GoGoBoy

I agree with you about the direct theme park site itself, it would seem that ING and Paclib will take ownership of this land without Sunway retaining an interest, even though it was originally reported that it would. Sunway will however be retaining the 120 hectare site directly adjoining the theme park (which as said before is basically the overflow car parks and land at the entry to Wonderland). To be honest, after everything they've done, I wish they'd just pack up and leave our country for good. The following is a recent extract taken from the Sunway website itself which relates to this parcel of land - 'On the other hand, Sunway City is parting ways with assets that are not contributing to its bottom line. Towards this end, the developer has signed a sale and purchase agreement to sell its theme park in Sydney for a total consideration of AU$52.5 million in February this year. With the sale, Sunway City will still own 120ha of prime land adjoining the 58.87ha theme park. It plans to build a business park on that piece of land.' I also found more detailed info regarding the status of the actual theme park site itself and the put and call option thingy - 'On 16 February 2004, the Group announced that it shall be closing its theme park operations at Wonderland Sydney, Australia by the middle of the year due to persistent losses incurred and difficult market conditions. The Group further announced the entering of a Put and Call Option Deed on 12 February 2004 with Paclib Industrial No. 5 Pty Limited for the disposal of the property known as Wonderland Sydney for a total consideration of A$52.5 million, excluding Goods and Services Tax. A security sum of A$10m had been received, which will be forfeited if neither the Put Option nor the Call Option is exercised.'

Just found a bit of info on the Blacktown Council website talking about the business parks. It shows Sunway's continued involvement with the site and the substantial sum of money they received for selling just a small portion of the site. Here is an extract - 'Listed property developer Australand Holdings has signed a joint-venture agreement to develop the business park. The agreement, with landowner Hartford Lane Pty - a subsidiary of the Malaysian-backed Sunway and tied to the giant Worldwide Holdings Berhad - also involves Australand paying $26.5 million to develop the 40hectare first stage of the project on its own. Another 120ha will be developed as part of the joint-venture agreement'. ...And this is only talking about the business park being built on Wonderland's car parks and excess land, not the actual direct theme park land itself

How about - Catapult? Your clues are hard obstructure but I reckon some of my guesses are pretty good... even if I do say so myself

I can guarantee that The Beach was opened in either the late 80's or very early 90's. The only proof I have is a brochure from the 1993/94 season of Wonderland which includes The Beach in it. Let me make it very clear that Sunway did not add a single new attraction in their entire ownership period, especially not an entire themed area like The Beach. I believe you're right about the 2nd hand Skyrider gondola being added by Sunway, although I wouldn't really call that an attraction. When you do take out The Beach references from your site, don't forget your pics page which also has a reference to Sunway being responsible for The Beach. We don't really want to give credit where credit is not due afterall. I am not sure now about the actual Wonderland site itself but Sunway is definitely retaining an interest in the business park being developed over Wonderland's overflow carparks and excess land. They sold part of the land directly to Australand (and received a massive windfall from it) but are jointly developing the remaining portions. When you take into account that Sunway bought the entire theme park and surrounding land for only $50 mill they haven't done too badly at all

Yeah you've truly done some great work there Zordmaker. There are 2 points from the document I'd like to debate though - 1. Sunway actually added NO new attractions from 1997-2004, besides stage shows. The Beach area was added way back around 1990 and Sunway only re-painted a couple of slides in 2003. I think that is one point you should definitely change. 2. Are you sure Sunway has not recouped their initial expenditure on Wonderland? You have to remember that Sunway sold off the surrounding land parcels separately and made plenty of money from them. We're talking millions upon millions. They then sold the actual Wonderland site for $52.5 mill. They bought the entire property in 1997 for only $50 million. Not to mention they are still retaining an interest in the business park into the future. Sounds like a profit to me although I am open to debate on this one

I agree with Richard on this 110%. What a waste of time. It would be nice if the reporters actually did a bit of research into the industry first and presented us with an accurate subjective report. I think they must just base the stories on the press releases they are given by the parks. Both those parks are continually trying to fool people into believing the rides are either 'all-time favourites' or 'the latest in technology' (cough)

It's Cen-tri-fuge. 3 syllables. If that's what they call it then it shouldn't be classified as part of Ocean Parade. Obstructure... any more clues? How close are we?

