WhiteWater World on the final straight

As the first new park on the Gold Coast in 14 years, WhiteWater World brings with it numerous innovations as it prepares for an earlier-than-expected opening in early December.

Stephen Gregg, CEO of Dreamworld recently announced that all systems are go at WhiteWater World, Dreamworld's new separate gate water park.

“We are extremely excited to report that WhiteWater World will open the doors to guests on Friday 8th December, 2006, just in time for the Summer school holiday period,” Mr Gregg said.

The first new park on the Gold Coast in 14 years, which is found on some of Dreamworld's surplus land, cost Dreamworld's owners Macquarie Leisure Trust Group $60 million to commission. The group's CEO, Greg Shaw adds that, "In addition to allowing us to capitalise on surplus land, WhiteWater World presents excellent cross promotion opportunities with Dreamworld that deliver incremental revenue growth potential."

WhiteWater World is expected to generate an internal rate of return of between 16 and 20 per cent for the Sydney-based group.

In terms of guest experience, the water park will comprise of six attraction hubs home to eight different experiences covering every possible age group to hit the park.

Cutting-Edge Attractions

WhiteWater World will introduce three attractions that are totally unique to Australia.

'The BRO' -- or Blue Ringed Octopus -- is the world's first 8-lane Octopus Racer. This is similar to attractions around Australia like the Super 8 Aqua Racer at Wet'n'Wild Water World - with a very literal twist - instead of eight parallel lanes racing to the finish line, the ride kicks off with each lane spiraling down knotted ball of slides before hitting a series of dips to the finish line.

The Super Tubes Hydrocoaster is Australia's first Rocket slide. This style of attraction is gaining momentum at international water parks as it turns the traditional water slide on its head. Regular slides are powered by gravity and naturally only allow riders to slide downhill. Through the use of a linear induction motor (LIM) system that propels riders silently up inclines to keep the ride going.

What results is a 236m (775ft) slide with a total of five uphill sections and a top height of 18m. Riders ride in three-person boats along the 28 second course that features hair-raising drops, speedy inclines, enclosed spirals and even a bunny-hill for that true roller coaster experience.

The Rip is Australia's first Bowl slide. Riders in four-person tubes plummet down a 16m drop into the 'bowl' - a 12m diameter ring that is best described as a UFO crossed with a toilet bowl. Each tube then spirals around until the momentum is gone, when they drop through the centre of the bowl for a splashdown into the plunge pool below.

The Green Room is Australia's second Tornado slide with Wet'n'Wild's Tornado just down the road.  Not to copy, WhiteWater World's model features an extra spiral before dropping down.

Fun for the family

With some of Australia's biggest thrill slides, WhiteWater World balances things out with some attractions the whole family can enjoy.

Two separate themed children's areas are found in the park with Wiggles Bay, a separated and supervised area catering to the toddler audience and Australia's largest interactive water play area, Nickelodeon's Pipeline Plunge for the 5-12s.

The whole family can cool off in The Cave of Waves, a 1,300 person wave pool capable of delivering surfable swell up to 1.5m.

A water-wise water park

In these times of drought, WhiteWater World is also revolutionising the way parks use water. In an independent, third party water efficiency audit conducted by Environmental Resources Management Australia (ERM), WhiteWater World has been given the highest efficiency rating possible and has been classed as one of the most water efficient water parks in the world.

"Our approach to conservation is about finding the balance between preserving the important role WhiteWater World will play in providing an entertainment and leisure experience to South East Queensland and preserving our region’s water supplies," said Gregg.

New systems implemented will see the park will save 3.04 mega litres a year over traditional filtration systems.

"Conventional water demand for a water park this size is around 49.78 mega litres. With WhiteWater World’s water saving technology and initiatives, annual demand will be around 21.18 mega litres. That’s a saving of 28.76 mega litres, 28 Olympic swimming pools or 57.8% which far exceeds the Queensland Water Commissions water consumption reduction target of 25%," added Gregg.

Water saving initiatives in place include treating and utilising storm water run-off in the water park, semi-waterless urinals, a water-conscious landscape and careful monitoring of all pipelines to detect leaks and maintain operating targets for each of the park's facilities.

Ticketing options

Tickets are currently on sale from the new Dreamworld / WhiteWater World portal, Theme Parks Gold Coast.

In line with Wet'n'Wild Water World, an adult day ticket will be $42. A multi-park option has been added, giving guests the ability to visit both Dreamworld and WhiteWater World over two days on a single $106 "World Pass" ticket. In the future "park hopping" will be added, where guests can travel seamlessly between WhiteWater World and Dreamworld via a separate entrance.