's the case then it makes perfect sense to simply delay this project rather than scrap it completely.

[New display name]

On 2/17/2018 at 11:01 AM, Adventures With JWorld said:

Bring on this new dark ride

I don't think it's been scrapped.    I think “bring on the new dark ride” is premature though. 

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

35 minutes ago, Richard said:

Do you think Movie World were paying the same amount for the rights to Shrek 4D as Universal Studios?

Of course not, but at the same time, paying for the rights to screen a film (even a 4d one) is hardly the same thing as installing millions of dollars in hardware.

Ok sure - a manufacturer is offering a payment plan for parks that can't afford the upfront cost - sure i'll work with that description - but on that basis I can't see DW passing the credit check...

[New display name]

20 hours ago, joz said:

If they intend to still build a 'dark ride', my bet is still on an indoor wild mouse themed to gold mining.

I agree. 

I'm not the biggest fan of building a wild mouse and covering it up.   Covering a WM destroys the switchback (unbanked turns) element of the ride.  Removing the ground line takes away the feeling you are going to fall off the edge. 

One of the reasons Skeeta was happy to see Eureka removed and not covered in a tin can was the fear this feeling of falling off the mountain would be killed off.

SDSC top switchback section would be better if a couple of the unbanked turns exited the shed. 

Not seeing the ground takes away from the element.

 

Personal if DW are going down the Dark Ride coaster track, DW shouldn't take on MW's wild mouse.   A coaster like Supernova at World Expo 88 would be a good starting point for a Dark Ride family coaster.

Edited February 19, 2018 by Skeeta

[Slick]

17 minutes ago, pushbutton said:

I think the bit towards the end of the attached statement makes it clear they have no plans for a new dark ride as yet.

 

Next stage of Gold Rush redevelopment works commenced.pdf

It actually makes no clear mention, and only refers to no plan for the “broader” gold rush area.