Dreamworld’s BuzzSaw is Retiring

[themagician]

Dreamworld won’t be gone for good. Give it 5-7 years and it will be heading towards becoming what it used to be. 

[franky]

Quote

Viable future development

Sad to see yet another ride go, but looking forward to what's to come. Like TOT2 they can start saving the expense of maintaining the ride for new things.

Only been on BuzzSaw a couple of times during a visit, just before the TOT2 closed. It was enjoyable but not a very long ride. Kinda hurt my neck the first time we got grabbed on the lift hill at the end of the ride because I wasn't expecting it.

I guess this would mean the last of the Rocky Hollow rustic theming too right?

Edited July 17, 2021 by franky

[Aw hype]

Who would've thought the 25 year old concussion-inducing arrow looper would outlive the (sounds a bit odd but is true) last coaster dreamworld actually added. Look i'm no expert but parks typically don't remove an attraction due to it's proximity to a new development, seems a bit odd. If that were the case, you'd think they'd just move it somewhere else in the park. Wouldn't surprise me if they were looking to get rid of it in the next 5ish years only for a buyer to pop up now, in which case it would make sense to uproot it and move it on, especially given its removal will then be overshadowed by the positivity of ST opening.

[Baconjack]

What a flop of a ride. Through and through disaster.

A shit ride bought from a 3rd tier manufacturer (maybe 2nd tier if you want to be generous) that was purchased because it was the cheapest option for a ride. Ran into the ground for its entire life and eventually aged into a shithouse bone shaker. Frequently in and out of closure for about half of its time at DW and outlived by a coaster three times its age. Not to mention, it ran for only 9 years before Ardent gave up, an embarrassment considering literal prototype coasters have operated for twice as long before closing.

This is why you invest in high quality attractions and maintain them properly, rather than going for quite literally the cheapest possible option. Let Buzzsaw serve as a warning to our parks wanting to cheap out on attractions and maintenance as it is the prime example of what happens when operators don't care about their parks.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Baconjack

[Aw hype]

5 minutes ago, Baconjack said:

This is why you invest in high quality attractions and maintain them properly, rather than going for quite literally the cheapest possible option. Let Buzzsaw serve as a warning to our parks wanting to cheap out on attractions and maintenance as it is the prime example of what happens when operators don't care about their parks.

Adventure world called, they want you to stop talking shit about their vertebrate-annihilating eurofighter.

[Baconjack]

9 minutes ago, Aw hype said:

Adventure world called, they want you to stop talking shit about their vertebrate-annihilating eurofighter.

I think it's a bit unfair to call out Mark Shaw and AW management for Abyss. It was a good investment for the biggest gap in the park's lineup. The main flaw with it is that lap bars should have been installed on the trains at the start rather than the shoulder restraints, which were already not doing favours to some of the older eurofighters back then. DW on the other hand paid almost half of Abyss's budget for Buzzsaw (figure was $7m iirc) from a much larger park. Buzzsaw is a more egregious example of being cheap imo. There was a time when Adventure World was seen as the benchmark for theme park operation in this country and that's when Mark was around.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Baconjack

[Park Fan]

4 hours ago, themagician said:

Since 2016 the park has closed:

River Rapids, Log Ride, Flowrider, Wipeout, TOT, Big Red Car, Cinema, Zombie Evilution, Brocks Garage, Hop and Hoot and now BuzzSaw.

Some of those were much less of a loss than others, but still, that’s a long list of attractions to close. Since then they’ve got SkyVoyager, soon Steel Taipan and they utilise the Exhbition centre quite often too.

I dont know how the park is going to make a comeback from so many closures in such a short time. Right now it feels like the only things the park has going for it are skyvoyager and a DreamWorks area that is rumored to be closing soon as well. I worry that if steel taipan doesn't significantly increase attendance for the park then dreamworld could end up becoming the next wonderland.

[themagician]

The reason why I don’t think DW will close down is because if they got to a situation where that could potentially happen, I feel like the government would step in to help it. And I’m sure some investor would buy the park too. I think after ST, they need to get 2-3 more big investments within the next 5 years. Maybe one of those investments could be multiple smaller rides at once (potential new land or expansion of existing, eg. Rocky hollow). Only then I think the park will be at a point where all the closures will be seen as ‘replaced’. I think in the mean time, they need to keep up with the school holiday entertainment/events, as they are proving to be very popular 

[Noxegon]

Random thoughts having read this thread:

• Buzzsaw is no great loss. It was and is a turd. I’m much more upset about the demise of Big Red Car, which made me laugh. 
• Abyss is a good ride that would be better with lap bars. For atmosphere alone (if perhaps not ride selection) I regard Adventure World as one of the top parks in Australia. 
• I’m not inclined to write off Dreamworld just yet. The Mack Blue Fire is a good ride and a crowd pleaser. A few more upgrades like that could turn the place around.
• They’d be mad to remove the Giant Drop. Though it’s not a record holder any more it’s nevertheless the most iconic ride they have.

