The iconic Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster ride at Warner Bros. Movie World, Australia has reopened after its extensive closure. The refurbishment began in January 2023 with an original projected opening of 2024. Many changes have been made to revert the ride back more akin to its original state.
Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster opened in 2002, replacing the Warner Bros. Classics and The Great Gremlins Invasion, and was loosly based on the Live action Scooby-Doo movie that was released that same year. The attraction featured an extensive dark ride section before entering an elevator, leading to a wild-mouse style roller coaster, followed by another dark ride section. The ride became an immediate hit with park guests for many years.
The ride recieved a major revamp in 2018, introducing screens to the ride and changing its name to ”Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster: Next Generation”. This version of the ride was mostly negatively recieved by fans of the park.
The 2023 refurbishment was initially stated as aiming to make the ride more comfortable by replacing the cars and sections of track, with few other details than the mention of theming updates. Dark Ride Database has collaborated with leading Australian theme park YouTuber Theme Park Ogre for a rundown of the new changes.
“The queue and the dark ride section have been received well by guests,” according to Theme Park Ogre, who also states, “It’s great having this classic, beloved coaster back at the park!“. The biggest change in the queue is that the big screen that previously played a ‘behind the scenes’ featurette of the 2002 movie now shows the full movie for waiting guests. The station has been mostly unchanged apart from a new baggage system and reinstating the door that opens into the first scene (previously removed for the Next Generation version).
The first few scenes, following Scooby Doo and knights swinging at the ride vehicle, has gone mostly unchanged. This is followed by a screen room, added for Next Generation, which had been a dungeon in the original version. This screen used to show monsters from the film breaking through the walls, but has now been replaced by a view of the banquet scene from the movie. The next scene has received new lighting and a projected spider web. The next scene used to house an animatronic ghoul lunging at the ride vehicle, but this has been replaced with one of the pink monsters from the film lunging instead.
The next and most iconic scene of the ride, contains the swinging axes with the ride vehicle quickly diving underneath them. “The iconic Swinging Axes were down on opening day, which isn’t exactly a good look“, according to TPO, but this problem was later fixed. This is followed by another Scooby-Doo animatronic and a mirror. The mirror is reinstated from the original version, since it was replaced by a screen in Next Generation that showed your ride vehicle being entered by the pink monsters.
This is when ride vehicles enter the vertical lift, which has had its screens removed to lift riders back up in pitch black darkness. The entire coaster section that follows is now in darkness as all lasers and lighting effects have been removed.
Response to this change appears to be mixed, with Theme Park Ogre expressing his disappointment: “It’s terrible, turning a once iconic and amazing section into something more akin to a cheap fair ride. The Scooby-Doo theme that plays in the room has also been turned down significantly, which further impacts the experience.” This section also used to house a large animatronic of Aragog from Harry Potter, which originated from a short lived Harry Potter attraction at the park, but has now been removed.
The coaster section transistions into the next scene, which has become a blend of both previous versions of the ride. This used to be a big Tiki face with Scooby-Doo telling riders to escape through it. This was replaced with mostly screens and the disco skull from the movie in the Next Generation. The new version brings back the Tiki face but projects onto it, as well as on the back wall with Scooby also returning as an animatronic. The final scene is Spooky Island, which was installed during Next Generation, and features a screen, now reduced in size, giving a small jumpscare to end the ride.
Theme Park Ogre closes out his review with, “It’s great to have the ride back, and it has been popular with guests, showing how beloved it still is by frequently reaching 60+ minute queue times. This gives the small park a much-needed capacity boost — especially with December being the most popular time of year during the Australian summer holidays. Here’s hoping they can continue to improve the ride in the future!” Dark Ride Database hopes the popular ride will stay operating at Warner Bros Movie World for many years to come!
© 2025 Dark Ride Database
Visit & photos by: Theme Park Ogre
