COVID-19 & Theme Park Closures

[Gazza]

It's hard to believe the last new major slide  was Constrictor almost 8 years ago.

They did get WnW Jr, but most of us would be too old to benefit from that. And Super 8 got its fibreglass replaced, but is ultimately the same experience.

Why isn't WnW, Australia's biggest water park getting big new Proslides like the water parks in Victoria, or themed ones like Jamberoo? 

Don't forget Mach 5 was closed and visitors were left without a replacement.

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by Gazza

[Greg]

Anyone able to read this article on the Gold Coast Bulletin currently?

[Flynn_Smith]

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

7NEWS Gold Coast on FB has a report talking about the reopening of the parks (tried to upload video/link on here but says video is private?)

 

 

CWS - June 26th 

Sea World set to open early July 

Movie World shortly afterwards 

then Wet n Wild (sounds like they forgot AOS and PC) 

Parks supposedly running in full capacity in time for September school holidays 

Dreamworld is still finalising dates 

Edited June 8, 2020 by Jay Jay The Jet Plane

[westical]

2 hours ago, Greg said:

Anyone able to read this article on the Gold Coast Bulletin currently?

It's the first $11m of $50m in State Government support that had already been announced last month.

[Slick]

I've refreshed the original post with updated dates and links.

Does anyone know how our non-QLD parks are doing? If there's a regional park that's not on the list that you think is worth a mention let me know.  

[Bikash Randhawa]

4 hours ago, themagician said:

Hey @Bikash Randhawa. For the last few years there has been plenty of discussion on here about Wet n Wild and how it comes across as the forgotten park for VRTP. I'm sure this isn't necessarily the case, but since 2011/12 there hasn't been that great of investment in the park. Bringing back Dive n Movies was a fantastic decision and seemed to be very popular. But having visited the park a few times over the summer, there are some areas that seemed to be overlooked/lacking. For example, the Zipline tower was installed and has remained unused since 2012 and for such a prime location for the park, I would have thought this would have been a priority to remove (particularly during the time when the shelters were installed around the wave pool). Obviously getting new attractions takes time, but it's been a few years since Mach 5 closed and to my knowledge has remained untouched. Some of the attractions also need some attention, as their colouration has weathered well (Eg. Constrictor, Aqualoop and Tornado). And the waterfall at Calypso Beach was also removed a few years ago, but hasn't yet been replaced, despite the structural elements remaining. It was great to see the entire Aqua Racer replaced a couple years ago and that definitely brought a new life to the attraction.

With such major investments in Movie World and Sea World over recent years, new attractions every year aren't expected, but it seems like it has been 8 years since any major investments into the park. Basically, I would just like to hear your thoughts on the park, some of the items I've touched on and the comments about it being the 'forgotten' park. Cheers.

Mr Magician, as your name says, we have plans for WNW, yes it needs love and we will bring that back, again let’s deal with sea world first and then WNW, what we have planned is out if this world and I hope we can deliver this soon. It will be a Southern Hemisphere first that’s for sure. After a lot of sessions with manufacturers overseas and here we believe we are on the right track to make this Park where it deserves to be. Will not happen overnight but yes it’s on our radar 100%

[themagician]

Cheers @Bikash Randhawa Glad to hear WnW its on the to do list and I look forward to seeing what in the works

[Vidgamer]

While we are asking questions any thoughts on improving the kids offering in movieworld @Bikash Randhawa? 
 

Arkham is a massive area and getting some rides there themed around Teen Titans would go well. 

[Bikash Randhawa]

5 minutes ago, Lukevl said:

While we are asking questions any thoughts on improving the kids offering in movieworld @Bikash Randhawa? 
 

Arkham is a massive area and getting some rides there themed around Teen Titans would go well. 

You are spot on about the kids area at MW and the Arkham area, working on this but please have patience, if we had a magic wand and a truck load of cash it would happen yesterday but given the challenges we have faced with the Dreamworld accident and now this CV19 pandemic it’s hurt us but we will come back bigger and better that I can promise you here publicly.

Edited June 8, 2020 by Bikash Randhawa

[Vidgamer]

Thanks @Bikash Randhawa, appreciate you taking the time to respond. Right behind you and the team in the recovery. I’m hopeful more Aussies will holiday up here and show support to the Qld theme parks. 

