Warner Bros. Movie World


Warner Bros. Movie World is a theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Owned and operated by Village Roadshow's Theme Parks division, the park opened on 3 June 1991. It is part of a entertainment precinct, with the adjacent Village Roadshow Studios film studio and nearby Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast water park, among other properties all operated by Village Roadshow.
The park's theme is based on Warner Bros. and related DC Comics properties. Jointly developed by Pivot Leisure, Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow, the park was designed by C. V. Wood in 1989 to adjoin the existing film studio complex. Movie World is Australia's only film-related theme park, and the oldest of the three Warner Bros. theme parks worldwide. It recorded 1.3 million visitors in 2007 and ranked third in yearly attendance for Australian theme parks.
The park contains movie-themed rides, attractions and shows. Various costumed characters regularly patrol the park to interact and take photos with guests. Each afternoon, characters participate in a parade along the park's Main Street. The park hosts several seasonal events annually, such as the Halloween-themed Fright Nights and Christmas-themed White Christmas. DC Rivals HyperCoaster, opened in 2017, is the most recent among the park's six operating roller coasters.

History

Park set-up and opening

interest in Australian film and actors grew rapidly during the 1980s. Italian-American film producer Dino De Laurentiis, aware of industry buzz over the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee and having worked with many Australian actors and directors in recent years, visited the county that year. With De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, he commissioned and constructed a film studio in Oxenford, near Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast, Queensland. The studio was to produce the Arnold Schwarzenegger-led film Total Recall. However, amid financial instability caused in part by a series of box office bombs such as 1987's Million Dollar Mystery, De Laurentiis left the tanking DEG in December 1987, production on Total Recall halted, and $3.4 million worth of studio sets were dismantled. Village Roadshow, who had an established partnership with Warner Bros. in Australia, bought out DEG entirely in 1988, and by July that year the newly-cemented Warner Roadshow Studios had opened.
In October 1988, Village Roadshow acquired a large lot of swampy land adjacent the studio complex from investment company Ariadne Australia. The following month, Village Roadshow persuaded Warner Bros. to acquire 50% of the studio, and a theme park provisionally named Warner World was announced to be built on the recently-acquired land. Warner Bros. moreso recognised the value proposition in the theme park than in the studio. The two companies had already recently acquired Sea World through a joint-venture with Pivot Leisure. In 1989, Village Roadshow acquired the nearby Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast water park. That year, they commissioned C.V. Wood to design the theme park. He had six park designs in his portfolio at the time, including Six Flags Over Texas and Disneyland. He modelled the layout on similar parks such as Universal Studios Hollywood and Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park. The park was scaled such that guests could visit all attractions in a single day, even during peak periods, and to support up to 13,000 daily guests. The 16-month park construction relied on labour from local workers as much as possible, and cost an estimated AU$120-140 million. It was the world's first "American-style" theme park built outside the United States since Tokyo Disneyland.
The opening ceremony held on 2 June 1991 was attended by more than 5,000 people, among them celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. To mark the occasion, Queensland Premier Wayne Goss cut novelty film reel with Eastwood and Bugs Bunny at the opening ceremony. That evening, a special edition episode of Hey Hey It's Saturday was shot on-location; host Daryl Somers interviewed many of the celebrities in attendance such as Eastwood and Russell. The park opened to the general public the following day, 3 June. Between 400 and 500 new jobs were created at the park upon its opening. The initial guest admission fee was $29 for adults and $19 for children. With increased international tourism to the Gold Coast since the 1980s, Village Roadshow had hoped to tap into a market with American and Japanese customers; park attractions were subtitled, and tour guides were trained in, Japanese language.