[Gazza]

2 hours ago, themagician said:

Maybe one of those investments could be multiple smaller rides at once

I dont agree on that one. The park has plenty of smaller rides, that's mostly what it was getting prior to Sky Voyager right?

 Ocean parade and Dreamworks are both solid flat ride precincts, so adding another flat ride precinct wont add value or depth to the lineup.

At this point I think a water ride is the most urgent, and then say a dark ride, and another coaster.

 

 

[Evelyn]

I would really love dreamworld to replace Buzzsaw with one of these rides. I think they have the space? 

 

[Rivals]

6 minutes ago, Evelyn said:

I would really love dreamworld to replace Buzzsaw with one of these rides. I think they have the space? 

 

as much as they look like a great ride, i don’t think it would be smart placing a triple launch coaster next to another triple launch coaster a couple years apart from each-other… 

[Brad2912]

Was at the park today when news filtered through about BS closing (strangely didn’t get the pass holder email…) 

So I figured I better give her 1 last ride before stumps. I can see why it’s closing. Was 12:30pm and not a single person in the queue. The people on the ride were on their third run without even getting off. 
 

I still enjoy the speed out of the heart line roll, but it really is a one trick pony. 

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

13 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

Was at the park today when news filtered through about BS closing (strangely didn’t get the pass holder email…) 

So I figured I better give her 1 last ride before stumps. I can see why it’s closing. Was 12:30pm and not a single person in the queue. The people on the ride were on their third run without even getting off. 
 

I still enjoy the speed out of the heart line roll, but it really is a one trick pony. 

But surely they wouldn't remove it just because it's unpopular. They desperately need thrill rides and Buzzsaw was bound to become more popular when ST opens. 

[gavinfulikes]

After September, BuzzSaw would of been required to do the new 10 yearly inspections as the ride would be turning 10. The new process possibly  would of made BuzzSaw harder to maintain.

[Baconjack]

31 minutes ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

But surely they wouldn't remove it just because it's unpopular. They desperately need thrill rides and Buzzsaw was bound to become more popular when ST opens. 

It more less has something to do with it being constantly shut for maintenance in the last few years. No different to Tower. By all accounts it seems Buzzsaw wasn't an easy ride to maintain.

I'll take Steel Taipan over Buzzsaw and TOT any day of the week. I'm sure most people in here will as well. Continuing to limp on shithouse aging attractions was the DW strategy in the past, but you just can't get away with that these days.

Edited July 17, 2021 by Baconjack

[themagician]

I’d say they with the continuous maintenance costs and probably the new parts and refurb the ride needs, there was no real value with spending this money when the rides popularity is so low. And really, at a price of $7 million, the ride was a bargain and isn’t that big of loss. 
 

But Dreamworld, you’ll definitely want to look at opening something near year too. 

[Brad2912]

58 minutes ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

But surely they wouldn't remove it just because it's unpopular.

I didn’t say that was the only reason, but why invest in costly and time consuming maintenance periods, constantly, when the ride itself isn’t well received or ridden? 

[fletch]

Maybe Dreamworld can make a few quick dollars by doing what they did with TOT2 and selling off some of the parts to a park with the same ride?

[Jdude95]

1 hour ago, fletch said:

Maybe Dreamworld can make a few quick dollars by doing what they did with TOT2 and selling off some of the parts to a park with the same ride?

They'd probably make more money at SIMS 

[Cactus_Matt]

I don't think this is any great loss to Dreamworld as a whole considering the far more important and impressive rides they seemingly flushed down the drain with even less warning and fan-fare than they did give this one. I rode this "roller coaster" twice and that was enough for a lifetime. Unlike some people here I don't think this is going to erode any of the public's image of the park (the general public doesn't know/care how long a ride has been in a park, how much it cost to build or maintain, etc. they just care if something good is going away, and by most accounts it won't be missed). But on the other hand, I don't think the addition of Steel Taipan and some new carriages for the Railway is going to put Dreamworld back on top of their game. The park is at the very least a couple solid flat rides, a substantial water ride and a record-breaking ~something~ away from even being close to what they were in their heyday.

