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!!
Had to laugh at number 12! lol Also I think our parks are perhaps lacking theme-ing which was something I really appreciated about Disneyland. The park becomes a whole experience rather than a bunch of unconnected rides on acerage. We want more magic!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more Fee! Disney parks are on the whole pretty amazing in terms of place making. It's funny to think how disconnected the elements of those parks actually are but how seamless the atmosphere is. Very hard to replicate!
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