User:ThePoi/sandbox

Construction and opening - good
In 1974, John Longhurst, the father of the future Australian water-ski champion and two time Bathurst 1000 winner Tony Longhurst, put his dream of building a theme park into practice and purchased 85 ha of land beside the Pacific Motorway in Coomera. Longhurst spent two years, working 12-hour days, to excavate what is now known as the Murrissipi River. No expense was spared when Longhurst employed some designers who worked on Disneyland and Walt Disney World to design the park. It was up to a collection of Australian architects to mimic Australian pioneer buildings during construction.

With attractions, Longhurst aimed to satisfy all of the family. Opening day attractions included the IMAX Theatre, a Baldwin Locomotive (now known as the Dreamworld Express), Model T Fords (now known as Vintage Car Adventure), Rocky Hollow Log Ride, Australian Koala Theatre and the Captain Sturt Paddle-wheeler. The theme park was officially opened on 15 December 1981 by the Premier of Queensland of the time, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

1980s - rewrite
Since then, Dreamworld has constantly evolved adding new rides, themed lands and characters. One year after opening, in 1982, a new themed area, Country Fair was opened. The new themed area featured Thunderbolt which opened as the world's longest steel double loop roller coaster. A new themed area known as Gum Tree Gully also opened that same year.

Two new themed areas opened in 1983, the Blue Lagoon water park and Village Green. The Blue Lagoon water park opened with three water slides and several pools. Village Green was a European-themed area. Dreamworld also introduced Belinda Brown as the park's third mascot. In 1984 the park began seven-day trading after two years of only being open Thursday through to Tuesday.

A new themed area called Gold Rush Country opened in 1986, featuring the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride and Thunder River Rapids Ride. Gold Rush Country was themed around the Australian gold rushes. That same year, Dreamworld opened the Music Bowl (later became Dreamworld Studios).

Koala Country opened in 1987 and in 1989, the Skylink Chairlift opened.

1990s - rewrite and add more citations
In 1991, to promote the Australian premiere of The Simpsons on Network Ten from 10 February, Dreamworld welcomed the characters of the American TV series. Guests could meet and greet with them as well as see them in the live stage show The Simpsons: Live on Stage, but the characters only appeared twice daily until 30 June.

The Ocean Parade themed area opened in 1993 with the Wipeout, a Waikiki Wave Super Flip. Tiger Island opened in 1995 with the Riverwalk Restaurant (now known as the Billabong BBQ and Buffet).

Dreamworld opened a slow boat ride named Creature Cruise in 1997, in which they manufactured themselves in Village Oval. Creature Cruise was operation for only a short time. The park also opened the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster, Tower of Terror. One year later, the Giant Drop, the world's tallest freefall ride, was added to the Dreamworld Tower. Also in 1998, four Bengal Tiger cubs were born: Rama, Taj, Sultan and Sita.

The Kennyland themed area opened in 1999 when the park added a variety of kids rides into the new themed area. Kennyland took up the northern portion of Village Oval and the Creature Cruise ride was converted from a boat ride into a walk-through attraction.

2000s rewrite
The Australian Wildlife Experience (now Dreamworld Corroboree) opened in January 2001 after the refurbishment and expansion of Koala Country. Later that year in April, Big Brother Australia commenced broadcasting following the redevelopment of Dreamworld's Amphitheatre. The Cyclone roller coaster (now The Gold Coaster) opened in December that year after its relocation from Luna Park Sydney where it was known as "The Big Dipper". Also That year, two new Bengal tigers, Kato and Kaasha, were born in Tiger Island. In 2002, Nickelodeon Central replaced Kennyland and Village Oval to include a wide variety of new and refurbished children's rides.

Dreamworld further expanded its wildlife offerings in 2003, by running after hours "Sunset Safaris". In August 2003, Thunderbolt was closed. It was demolished and sold for scrap metal in March 2004. Dreamworld has retained a section of track and at least one train in the park's back-of-house areas. Later that year in September 2004, The Claw opened in Ocean Parade. On 15 March 2005, the Skylink Chairlift, which provided a link between Gold Rush Country and the Australian Wildlife Experience, closed. It remained standing for several months before the wires were removed. The support poles remain standing to this day. Gum Tree Gully closed to make way for the world's first Wiggles World which opened on 10 September 2005.

