How do Australian Parks compare to international standards?

Recently on internationally renowned theme park site Theme Park Insider gave us an article on the 20 things that every great theme park should have. This got me thinking about how the 3 major Australian parks on the Gold Coast, Dreamworld, Movie World and Sea World, and how they compare to the great theme parks of the world. So let's rate each park out of ten for each attribute . The total will be out of 200, however I would expect only Disney and Universal parks would push above the 150 mark for this test. So I'll set the pass mark to be a world class park to be 100. Lets see how our Australian parks compare!

1. A photogenic, iconic landmark that draws people into the park
Dreamworld - 1/10
Movie World - 1/10
Sea World - 0/10

Dreamworld and Movie World get a point each get a point for their Globe and Archway respectively. They are photogenic but they don't draw people into the park. Indeed, they both stop people right at the enterance.

2. Beautiful landscaping
Dreamworld - 7/10
Movie World - 6/10
Sea World - 4/10

Dreamworld in it's current state of maintenance does pip Movie World in landscaping,  although Dreamworld has fluctuated on this between a 5 and a 7 in the last 5-10 years.

3. Multiple attractions with no height restrictions, that appeal to all ages
Dreamworld - 2/10
Movie World - 2/10
Sea World - 4/10

Dreamworld has more attractions, but it's only really the Tigers and thw Australian Animals. Everything else is really aimed at a specific age group. Movie World is much the same. Sea World has not much extrain the ride department, but more shows and exhibits that cross the generation gap.

4. Enough available attraction capacity to keep peak waits for non-new attractions under 90 minutes
Dreamworld - 7/10
Movie World - 3/10
Sea World - 7/10

Dreamworld and Sea World rarely have super long waits for non-new attractions. The  same can't be said for Movie World. On a non-busy day, no worries. But even slightly busy day can see ride waits blow out towards 2 hours.

5. A high-capacity, slow-moving indoor ride
Dreamworld - 0/10
Movie World - 8/10
Sea World - 0/10

Simply put, Movie World has Justice League, the rest have squat. They would have got 10, if had a little more capacity. Dreamworld does have a dark ride (The Big Red Car Ride) but it's so low in capacity that it's still worth nothing.

6. A large-scale, sit-down, indoor show
Dreamworld - 6/10
Movie World - 7/10
Sea World - 7/10

Movie World and Dreamworld have screen based indoor attractions. Sea World and Movie World both have outdoor but covered shows (3 for Sea World). So, the honours are split here.

7. A playground
Dreamworld - 10/10
Movie World - 0/10
Sea World - 10/10

Both Dreamworld and Sea World have strong playgrounds and play areas. They aren't immersive like Disney, but they count.

8. All long queues (10 min+) are shaded or indoors
Dreamworld - 5/10
Movie World - 5/10
Sea World - 5/10

Each of the parks has some shaded and indoor queues but very few that are actually pleasant in the hot Queensland summer.

9. Shortcuts across the park
Dreamworld - 10/10
Movie World - 0/10
Sea World - 0/10

Dreamworld has both a train and also a much more open layout than either Movie World or Sea World. There is no comparison here.

10. Table-service restaurants
Dreamworld - 6/10
Movie World - 6/10
Sea World - 5/10

Each of the parks have a buffet restaurant, although Sea World's is in the resort not the park.

11. Easy-to-order allergen-free food options
Dreamworld - 0/10
Movie World - 0/10
Sea World - 0/10

I'm sure each of the parks have options, but I don't know where, so that fails easy-to-order test.

12. Non-fried, low-carb, vegetable-containing food options
Dreamworld - 0/10
Movie World - 0/10
Sea World - 0/10

See previous answer.

13. A unique, signature food item
Dreamworld - 0/10
Movie World - 0/10
Sea World - 0/10

Nothing unique here!

14. Family bathrooms, plus changing tables in ALL bathrooms
Dreamworld - 10/10
Movie World - 10/10
Sea World - 10/10

I'm not certain of this one, but mt memory is that our parks are pretty  good in this department.

15. Kiddie toilets
Dreamworld - 0/10
Movie World - 0/10
Sea World - 0/10

Again, don't quote me on this one but I remember any children's toilets in any of these parks.

16. Free, accurate wait-time app or webpage
Dreamworld - 0/10
Movie World - 0/10
Sea World - 0/10

No wait time apps or web pages here!

17. Free, usable Wifi in the park
Dreamworld - 0/10
Movie World - 0/10
Sea World - 0/10

No luck here either.

18. Free, accessible electrical sockets
Dreamworld - 0/10
Movie World - 0/10
Sea World - 0/10

I know that Dreamworld has a pay to recharge station, but other than that I'm not aware of any designated recharge facilities.

19. Park-branded and attraction-branded merchandise
Dreamworld - 10/10
Movie World - 9/10
Sea World - 10/10

Australian parks are all good at merchandising. I've taken 1 point off Movie World just because their characters dominate their merchandise rather than their attractions.

