The area which DreamWorks Experience occupied was originally known as Village Green when it opened in 1983.[1] In 1998, the area was renamed to Village Oval.[2] In 1999, the northern end of Village Oval was redesigned to become Kennyland.[3]
Nickelodeon Central
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
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.[citation needed] 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]
Kenny and Belinda's Dreamland
In November 2022, Dreamworld announced that as part of their new multi-million dollar expansion, the DreamWorks Experience would be replaced with Kenny and Belinda's Dreamland, bringing back the initial Kenny Koala theme that the area once had.[28] Most of the attractions will make it over, however the attractions in the "Kung Fu Panda - Land of Awesomeness" area will instead be moved to the Ocean Parade section.
Attraction history
The area has seen many different name changes and re-themes over the years to fit in with the licenses and brands.
Attractions at the time of closure
Kenny's Forest Flyer roller coaster (when it was Rugrats Runaway Reptar)Avalanche (when it was Angry Beavers Spooty Spin)
Shrek’s Faire Faire Away
Madagascar Madness
Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness
Former attractions prior to closure
Shopping and dining
Madagascar Cargo Hold
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
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
Shrek's Treats is a small food outlet located in the centre of the DreamWorks Experience precinct.
References
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^ a b"SpongeBob FlyPants (Dreamworld)". Database Entry. Parkz. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
^"Maintenance". Dreamworld. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
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^ a bIn-park signage
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