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Warner Bros Australia - New Mack - DC Rivals HyperCoaster

I'm delighted to dig up this old thread!

I've had two short trips to Warner Bros. Movie World over the past couple of months and, as TowersStreet's likely only Village Roadshow annual passholder, ! thought it was about time I gave it a write-up on here.

First thing first: DC Rivals is a very good coaster. It is well-paced. The first drop is terrific. The airtime hill and non-inverting loop are particularly good. The airtime hops towards the end are good. (It's a bit meandery in the middle, and the turning hill after the loop resembles PMBO in the lack of airtime.)

Similar to what I've read about Icon, it warms up during the day. On both my trips, I haven't stayed beyond lunchtime, but the difference between 10am and lunchtime is significant. I have high hopes for a ride just before park close. It's not as smooth as Blue Fire, but the Mack Rattle isn't severe.

Also good news: after about 18 months since all the indoor theming was stripped from Scooby Doo – purportedly due to fire risk after the Dreamworld accident led to renewed safety checks – it's now closed down for a refurbishment until December, and the park have confirmed that new theming is to be installed, along with projection mapping and mist. The ride was pretty good before the theming was removed (here's a POV) so the potential is promising.

Park operations are nothing to write home about: every major coaster seemingly runs on one train. Arkham Asylum, the SLC, is notably bad due to the load time for the VR upsell. Most coasters have a strict no loose items regime, including secured pockets, and this doesn't help, but it's unsurprising given the response to Dreamworld accident.

So, whilst DC Rivals is probably not worth a trip to the antipodes for in its own right, Warner Bros. Movie World is worth the trip if you're heading down under for a trip to see other famous Australian landmarks such as, erm, one of the few remaining operating wooden wild mouse coasters...
 
Fans of the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster will be delighted to know that the coaster has just re-opened after a refurbishment which sees the original theming re-instated throughout the ride.

The theming was removed suddenly almost two years ago - rumoured to have been a victim of stricter safety checks after the Dreamworld accident - and the ride has been running in darkness since.

By coincidence* I was on park on Saturday as the ride re-opened for “technical rehearsals”.

There’s been some additional effects added, particularly in the main ride section (although the lasers were a bit pithy). Most noteworthy is the addition of video screens in the Matterhorn Blitz-style lift. It’s not a bad effort: Scooby Doo is running up the rocks as the lift ascends.

I’m sure there will be a POV soon - there’s a decent following for the park on Aussie fan forum Parkz. (Edit: Parkz are widely panning the refurbishment)

I also managed a backwards ride on DC Rivals - it’s intense on the turns.

The park was quiet in advance of their evening Winter Wonderland event (and it was the first time I’ve seen Superman run on two trains).

—

* For a Sydneysider, visiting Movie World is the equivalent of going to Europa-Park. But it’s conveniently close to a good IHG property that makes for a nice weekend break and a chance to use the Village Roadshow Annual Pass...
 
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Good to hear that DC Rivals is back up and running, I wonder what the extensive winter maintenance was all about?
 
Sorry to bump, but Warner Bros Movie World’s Arkham Asylum coaster (Vekoma SLC) has not operated since 2019, and the park are now planning a replacement.

According to Parkz, the replacement will be two racing family boomerangs from Vekoma (similar to Tweestryd at Wildlands Zoo Emmen), as well as some form of new suspended coaster from Vekoma (I’m hearing mixed reports as to what form this will take, but I’ve heard both an STC and an Orkanen clone thrown around): https://www.parkz.com.au/forums/top...cement-theming/?do=findComment&comment=199284

What do we think? I must say, I think they’ve gotten an extraordinary amount out of the site if they’re replacing 1 coaster with 3!
 
Matt N said:
Sorry to bump, but Warner Bros Movie World’s Arkham Asylum coaster (Vekoma SLC) has not operated since 2019, and the park are now planning a replacement.

According to Parkz, the replacement will be two racing family boomerangs from Vekoma (similar to Tweestryd at Wildlands Zoo Emmen), as well as some form of new suspended coaster from Vekoma (I’m hearing mixed reports as to what form this will take, but I’ve heard both an STC and an Orkanen clone thrown around): https://www.parkz.com.au/forums/top...cement-theming/?do=findComment&comment=199284

What do we think? I must say, I think they’ve gotten an extraordinary amount out of the site if they’re replacing 1 coaster with 3!
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The current coaster doesn't really do much with the site, if they use some of the backstage area around there and lay it all out much better than currently it would be easy to do like Phantasialand did and intertwine the boomerangs with another coaster. The current coaster is nothing special compared to other rides in the park so makes sense to replace it, its been rethemed in the past.
Take a look at the Google Maps satellite to see the size of the site https://goo.gl/maps/L136apBwv7NGs3zf9
 
Matt N said:
Sorry to bump, but Warner Bros Movie World’s Arkham Asylum coaster (Vekoma SLC) has not operated since 2019, and the park are now planning a replacement.