20. Well-trained, experienced, and empowered employees
Dreamworld - 7/10
Movie World - 4/10
Sea World - 6/10

This is a hard one. In my view Dreamworld has the best staff of all the parks. They aren't great but they aren't too bad. Sea World aren't far behind. Movie World definitely brings up the rear. Not that they are awful, they have some great staff, and their character talent is always pretty good. However they do fall behind the other parks in Ride Ops and Food and beverage.

Overall Totals
Dreamworld - 81/200
Movie World - 61/200
Sea World - 68/200

In short, are any of the Australian parks great international theme parks? No. However they do punch above their weight! None of them reached half way satisfying the criteria, however their scores are still higher than I expected. I was also suprised how much higher Dreamworld rated than Movie World. It means that on these measures (which don't measure attraction quality) put Dreamworld significantly closer to being a world class theme park. And perhaps that is fair, given that Dreamworld was modelled on Disneyland, which is the true benchmark for modern theme parks. However there is a lot that needs to be done to get Dreamworld to world class.

Hey Dreamworld, you should consider adding a dark ride!!

Theme Park Nut News Update - 10th May 2016

There is plenty of news week, but sadly I don't have plenty of time! So here is an action packed Theme Park Nut News Update!!

The biggest theme park news this week was clearly the soft-opening of Shanghai Disneyland. Even though this was an invitation only event, we did get a great look at this new park, including some sneak peaks at a few of the great attractions. We got a huge look at the brand new Tron Lightcycle coaster that anchors Tomorrowland. We also got the briefest of peaks at the brand new Pirates of the Carribean, which I am really excited for. I can't wait for a full ride through to be uploaded to YouTube. There are so many photos all over Twitter, it's hard to keep up, but if I can get time I'll try to get a collection of the best going sometime later this week.

But that wasn't the only big news this week. Six Flags gave us some concept art for the upcoming Six Flags Dubai. The first full thrill park in the Persian Gulf is planned to open in late 2019, with 27 attractions.

Cedar Point in Ohio opened yet another record setting roller coaster, with Valravn the world's fastest, tallest and longest Dive coaster. This looks like one heck of a ride!

At Universal Orlando, we got our first taste of the new Hulk coaster! It's got an all new story to go with the rebuilt track. This also looks like it will be really great.

And of course, May the 4th was Star Wars day, which means that it was a great time to reflect on all the Star Wars Theme Park related happenings. For local Star Wars fans, Dreamworld on the Gold Coast has it's annual Star Wars Weekend coming up this weekend, raising money for local charity TLC for Kids. It's a great cause, so people should get involved!

For more Theme Park coverage, follow me on Twitter @themeparknut. Until next time, Cheers!

Theme Park Nut News Update - 3rd May 2016

What a huge week in Theme Parks!

Universal's owners (NBCUniversal) have purchased DreamWorks Animation. This could be a very big deal for the parks as they are already have attractions themed to some of DreamWorks movies, although their licences are varied across their different parks. For example, in the U.S. there are some limit Shrek experiences in the parks, however in Singapore they have a large area dedicated to multiple franchises from DreamWorks. The most exciting part about this for me is this: "In addition, DreamWorks Animation now owns the licensing rights to several other franchises, including ... the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials." That's right, we could see some seriously awesome Christmas theme park action, from some of the most memorable (for my generation) Christmas favourites!

Tokyo Disney made some interesting, and huge announcements over the last week, when tabling their development plans for fiscal year 2020. That might sound like it's a long way off, but it really isn't. Most exciting is the planned brand new Beauty and the Beast ride, described as:
“Guests board enchanted serving dishes that dance in rhythm to the film’s well-known music and follow Belle on a romantic musical adventure inside the enchanted Castle where she dances her way into the heart of the Beast, just in time to break the fateful spell. Guests will feel like they have entered right into the film.”

At WDW, we wished a final goodbye to the Earful Tower. And Disney has started offering the most amazing (but likely most expensive) location for a wedding, when it announced that it will start hosting ceremonies at the foot of the Cinderella Castle. You just need a cold US$75,000 for the ceremony. Yikes!

Over West, Legoland in California has also opened Ninjago the Ride, which is a next generation controller-free interactive dark ride. It looks really really impressive!

In a disturbing incident, a father caught on video his son's seatbelt released mid ride on a roller coaster in Wonderland Amusement Park in Texas. This is a very strange incident, both for how it happened, and that the father managed to continue recording after the seatbelt broke. The park has given the usual assurances that it takes safety seriously, but to be honest, these kind of incidents seem  to be happening regularly at smaller parks.

Coming back home to Australia, Parkz.com.au gives us a look at the Suspend Twin Hammer ride, that it appears is destined to be the new Doomsday Destroyer ride at Movie World.

And finally in my favourite bit of theme park news this week, Dreamworld have announced they are opening a Lego Certified Store at the park in November this year! A real Lego store in Austalia is super cool! Reports are that it will be accessible from both inside and outside the park, which would be super cool also, but one has to wonder where it is going to be placed? The current exit pavillion is the obvious spot, but perhaps there is extra room that I haven't thought of yet.


For more Theme Park coverage, follow me on Twitter @themeparknut. Until next time, Cheers!