VRTP On Google Street View

[Jamberoo Fan]

After saying "the Gold Coast theme parks should take note of" Jamberoo's online park map upgrade, it seems it was the other way around but just for one aspect of it - the virtual tour.

VRTP since September 2017 have allowed Google to add Street View of their parks. However, integration of this into their online park maps hasn't happened...yet (nor a live chat feature to their websites ).

A list of links to access all the main attractions are below, which can be convenient for future reference.

Note: If you can't move in a certain direction, refer to Google's map as they do not have Street View everywhere. However, the map's detailed routes can be conflicting with where you actually can go in Street View.

Paradise Country

• Production Drive
• Parking
• Farmstay*
• Entrance
• Former Warner Brothers. Movie World Studio Tour Trams
• Homestead
• Clancy's Opal Mine
• Lorikeets
• Dingoes**
• Wildlife Photo Centre/Walk
• Koalas
• Animal Nursery & Walkthrough
• Stockman & Sheep Dog Arena***
• Billy Tea Campfire, Stockhorse Arena & Wagon Rides****
• Gold & Gemstone Panning
• Shearing Shed
• Farmhouse Restaurant

*This is the entrance to Farmstay. Follow the road/signs to reach the actual Farmstay reception/accommodation. If you turn right at the 1st intersection of sealed road (which you can't in Google Street View), it takes you to the Native American Camp scene in Wild West Falls, which is around 100 metres away.

**The Dingoes exhibit can be seen in the distance behind some trees.

***This view is from the road between the entrance & the Homestead. The entrance to the Stockman & Sheep Dog Arena is behind the bins on the left, which is located next to Wagon Rides.

****Billy Tea Campfire is the undercover area to the left behind the water tank while Wagon Rides is the undercover area to the right. Stockhorse Arena is in the centre.

Australian Outback Spectacular

• Parking
• Building Entrance
• Ticket Gates
• Shop
• Bar Waiting Area

Unfortunately, there is no Street View of the show arena.

Wet 'n' Wild Gold Coast

• Parking
• Entrance
• Entry Plaza & Wet 'n' Wild Junior
• Super 8 Aqua Racer & AquaLoop
• River Rapids & Constrictor
• Calypso Beach
• Whirlpool Springs
• SurfRider & Extreme H20 Zone
• Giant Wave Pool, FlowRider & SkyCoaster
• Mammoth Falls

Sea World

• Theme Park/Cruises/Helicopters Parking
• Cruises & Helicopters (Out Of Theme Park)
• Theme Park Entrance
• Guest Services & Animal Adventures Check-In Centre
• Jet Stunt Extreme
• Penguin Encounter (External)
• Penguin Encounter (Internal)
• Monorail System Main Station & Creatures Of The Deep: Deep Discoveries
• Helicopters (In Theme Park)
• Creatures Of The Deep (Outdoor Section)
• Our World Of The Dolphin
• Dolphin Nursery
• Fish Detectives
• Nickelodeon Land
• The Plaza
• Jet Rescue
• Polar Bear Shores
• Ray Reef
• Shark Bay
• Storm Coaster
• Spongebob Squarepants 3D: The Great Jelly Rescue
• Monorail System Mid-Station
• Penguin Point
• Seal Harbour
• Affinity & Dolphin Beach
• Castaway Bay
• Resort Entrance (Theme Park) & Monorail System Resort Station
• Resort Entrance (Parking)
• Resort Parking

It's a pretty sad sight seeing Sea World resort to cheap ways to make revenue such as Long Shot. Throwing a basketball at a hoop?  It's something people can do at home. It's also in such an open space, making it look tacky. And the advertising is odd - "$5 for 3 balls. Everyone wins a prize". "Everyone"? So essentially it is 'Prize for $5'?  Having not visited the Gold Coast theme parks in over 5 years, using Street View really shows how much the parks have changed with the now-targeting towards locals & an over-reliance on carnival games etc. to make revenue in most parks through repeat-visit locals.

Warner Brothers. Movie World

• Parking
• Entrance
• Grand Archway
• Fountain Of Fame
• Green Lantern Coaster
• Batwing Spaceshot
• Justice League: Alien Invasion 3D
• DC Rivals HyperCoaster
• Superman Escape
• Arkham Asylum: Shock Thearpy
• Guest Services
• Looney Tunes 4D Starring Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote
• Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster
• DC Super Villians Unleashed
• Wild West Falls
• County Fair Fun 'n' Games, Bumper Cars & Intencity
• Hollywood Stunt Driver
• Kids' WB! Fun Zone

Edited March 20, 2018 by Jamberoo Fan

[pin142]

2 hours ago, Jamberoo Fan said:

It's a pretty sad sight seeing Sea World resort to cheap ways to make revenue such as Long Shot.