Early attractions, the first 10 years

Opening attractions at Movie World focused on education about and involvement with the behind the scenes of filmmaking. There was a tram ride through and tour of the film studio. Part of the tour was the Movie Magic Special Effects Show, which involved audience participation on a live set. There were two live stunt shows, each with several performances daily: the Western Action Show and Police Academy Stunt Show. Warner Bros. Classics & Great Gremlins Adventure was an interactive dark ride attraction where guests would escape from a gremlin invasion of a studio set. Young Einstein Gravity Homestead was a walk-through attraction based on the 1988 film Young Einstein, which featured sloped floors and optical illusions to simulate the various effects of gravity. The Roxy Theatre screened 3D films. The Looney Tunes Land children's area featured several rides including the Looney Tunes River Ride, a dark water ride, and the Looney Tunes Musical Revue, a live show.
Batman Adventure – The Ride opened to the left of the entrance on 23 December 1992. The $13 million motion simulator ride, manufactured by McFadden Systems, Inc., had a capacity of 1,000 people per hour and was highly popular upon opening. More than 12,000 people visited the park on 30 December, setting a new single-day attendance record. In 1995, the Western Action Show was removed and eventually replaced by The Maverick Grand Illusion Show that September. On Boxing Day, 26 December 1995, Lethal Weapon – The Ride opened as the park's first roller coaster. The $16 million Suspended Looping Coaster manufactured by Vekoma was the first of its kind to feature a 765 m layout with a helix. It was Australia's first steel inverted coaster. Warner Bros. Movie World Germany opened at Bottrop-Kirchhellen on 30 June 1996.
On Boxing Day 1997, Looney Tunes Land reopened as Looney Tunes Village with several new rides manufactured by Zamperla and Marvin the Martian in 3D opened at the Roxy Theatre. Boxing Day 1998 saw the opening of the Wild Wild West. The $18 million flume ride manufactured by Hopkins Rides was originally to be called Rio Bravo, but was renamed to tie-in with the 1999 film of the same name. In their 1999 annual report, Village Roadshow identified Wild Wild West as a crowd-pleaser and attributed it to a spike in attendance that year. In 2000, Young Einstein Gravity Homestead closed and the Looney Tunes Musical Revue was relocated to make way for a new attraction. Opened on Boxing Day, the attraction was Road Runner Rollercoaster, Movie World's second coaster and a Junior model manufactured by Vekoma. It was Australia's first junior coaster.

10th anniversary and the 2000s

Movie World celebrated its 10th anniversary on 3 June 2001. An anniversary celebration event hosted by B105 FM was held in August. More than 1,000 people attended the event and were treated to live performances by Human Nature, Invertigo, A Touch of Class and Joanne Accom. Batman Adventure – The Ride 2, a refurbishment of the original ride, opened that year. Although the new version used the same sets and physical components, a new 3D film was added to the ride experience, with Mark Hamill providing voice work for the Joker. During the year, the Maverick Show and Great Gremlin Adventure attractions closed. The Looney Tunes Splash Zone was added to Looney Tunes Village. Boxing Day saw the Harry Potter Movie Magic Experience open. Built on the Gravity Homestead's footprint, the attraction was a direct tie-in to the film series' first film, the Philosopher's Stone. The following year, it was updated with the release of the Chamber of Secrets. Warner Bros. Movie World Madrid opened on 6 April 2002.
existed at the park from 2003 until 2007
Later in 2002, the park's third roller coaster Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster opened on 17 June. The $13 million indoor Wild Mouse coaster manufactured by Mack Rides was themed to the 2002 film Scooby-Doo. The ride features ghost train elements and an elevator lift, followed by a coaster section. In 2003, the Harry Potter attraction closed and was replaced by The Official Matrix Exhibit in September; the walkthrough attraction featured props from the Matrix film series. While the park was closed on 5 December 2004, a fire caused significant damage to Wild West Falls' upper section; the ride was repaired and reopened several weeks later.
By 2005, Village Roadshow had announced expansion plans totalling $65 million for their Gold Coast parks, in which Movie World would receive a share with two new attractions. The Marvin the Martian film closed and the Roxy Theatre was refurbished for its replacement, Shrek 4-D. Opened on 17 September, the film experience used several effects such as smoke, moving seats and animatronics. The second attraction and the park's fourth coaster, Superman Escape, opened on Boxing Day. The $16 million Accelerator Coaster manufactured by Intamin ranked 16th for steel coasters on Mitch Hawker's 2006 "best roller coaster" poll. As a result of the coaster's construction, the Special Effects Show closed and the Musical Revue moved again.
2006 saw two new attractions at the park. Its first ever Halloween-themed event was held on 31 October and offered guests night rides on several attractions; it has since become Fright Nights, an annual tradition. Batwing Spaceshot, a $5 million Space Shot manufactured by S&S Power, opened on 20 December. During the year, Village Roadshow acquired Warner Bros.' stake in their theme park division but maintained the latter's license and branding. In 2007, the Matrix Exhibit was replaced by bumper cars and the County Fair Fun 'n' Games arcade. Looney Tunes Village was renamed to Kids' WB Fun Zone and two new rides were added. At the year's end, Village Roadshow published specific park attendance for the first time; Movie World had received 1.32 million visitors that year. Police Academy Stunt Show drew its final curtain call on 30 April 2008 after 16 years and 18,000 performances; the enduringly popular attraction was Australia's longest-running stunt show at the time. Plans for a $7 million Hot Wheels-themed replacement were scrapped; instead, the $10 million Hollywood Stunt Driver opened on Boxing Day. Its premiere was marred by a rushed release. The Musical Revue was replaced by a new live show, Looney Tunes: What's Up Rock? In October, construction of a roof over Main Street was completed. The roof supplied by MakMax Australia was designed to improve guest protection from the elements and provided for a 2,000-person capacity venue for functions and events.

