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Dreamworld Welcomes Visitors Back After Deadly Ride Malfunction

The Gold Coast theme park has been closed since October.
Dreamworld will reopen its doors on Saturday.
Dreamworld will reopen its doors on Saturday.

Dreamworld has officially reopened its doors for the first time since four people were killed at the amusement park in October after a ride malfunctioned.

The Thunder River Rapids Ride has been permanently shut down and most of the theme park's major thrill attractions will not come back online when the park opens to visitors at 10am. The theme park will open its wild life areas, White Water World, motorsport precinct and children's areas.

Speaking on Saturday, Dreamworld CEO Craig Davidson told reporters at Dreamworld that "hearts and thoughts" remained with the victims' families.

"Today's reopening is a positive and important step forward for the park, our staff and for our guests," Davidson said. "Safety has always been Dreamworld's number one priority."

He added that the park had gone through "unprecedented" safety checks since the tragedy and that ongoing multilevel reviews would not be rushed.

Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones described the day as about "hope and moving forward".

"Dreamworld has done a fantastic job in supporting their staff in the last six weeks," she said. "Today we welcome the first visitors back to Dreamworld with its reopening."

The theme park has been closed since the fatal October 25 incident, which killed Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low.

On Saturday, the park is donating $25 from each ticket sold to the Red Cross.

The fatal tragedy caused a slump in visitor numbers to all of the Queensland region's parks, but Dreamworld is hopeful business can rebound, Network Seven reports.

In the wake of the deadly incident, police launched a major investigation into how the park-goers lost their lives on the popular ride at the Coomera theme park.

There were allegations of shoddy upkeep at Dreamworld and criticisms of owner Ardent Leisure's management of the disaster.

Ardent Leisure named retired police inspector Mike McKay as its adviser on the community recovery process at the park and the company has assured the public and shareholders that thorough safety checks at have been undertaken.

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