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:''This article is about the Australian amusement park. For the concept of fictional universes, see imaginary world. For the plot device used in fiction, see Dream world (plot device).''
'Dreamworld' is a theme park situated on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. It is currently Australia's largest theme park. It is well known for being the location of the Big Brother Australia house.
Thrill rides feature prominently at ''Dreamworld'' with the Tower of Terror (the world's fourth fastest roller coaster), The Claw, Wipeout and Cyclone (a dual loop roller coaster) forming the promotional face of the park. ''Dreamworld'' also features several restaurants and shopping outlets; a kids area Nick Central, Wiggles World for toddlers and infants; as well as many themed areas such as Tiger Island, The Australian Wildlife Experience and Gold Rush Country. In December 2006, a new waterpark, ''WhiteWater World'', operated by the same company as Dreamworld, opened next door to the park. A motorcycle rollercoaster named after Mick Doohan is set to open in September 2007.
In addition to ''Big Brother Australia'', ''Friday Night Games'' is also filmed at Dreamworld.

Contents

History

Current attractions

"The Big 5 Thrill Rides"

Other rides

Children's rides

Nick Central

Wiggles World

Wildlife

Tiger Island

Australian Wildlife Experience

Other attractions

Extra cost attractions

Future attractions

Previous attractions

References

External links

History

The entrance to Dreamworld

The ''Wipeout'' in Ocean Parade

In 1974, John Longhurst put his dream of building a theme park into practice and purchased 85 hectares of land beside the Pacific Motorway in Coomera. The theme park was officially opened on November 15, 1981 by the Premier of Queensland of the time, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
Four months later, Dreamworld's first roller coaster, ''The Thunderbolt'', was opened and remained the major attraction of the park for the next 15 years.
A shaky period in the early 1990s nearly led to the closure of Dreamworld. All this turned around with the opening of ''Wipeout'' in 1993.
Many more thrill rides have been built since, with the world's (at the time) fastest roller coaster, ''Tower of Terror'', opening in January 1997 followed a year later with Giant Drop sharing the same 40-storey tower.
Since 2001 an alliance with the Australian Big Brother, which is filmed at Dreamworld, has allowed the park to gain considerable media attention. Visitors to the park can visit the house from July - December of each year.
The ''Cyclone'', a roller coaster relocated from Luna Park Sydney, opened in 2001.
An alliance with Nickelodeon saw Nickelodeon Central open on December 26, 2002. This themed area is based on a similar concept which Paramount Parks in the USA have used successfully at many of their parks.
In August 2004, ''The Thunderbolt'' was demolished and sold for scrap metal. The park retained a section of track and at least one train which are currently stored in the park's back-of-house areas.
''The Claw'' opened September 2004 as the park's first flat thrill ride in over 10 years.
On September 10, 2005, Dreamworld's newest themed area opened based on The Wiggles, ''Wiggles World'' opened.
The ''Blue Lagoon'' water park area was closed in 2006 to ensure that Dreamworld would not be competing with ''WhiteWater World'', a recently opened water park operated by the same company.
A new Motorbike Coaster which has been named ''Mick Doohan’s Motocoaster'', is currently being constructed near ''The Giant Drop'' and is expected to open for the school holidays in September 2007. It was built by roller coaster manufacturer Intamin.

Current attractions

"The Big 5 Thrill Rides"

The Big 5 Thrill Rides is an advertising theme which Dreamworld uses to promote it's 5 most thrilling rides in the park. These rides feature high speeds and unexpected movements. These rides are not recommended for children under 10.



★ 'The Claw' - A Gyro Swing; the only ride of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. At its maximum height of nine stories high, it offers views stretching above and beyond the tourist mecca of Surfers Paradise, 20 km away.


★ 'Cyclone' - The tallest high gravity roller-coaster in Australia. Originally named the 'Big Dipper' and located at Luna Park Sydney, it was relocated to Dreamworld after controversies concerning its original location forced Luna Park to close for several years.

★ 'The Giant Drop' - The Giant Drop is currently the world's tallest and fastest freefall ride with a drop height of 119m (390ft) and a maximum speed of 135km/h (84mph). It features a wait of usually 45 seconds at the top of the tower before the drop, although this can be altered by the operator, who will often wait until the Tower of Terror runs up and back down the shared support structure. The ride was designed and built by Intamin AG, which opened a year later after the Tower of Terror first opened (also designed by Intamin). Despite an incident on a similar ride, The Superman Tower of Power at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in the USA, the ride continued to operate as usual.

★ 'Tower of Terror' - A reverse freefall ride, based on the technology and design of at Six Flags Magic Mountain. When the ride first opened, it was the tallest and fastest ride in the world. It was the world's first roller coaster to break the 100mph speed barrier. It is now the world's fourth fastest rollercoaster (equally fast as Superman: The Escape). The ride's support structure, which it shares with the Giant Drop, is a major landmark on the Gold Coast. The Tower of Terror cost Dreamworld $16,000,000.

