Dreamworld October 2020 Visit

[themagician]

It’s been almost four years since I last visited Dreamworld. After my pass expired in late 2016, I didn’t see value in renewing my pass at the time. The park was at an all time low and while I of course want to support our parks, at the time I didn’t want to renew. But with the $50 deal on passes, I couldn’t not get one. So today (for a couple hours) I finally got to step foot back into the park.

Wow it’s changed.

Last time I was there, River rapids were still there, plenty more rides were open and SkyVoyager was no where to be seen.

Arrived late afternoon and the park was pretty busy. Carpark was nearing full and most rides had decent queues (SkyVoyager being the longest). I mostly just walked around the park to see how it looked and get a feel for it all once again. The park is looking great. Most of it is looking fresh, clean and bright. The thing I noticed most was not that there were less rides, but the dead ends. The fact that TailSpin was as far as you could go felt strange. Obviously with Sidewinder reopening soon, that will change, but with the Trolls Village and Flowrider no more, there will definitely be a gap.

Walking through Tiger Island felt great. I love what they did to the area and it really transforms you to somewhere else. Once the Giant TOT tunnel is gone, it will really complete that area. And the touches and music they’ve used for the transition from Tiger Island to ABC Kids World felt great. It does appear that the noodle food outlet is no more too

ABC Kids World... needs some work. With only 3 minor rides, it definitely needs this refurbishment/expansion. A lot of the flooring paintwork has worn away and there wasn’t any more activity within the area. Does anyone know if the store that was the Big Red Car ride exit still open? 

Shame the lack still looks like grass though

Walking towards Giant Drop, this was the first time in person I’ve seen the cleared land. The only thing I noticed that was possibly new, was some pipe work. The fact they painted the back of SkyVoyager white looks good, but the back of the candy store/ice cream parlour hasn’t been, makes it an eye sore. Hopefully if they construct the rockwork for the coaster that they’ve shown in the concept video happens to hide it all. I did notice these markings on the floor alongside the construction site, which I assume will be the coaster supports. (See the coaster forum for those photos) Also, what is this building

There was some technical issues with SkyVoyager, but decided to queue in the hope I could finally ride. Thankfully they got it going again and wow what a ride. The indoor queue area was really nicely put together. The staff were fantastic and explained the boarding experience well. The theatre was also really well presented and the vehicles were very comfy. I can see why people would have issues with the seat belts, but still a pretty simple system. I was in gondola 4 (top left), so I knew it wouldn’t be the best view, but wow. The ride brought me so much joy. I loved it. Well done Dreamworld. It’s probably the best attraction (that isn’t a coaster) in the country. The footage was really well done and the audio suited it well. The effects were also really good and there was no glen20 smell effect, just the water and wind. I think the video quality could have been higher, but maybe it’s more noticeable when you’re on the edge. It’s also a shame the screen doesn’t go over the roof, because it does somewhat extract from the experience when you’re at the top, but it’s great that it covers the floor. I would have liked to have seen DW itself included in the video (maybe at the start to make it feel like you’re leaving the park to travel the country). Some of the transitions could have also been better. It’s also a shame they decided to close off the rides exit store. I can understand why they made that decision, but it would have been nice to have kept it. Overall, what a fantastic ride.

It was definitely great to be back at the park. Still a long way to go to make it feel ‘full’ again, but it’s on a good path. 

[red dragin]

That building is the train shed I suspect. 

[rappa]

Im just looking through those photos above and wondering exactly where does any of this park look like somewhere appealing to visit? 

 

[themagician]

@rappa fair point, but that was kind of the reason for most of the photos. To show the poorer parts I discussed 

[themagician]

If you look at the left side of this photo from yesterday, you can see they’ve placed hay and pumpkins for Happy Halloween behind the fenced off area. So it seems they will have this area open at some point while the event is going on. It will be interesting to see if they remove Flowrider before the area reopens, or if it will be walled off. Same thoughts for the store to the left of Flowrider too. 
 

[Jay Jay The Jet Plane]

20 minutes ago, themagician said:

If you look at the left side of this photo from yesterday, you can see they’ve placed hay and pumpkins for Happy Halloween behind the fenced off area. So it seems they will have this area open at some point while the event is going on. It will be interesting to see if they remove Flowrider before the area reopens, or if it will be walled off. Same thoughts for the store to the left of Flowrider too. 
 

The Escape Rooms for Happy Halloween will be in the Exhibition Centre so it makes sense the pumpkins behind the fence

[themagician]

@Jay Jay The Jet Plane yeah that definitely makes sense haha I didn’t realise that’s where the escape rooms were going to be 

[gumb00t]

Didn't know where else to put this so anyway - I returned to DW on the weekend for the first time in a couple years too. Alot has changed, and seeing it in person it's even more dramatic. Question I have is, and I may have missed it here somewhere, what's going on with the Kangaroo walk through area and the restaurant?

We walked through the emu bit and did the vintage cars, went to walk through to the kangaroos for the kids and it was a no go. Then I realized it wasn't even on the map! Is it all a covid thing or getting some renovations done?

 

[Flynn_Smith]

39 minutes ago, gumb00t said:

Didn't know where else to put this so anyway - I returned to DW on the weekend for the first time in a couple years too. Alot has changed, and seeing it in person it's even more dramatic. Question I have is, and I may have missed it here somewhere, what's going on with the Kangaroo walk through area and the restaurant?

