Dreamworld: First look inside new Jane’s Rivertown Restaraurant at Gold Coast theme park

A new attraction offering “the most immersive experience in any Australian theme park” will open its doors on Monday as part of a $55m expansion. FIND OUT MORE

A restaurant offering “the most immersive dining experience in any Australian theme park” will open at Dreamworld on Monday.

The new $55m Rivertown Precinct will welcome its first customers just two days out from Christmas with a pair of new rides which park bosses hope will lure in large crowds across the festive season and beyond.

However a whole new eatery – Jane’s Rivertown Restaraurant – can be revealed which is tipped to be a drawcard for both theme park patrons and corporate events.

Dreamworld CEO Greg Yong said it had room for 280 patrons and included everything form jungle theming to lifelike animatronic animals.

“It is the most thematic and immersive experience in Australia,” he said.

Greg Yong and Hayley Bogaard at the New Rivertown precinct at Dreamworld. Pic Annette Dew

“There are a couple of nice nods to the early days of Dreamworld in here.”

The finishing touches were put on the precinct across the weekend before the first crowds enter on Monday.

The development was first announced in 2022, with construction beginning a year ago.

Two new rides unveiled in Saturday’s Bulletin include The Jungle Rush, which Mr Yong said was the park’s “largest-ever investment in a single ride and the first roller coaster of its kind in the world”.

The $35m adventure-themed thrill ride features an unusual design, with different tracks and a “world-first turntable”.

Greg Yong inside the restaurant. Pic Annette Dew

Not only does The Jungle Rush give customers the option of starting frontwards or backwards out of a train station, the turntable section can rotate go one of three different routes.

All up the ride goes for 465 metres at a top speed of 45km per hour. The other attraction is a reimagining of the Murrissippi Motors, one of the park’s original attractions from the 1980s which has been revamped and expanded.

The complex was built by builder Herron Coorey, with project manager Dan Mickan describing it as a “game changer”.

The restaurant opens on Monday. Pic Annette Dew

“Bringing Rivertown to life has been an incredible experience for our team and the complexity of the project – from the intricate engineering of Jungle Rush to the detailed theming throughout the precinct – is something we are incredibly proud of,” he said.

“Rivertown is a game changer for Dreamworld and for the Gold Coast, and we are thrilled to see it open to the public.”

Randy Garfield, a board member of park owner Gold Coast Entertainment was among those who lent his expertise to the project, having previously been a president of the Walt Disney Travel Company and executive vice president for Disney Parks, Experiences and Products

“What Dreamworld has achieved with Rivertown is extraordinary,” he said.

“With the quality of the theming, the attention to detail, the physical site and the ride itself, it’s different from anything Disney has but just as good and I mean that.

It has room for 280 patrons. Pic Annette Dew

“Nothing in this country comes close to what you’re about to see.”

Dreamworld is also redeveloping its popular Claw ride after 20 years.

The ride will close in early 2025 and be replaced by an even bigger ride, King Claw.

It will be 50 per cent higher and faster, with the largest gyro swing ride in the southern hemisphere, standing at 27 metres tall.

Rivertown’s opening comes just days after the launch of the $100m Wizard of Oz Precinct at the nearby Warner Bros Movie World.

The two theme park attracts are set to underline a bumper Christmas and New Year period, with tourism bosses already tipping to be the best in recent years.

Originally published as Dreamworld: First look inside new Jane’s Rivertown Restaraurant at Gold Coast theme park