The 2010s–present

In celebration of DC Comics' 75th anniversary in 2010, Movie World held a DC Heroes vs. Villains parade that ran during the June–July school holiday period. Later in the year, the park's first annual White Christmas event began. 2011 saw the closure of two attractions; Looney Tunes River Ride in February and Batman Adventure – The Ride 2 in October. Showtime FMX's MotoMonster Xtreme show temporarily replaced Hollywood Stunt Driver from 26 June through to 18 July 2011 as alternative winter holiday entertainment. Green Lantern Coaster, the park's fifth coaster, soft opened on 16 December before officially opening on 23 December. The $10 million El Loco coaster manufactured by S&S Worldwide features a 120.5° drop angle–the Southern Hemisphere's steepest and world's third-steepest. Lethal Weapon – The Ride closed in January 2012 for a $2 million refurbishment. The coaster received a new train manufactured by Kumbak with lap bar restraints and on-board audio. It was renamed Arkham Asylum – Shock Therapy and its station building was extensively rethemed; the adjacent courtyard was turned into a mock-jailhouse exercise yard, and the building transformed into an Arkham Asylum overrun by the Joker and his cohorts. The ride reopened in April.
Housed in the former Batman Adventure - The Ride 2 building, opened on 22 September 2012 and incorporated world-first animatronics and 3D projection technologies. The $9 million interactive dark ride attraction was manufactured by Sally Corporation, with additional technologies provided by Alterface, Threshold Entertainment, Bertazzon and others. The Hollywood Stunt Driver stunt show closed and was replaced by Hollywood Stunt Driver 2 on 20 February 2014, a revamped show that features Showtime FMX motocross riders who perform more thrilling stunts than before. The Junior Driving School, where riders navigate a miniature replica of the theme park, opened at the Kids' WB Fun Zone on 12 September. Built on Looney Tunes River Ride's footprint, the ride was planned to open in 2013 but was delayed as Village Roadshow reallocated investment towards an expansion of Sea World's Polar Bear Shores attraction. Festivities and a parade commemorated the park's 25th anniversary on 3 June 2016. The DC Comics Super-Villains Unleashed interactive precinct opened on 24 September, built on the site of the former Boot Hill Graveyard. The area's main attraction is Doomsday Destroyer, a Suspended Twin Hammer thrill ride designed by Intamin.
is the tallest, fastest and longest coaster in Australia
Planning and development applications for the park's sixth coaster were submitted by November 2015 and vertical construction began in April 2017. DC Rivals HyperCoaster opened on 27 September 2017. At a total cost of $30 million, it remains the single largest ride investment in Village Roadshow's history. With Tower of Terror II's 2019 closure, DC Rivals HyperCoaster remains Australia's tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster. Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi opened on 25 July 2018. An Aquaman film exhibition opened on 13 December and featured props and costumes from the film. Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster closed for an extended maintenance period from July to November 2018. During this time, the ride was refurbished with new projection mapping technologies and other special effects. The rebranded Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster: Next Generation opened on 15 December. The WB Studio Showcase, opened on 1 November 2019, exhibits props, sets and costumes from numerous Warner Bros-distributed films such as Suicide Squad, and A Star Is Born. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the park temporarily closed from 22 March 2020 and reopened on 15 July at 50% guest capacity with various social distancing and sanitisation policies.