In 2006, Ardent Leisure shifted its focus to improving its offerings of water attractions. In April, Blue Lagoon was closed  due to its planned replacement by WhiteWater World as a separate gated complex. The FlowRider opened in Ocean Parade on June 24. On 7 November, the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride closed and it remained standing until 2018 In 2007, two Sumatran Tiger cubs, Indah and Rahni, were born at Tiger Island. Later that year in September, Mick Doohan's Motocoaster opened after the relocation of the Avis Vintage Cars.

On 20 June 2008, SpongeBob FlyPants (now Gingy's Glider) opened as part of Nickelodeon Central. On 9 June, Tiger Island welcomed the birth of three Sumatran Tiger cubs: Ndari, Jaya and Shanti. In the middle of 2008, the final series of Australian Big Brother for the Channel 10 Network was produced leaving the house and studios standing upon completion. In Ocean Parade, V8 Supercars RedLine opened on 26 December near the FlowRider and Cyclone entrance. A few months later, the Vortex was closed and removed to make way for AVPX which opened on 10 April 2009. Almost exactly one year later in April 2010, the Illuminate Light & Laser Spectacular began seasonal operation in Main Street. In September, the Tower of Terror relaunched as the Tower of Terror II featuring a new, reversed car.

In 2009, a Bell 206 helicopter operating joy flights on behalf of Dreamworld crash landed in the carpark near the park's main entry. The pilot and four Taiwanese visitors to the park suffered minor injuries in the crash. The pilot was initially praised for avoiding crowded areas of the park, but it was later revealed the crash was a result of mismanagement which led to the helicopter running out of fuel. Dreamworld has not offered helicopter flights since the accident.

2010s - shorten and rewrite


In late 2010, Dreamworld announced that they would begin celebrating their 30th birthday by holding the Summer Funomenon over the summer school holidays. The IMAX Theatre was renovated to become the Dreamworld Cinema. A roof was constructed over Main Street between the entrances for Ocean Parade and Nickelodeon Central. The Marketplace in Main Street was also upgraded. Also a new tiger cub named Pi (pronounced pie) was born.

In 2011, two separate incidents were reported of handlers at Dreamworld's Tiger Island attraction being bitten by a nine-year-old Bengal Tiger and requiring hospitalisation. The park's life sciences manager said that both incidents would be investigated, and the park reviewed its animal handling procedures.

On 16 February 2011, Ardent Leisure announced plans to have an Easter promotion where lions would be on temporary exhibition from National Zoo & Aquarium who are renovating their facilities; this was later revealed by Dreamworld to be "The Lair". On 7 April 2011, Dreamworld announced that they would be adding a family thrill ride in June and a major thrill ride in September 2011. On 18 May 2011, the family thrill ride was officially announced to be a Zamperla Disk'O called Shockwave within Ocean Parade. The ride opened on 25 June 2011. By the start of the winter holidays on 25 June 2011, Dreamworld's contract with Nickelodeon had been terminated, thus all of the rides in Nickelodeon Central were renamed to a generic kids theme: Kid's World. On 17 September 2011, Dreamworld opened BuzzSaw – a Maurer Söhne SkyLoop roller coaster. The opening of the ride was timed with the renaming of Gold Rush Country to the Town of Gold Rush.

On 10 November 2011, Dreamworld announced a three-stage plan to incorporate DreamWorks Animation films and characters into its theme park at a cost of $10 million. The first phase was the temporary summer show, the DreamWorks Holiday Shrektacular. The second phase was the DreamWorks Experience precinct (the retheming of the existing Kid's World area) which opened on 31 March 2012. The final phase was the development of Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness. This area opened on 21 December 2012 with the park's eighth thrill ride, Pandamonium. In 2012, Dreamworld also saw the return of Big Brother as well as the addition of the Big Red Boat Ride to Wiggles World.

AVPX closed on 31 March 2013. It was replaced with Zombie Evilution on 13 September 2013. Zombie Evilution opened as a scare maze. The attraction was then converted into a laser skirmish attraction in October. On 8 November 2013 the park was evacuated when a bushfire came within close proximity. Everyone in the park was evacuated within an hour. Later that day, Dreamworld again announced via Facebook that the blaze was under control thanks to firefighters and that the park would re-open as normal the next day. The Reef Diver closed in April 2014 and was replaced by Tail Spin, a Gerstlauer Sky Fly in September.

On 12 May 2015, it was announced that Wiggles World would become ABC Kids World. ABC Kids World opened in June. On 26 July, Tiger Cub Kai was born. On 12 October, The Cyclone was closed for refurbishment as part of the new Motorsport Experience precinct, labelled to open 26 December 2015 as Hot Wheels SideWinder. The Motorsport Experience opened on 26 December 2015. On 29 November 2015, Two Female Tiger Cubs were born. Later named Akasha and Adira.

