Dreamworld to donate portion of opening sales to charity
Dreamworld will reopen on December 10 with a portion of the opening weekend entry fees to be donated to charity, Dreamworld CEO Craig Davidson has confirmed.
The announcement by Ardent Leisure, which owns the Gold Coast theme park, comes five weeks after an accident on Thunder River Rapid ride claimed the lives of four people.
Mr Davidson fronted the media about the reopening and said thoughts "remain firmly with the families of those who lost loved ones", while also announcing a special ticket price structure to raise funds for those affected by the tragedy.
"Over the first weekend of 10 and 11 December, $25 from every guest entry fee will be donated to the Red Cross. For guests with season passes and pre paid tickets, Dreamworld will contributed the $25 donation on their behalf," Mr Davidson announced out the front of Dreamworld.
"The donations raised over the weekend will be distributed to those effected by the tragedy."
Mr Davidson also confirmed that the Thunder River Rapids Ride would be permanently decomissioned, but refused to speculate what would be put in its place.
The company originally wanted to reopen the theme park just days after the tragedy, but were forced by Queensland Police to call it off due to their ongoing investigations.
The park has undergone an exhaustive series of safety checks since Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low died when the ride malfunctioned on October 25.
The families have reportedly been kept informed of the reopening.
"It is still quite raw for her but she said she understands," Sandra Brookfield, a friend of Kim Dorsett, the mother of Ms Goodchild and Mr Dorsett, told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Ardent Leisure had originally wanted to reopen the theme park just days after the tragedy, but were forced by Queensland police to call it off due to their ongoing investigations.
Chairman Neil Balnaves told shareholders at an Ardent Leisure annual meeting on October 27 that the company wanted to reopen quickly to help staff.
"It is better that people get back to work and basically get together with their comrades and talk and deal with this issue rather than ... sitting at home in isolation," Mr Balnaves said at the time.
"It's driven by the utmost respect for the families and the deaths."
An audit carried out since the accident found no guest safety issues with any of the theme park's 34 rides, but the Thunder River Rapids ride will be permanently dismantled.
The Gold Coast City Council will spend $200,000 on a public campaign to attract visitors back to the tourism hotspot.
