Ahhh Movieworld… Where to start.
You sell yourself as 'Hollywood on the Gold Coast'. I guess that's fair warning - I was in Hollywood a couple of years ago, and it's pretty sad.
The night before we attended we got on the website to check out prices and attractions. We don't have great internet connection where we are, so couldn't do the ticket buying online. As a result we felt pretty much punished getting to the gate a paying an extra $10 per person - a total of $50 for our group. You know, if people get to the gate and can quote the online price, the best thing you can do is honour that. How is it even costing you anything extra to process people at the gate? It's not.
So we get through the gate and into your establishment. The first place we went was to the Superman ride. Much to our head-shaking shock, were we expected to go PAY for storage of our personal belongings in order to ride. If not, the other option was doing the ride in two separate groups, just so someone could stand guard over our stuff. This means lining up TWICE (wasting our time) and not having the experience of doing the ride as a family. How is it that you can't take some inspiration from the fantastic model that @Dreamword use? That is, having boxes for personal items AT ALL RIDES. Yes, that's right - ALL RIDES. Every single one… How difficult could that possibly be?
The answer is it's not difficult. You guys just want to cash in on every cent in every way… Case in point: The Wild West Falls ride. OMG. Seriously. Where to start… When we got to embarking on the ride we were told to 'Put your things on the seat next to you so it doesn't get so wet…' For reals??? When we asked the ride assistant person abut personal boxes, the guy told us they are not provided cos there is no room. (Um, there is at least a metre and a half clear on the queue side of the ride - the 'no room' excuse just served to be an aggravating poke when so much space is available.) When we got to the end of the ride and saw that there are actual PROP BOXES that could be utilised to store personal items, and pointed this out to the other ride attendant, she told us that they can't be used cos they are on the 'unsafe' side of the ride where people can't disembark…Nah? Really? Now you treat us like we're stupid too? How's about moving the prop boxes to the safe side? I know. It would be a trial, and you would definitely lose money from the people who buy your ponchos just to wrap up their stuff, but y'know what? There's a lot to be said for being considerate to your customers. I also must add that the fact that both ride attendantshad the most pathetic excuses lined up when asked about Personal Item Boxes assures me I am certainly not the first person to whine about this. It's a water ride. Help people protect their stuff. Stop trying to cash in on it. Bleh. And this is only half an hour into our day…
You continued to suck throughout the day… And just general suckery. The staff are bored and uncaring. I think we met two staff members for the entire day who seemed happy and engaged in their work. Massive thanks to STEVE on the BatWing for proving not all of you are a pack of sad-sacks, and the guy on the Justice League ride who was also a pretty cool dude. There were a couple of other nice people - one in particular who I won't mention in detail cos she did us a favour that you'd probably sack her for. But know that her kindness impressed us.
One thing that really said it all for me was the way an actual viable complaint was handled. A lot of our issues were based on how we personally expect to be treated. @Dreamworld exceed our expectations on every visit. We are not super fussy. We don't have ridiculousexpectations, as proven by the fact that the @Dreamworld crew cater above and beyond. Much of what I've mentioned thus far can be fobbed of as being only my 'opinion' or 'feeling'.Then there's this: My kids wanted a Wanted Poster from the Sheriff Photo Booth thing. And I actually didn't have a problem chucking $5 in the slot for this to happen - it seemed like a reasonable price for a cute little souvenir. So, money is inserted… nothing happens. We sit and muck around with it waiting for something to happen for a few minutes - the kids getting more impatient and confused as to what's supposed to happen with every passing second. I decide something must be wrong and try go to the nearest staff member (at the ring toss game thing) ad ask her what we should do. She sends us to Intencity to talk to the dude there. When I tell him there's a problem with the Photo Booth, you know what he says…? 'Why do they keep sending people to me?' Yeah. That's right. I'm not the first, second or third person to have an issue with the Photo Booth. He's about to call for the maintenance guy, but the maintenance guy is already approaching the booth. (Is he psychic…? Or was it known there is a problem with the booth, but no one thought to put up a sign…? Or what…?) I head back over to the booth where two dudes are fiddling around with the insides of the machine. I ask them what the deal is, and am given blank looks… 'We're fixing it.' (Again) So if it's not functioning properly, why isn't there an Out of Order sign? 'Cos we're fixing it.' Um, but you're not… Or you weren't when we rocked up and got ripped off. I was invited to hang around during the fixing process so we could get another photo - I was not given any advice as to how long this might take (and considering we'd already wasted 15-20 mins by this stage, I was happy to chuck my $5 to the wind, and move the kids on). When I told the maintenance men how unimpressed I was about the situation, I was told to 'go away and talk to Guest Services. They might want to listen to you.' This isn't an advisable thing to say to anyone, let alone an annoyed mother. I can and will express my opinion where I want, to who I want. (This long rant to you, @Movieworld, a case in point.) If someone tries to shut me down, it only makes me more determined to be heard. And I WILL be heard, Mister Maintenance. I must thank him for the extra motivation to write to wildly sprawling whinge-fest of woe.