Let me just say that I am aware that a very small number of staff did 'make use' of the park during the party. This included running around the entire park in pitch darkness in a semi-drunken state. Many areas were accessed, even all the way down at Snowy River, without any intervention from security. I believe there wasn't any damage done or anything like that... it was just all in good fun and a way to say a final goodbye. I know a lot of people that have been devastated by Wonderland's closure and a number of staff who do not have new jobs to go to. It's a very sad time for anyone or anything associated with the park and I think the ramifications are a lot bigger than most people realise. Zordmaker - I think your campaign website would be a great idea. It would be good to get the various contacts for those key people in the State Government

joz was just joking wonderbus. He was having a go at the various 'last ride' claims being made in this thread. He actually lives in QLD and works at the Gold Coast parks. That's the trouble with the internet, it's hard to tell when someone's joking

I've got one - Centrifuge. I hope that's not it but it is a C word with 3 syllables

New struggle for axed fun park stalwarts By Jim O'Rourke April 25, 2004 The Sun-Herald The more than 400 workers who will lose their jobs when the Wonderland Sydney amusement park closes tomorrow are struggling to find new work. Most of the employees are young and had been working as long-term casuals at the Eastern Creek park. A large number of casuals - those with less than three years' service - missed out on redundancy packages, even though Wonderland is being sold for more than $50 million, Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union state secretary Annie Owens said yesterday. There are not a lot of similar jobs up for grabs in Sydney, she said. The sale comes in a difficult time for fun parks with the closure of Old Sydney Town, the Fox Studios Backlot and Sega World at Darling Harbour in recent years. Only the reopening of Luna Park at Milsons Point provided theme park job opportunities, but Ms Owns said she understood only a handful of Wonderland workers had been able to secure work there. Earlier this year, Wonderland's Malaysian-based owner, Sunway City Berhad, announced it was selling the 58-hectacre property for $52.5 million after 19 years in the city's western suburbs. Wonderland was bought by ING Industrial Fund and its joint-venture partner, privately owned construction company the PacLib Group. They will turn the site into an industrial estate with access to the M4 Motorway and the proposed M7. Sunway City said it was forced to sell because Wonderland was no longer "commercially viable", due to falling patronage caused by the September 11 terror attacks, the Bali bombings, SARS and the collapses of insurance giant HIH and Ansett. It also blamed the Asian bird flu outbreak. After the union took the matter to the Industrial Relations Commission, and a negotiation process, the full-time workers at the park managed to win eight weeks' pay in redundancy packages. But the 270 casuals, some of whom have been working at the park since it opened, had to fight harder and longer. Those who had been working at Wonderland for three years or more received five weeks' pay. The rest of the casuals missed out. Ms Owens criticised management's attitude to the redundancy and severance payouts. "It is our view the company's excuses about why it wanted to sell don't hold water," Ms Owens said. "It simply wanted to make a big bag of money. "The company has a $52.5 million pot of gold so it's not a big ask for it to reach into its pocket and share some of it with the workforce, many of whom have been there for 19 years. "A lot of our members are battlers, single parents, young people buying their first homes." The union did concede management is assisting some workers with training for work in the hospitality industry, and is helping them look for new jobs. But Ms Owens said job vacancies in hospitality are not high in the western suburbs

The park was busy even before people found out it was closing. Saturday nights have always done well. Considering what was on offer I think attendance at the park has been consistently large. I would like to see people throwing their support behind theme parks that actually deserve the support... like after adding a new multi-million dollar attraction. Not just when they are closing down. So when Dreamworld opens their new thrill ride this year, I hope all of you that have spent hundreds of dollars at Wonderland in the last few months will fork out a few more dollars and take a trip to QLD

zordmaker - you referred to 'SWRFM' - what does that mean?