★ 'Wipeout' - A Vekoma Waikiki Wave Super Flip, costing $6,000,000, opened in 1993 with the opening of the Ocean Parade precinct. It is capable of handling 40 riders at a time with ride cycles lasting 5 minutes. Despite continuous maintenance needed on this ride, Dreamworld will keep the Wipeout open. On average, the ride has a fault at least twice a day.

Other rides

★ 'AVIS Vintage Cars' - A fixed track car ride where riders get to drive their own Ford Model T around a concrete track with a single rail down the middle to which the car is fixed. The ride has been located to the very end of the park near the kangaroos. They are visible from the east lift giant drop.

★ 'Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler' - A paddle wheel boat which travels around a small river loop connecting ''Wiggles World'' and the ''Australian Wildlife Experience''. Previously, a show with bushrangers on the island in the middle of the river was a feature.

★ 'The Dreamworld Railway' - Another one of Dreamworld's original attractions which features a steam locomotive with several passenger trailers running on a loop around the park stopping at four stations; ''Main Street'', ''Billabong'', ''Australian Wildlife Experience'' and ''Rocky Hollow''.

★ 'Eureka Mountain Mine Ride' - The Eureka Mountain Mine Ride takes riders for a ride through the tunnels of an old abandoned mine. It is Dreamworld's second roller coaster to be built at the park and Australia's first indoor roller coaster when it opened in 1988, the same time the themed area ''Gold Rush Country'' opened with it. The ride is currently closed for maitenence and may be re-opened later in the year. It is still unknown how long it will be closed.

★ 'Reef Diver' - A SDC Enterprise which is painted a bright yellow to stand out along with its ''Ocean Parade'' theming.


★ 'Rocky Hollow Log Ride'- A log flume which feautres minor dips, turns and tunnels as well as a major drop at the end which ends with a splashdown at a speed of 50 k/ph.

★ 'Stingray' - The Stingray (Chance Trabant) was originally operating under the name of "Roulette" and was themed to a casino roulette wheel. In 1994, the ride was re-themed to a Stingray theme in conjunction with the opening of ''Ocean Parade''.

★ 'Thunder River Rapids' - A river rapid ride which feaures floating rafts holding up to six people floating down a foamy, turbulent river reaching speeds of up to 45 kp/h. The ride opened in 1986 in conjunction with the opening of ''Gold Rush Country''.

★ 'Vortex' - A park-model Gravitron, the Vortex operated under that name until 2002, when it was renamed to fit the Ocean parade themeing.

Children's rides

Nick Central

The rides and shows at Nickelodeon Central are themed around characters from Nickelodeon cartoons.

★ 'Angry Beavers Spooty Spin' - Rotating enclosed spinning ride themed to the Angry Beavers.

★ 'Blue's Skidoo' - A rotating fixed arm plane ride themed to Blues Clues.

★ 'Dora the Explorer Sea Planes' - A rotating fixed arm plane ride themed to Dora the Explorer.

★ 'Nick-o-Round' - A general Nickelodeon themed Merry-go-round.

★ 'Rocket Power Bumper Beach'- A Rocket Power themed Dodgem cars attraction.

★ 'Runaway Reptar Roller Coaster' - The feature attraction of Nickelodeon Central which is themed from the fictional Rugrats monster ''Reptar''. A 344 m inverted sit-down roller coaster takes 20 riders up to a height of 15 metres through helixes, a camel hump and banked curves. It can travel up to 40 k/mh.

★ 'Slime Bowl' - A ampitheatre which features shows ranging from visitors getting "Slimed" to performances by Spongebob Squarepants.

★ 'Swinger Zinger' - A Chair-O-Planes ride.

★ 'Wild Thornberry's Rainforest Rampage' - A two level kids semi-indoor playground where kids are able to shoot soft foam balls from cannons along with many other activities.

Wiggles World

The rides and shows at Wiggles World are themed around the popular pre-school band The Wiggles.

★ 'Big Red Car Ride' - Riders sit in "Big Red Cars" which follow a track which takes riders through a tour of the Wiggles House.

★ 'Captain Feathersword's Ship' - A childrens playground built on a ship based on ones which are seen in several Wiggles media productions.

★ 'Dorothy's Rosy Tea Cup Ride' - The newest attraction to Wiggles World, opening on September 15, 2006 on the first anniversary of the opening of Wiggles World. This ride is based on the Teacups ride with Dorothy theming.

★ 'Fun Spot' - A creche style play centre for toddlers.

★ 'Wiggles Farmyard Friends' - A farm animal exhibition where animals are put on display and people can help feed the animals several times each day.