Um, what else?
The Case of the Deadly Tissue: One of the adults in our group was called out of the queue for the Superman ride after a staff member saw a 'loose item' in his pocket - that item was a tissue. Yes. A tissue. Seriously, was there no better way to be an overly authoritative asshat?
Each ride's wait was 'approximately 15 mins' regardless of whether the wait was 'none' or if it was 45 minutes. Maybe your bored-out-of-their-brains staff could actually LOOK at the queues and try and get the approximations right every now and then, rather than tell people off for tissues.
Marilyn Monroe was a size 14-16… Get off your 'modelesque'-size-8 bandwagon and cast your performers accordingly. Aside from her miscast proportions, she was quite good.
We saw the same Batman Show six years ago. No wonder he looked like Boredom was his new arch-enemy. Terrible. Try some new choreography.
Oh! One of the gift shop ladies was super nice. Brownie points just for being a big Cutey.
You have Fair Trade coffee that was reasonablypriced - One point.
Highlight of the day? Having my youngest get his picture with Scooby and Shaggy. He was so ridiculously happy, the day was made no matter the cost.
Perhaps @Movieworld was just awful cos we'd had such an incredible time at @Dreamworld and had similar expectations for @Movieworld…? Regardless, awful it was. The rides are probably quite comparable - personally, I think if it was a contest of rides alone @Dreamworld would likely still win for me. What @Dreamworld offer and @Movieworld struggle with is how they treat their clientele. @Movieworld stinks of 'get them in and make them spend as much as possible… and btw, how you treat people doesn't matter cos they're in OUR space so they can suck it up'. BLEUGH…
@Dreamworld, on the other hand, excel and getting people in and giving them such a great day that they want to come back just cos it's a wonderful day. The staff MAKE it a wonderful day.
Kudos to whoever read to the end. xxxxx
You sell yourself as 'Hollywood on the Gold Coast'. I guess that's fair warning - I was in Hollywood a couple of years ago, and it's pretty sad.
The night before we attended we got on the website to check out prices and attractions. We don't have great internet connection where we are, so couldn't do the ticket buying online. As a result we felt pretty much punished getting to the gate a paying an extra $10 per person - a total of $50 for our group. You know, if people get to the gate and can quote the online price, the best thing you can do is honour that. How is it even costing you anything extra to process people at the gate? It's not.
So we get through the gate and into your establishment. The first place we went was to the Superman ride. Much to our head-shaking shock, were we expected to go PAY for storage of our personal belongings in order to ride. If not, the other option was doing the ride in two separate groups, just so someone could stand guard over our stuff. This means lining up TWICE (wasting our time) and not having the experience of doing the ride as a family. How is it that you can't take some inspiration from the fantastic model that @Dreamword use? That is, having boxes for personal items AT ALL RIDES. Yes, that's right - ALL RIDES. Every single one… How difficult could that possibly be?
The answer is it's not difficult. You guys just want to cash in on every cent in every way… Case in point: The Wild West Falls ride. OMG. Seriously. Where to start… When we got to embarking on the ride we were told to 'Put your things on the seat next to you so it doesn't get so wet…' For reals??? When we asked the ride assistant person abut personal boxes, the guy told us they are not provided cos there is no room. (Um, there is at least a metre and a half clear on the queue side of the ride - the 'no room' excuse just served to be an aggravating poke when so much space is available.) When we got to the end of the ride and saw that there are actual PROP BOXES that could be utilised to store personal items, and pointed this out to the other ride attendant, she told us that they can't be used cos they are on the 'unsafe' side of the ride where people can't disembark…Nah? Really? Now you treat us like we're stupid too? How's about moving the prop boxes to the safe side? I know. It would be a trial, and you would definitely lose money from the people who buy your ponchos just to wrap up their stuff, but y'know what? There's a lot to be said for being considerate to your customers. I also must add that the fact that both ride attendantshad the most pathetic excuses lined up when asked about Personal Item Boxes assures me I am certainly not the first person to whine about this. It's a water ride. Help people protect their stuff. Stop trying to cash in on it. Bleh. And this is only half an hour into our day…
You continued to suck throughout the day… And just general suckery. The staff are bored and uncaring. I think we met two staff members for the entire day who seemed happy and engaged in their work. Massive thanks to STEVE on the BatWing for proving not all of you are a pack of sad-sacks, and the guy on the Justice League ride who was also a pretty cool dude. There were a couple of other nice people - one in particular who I won't mention in detail cos she did us a favour that you'd probably sack her for. But know that her kindness impressed us.