I will be very annoyed if DW plonks this ride down in the middle of Ocean Parade and doesn't give it an ocean or related theme. Unless they are going to say it is actually a part of Main Street?! DW needs to start looking at consistency. Next clue please Obstructure. Not enough information yet

Give us a hint Obstructure. Is it Ocean themed? Many thanks for the news by the way. This is exciting stuff. They are starting early! I'm surprised to hear it wasn't busy today... that's unusual isn't it?

Yeah but there's a difference between being realistic and having a defeatist attitude. I totally agree that there is almost a 100% chance that the business park will go ahead. HOWEVER that doesn't mean that people should just sit back and go "oh well, it's going to happen anyway, so why bother saying anything". It is important to let your opinions be known to the people that count. Just send a quick message saying you are not happy about it. It all counts. Don't let them get away with it without a murmur or else they will think everything is perfect and nobody cares. This has all just gone too smoothly for Sunway. If anything, the people on this board are the first ones who should be kicking up a bit of a stink in support of the Australian theme park inudstry

Very funny guys. It better have an ocean theme if it's going to be in Ocean Parade. Something like 'Typhoon' to fit in nicely next to Cyclone

From what I have been told it's actually a farewell party, not a reunion. So don't feel too sad Daniel

There was a big picture in the 2nd page of the Herald the other day of 2 girls on Snowy River. The caption mentioned that "you can now take the Wonderland ride home with you" and had a quote from the corporate manager saying that if anyone wants anything at the park they can now buy it. On another note I noticed that CityRail have updated their website with an animated banner at the top of the page advertising WS closing - www.cityrail.info

And can you believe it - apparantley Wonderland is supplying free alcohol for the party. Wonders never cease. No doubt staff will try and ensure guests are well and truly out of the park once 5:00pm hits on Monday. The party is supposedly starting at 6:00pm in Billabong Grove

Actually I believe the re-zoning has not yet happened. Only the areas surrounding Wonderland have been re-zoned. ING has some sort of put and call option thingy in place with Sunway so if the proposal is not approved by relevant councils and the state government, the sale more than likely won't go ahead. They are being very presumptuous which is sneaky because it stops people from saying anything, thinking the deal has already been done. I am fairly sure that they will get approval granted but that shouldn't stop anyone from voicing their opinion. Community voice can be a powerful thing and it has certainly won fights in the past

The park will be packed and as there is nothing additional happening on the day you will be lucky to get on many of the rides. If you are happy just to have one last look around then go for it but I'm warning you now, the lines will be crazy

Well if every single park on the gold coast is opening later then Wonderland should be doing the same thing. I think the rule should be across the board and don't see why tourist attractions should be any different. In regards to sending emails and letters to Blacktown Council I think it is important, regardless of what the outcome will be. I realise that it probably won't change anything but it is important for them to know what people think... otherwise they get away with it all scot free

If you guys want to write a quick email to express your disappointment over the closure of Wonderland, send it to council@blacktown.nsw.gov.au The more emails they get, the harder it will be for Sunway to get rezoning approved. We should try and put up a bit of a fight at least otherwise it has been too easy for them

Does anyone know who we can complain to about this Anzac Day issue? Industrial relations? From what I know, on a day to day basis the few shows and rides that are left at Wonderland are not usually 'cancelled'. All shows and rides that were running when the closure was announced are still pretty much running every day. This has been achieved using drastic measures such as putting cast in shows who haven't rehearsed properly and training food & bev and guest relations staff on how to operate rides (they've fast-tracked the training I guess). The problem is that there really was not much left anyway... certainly not enough to support the thousands of people visiting the park every day. No hannah barbera land, no beastie, less kiddie rides, no skyhawk, no cable car, no dragon's flight, no tazzie devil, no mountain cascades, no action man show, no magic show, no special holiday entertainment. I was there the other day and it is obvious that the crowds are starved for entertainment. One costumed marvel character came out (not for a show or anything) and hundreds of people gathered around watching like it was the most amazing thing ever. In normal circumstances I don't think visitors would tolerate the current lack of offerings at the park but I guess exceptions are made because it is closing. Management could probably do anything and still get people through the gates on full price tickets