Shutdown impacts Dreamworld’s plans for construction of new rollercoaster

With reports that Dreamworld is losing up to $10 million a month during the Coronavirus shutdown, the Gold Coast theme park’s ability to complete the construction of its planned new $30 million rollercoaster is currently in doubt.

Announced in August 2019 and due to open this year as part of a major investment in the theme park by owners Ardent Leisure, the rollercoaster - supplied by German ride manufacturer Mack Rides - has apparently been paid for.

However, as reported by the Parkz website, while the parts for the new attraction are now on site, struggling with cashflow during the Coronavirus shutdown, Dreamworld is not able to proceed with the rides construction.

In a recent interview with the Gold Coast Bulletin, Dreamworld Chief Strategy Officer, Paul Callander said that revenue being lost as a result of the COVID-19 shutdown would have funded the construction.

Callander advised “it certainly requires funding. $10 million is being burnt each month so that money when we are talking, about $17 million of contractor works, would have gone back into our capital investment."

While Dreamworld is being severely impacted by the Coronavirus crisis, Parkz’s Richard Wilson has suggested that even a profitable year at the theme park would see it struggle to meet the $13 million construction of the new rollercoaster.

Wilson writes “(even) if we rewind to 2016 - prior to Dreamworld's tragic Thunder River Rapids accident that plunged the theme park into its current state of financial disarray - then even their operating revenue for these same months during a normal, profitable year wouldn't cover the required construction costs.

“Combined revenue for March through June of 2016 was $27.8 million, averaging less than $7 million a month. Revenue for these same months a year later plummeted to $17.9 million and is still yet to recover significantly.

“So we're led to believe that even if it was business as usual, (the) best case scenario is Dreamworld would be running at a bare profit or loss with a plan that involves paying for a rollercoaster to be built hand-to-mouth.

“Even in a scenario where Dreamworld had finally returned to modest profitability on an annual basis, it's likely they would currently be running at a loss through these typically quiet off-peak months, and funds for this roller coaster would be coming from elsewhere within Ardent Leisure.”

It has been reported that at the start of the year Dreamworld's owners had only $58 million in cash reserves across both Dreamworld and Main Event in the USA.

Images: The parts for Dreamworld's new rollercoaster on site (top, courtesy of Parkz) and an artist's impression of how it will look when complete (below).