TL;DR, Dreamworld decided to get rid of something unpopular for a change rather than the things they should have fought to keep and it's not going to change much in the grand scheme of things.

[themagician]

Checkout the original concept art for the ride here:

https://mattbakercreative.com/buzzsaw-at-dreamworld?fbclid=IwAR1n1BX72HmapJ-I4C-sZwAZuebd9i_8ECx7mumuftOfrIWbMVg8gjcSTIk

[pin142]

Concept art was close to what was originally found until they gutted the theming and opened the queue line up.

[Jobe]

17 hours ago, Rivals said:

as much as they look like a great ride, i don’t think it would be smart placing a triple launch coaster next to another triple launch coaster a couple years apart from each-other… 

Where is the rule that says you cant have 3 triple launch coasters in the same park? The Premier rides Skyrocket II might not be the best choice for another coaster but its light years from what Buzzsaw is now and if Dreamworld were to announce one of these as a direct replacement then i think we would all be pretty happy with that option. 

 

16 hours ago, themagician said:

But Dreamworld, you’ll definitely want to look at opening something near year too. 

This. ☝️ The real issue with this announcement is that Dreamworld have once again announced the removal of an attraction without any plans for direct replacement. Given that this will be the 6th major loss of ride/attraction in just over 24 months Dreamworld need to have a plan for replacement and they need to communicate this to the public. Already, following this announcement, the social media was filled with comments such as "this park keeps removing attractions", this park is not what it used to be" , "there is no value in this park anymore". They simply fill the pages and this sort of negative perception can only be turned around with a positive replacement announcement plans. If they don't , they run the real risk of losing the public altogether, who will only see what is being removed, and not the big picture of an overhaul of the park.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Wow Dreamworld. talk about shitting in your own hand. Where do I start?

On 17/07/2021 at 9:53 AM, TheFunniestduck said:

what expansions can they do there, they can’t add another flat ride there. 

Why can't they add a flat? Literally anything that fits in the space is fine. It'd be a nice space for a swinging ship style ride or anything with a suitable footprint that adds more kinetic energy to that area, but doesn't detract from ST. 

Given the proximity to what is likely to take the crown as their new flagship attraction, they'll probably want to get some retail and F&B options set up over there to milk the bystanders though...

On 17/07/2021 at 9:55 AM, joz said:

What in the fuck does 'Given the ride's proximity' mean?

collapse of ansett. SARS. bird flu. 

On 17/07/2021 at 10:11 AM, Slick said:

It’d be nice if they just refurbished the originals. My thought behind why they’re not doing that is that the change in gradient combined with the lacklustre diesel train means they need to get new carriages that are lighter or something along those lines. 

That was my first thought. Probably make stroller and wheelchair accessibility less labour intensive. I'd wager a shorter overall train too.

On 17/07/2021 at 10:14 AM, Gazza said:

As far as I know this ride had very low ridership.

How would you know? It was never bloody open!!!

On 17/07/2021 at 2:56 PM, Park Fan said:

a DreamWorks area that is rumored to be closing soon as well. 

I'll own this one - I made several arguments for this rumour on the basis of rides missing from their pads. These have reportedly returned so it seems rumours of their demise were greatly exaggerated.

On 17/07/2021 at 3:12 PM, themagician said:

The reason why I don’t think DW will close down is because if they got to a situation where that could potentially happen, I feel like the government would step in to help it. And I’m sure some investor would buy the park too.

I am sure QGOV would make them loans as they have done recently on the basis of it being commercially viable. The minute it isn't, they won't. The government doesn't go around propping up a single failing business without broader implications. This is why Village got the same cash Ardent did near the start of covid.

No - if DW tanks, like Wonderland, the gov isn't going to step in and save it for sentimentality. If no buyer is found to continue running it (and this has happened before, albeit the park was in a better state than it is now), then they will pave paradise and put up a housing estate.

On 17/07/2021 at 6:20 PM, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

But surely they wouldn't remove it just because it's unpopular. They desperately need thrill rides and Buzzsaw was bound to become more popular when ST opens. 

If you open a restaurant, and it serves shit food, and its costing you more money than its making you to keep it open because people who try the food don't come back, do you keep opening the restaurant?

21 hours ago, pin142 said:

Concept art was close to what was originally found until they gutted the theming and opened the queue line up.

Wasn't that because the queue was an iron clad oven?

 

Anyhow - sorry buzz, but good riddance. one trick pony. poorly thought out. poorly executed. poorly manufactured given the safety harness issues it's had. Poorly operated given one row of seats was closed just so that an operator could cross the track... bring on the dozers.