One thing that really said it all for me was the way an actual viable complaint was handled. A lot of our issues were based on how we personally expect to be treated. @Dreamworld exceed our expectations on every visit. We are not super fussy. We don't have ridiculousexpectations, as proven by the fact that the @Dreamworld crew cater above and beyond. Much of what I've mentioned thus far can be fobbed of as being only my 'opinion' or 'feeling'.Then there's this: My kids wanted a Wanted Poster from the Sheriff Photo Booth thing. And I actually didn't have a problem chucking $5 in the slot for this to happen - it seemed like a reasonable price for a cute little souvenir. So, money is inserted… nothing happens. We sit and muck around with it waiting for something to happen for a few minutes - the kids getting more impatient and confused as to what's supposed to happen with every passing second. I decide something must be wrong and try go to the nearest staff member (at the ring toss game thing) ad ask her what we should do. She sends us to Intencity to talk to the dude there. When I tell him there's a problem with the Photo Booth, you know what he says…? 'Why do they keep sending people to me?' Yeah. That's right. I'm not the first, second or third person to have an issue with the Photo Booth. He's about to call for the maintenance guy, but the maintenance guy is already approaching the booth. (Is he psychic…? Or was it known there is a problem with the booth, but no one thought to put up a sign…? Or what…?) I head back over to the booth where two dudes are fiddling around with the insides of the machine. I ask them what the deal is, and am given blank looks… 'We're fixing it.' (Again) So if it's not functioning properly, why isn't there an Out of Order sign? 'Cos we're fixing it.' Um, but you're not… Or you weren't when we rocked up and got ripped off. I was invited to hang around during the fixing process so we could get another photo - I was not given any advice as to how long this might take (and considering we'd already wasted 15-20 mins by this stage, I was happy to chuck my $5 to the wind, and move the kids on). When I told the maintenance men how unimpressed I was about the situation, I was told to 'go away and talk to Guest Services. They might want to listen to you.' This isn't an advisable thing to say to anyone, let alone an annoyed mother. I can and will express my opinion where I want, to who I want. (This long rant to you, @Movieworld, a case in point.) If someone tries to shut me down, it only makes me more determined to be heard. And I WILL be heard, Mister Maintenance. I must thank him for the extra motivation to write to wildly sprawling whinge-fest of woe.
Um, what else?
The Case of the Deadly Tissue: One of the adults in our group was called out of the queue for the Superman ride after a staff member saw a 'loose item' in his pocket - that item was a tissue. Yes. A tissue. Seriously, was there no better way to be an overly authoritative asshat?
Each ride's wait was 'approximately 15 mins' regardless of whether the wait was 'none' or if it was 45 minutes. Maybe your bored-out-of-their-brains staff could actually LOOK at the queues and try and get the approximations right every now and then, rather than tell people off for tissues.
Marilyn Monroe was a size 14-16… Get off your 'modelesque'-size-8 bandwagon and cast your performers accordingly. Aside from her miscast proportions, she was quite good.
We saw the same Batman Show six years ago. No wonder he looked like Boredom was his new arch-enemy. Terrible. Try some new choreography.
Oh! One of the gift shop ladies was super nice. Brownie points just for being a big Cutey.
You have Fair Trade coffee that was reasonablypriced - One point.
Highlight of the day? Having my youngest get his picture with Scooby and Shaggy. He was so ridiculously happy, the day was made no matter the cost.
Perhaps @Movieworld was just awful cos we'd had such an incredible time at @Dreamworld and had similar expectations for @Movieworld…? Regardless, awful it was. The rides are probably quite comparable - personally, I think if it was a contest of rides alone @Dreamworld would likely still win for me. What @Dreamworld offer and @Movieworld struggle with is how they treat their clientele. @Movieworld stinks of 'get them in and make them spend as much as possible… and btw, how you treat people doesn't matter cos they're in OUR space so they can suck it up'. BLEUGH…
@Dreamworld, on the other hand, excel and getting people in and giving them such a great day that they want to come back just cos it's a wonderful day. The staff MAKE it a wonderful day.
Kudos to whoever read to the end. xxxxx