The recent history of the Gold Coast theme park industry is convoluted. The Dreamworld catastrophe in 2016 threw a shadow over the industry as a whole. In the years that followed, attendance numbers declined, public trust faltered, and operators had to deal with previously unanswered questions regarding safety culture and regulatory supervision. Although Movie World wasn’t the park directly engaged, the public’s view of the industry during that time affected all Gold Coast attractions. The parks that gave tourists a cause to come that felt truly worth the trip are the ones that have recovered the strongest. Recovery has been gradual.
That kind of argument is the foundation of Movie World’s present strategy. The DC Rivals HyperCoaster, which debuted in 2017 and continues to be the park’s major attraction, is the highest, longest, and fastest in its category in the Southern Hemisphere. The angle of the main drop, which creates the kind of first-drop experience that riders describe in ways that are hard to repeat in polite company, is 89 degrees, a fraction past vertical. The optional rear-facing seat takes that experience and eliminates the visual cues that typically help passengers mentally prepare for what’s about to happen. It’s a well-considered piece of hardware design, the kind of choice that creates years of anticipation for visitors who haven’t experienced it and years of word-of-mouth from those who have.
In addition to DC Rivals, Superman Escape offers a launch coaster that can speed from zero to one hundred kilometers per hour in two seconds. Superman Escape is about the first shock, the instant of sheer velocity that comes before any cognitive processing of what is happening, whereas DC Rivals is about height and duration. Since the two rides affect the nervous system in separate ways, they stack rather than compete. The Wizard of Oz district is the more strategically intriguing addition, in part because it shows how Movie World is considering the divide between its current and target audiences.
The suspended family coaster Flight of the Wicked Witch and Kansas Twister are not designed to draw DC Rivals fans. They are designed to draw together families where one parent is managing two young children who aren’t old enough for an 89-degree dip and the other wants Rivals. The value of the vacation is greatly increased by getting that second group through the gate and providing them with something truly worthwhile to do while the rest of the family waits for the large coasters. Disneyland proved decades ago that a park that caters to all members of the group is more likely to attract the entire group.
The SCOOBY-DOO! Refurbishing a spooky coaster is a different kind of investment, but it’s not a little one. It is a statement that the park values its whole lineup rather than simply the major additions when it updates a ride that already has a devoted following and visitor memories. When a historic ride is neglected, visitors notice. When it returns better than before, they also take note.
It’s difficult to ignore the fact that Movie World’s extreme hardware, family-friendly theme, live stunt entertainment, and ongoing renovation investment describe something more like to a resort than a typical one-day park visit. The stunt show, the Wizard of Oz zone for younger visitors, and the Batwing Spaceshot are all targeted at different audiences. Their goal is to keep a diverse group on site long enough that a one-day ticket becomes insufficient and a multi-day trip to the Gold Coast makes sense. The park is actually competing not only with other theme parks but also with every other option available to a family traveling to Queensland.
It will take a few more seasons to determine whether the investment is successful as intended by Movie World. The particular attractions are believable, and the instinct is correct. These bids are ultimately won or lost based on how well they are executed over time, especially when it comes to preserving the caliber of the experience over the entire lineup rather than simply around the newest attraction.