Wildlife

Tiger Island

One of only two exclusive tiger habitat exhibits in the world, it features Dreamworld tiger keepers putting on tiger shows daily. The area has Indonesian style theming and also features an Indonesian food outlet.

Australian Wildlife Experience

The Australian Wildlife Experience is a nature park within Dreamworld located at the back of the park which features four main animal exhibit areas:

★ 'Koala Country' - An exhibit feauring Australian tree animals mainly focusing on the Koala.

★ 'Outback Adventure' - An exhibit which features Australian animals which have their habitat in the outback.

★ 'Daintree Rainforest' - An exhibit of animals which live in more tropical climates.

★ 'Kakadu Wetlands' - An exhibit of general reptiles which feaures a main crocodile pool which shows are put on at 1:30pm daily.

★ 'Oakey Creek Farm Show' - An exhibit which gives visitors a taste of what life is like on an Australian farm.
A new Bilby exhibit is planned to open in 2007.

Other attractions

★ 'Big Brother House Tours' - From the time when Big Brother is off the air and before construction of the new house for the following year commences, visitors can take a free self-guided tour through the house from August - December of each year. Visitors can visit the eviction stage, walk through the camera runs, get a picture taken on the diary room chair as well as looking at the range of Big Brother merchandise on sale.

★ 'IMAX Theatre' - Queensland's first IMAX theatre and was opened with Dreamworld in 1981. This theatre can only show 2D films. While the screen size is still reasonable compared to regular IMAX screens, it is not as large as more modern IMAX theatre screens.

Extra cost attractions

★ 'Flowrider' - Australia's first and only Flowrider, an artificial wave creator on which riders can surf.

★ 'Helicopter flights' - Park visitors may take helicopter flights taking in views of Dreamworld and the Gold Coast. The helipad is located in ''Gold Rush Country''.

★ 'Remote control boats/cars/hovercraft/trucks' - These attractions are spread throughout the park and allow visitors to remotely control vehicles.

★ 'Rock Climbing wall' - Located opposite 'The Claw', the cylinder style rock climbing wall reaches a height of six metres.

Future attractions

★ 'Mick Doohan’s Motocoaster' - An Intamin Motorbike Coaster which consists of a launch whereby riders sit on full-scale replica motorbikes, modeled after 500cc racing bikes which are arranged in eight rows of two with two sidecars attached to two motorbikes in the middle of the train. There are two trains each with 16 riders, though it is widely expected the ride will generally only run one train given Dreamworlds poor track record in efficient operations^[1]. The coaster is expected to reach a top speed of 72km/h after the initial launch, then complete the relatively uniform-height track which features 18 turns and minor rises and falls along it's 605m track. This coaster will also feature the modern-day popular magnetic braking system which allows for a safer and much smoother ending to the ride.^[2] Prior to construction, Dreamworld's vintage cars were relocated to the back of the park, to make way for the new ride. The roller coaster is expected to cost Dreamworld approximately $10,000,000.

Previous attractions

★ 'Blue Lagoon' - Was Dreamworld's water park area with a large pool and various slides. It closed in the middle of 2006 due to the construction and opening of WhiteWater World, a large new water park built adjacent to Dreamworld. The 'Nightmares' attraction which opened on December 26, 2006, currently occupies the site.

★ 'Creature Cruise' - A gentle boat ride which flowed past hand crafted models of animals. Was opened in 1997 but closed in 2000.

★ 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider - Enter the Tomb' - A walk-thru attraction based on the second movie "". It featured fog filled narrow passageways, lighting effects and live actors. It opened on December 26, 2003 and closed four months later on April 18, 2004.

★ 'Nightmares' - A temporary scary experience walkthrough attraction featuring two different sections. ''The Freezer'' and ''Angoscia''. It operated from December 26, 2007 through to July 2007.

★ 'Outback Celebration' - A temporary musical which was put together in celebration of "The Year of the Outback" in 2002.

★ 'Skylink Chairlift' - A chairlift which linked ''Gold Rush Country'' with ''The Australian Wildlife Experience''. It commenced operation on November 30, 1989 and closed on March 15, 2005.

★ 'Thunderbolt' - Was Dreamworld's original roller coaster which opened in 1982 and was closed on August 8, 2003. It cost 4 million AUD to build and was capable of reaching speeds of up to 87 km/h. It was the first roller coaster in Australia to feature vertical loops. The land where Thunderbolt stood is partly occupied by the FlowRider, the internal entry to WhiteWater World and an overflow carpark. Future expansion of the WhiteWater World water park will utilise much of Thunderbolt's former footprint.

References

1. "Dreamworld, the inefficient park?", retrieved September 8, 2007
2. "Another Intamin coaster expected Downunder", retrieved April 24, 2007

External links

★ Official website