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Dreamland Margate’s Future

dj-fireball999 said:
From what I understand, their events don't actually bring in much money. In fact, I'm pretty certain that the "Demon Dayz" event (their largest to date) with Gorillaz actually lost money. I wouldn't say that their funding and ownership structure is complicated anymore, since Sands Heritage now own the site as well as all of the attractions within, after being purchased from the council in 2019. Previously, the council owned the land and the vintage rides, Sands ran the place and owned the new Zamperla stuff. They were previously funded by Arrowgrass (who funded all of the new Zamperla rides) before they were shut down in 2019.

The Scenic doesn't really cost a huge amount to run. The only expensive part was the lift hill ropes, which should have lasted 5+ years (maybe longer? I can't quite remember but I believe the original ropes used to last 15+ years) but were being changed yearly if I remember correctly. Issues with the rope splicing and oil seeping from the centre of the ropes causing the trains to slip were big issues from 2015-2019. The trains aren't overly complicated and there aren't a huge amount of parts that need to be regularly changed on them, aside from brake pads. And they're just slabs of metal.


I'm very interested in seeing how it's going to be run and maintained, considering that nobody that looked after the ride since it was rebuilt is still employed by the park. Especially considering there are no specific 'manuals' for how to operate and maintain it, like there are with modern coasters. The setting for the rope clamp on the trains is something that's down to feel and experience, for example. And I think only one person knows how to set the ride up to run in two train operation.
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Sounds like you'd better go and help. 😂

I tend to skim over Dreamland news now because it's always depressing. Hopefully they can drag some rides back into operation.
 
dj-fireball999 said:
They currently don’t have any staff and are trying to scramble together a team to operate the few rides that they have left, as well as a team to maintain them
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Had a quick skim of their FB page and did notice their hiring days aren't till after Easter. Have already cancelled the Margate portion of the trip anyway
 
Somewhat expecting that SBF figure 8 coaster that's seen itself at Funland in 2021 and Skegness's vintage funfair in 2022. Either way, nice to see the park adding a new ride!
 
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