[Bikash Randhawa]

18 minutes ago, themagician said:

Cheers @Bikash Randhawa Glad to hear WnW its on the to do list and I look forward to seeing what in the works

Thanks Magic man, if only I  had your powers I would make it happen today

Just now, Lukevl said:

Thanks @Bikash Randhawa, appreciate you taking the time to respond. Right behind you and the team in the recovery. I’m hopeful more Aussies will holiday up here and show support to the Qld theme parks. 

Thanks for the support we appreciate this sincerely 

[Spotty]

2 hours ago, Bikash Randhawa said:

Thanks Magic man, if only I  had your powers I would make it happen today

Thanks for the support we appreciate this sincerely 

As an ex employee of VRTP it's nice to see that there is still some passion from people high up in the business. Some of the best days of my life were spent working at Movie World. Am very curious to see what the next few years hold for the parks, and I will be there to support you guys when things go back to normal a little bit. I'm sure we all wish we had a magic wand to be able to work some wonders on things

[Jdude95]

@Bikash Randhawa Although we wont know how these plans will pan out until they are delivered, it's promising to know that you're aware of these and do have plans for these "neglected" and "troubled" areas of the parks. It'll be interesting to see what the future brings for the Village parks.

[Bikash Randhawa]

I believe there will be a lot of positive for this industry and VRTP will do exceptionally well. Let’s hope we get some good runs on the board and in the coming months normalise as quickly as possible 

[Spike]

Hi @Bikash Randhawa. First time poster, long time viewer of the forum. 
 

Ive got a few questions regarding Sea Worlds rejuvenation if you don’t mind answering them for me. 
 

There is internal rumblings that the Trident ride, slated as part of the Atlantis area has been scrapped, and as such we will not be getting it. Can you confirm if that is the case?

Can you also confirm what part of the New Atlantis precinct is actually “world class”? From what I’ve been exposed to, the Vortex looks like a poor mans version of the Wipeout, with many people in the public domain thinking it literally is just the Wipeout, so why bother. The theming being installed is very different from what was showcased at the launch and feels very shopping centre like. I’m keen to hear what it is exactly thar makes this ride and area world class.

I am very passionate about Sea World and support the Sea World team 100%, you guys do a great job. The park has certainly seen better days, but with the right vision, it can bounce back. Back in the day, it was THE park to visit. Is the New Atlantis the start of continued investment and vision for the park, or is New Atlantis hoped for to be the one shot fixed all for the park?

Lastly, if you have made it this far, thanks for reading. 
I think I speak for everyone when I say that the current entertainment offerings at your parks through the likes of the Showtime FMX team suck. Hollywood Stunt Driver at Movie World is literally a pile of steaming dog poo, the show at Sea World doesn’t rate much better.  Are there any plans to fix these up, to bring the entertainment show offerings back to the gold standard they once were? The shows seem to lack any actual creative direction, and whilst the Showtime guys are good at what they do, they are the stunt men, their skills are being wasted. Police academy used to fill the theatre seating and people would sss the show multiple times a visit, now, you’d be lucky to find people who have seen Hollywood stunt driver in the last year. It what was a great park, it really is a weak link. I am interested to hear your thoughts on this.

[Jpw25111]

Well with QLD stadiums now allowed  at 25% capacity surely the theme parks should be allowed open now.

[aussienetman]

I am sure when Bikash kindly joined the community here he wasn't expecting questions more suitable for a press conference every few hours. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

6 minutes ago, aussienetman said:

I am sure when Bikash kindly joined the community here he wasn't expecting questions more suitable for a press conference every few hours. 

This forum has existed for more than 16 years, and for most of the time (excepting Mark Shaw's involvement) there was very little 'official' representation to be had - and only occasionally a clandestine (belinda brown) profile might appear, but it wouldn't last very long. 

We have long called for park execs to join us here. Bikash certainly got off to a rocky start, but his honest and straightforward answers are refreshing (although the descriptive marketing fluff will never be completely absent).

I notice that Bikash is sporting a new 'verified' tag this morning and I had wondered how long it would take for that to appear - I do hope that this open and respectful dialog from both sides leads to more of our park executives joining us here on the forums to speak directly to those who are their most loyal fans.