On 27 January 2016, Zombie Evilution was announced that it would no longer operate as a laser tag arena however would still operate as a scare maze for special events. On 9 February, Dreamworld welcomed two female white tiger cubs from Kagoshima City, in Japan. These two cubs were viewable in the Cub Kindy enclosure located in front of the Zombie Evilution attraction. On 29 February, Tiger Island closed for refurbishment. Tiger Island reopened on 18 September 2016 and Cub Kindy was moved back to Tiger Island. In April 2016 a man fell out of the log ride when he stood up mid-ride and almost drowned. The ride was closed for two days after while it was investigated by Queensland authorities. The ride reopened shortly after.

In March 2019, Dreamworld announced that Wipeout, would be retired and dismantled, and will not re-open from its maintenance period. It was replaced with Kickback Cove. Six children were arrested after they burnt down the Big Brother house in June. They were later caught and charged. The Sky Voyager 'flying theatre' simulator ride opened in August. It was originally scheduled to open in late 2018, but was delayed due to issues with design registration. Shortly after, Dreamworld announced a $30-million launched roller coaster built by Mack Rides. The coaster's layout would be based on Europa-Park's Blue Fire coaster. The park also confirmed that ABC Kids World will receive a multi-million dollar revamp, with confirmation of a new ride to come and further details to be announced at a later date. Tower of Terror ll was retired on November 3 after 22 years.

Thunder River Rapids Ride incident
On 25 October 2016 at 2:20 pm AEST, four people were killed in an incident on the ride, on approach towards the unloading platform. A vacant raft had become stuck and the following raft, carrying four adults and two children, collided with it. The conveyor belt continued to push the second raft onto the front raft causing it to lift up and tip backwards with "persons being variously caught in machinery". Two passengers were ejected from the raft, while the other two were trapped. The deceased were two women, aged 32 and 42, and two men, aged 35 and 38. A 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl who were on the same raft were able to climb out of the raft and onto platforms nearby once the raft conveyor had been shut down and did not sustain injuries.

On 9 November, Ardent Leisure chief executive Deborah Thomas announced that the ride would be permanently closed and demolished.

In the aftermath of the Thunder River Rapids incident, Dreamworld spent just over a month closed to the public to enable audits of all rides, shows and infrastructure. The park reopened to the public on 10 December 2016, without major thrill rides operating, however DreamWorks Experience, ABC Kids World, Wiggles World, Dreamworld Coroboree and WhiteWater World opened.

2020-present - shorten and rewrite


On 7 February 2020, Dreamworld Management announced that the Rocky Hollow Log Ride had been retired from service after 38 years of operation. Dreamworld also announced a refurbishment of the Hot Wheels SideWinder coaster and an upgrade to ABC Kids World which includes a new ride. On 22 March 2020, Dreamworld announced that they will temporarily cease operations for both Dreamworld and WhiteWater World due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Two days later, Dreamworld announced they had donated 755 kg of leftover food to OzHarvest. Parts for Steel Taipan started to arrive in April. The Play School Art Room was removed from Dreamworld's website and all traces of the attraction were removed with the exception of the online park map on 17 June. On 12 August 2020, Dreamworld announced the reopening dates for the park as 16 September 2020. Dreamworld also announced that FlowRider and the Big Red Car were going to be permanently closed. In November 2020, Dreamworld formally announced their new roller coasdter as Steel Taipan.

On 17 July 2021, Dreamworld announced that BuzzSaw would be retired after 31 August 2021. Dreamworld also announced that the Dreamworld Express would be receiving brand new custom train carriages built by a world-class theme park train manufacturer. The attraction is scheduled to reopen during the summer school holidays.

