Fox studios backlot 2021

[Coasterlife]

Hey guys I have just arrived to fox studios backlot to see what it looks like in 2021 and it looks alright but since they are filming Thor love and thunder I can’t get past the gates like I could 12 months ago but here are some pics I got today and to still see the titanic sign (sorry if pics are fuzzy) And no I didn’t see Chris Hemsworth 

Edited February 7, 2021 by Coasterlife

[Taj O'Neill]

They shod reopen it it would be very cool

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

23 minutes ago, Taj O'Neill said:

They shod reopen it it would be very cool

this line is not in touch with reality. Its why a $10k fundraiser to buy a 30 year old animatronic only has $680 several weeks on. It's why a proposal to rebuild a now demolished theme park in Sydney hasn't gotten past the 'dreamer' phase. And it's why Fox Studios operates well as a studio, and not very well as a theme park.

All of these concepts have by now far outlived their use-by date. All of these are now since long gone due to a number of factors, but nostalgia always views these long-since-closed places with fondness - when the reality is they all closed down mainly due to a lack of patronage and a lack of interest.

[Ogre]

1 hour ago, AlexB said:

Its why a $10k fundraiser to buy a 30 year old animatronic only has $680 several weeks on

Animatronic? Can you give a link?

[Brad2912]

1 hour ago, OgreMagic said:

Animatronic? Can you give a link?

Head to the Dreamworld - Remembering the Golden Years FB page.

They are trying to raise $10k to acquire ONE of the animatronic animals from the Koala Country Jamboree.

It's a perfect exercise in folly. 

But hey, if you donate more than $40 you get sent a video of the show. 

As Alex says, its sat at $680 for about 3 weeks now.

[Coasterlife]

8 hours ago, Taj O'Neill said:

They shod reopen it it would be very cool

Not gonna happen buddy

[Ogre]

7 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

Head to the Dreamworld - Remembering the Golden Years FB page.

They are trying to raise $10k to acquire ONE of the animatronic animals from the Koala Country Jamboree.

It's a perfect exercise in folly. 

But hey, if you donate more than $40 you get sent a video of the show. 

As Alex says, its sat at $680 for about 3 weeks now.

Ah, the Jamboree. I loved that as a kid. I remember being confused why the show somehow turned into Tomb Raider on my next visit!

[Greg]

Gotta love those (NOT) bagging the efforts to fundraise for one of those koalas. This Parkz site has become so vicious and unprofessional and unmoderated towards anyone who has a different opinion to theirs. It’s a theme park enthusiast page. You should be praising those who love theme park history etc. I have noticed ALOT of Dreamworld baggers on this page.

[TomiJ]

8 minutes ago, Greg said:

I have noticed ALOT of Dreamworld baggers on this page.

Yeaaaaa...... BUT they killed four people. 

[Brad2912]

1 hour ago, Greg said:

This Parkz site has become so vicious and unprofessional and unmoderated towards anyone who has a different opinion to theirs.

What I get gigantic load of BS.

1 hour ago, Greg said:

It’s a theme park enthusiast page.

True. Enthusiasm doesn’t trump logic and reasoning however (well not in business) 

1 hour ago, Greg said:

You should be praising those who love theme park history

I do, most here do. That doesn’t remove the ability to be critical of certain decisions. 

1 hour ago, Greg said:

I have noticed ALOT of Dreamworld baggers on this page.

That’s certainly not me. If anything I’m a defender of the park. Again, that doesn’t make it or management immune from criticism. 

1 hour ago, Greg said:

Gotta love those (NOT) bagging the efforts to fundraise for one of those koalas.

I don’t know if anyone is bagging the efforts - but it was apparent from day 1 trying to crowdfund $10k for one koala that may or may not be functional or repairable was a decision made on emotion and not logic. If anyone was to get involved in retrieving these “assets” it needs to be DW themselves, or a private enterprise that can display them in a public way that may drive some natural interest and attention (Ie Ripleys Believe It or Not). 

We’ve just come through one of the most financially challenging periods for many in their lifetime (and still not through it for many) so to think the everyday joe public is going to delve into their pockets for a singular animatronic they’ll probably never physically see is misguided. A proposal with a proper business case could be put together and pitched to many businesses that may want the goodwill associated with it, but without the majority of the collection, which they have priced at over $100k, it will never be an attractive prospect 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, Greg said:

Gotta love those (NOT) bagging the efforts to fundraise for one of those koalas. This Parkz site has become so vicious and unprofessional and unmoderated towards anyone who has a different opinion to theirs. It’s a theme park enthusiast page. You should be praising those who love theme park history etc. I have noticed ALOT of Dreamworld baggers on this page.

Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya my boy.

There were only two comments relating to that fundraiser. One of them was mine, and I specifically did not give detail - I'm not bagging the efforts, I'm simply calling it the way I see it. The whole premise is a pipe dream. There's no detail on where these will be set up, whether they actually work, what their current condition is, who will "own" them, how maintenance and upkeep will be handled, and so on.

I won't defend Brad's comments, but I do agree with his assessment of the exercise.

I'm an admin of the Wonderland History group. The group, at one point, crowdfunded to purchase the rollercoaster trains. They formed a committee and registered a non profit organisation to be responsible for this and it still fell apart. Per above, there was no detail on where they'd go, and who would be responsible for them. Transporting them was additional costs, and after moving them several times, at great (unfunded) expense, they've found a home where someone was willing to look after and maintain them, but still, not an ideal outcome compared to the intention at the time they were funded.