It is important though to remember this isn't a press conference. Execs won't always be able to reveal every detail, but likewise, they shouldn't try to spin their marketing phrases on enthusiasts who see right through it.

In addition to the /s sarcasm tags i've called to be added previously, i'm wondering if we can have /spin or /fluff tags to call out those high-reaching phrases like 'world class' and 'most _____ever seen'

[Bikash Randhawa]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

Hi @Bikash Randhawa. First time poster, long time viewer of the forum. 
 

Ive got a few questions regarding Sea Worlds rejuvenation if you don’t mind answering them for me. 
 

There is internal rumblings that the Trident ride, slated as part of the Atlantis area has been scrapped, and as such we will not be getting it. Can you confirm if that is the case?

Can you also confirm what part of the New Atlantis precinct is actually “world class”? From what I’ve been exposed to, the Vortex looks like a poor mans version of the Wipeout, with many people in the public domain thinking it literally is just the Wipeout, so why bother. The theming being installed is very different from what was showcased at the launch and feels very shopping centre like. I’m keen to hear what it is exactly thar makes this ride and area world class.

I am very passionate about Sea World and support the Sea World team 100%, you guys do a great job. The park has certainly seen better days, but with the right vision, it can bounce back. Back in the day, it was THE park to visit. Is the New Atlantis the start of continued investment and vision for the park, or is New Atlantis hoped for to be the one shot fixed all for the park?

Lastly, if you have made it this far, thanks for reading. 
I think I speak for everyone when I say that the current entertainment offerings at your parks through the likes of the Showtime FMX team suck. Hollywood Stunt Driver at Movie World is literally a pile of steaming dog poo, the show at Sea World doesn’t rate much better.  Are there any plans to fix these up, to bring the entertainment show offerings back to the gold standard they once were? The shows seem to lack any actual creative direction, and whilst the Showtime guys are good at what they do, they are the stunt men, their skills are being wasted. Police academy used to fill the theatre seating and people would sss the show multiple times a visit, now, you’d be lucky to find people who have seen Hollywood stunt driver in the last year. It what was a great park, it really is a weak link. I am interested to hear your thoughts on this.

Trident is going ahead so not true. In life no matter what you do there will always be people that will disagree with it. Our analytics tell us a lot and we structure everything accordingly. There is always room for improvement in the Theme Park industry and that is something which needs to be constant and evolving. Opinions are important and everyone has one right or wrong.

[aussienetman]

8 minutes ago, AlexB said:

It is important though to remember this isn't a press conference. Execs won't always be able to reveal every detail, but likewise, they shouldn't try to spin their marketing phrases on enthusiasts who see right through it.

Yes agreed.  I am grateful for Bikrash and his open communication, but we have to expect spin (especially on answers that would cause media attention outside of this bubble). 

[Brad2912]

1 hour ago, Jpw25111 said:

Well with QLD stadiums now allowed  at 25% capacity surely the theme parks should be allowed open now.

Don’t know where you got that information from but completely wrong. Palaszczuk was clear in stating misinformation around stadium attendance existed, and that nothing is approved. 

[AheadMatthewawsome]

15 hours ago, Slick said:

I've refreshed the original post with updated dates and links.

Does anyone know how our non-QLD parks are doing? If there's a regional park that's not on the list that you think is worth a mention let me know.  

I want to find out to, because here in Sydney. Museums, Galleries, and Zoo's are back, but not Luna Park. And I am really am busting to go back and be swallowed by the face! Even though that we are in Stage 2 of reopening, no signs of Public Transport Museums, nor Luna Park of reopening, if there is more information about it, I want to find out please!

[Jpw25111]

43 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

Don’t know where you got that information from but completely wrong. Palaszczuk was clear in stating misinformation around stadium attendance existed, and that nothing is approved. 

Quite a few reports on it now . The government's just pissed they didn't get to announce it so just deny deny deny.

[Brad2912]

13 minutes ago, Jpw25111 said:

Quite a few reports on it now . The government's just pissed they didn't get to announce it so just deny deny deny.

Don’t think any of the reports have been from official sources