We walked through the emu bit and did the vintage cars, went to walk through to the kangaroos for the kids and it was a no go. Then I realized it wasn't even on the map! Is it all a covid thing or getting some renovations done?

 

I believe the kangaroo/koala area at the back of the park is remaining closed because of low demand (little to no international tourists).

[Rabbit2014]

5 hours ago, gumb00t said:

Didn't know where else to put this so anyway - I returned to DW on the weekend for the first time in a couple years too. Alot has changed, and seeing it in person it's even more dramatic. Question I have is, and I may have missed it here somewhere, what's going on with the Kangaroo walk through area and the restaurant?

We walked through the emu bit and did the vintage cars, went to walk through to the kangaroos for the kids and it was a no go. Then I realized it wasn't even on the map! Is it all a covid thing or getting some renovations done?

 

It was closed for COVID as it was a high contact area.

[themagician]

DW have updated the events page and a map has been included 

[T-bone]

So of the train is on the map for Happy Halloween and listed as attraction number 1, does that mean it will be operating for the event?

[gavinfulikes]

8 minutes ago, T-bone said:

So of the train is on the map for Happy Halloween and listed as attraction number 1, does that mean it will be operating for the event?

It’s been greyed out along with BuzzSaw, Pandamonium, Kickback Cove, Mad Jungle Jam and some other attractions so it’ll probably be closed.

 

58 minutes ago, themagician said:

DW have updated the events page and a map has been included 

I love how they decided to grey out the Tower of Terror store but not remove it as it has been permanently  closed for almost a year now.

Edited October 13, 2020 by gavinfulikes

[themagician]

8 hours ago, gavinfulikes said:

It’s been greyed out along with BuzzSaw, Pandamonium, Kickback Cove, Mad Jungle Jam and some other attractions so it’ll probably be closed.

It looks like the whole map is grey? Some numbers are coloured, including Tiger Island for example, but that will still be open. 

[themagician]

Went back to DW again this morning, to check out the rest of the park and to visit WWW. 
 

WWW looks fantastic. A much better park to be in compared to WnW right now. I love they have all this storage at every attraction too

I noticed outside Fully 6, it appears there is a food outlet or something. Can anyone confirm?

Nice big blue wall at the back of the park too

I finished my walk around DW too. Ventured back into the Corroboree area. With it being a dead end, it really ruins this area of the park. There wasn’t any music or atmosphere on the walk back here, so that didn’t help. And when you get back there, there isn’t much going for it. It feels like a budget zoo that you’d find in a small town. And walking past Rocky Hollow, it’s a bit of an eye sore. Hopefully they don’t leave it sitting there for years like some of there other rides

On my last visit I mentioned the eye sore that was the back of the ice cream parlour. Here it is

I noticed the Tiger Island signage has been removed 

And pandemonium is under maintenance 

[Gazza]

 

Quote

 

I noticed outside Fully 6, it appears there is a food outlet or something. Can anyone confirm?

 

I vote that they call the food outlet "Splash Mouth".

[Jdude95]

The food starts coming and it wont stop coming, fed to the kids and they hit the pool cramping

[gavinfulikes]

On 24/10/2020 at 10:36 PM, themagician said:

I noticed outside Fully 6, it appears there is a food outlet or something. Can anyone confirm?

I think that was where the old Sandman’s Cafe & Bar was.

[Slick]

1 hour ago, gavinfulikes said:

I think that was where the old Sandman’s Cafe & Bar was.

Correctumundo. I'm sure down the track when attendance picks up they'll look at re-opening it. The seating nearby is a nice spot to chill-out and watch Fully6.

[Rachelkinks]

On Saturday I went to dreamworld for Happy Halloween and was thoroughly impressed. The park looked very good under lighting, I also have to say that there is still plenty of rides at Dreamworld even though people are complaining that there is nothing left. 

In 3 ½ hours I managed to get on the Claw, Giant Drop, Tail Spin, Sky voyager these rides are still very enjoyable and exciting. 

I love what they have done with barrels burger bar really fits in well with the theme and also very excited for the new roller coaster when I return next year. 

[RobMac]

Dreamworld for ants these days. 🤪

I'll give em til the middle of the decade and maybe make my first visit back since 2010...an ordinary day that was!  Hoping DW can pull through and rediscover its quality THEME Park potential....new water [log] ride please.....I have a dream!!!  👍

[Pyro]

On 02/11/2020 at 12:17 PM, RobMac said:

Dreamworld for ants these days. 🤪

I'll give em til the middle of the decade and maybe make my first visit back since 2010...an ordinary day that was!  Hoping DW can pull through and rediscover its quality THEME Park potential....new water [log] ride please.....I have a dream!!!  👍

unfortunately, you picked a terrible day to visit. The claw was down for maintenance and the ice cream parlor has its rooftop off. they were all good on Sunday.  Last week the place was looking the best it has in years!

[aussienetman]

Just some pics from today

[Jdude95]

Now that the log ride is dead, the vines have returned to their natural habitat

[Brad2912]

57 minutes ago, aussienetman said:

Just some pics from today

But it’s not October...