I didn't participate in the funding and had no involvement in their acquisition or movement. I think its great they're still around, and one day I hope they get to 'coast' again in the way the current landowner intends to run them - but having seen the headaches caused by this, I know the dangers that are there.

This koala thing is scant on detail. Those raising funds have done nothing to either shield themselves from potential issues (such as establishing a separate vehicle to be the owner of the machinery), nor protect the investment of the folks who have pledged should things go wrong. It is a simple comparison to many other "they should bring it back" arguments for many long lost theme park attractions. I'd love them to bring back Gremlins, and Young Einstein, and police academy. But the past is in the past.

At $1000, its a cool little piece of memorabilia for a dedicated fan of the park. At $10k, its an expensive piece of scrap metal looking for a home. Despite numerous pieces of media, Dreamworld hasn't stepped forward to offer them a home. Theres very little other option, save perhaps for a prop in a mini golf centre, where this would realistically find a forever home - and no matter where it does end up, there is no guarantee that the owner will keep it there for any length of time. The pricetag is going on a sight-unseen purchase of something that was last photographed around ten years ago (I know people who have spoken to the agent selling them too) - heck, the current owner of them isn't even willing to open the shipping container they are stored in until he has a 'serious' buyer ready to make a deal. The estimate of $2k to both transport, and restore is woefully inadequate, and in reality you could probably get something similar built for the same or less than what the current owner is asking.

Folly is a pretty apt description. However, again, my purpose in mentioning this thing in the first place was to draw similarities to those who say 'bring back xx nostalgic thing from my childhood that was closed due to lack of interest because I think its a good idea, regardless of the financial cost or current demographic interest.

In summary, Fox Studios closed because it wasn't really all that good, and no, they shouldn't bring it back.

 

27 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

which they have priced at over $100k, it will never be an attractive prospect 

I believe the owner would do a bulk discount, and the figures i've heard suggest the entire collection could be had for around $60k - however that is with unspecified condition, most of them not working and much of the latex and other parts needing complete replacement. So you'd probably need your extra $40k to cobble together some sort of refurbishment to make it worth your while (otherwise i'm sure their current condition would be perfectly suited to a fright nights maze somewhere).

[Gazza]

$10,000?

Seller is having a laugh.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, Gazza said:

$10,000?

Seller is having a laugh.

Seller has asked $8k for one, (and as I mentioned would do the entire set for about $60k).

Those organising this fundraiser have summarily tacked on an extra $2k as an estimate to ship a very large, delicate and heavy animatronic from South Australia to the gold coast, and then completely refurbish it.

I'd tell you who I think is having a laugh, but that'd break the forum rules.

Edited February 9, 2021 by AlexB

[Brad2912]

For those following the story at home. The campaign/fundraiser has now been closed.

They ended up raising $1000 total, which will be returned to those who donated.

Strangely they thanked Dreamworld for their contribution to the efforts - yet i never saw any contribution.

[Jdude95]

1 hour ago, Brad2912 said:

For those following the story at home. The campaign/fundraiser has now been closed.

They ended up raising $1000 total, which will be returned to those who donated.

Strangely they thanked Dreamworld for their contribution to the efforts - yet i never saw any contribution.

I'd like to personally thank Walt Disney, without whom we probably wouldn't have a Dreamworld or Koalas!

This failed campaign is for you Walt! *gestures to the sky*

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Interestingly, the gofundme is still live this morning (almost 24 hours after the announcement), and the last fund update on the fundraiser was the end of January.

They didn't actually reach $1000 - just slightly less at $930, but that's with Golden Years chipping in $200 (they were the last recorded donation - on the 7th of February, which is odd given the campaign ran for 4 weeks total, and note also that Golden Years' donation is marked as 'offline' meaning they didn't actually put their money up - offline donations don't run through the gofundme system, so its an 'on paper' donation only.

While never made public, judging by social media posts it seems like perhaps discussion had been raised about housing the koala(s) at the longhurst museum \ garage just around the back of Dreamworld. That in itself is folly, given the distaste the longhurst's reportedly have for Dreamworld these days.

@Slick this might need splitting now...

[StingRay]

Going down to that cafe would have been a mercy mission to try and secure a location. Tony & co are into motoring and boats. Not prehistoric animatronics  that would cost a fortune to repair. 

It failed due to no outline or actual thought. Buying an asset like that ain’t like buying your groceries. Cleary however thought it would be that easy was kidding themselves. 
 

Nothing but egg on the face now. 

[Gazza]

I wonder why they were asking so much. The owners have clearly got no interest in them, they're just gathering dust in a container.

Now they likely will never be sold, but they could have made a grand off it if they wanted to.

[red dragin]

51 minutes ago, Gazza said:

I wonder why they were asking so much. The owners have clearly got no interest in them, they're just gathering dust in a container. 

I think the price and lack of care is what scared people off from donating. Ask a grand and they probably would have sold easily. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

^ A grand wouldn't have been enough to ship the damn thing.

The owner has them sitting in a shipping container on a property in SA. He's working tourism in the NT. To even return home to photograph the things would have cost him time and money - certainly not something that'd be worth doing for a grand for some stuff that isn't costing you anything to store.

He's clearly a collector. He had aspirations of setting up his own private collection, clearly it became too much to restore them all and he shelved the idea. He's finally come to terms with getting rid of them, but like many things people are sentimental about, he wants to recoup the costs he paid for them - and no doubt that's where the pricetag comes from, once you consider the cost to procure, ship, and then have this creative mob try to reanimate them. He doesn't want to make a loss, which is fair enough - its cheaper for him to let them continue to rot.