Ann: Half Year Financial Results , page-4

I have to say I was also really quite disappointed by this result... even though I wasn't expecting too much. What really bothered me was the continued underperformance of the theme parks and bowling in January. I would have thought we'd surely start to see improvements on the prior year by now?

I would expect things to start to turn around at the mid year results (I hope!!) once some of the new bowling centres, Q Deck and new/refurbished rides for the theme parks kick in.

I think it is certainly time Ardent took some significant steps to improve attendance and spend at Dreamworld. While I understand the park was faced with significant competitive discounting, I think another major factor is the need for another major new attraction. The problem as I see it is their last major ride added 3 years ago was Motocoaster. While the park was in desperate need of a new coaster, this ride ended up being very small and of rather poor quality and did not offer a very good ride experience at all. This would have meant it did not act as a drawcard in corresponding years. Whereas the ride added before that, the Claw, was far more successful and would have continued to pull the crowds for some time.

It is clear that the filler attractions such as the laser arena are not enough. I think a big new coaster could just do the trick