Sky Voyager: Experience USA

[Tricoart]

15 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

That said - obtaining one of the other films for a limited run is clearly something the other FlyOver installs have shown is very possible - which would we all like to see?

I'd like to see 'em use these ones. Makes sense for temporary showings, can be used to send a further message (namely species conservation, like the Tiger Island ad in SV's queue) & guarantees future new movies if they wish to continue down that road. The article also says there's been interest for the project in Australia, so maybe they've already looked into it.

Edited September 16 by Tricoart

[Brad2912]

@DaptoFunlandGuy  if your initial response had simply been “I disagree, think the Aussie one is great (etc etc), why do you feel it’s run its course?” That would have been a completely understandable reply and led to an open discussion. But because you asked me for a metric and then just plonked a table with numbers in it with zero commentary, it  reflected in a really intolerant way. Essentially “you’re wrong and here is my data that proves it”. Maybe I took that the wrong way, but that’s how it appeared. 

SV regularly had queues out the door at one point. My last, say 10 visits, it’s been max 2 cycle length queues. I feel it needs a freshen up to be exciting again and an attraction point. I have no doubt the Australia film was made to be really attractive to the international tourist market, and DW lucked out with a pandemic not long after launch, and the very slow return of that international market. Locals, I feel, are kind of over it. Interstate visitors may come once every 2-3 years have now probably seen it 2-3 times. 
 

whilst not the same as a show in the Roxy, it’s not THAT different of a concept. And again, that’s just to me, but I think it needs freshening from time to time. I can’t speak to the production costs, or the licensing costs with acquiring other films that you mentioned. I didn’t see the underwater one (which sounds like a good thing) but I have done the USA one, and I appreciated that it was different and changed things up. 
 

i wouldn’t be against them running the Aussie original, and a supplementary year round. So for 2025 it’s Australia and US, for 2026 it’s Australia and Canada, or so on. At least that gives some freshness and re-rideability. 
 

For my family, SV is our air conditioned / need a break ride on a hot day, rather than something we are super excited by. 
 

Should it be a massive priority to DW, nope, they have plenty of other things to focus on, but if licensing an existing film isn’t too financially difficult, I think for mid-2025 (once the initial local impact for JR has started to drop off) it’s an attraction piece that can marketed well and attract people through the gates. I also think it’s one ride that could potentially be a great upsell for the night markets as it’s central so wouldn’t require additional security or the opening of additional land/pathways 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Thanks for sharing your perspective. I can understand where you're coming from, though I haven't had the same experiences.

I think having some alternate films running periodically is a good thing. Clearly they can run more than one film in a day so it isn't a programming issue - though I'm not a fan of the "10-2is film A, then 2-5 is film B" approach because it forces you to get to the park early enough and then stay for both (which is a good thing for the park, but doesn't work for those who might be tempted to drop in for the new film, if it doesn't suit their schedule. Even switching every hour would be a good compromise, in my opinion - but again, i'm not sure what the financial costs are with showing one of the other films, so if it needs to be limited runs, I can understand that. I do agree it's not a massive priority for them - but these new Africa films do sound like something different and i'd be keen for them to come to Dreamworld.

[Themepark Enthusist]

1 hour ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Thanks for sharing your perspective. I can understand where you're coming from, though I haven't had the same experiences.

I think having some alternate films running periodically is a good thing. Clearly they can run more than one film in a day so it isn't a programming issue - though I'm not a fan of the "10-2is film A, then 2-5 is film B" approach because it forces you to get to the park early enough and then stay for both (which is a good thing for the park, but doesn't work for those who might be tempted to drop in for the new film, if it doesn't suit their schedule. Even switching every hour would be a good compromise, in my opinion - but again, i'm not sure what the financial costs are with showing one of the other films, so if it needs to be limited runs, I can understand that. I do agree it's not a massive priority for them - but these new Africa films do sound like something different and i'd be keen for them to come to Dreamworld.