I don't have an issue with games like this however I do have an issue with how it looks. Screams a Friday afternoon ten minutes before leaving work job.

[Mc coaster]

I just think it is funny that if you turn towards penguin point at the monorail system mid-station where only half the seal sculptors can be seen, the head is censored but while at penguin point when you look over it is in full view and it is not censored. I also assume that the Joker requested his face not to be shown so that Batman will not find him.

[Jamberoo Fan]

On 3/21/2018 at 1:29 AM, pin142 said:

I don't have an issue with games like this however I do have an issue with how it looks.

I wouldn't mind it if it was in a themed dedicated gaming arcade but the way Long Shot is presented in that Street View panorama just gives a 'we need money' look particularly given the target market for it is just people who happen to walk past & that "everyone" gets a prize regardless of how good they are at throwing basketballs into the hoop. The lack of aesthetics also adds to that look. For a non-local, Sea World should look like a marine theme park not an agricultural show (Agricultural shows probably wouldn't even have a concept like Long Shot with the way it is done in that Street View panorama. As I said earlier, throwing basketballs at a hoop like that is something people can do at home).

If Sea World had a themed dedicated gaming arcade, say in The Plaza, with one of those gaming arcade machines where you pay to throw a certain number of basketballs at a hoop in a certain amount of time in order to earn points and thus tickets, which, when collected to a certain amount, win you a prize, it would've been much better. Maybe prizes could include free meals & tickets to upcharge attractions? Dedicated gaming arcades in theme parks are perfect for local visitors as they have more time to aim for a prize.

But if they kept it the way it is in that Street View panorama, at least have the staff dressed up as penguins (not full character costume, just white shirt/shorts with a black & orange hat), have the fences themed to ice walls, have the basketball hoop 'frozen' & maybe add a picture of a penguin spinning a basketball on their flipper?

[Jessicajealousy]

I like that the blurred out the Joker's face at the entrance to Arkham Asylum!

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On 3/20/2018 at 10:45 PM, Jamberoo Fan said:

It's a pretty sad sight seeing Sea World resort to cheap ways to make revenue such as Long Shot. Throwing a basketball at a hoop?  It's something people can do at home. It's also in such an open space, making it look tacky. And the advertising is odd - "$5 for 3 balls. Everyone wins a prize". "Everyone"? So essentially it is 'Prize for $5'?  Having not visited the Gold Coast theme parks in over 5 years, using Street View really shows how much the parks have changed with the now-targeting towards locals & an over-reliance on carnival games etc. to make revenue in most parks through repeat-visit locals.

 

Look (cue eye rolls that i'm talking about Wonderland again) - I'm ok with skill games in the parks. Dreamworld had heaps through ocean parade etc a while back, and movie world has the arcade and skill game area as well. Sure its not the best presented, but clearly its a temporary thing - because they use that area for heaps of different things.

Wonderland had skill games throughout the park - games were placed at the beastie (furthest top side) right down to the bush beast (furthest bottom side), and of course that was modelled on parks overseas. Sure, the presentation could be better, but everyone wins a prize is just one way of encouraging people to play - it is about making money after all... 

the difference is a consolation prize if you miss all 3 is going to be a crappy little toy that would find it's place in a happy meal box, whereas the top prize would be much bigger. TBH, I don't see the prize games as being a target for locals - locals who visit on a frequent basis likely wouldn't play the games as much as say a one-time visitor (although prizes are certainly more suitable to domestic guests for obvious logistic reasons).

 

Just because you have games in carnival midways, that doesn't mean they're out of place in theme parks.

[Mc coaster]

1 hour ago, AlexB said:

Just because you have games in carnival midways, that doesn't mean they're out of place in theme parks.

Have to agree with you @AlexB even though they could be presented/themed much better I have no problem with them in the parks. Whenever I go to the parks I normally try my luck on 1 or 2 of the games.

Look at Disney and Universal they have these midway games all over the parks no ever complains that they they are cheap excuses to make money on the contrary I think they add to the atmosphere and immersion (on specific occasions) very well. I think I could even say that most of Dreamworlds sideshow games are themed pretty well and they mostly fit in with the areas that they are placed in. I also think that because most of the games in the parks I just mentioned are more spread out it makes them feel more like they were meant to be there and that they were added to the areas to help immerse and have fun. Most of these ones do not fell like a cheap excuse to make money and that they are just trying to shove them down our throats. 

