If Dreamworld is sold, will it be continued as a theme park or redeveloped into properties?

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

Give reasons below as well

[Gary86]

Dreamworld can be Australia's best theme park. All it needs is a decent operator. The longer Ardent own it the worse it gets making it cost more to restore the park.

[Santa07]

Even in the falling apart state it’s in, it’s still possible to bring Dreamworld fully back to how it used to be with the right owner. I’m sure there are still people out there who would buy it if Ardent gained some competency and put the park on the market.

[Brad2912]

Ardent would have to sell it at bargain basement cost for anyone to be interested in rebuilding the park, brand and image. 

Theyd make 10x more on land alone for developers - that’s what they’d be aiming for 

[-nick.white.1543]

It would depend on who buys the park.

[themagician]

If DW closed forever it would certainly be devastating, and I’m sure a lot of people agree. Right now the money just needs to be spent the right way to bring what they currently up to a good enough standard and manage it well so the rides are capable of operating. Maintenance is required, but not having all rides operating consistently in peak periods, and managing the down time across the year so a tonne of stuff isn’t closed at once.

And refreshing anything that needs it, even if it is just a coat of paint, they just need to show care, promote what they have, and be smarter with all their decisions 

[themeparknut2011]

I went for being run as a theme park, but that just goes with a pet theory of mine that Ardent are trying are trying to have Dreamworld bought out by Merlin.

i made a YouTube video on this late last year:

 

(Moderators: feel free to remove link if it's against a policy or something 👍)

[Rabbit2014]

Cost would be too high to keep it as a theme park as so they have too many old rides that are past there best and would have to be removed. They would get value selling it for land and development. 

It sad I used to live in Sydney and had to go thru losing wonderland Sydney, now I’m up here I don’t want to lose it but honestly it look like time is running out to save dreamworld

[Max Egan]

Does everyone actually think Dreamworld is going to shut it's doors really soon ? If so it's going to be very sad.

[Flynn_Smith]

55 minutes ago, Max Egan said:

Does everyone actually think Dreamworld is going to shut it's doors really soon ? If so it's going to be very sad.

I don't think anyone thinks it's going to shut its doors really soon? It's just a possibility in the coming years.

[Baconjack]

On 03/03/2019 at 6:39 PM, themeparknut2011 said:

I went for being run as a theme park, but that just goes with a pet theory of mine that Ardent are trying are trying to have Dreamworld bought out by Merlin.

Honestly, Merlin buying DW would be many an enthusiast's dream come true, and it does make a lick of sense as they are making investment into Australia. But I don't see it happening. Merlin already has their hands full with opening Legoland Discovery Centres in this country and building new Legoland parks every other year. Dreamworld would be far too big of an investment to take on for a company so new to Australia even though they have bought parks in the past with their acquisition of Gardaland and Cypress Gardens in the past.

Alternatively, and this might be a far-fetched theory to some, but this is the most likely way Merlin will invest into DW - Merlin could buy the park as it is like Cypress Gardens and DW will become the next Legoland. Still not a great park but its better than housing , and the Gold Coast definitely has the tourism base to build a Legoland if Legolands are being built in Korea and have been completed in Malaysia. Who knows, Merlin may want to take the next step with bringing the Lego brand into Australia and build a theme park. DW is the prime position for a Legoland. Even if it is a strictly family only park due to its IP and attractions, if that is what keeps Dreamworld alive, I'm all for this transformation.

At the end of the day, Dreamworld being protected by legislation a la LPS will be the only way to ensure Ardent won't be the park's final owner. The park is iconic to millions in spite of its weak reputation in the community following the TRRR disaster. If the park did actually end up closing it would be a national tragedy, on the scale of when Toys R Us collapsed around the world in 2018. Every single member of this board would be sad to see DW close whether or not you saw it coming.

Not to mention from an analytical point of view, it would damage our industry massively - VRTP would essentially have a monopoly over theme parks in Australia as they have no competition in the region and very little investment would be made in their parks in the future compared to today. The competition between DW and VRTP has brought us rides like DC Rivals, Superman Escape and Tower of Terror, among others. Big rides were built to draw the crowds away from the competitor and towards the park building it. We wouldn't be getting rides on the scale of those if VRTP didn't have any competition. Whether you like the park or you don't, it needs to be recognised that Dreamworld needs to remain in operation to ensure our parks' profile on the world stage continues to expand.

Edited March 4, 2019 by Baconjack

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Well said. My only observation is that legislation is unlikely to be brought for Dreamworld.

• LPS's history is far longer, and far more entrenched in history than DW
• They tried similar appeals to government to save Wonderland - it didn't work
• The government isn't likely to take action to keep a park operating that killed people so recently and fresh in everyone's minds. it would be seen as endorsing the sort of culture that lead to the accident in the first place.
• The park is no more or less deserving to be saved by government intervention than a Westfield or a movie theatre. Its a privately owned property - and i'd much prefer the government put their funds towards projects that benefit the community at large, rather than a private corporation that mismanaged the hell out of their asset, and had no place or business being there in the first place.

[New display name]

For the life of me, I can’t see what I would miss of the current DW if it was to close.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Skeeta

[Rabbit2014]

5 minutes ago, Skeeta said:

For he life of me, I can’t see what I would miss of the current DW if it was to close.

 

The mascots I would miss the most Kenny and Belinda 

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

23 minutes ago, Skeeta said:

For he life of me, I can’t see what I would miss of the current DW if it was to close.

 

Buzzsaw, Giant Drop, Tower of Terror, the size of Dreamworld, Wipeout and the friendly staff.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

Buzzsaw, Giant Drop, Tower of Terror, the size of Dreamworld, Wipeout and the friendly staff.

Yeah, nope.

[New display name]

57 minutes ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

Buzzsaw, Giant Drop, Tower of Terror, the size of Dreamworld, Wipeout and the friendly staff.

Buzzsaw  = 👍🏼 /👎🏼                       (mediocre )

Giant Drop = 👍🏼                            (good ride but not worth the entry fee on its own)

Tower of Terror = 🛌🏼                   (doesn't excite me anymore)

Size of Dreamworld = 😂            (it's not the size but how you use it)

Wipeout = 👴🏼                                (not long for this world)

 

1 hour ago, Rabbit2014 said:

The mascots I would miss the most Kenny and Belinda 

I leave my fetishes for the bedroom.   (mmmmmmmmmmmm cheesecake in bed)

13 minutes ago, AlexB said:

Yeah, nope.

Agree.

[stellaclose]

3 hours ago, Rabbit2014 said:

The mascots I would miss the most Kenny and Belinda 

Close the park and put Kenny & Belinda to work on the Gold Coast as Meter Maids. Dreamworld legacy intact!

[omega237]

I doubt this would happen, but since Dreamworld has some of Dreamworks I could somewhat see Comcast acquire Dreamworld.

[Whombex]

6 hours ago, Skeeta said:

For the life of me, I can’t see what I would miss of the current DW if it was to close.

HANG ON. What about... umm... 

Nevermind.

 

😢

[themeparknut2011]

19 hours ago, Baconjack said:

Alternatively, and this might be a far-fetched theory to some, but this is the most likely way Merlin will invest into DW - Merlin could buy the park as it is like Cypress Gardens and DW will become the next Legoland. 

This is absolutely what I was going for. Sadly it is far fetched, but I love it.  👍

[pushbutton]

Merlin owns the best theme park I've been to anywhere in the world, Alton Towers in England. 

It's not just about Lego! 

[Jdude95]

Well, Merlin is finally recovering from the Smilier incident, maybe they'll try their luck with another park that's had a ride tragedy