Park timeline - add images

 * 1974: Dreamworld’s creator, John Longhurst, purchased 58 hectares of land in Coomera
 * 1981: a Dreamworld opens to the public with the Captain Sturt Paddlewheeler, IMAX Theatre (later Dreamworld Cinemas), Cannonball Express (now Dreamworld Express), Rocky Hollow Log Ride and Model T Fords (now Vintage Car Adventure)
 * 1982: Grand Prix, Red Baron (later Dora the Explorer’s Sea Planes), Thunderbolt and Zumer (now Puss in Boots Sword Swing) open along with the Country Fair themed area.
 * 1983: The Blue Lagoon water park opens along with the Village Oval themed area and Avalanche, Bumper Bowl (now Skadoosh Bumper Cars), Carousel (now Shrek’s Orge Go-Round), Enterprise (later Reef Diver, Game Site, Little Puff and Roulette (later Stingray)
 * 1984: 7-day trading began
 * 1986: Gold Rush Country opens with the Eureka Mountain Mine Ride and Thunder River Rapids Ride along with the Dreamworld Studios
 * 1987: Koala Country opens along with the Skyline Chairlift
 * 1991: Dreamworld celebrates 10 years of operation
 * 1992: Grand Prix is decommissioned
 * 1993: Ocean Parade opens with the Wipeout
 * 1995: Tiger Island themed area opens
 * 1996: Little Puff is decommissioned
 * 1997: Creature Cruise and Tower of Terror (later Tower of Terror II) opens
 * 1998: The Giant Drop opens
 * 1999: Kennyland opens with Adventure Trails, Dream Copters (now Dronkey Flyers), Kenny’s Cars and Wild Wheels
 * 2000: Creature Cruise is decommissioned
 * 2001: Australian Wildlife Experience (now Dreamworld Corroboree opens along with Cyclone (now The Gold Coaster) and The Mummy Returns scare attraction. Dreamworld celebrates 29 years of operation
 * 2002: Nickelodeon Central opens with Rugrats Runaway Reptar (now Escape from Madagascar) Wild Thornberry's Rainforest Rampage (now MAD Jungle Jam) and the Slime Bowl (now King Juliens Theatre). Adventure Trails, Kenny’s Car, Wild Wheels and a temporary kids Ferris wheel are decommissioned
 * 2003: The Sunset Safari experience opens. Thunderbolt is decommissioned
 * 2004: The Claw and Farmyard Friends opens. Fright Night (now Happy Halloween) event is inaugurated
 * 2005: Wiggles World (now ABC Kids World) opens with the Big Red Car Ride, Fun Spot (now ABC Kids World Fun Spot) and SS Feathersword (now Giggle and Hoot’s Pirate Ship). Gum Tree Gully and Skylink Chair Lift are decommissioned.
 * 2006: FlowRider and WhiteWater World opens. Eureka Mountain Mine Ride is decommissioned
 * 2007: Mick Doohan's Motocoaster opens
 * 2008: SpongeBob FlyPants (now Gingy's Glider) and V8 Supercars RedLine opens
 * 2009: Vortex was decommissioned and replaced with AVPX. Farmyard Friends was also decommissioned and replaced with the Dreamworld Woolshed
 * 2010: The IMAX Theatre and Tower of Terror was refurbished to become the Dreamworld Cinemas and Tower of Terror II respectively. Dora the Explorer's Sea Planes was decomishined
 * 2011: As part of Dreamworld's 30th Birthday, BuzzSaw, Shockwave and The Lair opens. Nickelodeon Central is replaced by the Dreamworks Experience themed area
 * 2012: Avalanche is decommissioned for Pandamoniuml Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler and Stingray were also decommissioned
 * 2013: AVPX was decommissioned and replaced by Zombie Evilution
 * 2014: Reef Diver was decommissioned and replaced by Tail Spin
 * 2015: Motorsports Experience opens with Brock’s Garage, new V8 Super Car RedLine and Hot Wheels SideWinder (previously Cyclone)
 * 2016: The Ride Express virtual queueing system is introduced. A man was seriously injured on the Rocky Hollow Log Ride; four riders were killed on Thunder River Rapids Ride. Both rides were decommissioned
 * 2017: Tiger Island Up Close Experience opens along with Australia’s first LEGO Store. The Park after Dark event was inaugurated
 * 2018: Trolls Village opened and Rocky Hollow Log Ride reopened. Zombie Evilution and the Dreamworld Cinemas was decommissioned.
 * 2019: Kickback Cove and Sky Voyager opens. Giggle and Hoot Hop n Hoot, Tower of Terror II, Trolls Village, V8 Supercars RedLine and Wipeout are decommissioned. Winterfest was inaugurated while Happy Halloween returned after 15 years
 * 2020: Hot Wheels Sidewinder was refurbished and became The Gold Coaster. Big Red Car Ride, FlowRider and Rocky Hollow Log Ride are decommissioned. The park was closed for 6 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic
 * 2021: BuzzSaw was decommissioned. Spring Country Fair was inaugurated