An example of an area that has to many of the games in one spot is SFMM. All the games are in the one area that you have to pass through to get from one side of the DC Universe to the other, I had to walk through so many of sideshow games that when I went through it gave me a cheap feeling and that they were trying to force me into play. It really shows how many there are when they are all close to each other

My opinion on why Sea Worlds Sidshow games is spoken about negativly is that as I mentioned above the congestion with most of them being in the one spot with you being pushed past them (The still closed train gate) showing that have have quite a few. Assuming dreamworld have more (do not quote me) it definitely does not look feel that way because of the distance in between all of them. It is also not presented very well, they look generic and something you would find at a random beach boardwork not something for a theme park. Hopefully in the near-future with all the great things that have been happening at the Village Roadshow Parks they will at some point refurbish them and give them all proper themes.

PS. Isn’t the Basketball Hoop thing just there untill they start work on the new roller coasters. (I read somewhere it was going to be a coaster)

[Jamberoo Fan]

On 3/23/2018 at 11:05 AM, AlexB said:

...movie world has the arcade...as well. Sure its not the best presented, but clearly its a temporary thing - because they use that area for heaps of different things.

Intencity is a decade old. It has lasted longer than anything that's been in that building. It could, however, be more appropriately themed (maybe to DC Super Villains Unleashed and thus expanding the area?).

On 3/23/2018 at 11:05 AM, AlexB said:

Wonderland had skill games throughout the park. Sure, the presentation could be better, but everyone wins a prize is just one way of encouraging people to play - it is about making money after all... 

the difference is a consolation prize if you miss all 3 is going to be a crappy little toy that would find it's place in a happy meal box, whereas the top prize would be much bigger. TBH, I don't see the prize games as being a target for locals - locals who visit on a frequent basis likely wouldn't play the games as much as say a one-time visitor (although prizes are certainly more suitable to domestic guests for obvious logistic reasons).

Just because you have games in carnival midways, that doesn't mean they're out of place in theme parks.

Having, sadly, never been to Wonderland Sydney, I don't know how appropriate their skill games were themed (I assume they were) but if they were throughout the park from opening day then I wouldn't mind. The difference with the Gold Coast theme parks is that they have just changed with great speed.  When I first visited the Gold Coast theme parks, the generic skill games were located just at DW's Game Site & MW's Blazing Saddles Fun 'n' Games - both in suitable locations. Now they are spread throughout both parks & SW, which is why I get a 'we need money' look from them all (mainly when not themed appropriately). Game Site is still in operation though while Blazing Saddles Fun 'n' Games 'downsized' to County Fair Fun 'n' Games & Intencity. If skill games are themed appropriately & have more complexity/uniqueness than Long Shot, I don't mind them.

I also don't mind if the prize awarded is proportional to how well you played the game. It's just that Long Shot doesn't make that clear from the advertising alone. It would be best to rephrase the advertising.

I just think skill games are targeted towards locals because an interstate/international visitor is more likely to want to visit the major attractions in the limited time that they have at the parks. Locals can skip these in exchange for a skill game more frequently because they can visit the major attractions just another day particularly when on an annual pass.

On 3/23/2018 at 12:52 PM, Mc coaster said:

Sea Worlds Sidshow games... is also  something you would find at a random beach boardwork not something for a theme park.

Aren't they located next to a 'beach boardwalk'-themed area (The Plaza shops)?

On 3/23/2018 at 12:52 PM, Mc coaster said:

PS. Isn’t the Basketball Hoop thing just there untill they start work on the new roller coasters. (I read somewhere it was going to be a coaster)

I recall seeing Long Shot at the entrance of the former Viking's Revenge Flume Ride initially. It's clearly been moved from there since then as the Street View panorama shows it was next to Penguin Encounter in September 2017 so I don't think it will leave permanently because they are starting work on a new attraction (particularly since work on the replacement for Viking's Revenge hasn't started).

Edited March 27, 2018 by Jamberoo Fan

[Mc coaster]

5 hours ago, Jamberoo Fan said:

Intencity is a decade old. It has lasted longer than anything that's been in that building. It could, however, be more appropriately themed (maybe to DC Super Villains Unleashed and thus expanding the area?).

Please no more DC!!!