According to Parkz, the replacement will be two racing family boomerangs from Vekoma (similar to Tweestryd at Wildlands Zoo Emmen), as well as some form of new suspended coaster from Vekoma (I’m hearing mixed reports as to what form this will take, but I’ve heard both an STC and an Orkanen clone thrown around): https://www.parkz.com.au/forums/top...cement-theming/?do=findComment&comment=199284

What do we think? I must say, I think they’ve gotten an extraordinary amount out of the site if they’re replacing 1 coaster with 3!
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So basically they are getting another of those decent bulk deals from Vekoma? Can't say I blame them bet they are a bargain with everything thrown in.
 
JAperson said:
So basically they are getting another of those decent bulk deals from Vekoma? Can't say I blame them bet they are a bargain with everything thrown in.
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For what it's worth, Tayto Park's similar bulk deal (STC + Family Boomerang) is costing 15 million Euros, although this one has dueling family boomerangs instead of one family boomerang like Tayto's. We're also unsure whether Movie World is going for an STC or a family invert.

For 2 coasters, though, I think 15 million Euros is an absolute steal, personally!
 
I used to operate Lethal Weapon (as it was) a long time ago. I am surprised it lasted until 2019.

Sure that package will serve them well. In a chain ideologically opposed to running more than one train on anything, more coasters is perhaps not a bad thing.
 
Having previously been I can say it’s very disappointing, yes it has some great theming in parts nice building facades. But there no actually movie rides/dark rides apart from Justice league, which was just terrible. The execution, blurry screens, bad triggers and shocking sound system. I mean they clearly don’t have the budgets of the American Movie world. But yeah just lacks immersion all round, You can complete the whole park so quickly. Rides like Will Smith Wild West I mean come on, how old is the film now? They even play the distorted film on old monitors in the que like. I still had fun and the DC roller coaster was good, but there just a lot of buildings but nothing inside. I wouldn’t go back again to be honest.
 
Movie Park DE wasn't great, felt very much like a German Thorpe Park with low capacity on everything. I'm curious to see how Parque Warner Madrid is in comparison
 
I did a stint working at Movie World Aus and it's an OK park, it just suffered from a lot of the traits that the other Aussie parks have, low capacity and poor direction. More often than not, new attractions were a quick redo of another. The park had some pretty high budget rides but many were executed poorly.

Scooby Doo, Wild West Falls, Superman, Loony Tunes River Ride and Batman Adventure were all well put together attractions, but one has been shuttered and another transformed into something less impressive than what it replaced.

10+ years ago now, aside from the hyper, there isn't a great deal of difference. The best thing about those parks is that they're in a cluster. From my house I could walk to Dreamworld, Movie World, Wet & Wild and jump on the bus to Sea World.

@Poisson - the key difference is the scale, it's enormous vs. the Aus park.
 
I visited in 2019 and found the park fine, it is basicially Six Flags Gold Coast though, not Universal Studios. But I went in expecting a coaster park, not a behind the scenes park and my expectations were met.
Superman is a fun coaster and the hyper coaster is good. Justice League was fine as was the Scooby Doo coaster. We watched Lego Movie 4D, the parade and I got my photo with the Joker.
Yes its a small park, but we filled most of a day. I think just expect a rollercoaster park (Thorpe or Six Flags style) with some well themed areas not a Disney/Universal level.
 
I’m not sure if ride standards have got worse but Justice league was terrible riding, most of it so quite too or no sound at all. Alot of the screens was not working properly or blurry. Also the Scooby Doo roller coaster element and lift section was great fun. But the dark section of the ride is so poor, which I would of thought they would have a better budget for. You only have to watch the video of the gremlins ride before it, to realise how much of a downgrade it actually is. Did Movie World loose the rights too the Gremlins?

But yeah I agree have to expect more of a roller coaster park, but it’s literally called Warner Brothers Movie World?
 
TroySmith1 said:
But yeah I agree have to expect more of a roller coaster park, but it’s literally called Warner Brothers Movie World?
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and all the rides are based on Warner Bros movies. Just most of them are coasters lol.

Maybe if it was WB Studios I would expect a lot more behind the scenes type stuff.
 
I'm in Australia and thinking of visiting this park next week but i'd only have a few hours. Is it likely to be very quiet as i believe it's term time?
 
Poisson said:
It is showing 10 - 5, so I'd imagine it isn't too bad? @Jordan if he's about might know more
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My experience is that both Movie World and Dreamworld can be very quiet on weekdays in term time, with most rides walk-on.

Just don’t expect two-train ops, and check the list of rides closed for maintenance. For example - Scooby Doo is currently closed for a multi-year refurb.
 
Jordan said:
My experience is that both Movie World and Dreamworld can be very quiet on weekdays in term time, with most rides walk-on.

Just don’t expect two-train ops, and check the list of rides closed for maintenance. For example - Scooby Doo is currently closed for a multi-year refurb.
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Thanks! Yeah looks like Scooby and DOOMSDAY Destroyer will be closed but only really want to go on DC and Superman (and Wild West if weather is good).

Edit: Looked today and 2 hours after opening most of the rides are "broken down" :(
 
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