Park layout

Movie World is located in Oxenford on the Gold Coast, Queensland, approximately 20 km from Surfers Paradise. It is part of a entertainment precinct along with other Village-Roadshow operated properties including the adjacent film studio and nearby Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast, Australian Outback Spectacular and Paradise Country. The park can be divided into five broad sections: Main Street, Kids' WB Fun Zone, the wild west area, DC Comics Super-Villains Unleashed and the DC Comics superhero hub.
Just beyond the main gate is the entrance plaza, which encircles its centrepiece, the Fountain of Fame. Main Street continues to the north-west, with guest services, dining, gift shops and other amenities lining the footpaths. The Roxy Theatre off Main Street is a 4D film theatre with several screenings daily; its current attraction is . Main Street's main courtyard hosts the Loony Tunes Dance Party. The Hollywood Stunt Driver live show is performed several times daily, and features stunt motorcycles and rally cars. The Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster is situated at the end of Main Street. It is an indoor Wild Mouse coaster manufactured by Mack Rides. The 530 m long ride features a dark ride section with audio-animatronics, projections and booby traps, and a coaster section with a backwards drop at 44.6 km/h and tight, unbanked turns. Each afternoon, various costumed characters participate in the Streets Star parade with vehicle and movie-themed floats along Main Street and around the Fountain of Fame.
Kids' WB Fun Zone is a children's area themed to the Looney Tunes cartoons featured on Kids' WB Australia. It is located in the park's northern portion and accessed via Main Street. The zone features several children's attractions from bumper cars to carousels and car rides. Junior Driving School lets riders navigate a miniature replica of the park. Road Runner Rollercoaster is a 335 m long Vekoma Junior Coaster. A wild west themed area is located in the southern portion of the park. Wild West Falls Adventure Ride, a log flume manufactured by Hopkins Rides, is the area's main attraction. The ride navigates a Native American village and a ghost town, and culminates with a 20 m splashdown drop. DC Comics Super-Villains Unleashed is located along Main Street. The themed precinct features statues of various DC supervillian characters engaging in criminal acts. An interactive element lets guests purchase RFID wristbands and help the villains destroy the area. The area's main attraction is Doomsday Destroyer, a Suspended Twin Hammer thrill ride manufactured by Intamin.
The DC Comics superhero hub is located to the south and east of the Fountain of Fame and features six attractions. Arkham Asylum is a steel inverted roller coaster manufactured by Vekoma. It is a Suspended Looping Coaster model based on the 765 m extended layout with a helix that navigates five inversions. An optional upcharge experience adds virtual reality headsets while riding. Batwing Spaceshot is a Space Shot ride manufactured by S&S Power that launches riders up a 56 m tower at 64 km/h. DC Rivals HyperCoaster is a 1,380 m long steel hypercoaster manufactured by Mack Rides. It reaches a maximum height of and speed of, features a 40 m non-inverting loop, and has two backwards-facing seats on the last row of each train. Green Lantern Coaster, manufactured by S&S Worldwide is the largest of the six El Loco coaster models operating worldwide. The 33 m tall coaster features two inversions and sharp outer-banked turns; its 120.5° beyond-vertical drop is the world's third steepest. is an interactive dark ride manufactured by Bertazzon with 3D screens and animatronic characters. Superman Escape is a launched roller coaster manufactured by Intamin; the Accelerator Coaster uses a hydraulic launch system to propel riders from 0 to 100 km/h in 2 seconds up a 40 m tall top hat.

