Gold Coast's Dreamworld drops Mick Doohan's name from Motocoaster ride

Dreamworld has quietly removed the name of a motorcycling champion from the well-known roller coaster he helped to design. DETAILS:

Dreamworld has quietly removed motorcycling champion Mick Doohan’s name from the well-known roller coaster he helped to design.

The Mick Doohan Motocoaster closed for scheduled maintenance on May 12, and will emerge as simply “Motocoaster” on June 3.

A Dreamworld spokeswoman said the park “decided to move forward with retaining just the core Motocoaster brand”.

“We did enjoy a great relationship with Mick Doohan, with the ride opening in 2007.”

The park said it made the call not to renew a 15-year contract struck with the champ, whose business interests include a private jet company and a website selling Doohan-branded t-shirts.

“(It was) simply a contract that was not renewed and a commercial decision taken by Dreamworld” the spokeswoman said.

CEO Stephen Gregg (L) and five-time 500cc motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan on motocoaster ride at Dreamworld on Gold Coast.

Doohan, who won five consecutive world Grand Prix championship titles and turns 57 on Friday, could not be contacted.

He helped design the $10m ride, which opened to the public in September 2007.

It was the first motorcycle coaster in Australia, and the first to feature life-size replicas of 500cc racing bikes.

It travels up to 72km/h on 605m of racing track, features 18 extreme banking turns 7m above the ground.

When the Motocoaster launched, Doohan did not personally attend the event because he was competing in the Japan Grand Prix.

He told fans in a prerecorded video he was “extremely proud to see the end result, I have really enjoyed working with Dreamworld, the new attraction truly celebrates and pays respect to a great Australian sport and its achievements.”

The ride is now called Motocoaster.

When the ride was announced, Doohan said it would be the next best thing to a real motorbike.

``The best thing about it is there are no ambulances on the sideline,’’ joked Doohan, who suffered many injuries in his record-breaking career.

``Everyone loves motorcycles so this gives you the opportunity to hop on and enjoy another aspect of Dreamworld.

``I think, for the general population who don’t really have the chance to hop on and experience a motorcycle, this will be the next best thing.’’

Crusty Demons at Dreamworld on Mick Doohan Motocoaster, Mick Doohan and Crusty Demon rider Steve Mini on front of ride

New night market announced for northern Coast

May 18, 2022: Live music, festival food and brews are set to return to the northern Gold Coast, with new night markets set for launch at Coomera next month.

Three years after the closure of Helensvale’s highly-popular NightQuarter markets, Dreamworld will fill the void, with local vendors invited to apply for a spot in its Moonlight Markets.

While the theme park’s famous rides won’t operate during market times, the $2 entry fee will get visitors access to Dreamworld’s Main Street, which is set to be transformed every Friday and Saturday night from June 10.

Dreamworld CEO Greg Yong said custom packages would be available for special occasions and hoped the markets would become a popular weekend venue.

“We’re bringing an entirely new offering with food, drinks and entertainment to the Northern Gold Coast, which we feel is deserving of an epic new evening entertainment venue,” he said.

“As the day turns to night, the park’s Main Street will transform into Moonlight – a pumping venue serving up unreal street food, delicious drinks, and live entertainment every weekend. “Whether you’re heading for after work drinks or taking the kids out for dinner, there will be something for everyone to enjoy eating, drinking, and listening to.”

The venue will open from 5-9 pm every Friday and Saturday night, with stalls featuring international cuisines, local favourites, a variety of drinks and desserts, with live music from local artists.

Moonlight Markets could fill the gap left by the popular NightQuarter markets.

Deputy Mayor Donna Gates said locals would welcome the venue.

“The northern Gold Coast is family central and I know every hungry young kid loves a food van,’’ she said.

“The atmosphere will be fantastic with the bright lights a backdrop to the incredible rides at Dreamworld.

"And while the rides aren’t part of the night markets, it will really set the scene for a magical place to be.’’

Food and drink vendors interested in joining the markets can find more information on the Moonlight website.

Dreamworld’s thrilling plan for $150m boost

April 7: Thrilling new attractions and an on-site hotel are on the cards for Dreamworld after it pockets $150m from a $1.1bn deal by its parent company.

Ardent CEO Greg Yong hinted the windfall could be spent on theme park rides even bigger than the $32m Steel Taipan.

“It just goes to what we’ve said all along, that Ardent is committed to Dreamworld, the Gold Coast and to Queensland,” he said.

“Now we’ll have the capital required to get some of these things off the ground.

“All I can say is, the Steel Taipan is the biggest thing we’ve ever done – for now.

“We expect to be able to announce something more in the attraction space in the next little while.”

Ardent Leisure theme parks CEO Greg Yong.

In a post-trade announcement on Wednesday, Ardent Leisure said the sale of its US-based

Main Event business would allow it to plough cash into growing its Gold Coast theme parks.

It would also see the company clear its debts to lenders, the Queensland Government and the tax office and pay out 90c per share to shareholders.

Shares in Ardent leapt 8.88 per cent from $1.295 to $1.41 on Thursday morning after dipping as low as 10c at the peak of the national lockdown in March 2020.

Mr Yong said plans for a $75m resort project, dumped in December after a breakdown in negotiations with developer Evolution Group, were back in play.

Cooee the Gumnut Fairy drives Kenny and Belinda Koala in the old Model T cars at Dreamworld. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The accommodation offering was to include a 4-star 250 room resort-style hotel, 40 bungalows and a 5-star tourist park with 100 powered sites.

“We are working through more concepts for the development, it might be that it has a slightly different skew than what we initially planned with Evolution Group,” he said.

“Absolutely it will be high quality and good for the northern Gold Coast.”

While Mr Yong said the cash from the Main Event sale gave Ardent the option of self-funding the hotel, the company is still considering involving a development partner.

“If we work with a partner it allows us to invest in the theme park, which is mission critical for us,” he said.

A trademark for “Dreamworld Hotel” was registered in January, as well as a new trademark of the word Dreamworld, expanding its classification to include hotels, caravan parks and camp grounds. Ardent trademarked “Dreamworld Resort” in December.

Ardent shareholders will vote on the Main Event transaction at a meeting later this year, subject to customary closing conditions including receipt of US antitrust approval.

Originally published as Gold Coast's Dreamworld drops Mick Doohan's name from Motocoaster ride