How do you think the management of the queue would work switching evey hour? That seems overally excessive especially when trying to relay that to the people in the park... I don't work in a theme park so I don't have experience but if you have an idea on how that would work i would be keen to hear it 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

gee i don't know.

 

If you're keen to see a specific film, i'm sure you can be in line near the top of the hour when it starts, and you're pretty likely to get in to see it before it changes next hour. If you don't care which one you see because you're using it for an air conditioning break then you won't mind and just join whatever line. 

It doesn't have to be over complicated.

 

I suppose you could trial it and see how people took to it. You could always repurpose the fast track queue line for the second film and literally alternate films all day - just taking from each queue in turn. People would self sort if they wanted 'a ride' they'd join whichever line was shorter, and if they wanted a specific film they'd join whichever queue they wanted.

Honestly the way the indoor queue is set up, it wouldn't take much to have two queues - there's already 3 places guests can enter the pre-show from the queue (front of line, fast track, first switchback).

 

[Gazza]

I think because of the limited capacity of a flying theatre versus a cinema its too hard to manage to ensure people are getting the show they want.

Roxy tends to have enough shows for the crowds, you can turn up and get in (At least in my experience)

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

41 minutes ago, Gazza said:

I think because of the limited capacity of a flying theatre versus a cinema its too hard to manage to ensure people are getting the show they want.

That's even more reason to alternate the showings. Like I said earlier - people who don't care which one they see would 'self sort' into the shorter lines, while people hell-bent on seeing a particular showing will queue for the one they want and will be happy to wait longer (an additional cycle of the other film for example) in order to see the one they want. 

Of course, if one queue is empty, you could always run the other show to empty the one that is occupied too?

I'm visualising the queue area and imagining you could do the 'outer' queue room like multiple boarding gates:

 

Dare I say it - you could have a turnstile at the gate that counted how many seats were left for this 'flight' and when the next 'flight' would commence boarding...

[New display name]

Up-charge film, here we come.

Double the length.

Double the spray.

Double the fragrances.

[Themepark Enthusist]

9 hours ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

That's even more reason to alternate the showings. Like I said earlier - people who don't care which one they see would 'self sort' into the shorter lines, while people hell-bent on seeing a particular showing will queue for the one they want and will be happy to wait longer (an additional cycle of the other film for example) in order to see the one they want. 

Of course, if one queue is empty, you could always run the other show to empty the one that is occupied too?

I'm visualising the queue area and imagining you could do the 'outer' queue room like multiple boarding gates:

 

Dare I say it - you could have a turnstile at the gate that counted how many seats were left for this 'flight' and when the next 'flight' would commence boarding...

This wouldn't work, a theme park especially DW isn't a charity. They aren't just going to remove the fast track just to please 5 people especially when the fast track is the only monetisation that rides utilise not to mention people who use the disability services like the DAS system Disney uses where would they enter. I'm sure most people can "self sort" in the morning when they see what time the film is that they want to see is on

[Tricoart]

7 hours ago, New display name said:

Up-charge film, here we come.

Double the length.

Double the spray.

Double the fragrances.

Double the thong jokes?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

10 hours ago, Themepark Enthusist said:

This wouldn't work, a theme park especially DW isn't a charity. They aren't just going to remove the fast track just to please 5 people especially when the fast track is the only monetisation that rides utilise not to mention people who use the disability services like the DAS system Disney uses where would they enter. I'm sure most people can "self sort" in the morning when they see what time the film is that they want to see is on

There's more than one way to skin a cat. Rides not designed for fasttrack tend to utilise the exit lanes. You could reconfigure the queues differently. You could utilise the outside queues. There are plenty of ways you could do it to split the queue into a showing for each film.

You can self sort in the morning if you're there all day, but for many folk dropping by after school or early work finish, who can only get there in the afternoon, or for people with classes on in the afternoon who only have the morning, they don't have the choice which is the original point I made about the half-day showings they have been doing.