List of attractions

Events and guest features

A number of events have been held at Warner Bros. Movie World over the years. The park currently holds two annual events: Fright Nights during the Halloween season, and also White Christmas during the Christmas season where people can meet Frosty and Santa. The annual Halloween-themed Fright Nights events are held on select evenings in October. The park sets up various maze attractions, street parades are performed by Halloween characters and night rides are offered on several coasters and attractions. It is a consistently popular event, with around 7,000 guests attending each Fright Night evening in October 2017.
The park offers a paid Fast Track priority pass and free virtual queueing via mobile app on select attractions. Mobile ordering and virtual queueing via AirService is offered for select food outlets. The Star Tours began in July 2016 and offer a behind-the-scenes look at several attractions. Included in the experience is a climb up Arkham Asylum's lift hill catwalk, Fast Track passes, priority seating for the afternoon parade and other features. A climb experience up the 282 steps of DC Rivals HyperCoaster's 61.6 m lift hill began in September 2018.

Performance, reception and incidents

By the time of its 10th anniversary in 2001, Movie World had received more than 10 million lifetime visitors. According to a 2012 IMETT Group report, the park received more than 1.32 million annual visitors during 2007. Village Roadshow considered Superman Escape and Batwing Spaceshot's opening as contributing factors to that year's increased attendance. The park ranked third in 2007 yearly attendance for Australian theme parks: Dreamworld received 1.36 million visitors and Sea World received 1.35 million visitors. As of October 2016, the park received an average of 1.4 million visitors per year. The fallout from Dreamworld's October 2016 Thunder River Rapids incident, in which four patrons were killed, had a significant impact on overall industry attendance and profitability. By January 2017, overall combined attendance at Movie World, Wet'n'Wild and Sea World had dropped -12%.
The $30 million investment for DC Rivals HyperCoaster—Australia's first major theme park attraction since the River Rapids incident—inspired Village Roadshow's optimism for a financial turnaround; it was the largest single ride investment in the company's history and Australia's most expensive roller coaster. The coaster's opening set a daily park attendance record for the month of September with 11,500 guests. By November 2017, to cut debts after a -$66.7 million loss the prior financial year, Village Roadshow sought to sell the 154 ha Oxenford precinct's land through a leaseback agreement. The land was purchased the following month by LGIAsuper for $100 million. Village Roadshow posted a narrow profit margin of $200 thousand in August 2018 and noted that while April school holiday theme park attendance was inhibited by the 2018 Commonwealth Games, July results were strong with high season pass sales and reduced debt through asset sales and share entitlements. In February 2020, Village Roadshow posted an EBITDA increase of 7% to $39 million for the financial half-year and overall attendance at their theme park properties rose 12% to 2.58 million; these results were attributed to a 6% ticket price hike, increased visitation and continued success of Movie World's annual Fright Nights event.
ReviewTymes Dominic Lacey complimented the park's ambience and immersive themed areas. He considered the ride and coaster line-up the park's strongest asset but lamented that in recent history, focus had shifted away from movie-themed attractions and experiences and more towards thrill rides. He found the staff to be friendly and efficient with ride operations, and thought the park overall offers a good whole day of entertainment. Finder.com.aus Chris Stead thought the park was laid out well in a compact area but offered minimal shade from the heat and suffered from long queue times during peak periods. He thought that children aged six to ten would have a limited experience unless they were tall enough to brave the bigger rides, and that the park was best suited to adult thrill-seekers or families with teenagers. Both reviewers found the day's entertainment expensive, but ReviewTymes Lacey suggested a multi-pass would offer the best value.
The only notable incident at Movie World occurred on 15 March 2015 and involved Green Lantern Coaster. One car of a train became detached from the rails when a wheel mechanism broke. Although riders were stranded on the ride for several hours and had to be rescued by the fire brigade, there were no major injuries. A subsequent investigation revealed a design flaw in a bolted joint on the wheel assembly. S&S Worldwide redesigned the flawed components, the ride was tested and it reopened to the public on 16 December.