DreamWorks Experience
DreamWorks Experience was a themed land at the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It contained attractions themed to DreamWorks Animation films. The land was formerly themed to Nickelodeon properties.
"Kid's World" redirects here. For other uses, see Kids World.Theme
15
1
7
1
Defunct
31 March 2012 (as DreamWorks Experience)
2023
Kid's World (2011–2012)
Nickelodeon Central (2002–2011)
Kennyland (1999–2002)
Kenny and Belinda's Dreamland
History[edit]
Nickelodeon Central[edit]
In early 2002, Kennyland was removed and most of Village Oval was fenced off. Some of the children's rides were moved to Rivertown to allow for the construction of Nickelodeon Central.[4] During that year the leftover rides were rethemed and relocated to their current positions as part of Nickelodeon Central.[5] Nickelodeon Central opened on 26 December 2002 as the largest children's area in an Australian theme park.[6] In 2008, SpongeBob FlyPants (now Gingy's Glider) opened to expand Nickelodeon Central's offerings.[7]
On 27 April 2010, the Dora the Explorer Seaplanes closed for maintenance and has not operated since.[8] The ride was removed in late 2010 from its position in the park in addition to it being removed from the attraction listing and park map.[9][10][11]
DreamWorks Experience[edit]
Towards the middle of 2011, elements of Nickelodeon theming started to be removed leading to speculation that the contract with the television network was being terminated.[12] By the start of the winter holidays on 25 June 2011, all of the rides were renamed to a generic interim kids theme: Kid's World. In October 2011, the former Nick Pics building and the Remota Boats area were demolished with work beginning on a replacement building on the Nick Pics site.[13]
Earlier in 2011, the outgoing CEO of Dreamworld, Noel Dempsey,[14] leaked Dreamworld's plans to team up with DreamWorks Animation on his LinkedIn profile page.[15] On 10 November 2011, Dreamworld officially announced a three-stage plan to incorporate DreamWorks Animation films and characters into its theme park. The first phase, set to open 19 December 2011, was the DreamWorks Holiday Shrektacular Show which featured 8 DreamWorks Animation characters live on stage. The second phase will include the retheming of Dreamworld's kids area, Kid's World, into a 8,400-square-metre (90,000 sq ft) DreamWorks Experience precinct. This phase is set to open in Easter 2012. The final phase will be the development of an eating and meet-and-greet area called Kung Fu garden.[16] The three phases are expected to cost $10 million to complete.[17]
In late 2011, construction of the DreamWorks Experience precinct began with the removal of the photo shop and the adjacent Remota Boats in Main Street.[18] On 1 February 2012 following the peak season, Dreamworld closed most of the rides in Kid's World.[19] Swinger Zinger, Mighty-Go-Round, Sky Rocket, Rainforest Rampage and Kite Flyer were all closed pending their retheme into DreamWorks Animation.[19] During this time, two temporary rides named Mini-Swingers (SBF Visa Group Circus Swing) and Choppers (SBF Visa Group Chopper Train) operated in Ocean Parade near The Claw and AVPX, respectively.[20][21][22][23] In February 2012, Dreamworld announced that the DreamWorks Experience precinct would originally consist of two areas (Madagascar Madness and Shrek’s Faire Faire Away) with a third area (Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness[24]) to be added later. Names for the rethemed rides were also announced.[25] On 31 March 2012, the DreamWorks Experience officially opened to the public.[26]
On 15 July 2012, the Avalanche was closed to make way for a new attraction at the end of the year.[27] The replacement attraction was part of Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness and its opening marked the final stage of the DreamWorks Experience.[16]
Shopping and dining[edit]
Madagascar Cargo Hold[edit]
Madagascar Cargo Hold is a merchandise shop which sells Madagascar merchandise. It backs onto the Forever After's and was on the site of the former Nick Pics/Fun Snapz photo shop.
Forever After's[edit]
Forever After's is a merchandise shop which sells Shrek merchandise. It backs onto the Madagascar Cargo Hold and was on the site of the former Nick Pics/Fun Snapz photo shop.
Shrek's Treats[edit]
Shrek's Treats is a small food outlet located in the centre of the DreamWorks Experience precinct.