GoGoBoy

That's one of the things that makes me so angry with Sunway. All the previous owners of the park sold Wonderland to other companies rather than shutting the place down. Sunway is not going to do this. Why is that? My guess is that they want the land to sell off and develop for the business park. Come on guys, we all had a suspicion that this might happen. It wouldn't make sense building an ugly business park so close to a theme park if this wasn't the case. The CEO avoided this topic by saying he had not been told what was going to happen to the site. He did mention there was some interest in the site but this could mean anything. I can guarantee to you right now that the site will NOT re-open as a theme park. If this was going to happen Sunway would have made sure they sold it first before announcing its closure

Richard - is there any way you can change the title of this topic? Now that it is confirmed I think it needs to be something more appropriate like 'Wonderland Closing - It's Official'. It is such a MAJOR issue afterall. I have managed to gather some info which has come direct from this evenings meeting. Some of the points the CEO made are as follows: *The CEO said that he could not guarantee that the park would actually stay open until the end of the April school holidays, although he is going to try. He said he would play it by ear as it depends on how many staff actually decide to stay around until that time *The park was in financial difficulty when Sunway first purchased it around 8 years ago *Sunway were able to spend some money refurbishing and upgrading the park but were not able to spend any large amounts of capital due to the state of the parent company (thanks to various factors like the asian economic crisis). Because of this, no major new attraction could be added to Wonderland *Wonderland was apparantley badly affected by all the recent negative world events which is supposedly a major reason the park is closing. He felt that in the last 5 years however, the park had greatly improved and thought it was an effort to be proud of. He said the park had been able to fund much of its improvements and refurbs from its own operating revenue (or something to that effect) *When Wonderland would have a good year the CEO would promote this fact to the board of directors at Sunway but the board would say to Stephen "we just can't keep doing this anymore (loosing money)" *He mentioned that the parks in QLD are in a better financial position compared to Wonderland and are generating profits which is why they are still open *A small number of staff will remain in the park after it closes to perform various jobs. Wildlife staff in particular will be required to stay on for some time to help with the transportation of the animals to other venues etc. *The CEO also said that once it has closed, the theme park will remain as is until further notice. Apparantley the board of directors has not given him any information regarding the future of the site but there was some "interest" already expressed in the site (ie. the land) My personal opinion remains the same as it has always been. I truly feel that things may have been different if the Malaysian company Sunway had not taken over. Sunway was not able to (or reluctant to) invest the necessary capital to truly boost Wonderland's performance. They have allowed the park to close without any thought as to how this may impact on Sydney. The fact is they probably don't care. Wonderland is a Sydney and Australian icon. I believe that Sunway have had their sights on that parcel of land that Wonderland has been sitting on for some time. In time, I'm sure they will redevelop the land for the expansion of the business park. As I have always said, this will mean almost instant profits for them. Unfortunately they are just not interested in investing any more time nurturing one of Sydney's most loved assets

I don't know if you would be able to call that a good start. If you ask me it would be just another CHEAP Wonderland attempt to try and incorporate their Marvel relationship more. If they are going to do that it should be with new rides or else re-theme the entire Transylvania area to Marvel (not just select sections of it). I hope that does not happen though as I like Transylvania as it is - it has some of the best theming in the park in my opinion. Also, they should save the 'Spiderman' name for one of the bigger and better rides. They would also need to remove all the current theming around the actual wave swinger (dragon's flight) gondola as it is very flowery and old fashioned... not so suitable for Spiderman

I have to say that I really like the sound of Dreamworld's refurbished Wildlife Experience. I like the fact that they have separated the area into different themes (each representing a distinct Australian environment). Afterall, it IS a THEME PARK. I would be very impressed if I was visiting from overseas... much better than Wonderland's very basic Australian Wildlife Park (it is in a particularly bad state right now). Congrats to Dreamworld for all the great recent refurbs! On another note, I was looking over DW's owners corporate website and reading some of their reports. It noted that attendances have continued to increase during the second half of last year and the first half of this year. It also mentioned that the temporary Tomb Raider exhibit was very well received and that this proved that DW was able to 'prudently manage its capital investments'. I am concerned that DW may feel that it is not neccesary to add expensive new rides when they are able to add temporary exhibits and still gain an increase in visitation. I also read that DW's 'intensive 3 year capital investment campaign' has come to an end. Do you still think it is likely that DW will continue to add major new permanent attrations on a regular basis? How sure are you Richard that a new RIDE is actually coming this year? I may be just reading into it all a bit too much

Interesting to read your thoughts on the petting zoo Richard. I hadn't realised that DW was similar to WS in terms of the large number of asian visitors they get to their wildlife park section. Does the Australian Wildlife Experience have a separate entrance similar to the Australian Wildlife Park at WS or do visitors have to pay the full DW entry price? Also, what is the wildlife area like compared to Wonderlands? (from what I can see they both have similar shows - sheep shearing, koala displays etc). I find it strange that the petting zoo is going to be an extension of Nick Central rather than the wildlife area. Is it anywhere near Nick Central? Do you think it will have any of the same theming? I can think of much more appropriate minor expansions for Nick Central than a petting zoo. However, if it is actually going to be designed as part of the wildlife experience then that makes more sense to me (as it would be appealing to the asian tourists as discussed earlier)

Hey Slick... for someone who loves Dreamworld so much you should know that it is simply branded as one word - Dreamworld. There should be no capital W in 'world'

I'm surprised DW is adding ANOTHER animal exhibit. Any more and that place will be more of a zoo than a theme park

Thanks joz. I can always count on you to appreciate my wonderland-related discussions. I would love to take over Wonderland's management but I can tell you right now there is no way I would do it if Sunway were still the owners. I just wouldn't subject myself to that kind of frustration. I can imagine that every proposal I would put in to the Malaysian directors would come back with a big fat NO (especially if any money was involved)

What type of 'fight scenes' do they have up at Movie World? And what is involved with the Matrix stunt performers that I have heard mentioned a few times?

I think a theme park with various related businesses surrounding it isn't a bad thing. I don't think a bungee or 'carnival' rides area would work well outside Wonderland's main theme park though. What would have worked well is the hotel, golf course and wave pool which was originally planned (as discussed earlier in this thread). It would have been perfect for the hundreds of asian tourists that visit the wildlife park on a daily basis. The resort could have been set over quite a large area and utilised the native Australian bush on Wonderland's property to give it a real Aussie theme. The asian (and other)visitors could stay a few nights, make use of the golf course and then head on up to the Blue Mountains. With the waterpark expansion Wonderland would have been able to change the Beach into a stand-alone attraction. This would mean people would have had the option of just paying for entry to the Beach or buying a Wonderland and Beach combined ticket. I really feel that these facilities would have complemented Wonderland perfectly

Actually a few years back Wonderland had definite plans to build a bungee style attraction over or near the main lake. It was so close to happening that even the staff were officially told about it. Not sure if it was going to be an up-charge or not though. However, just like everything else Sunway has planned for Wonderland it did not happen. Other things that come to mind are the wave pool, golf course and hotel. These ideas were scrapped and they decided to build a business park instead. For Sunway it will mean a faster return on investment. Such a pity

Haha very funny joz. Sorry, I am a bit slow today. I think I needed to see one of those smiley faces after it to see it in the right context. It all makes sense now. Never mind me

Actually in the majority of cases when parks do add a new ride I have been very impressed. In recent years... I love Dreamworld's Giant Drop & Nick Central. I thought the Cyclone could have been implemented a little better and I had already ridden it so many times in Sydney anyway. At Movie World I was totally impressed with Wild West Falls and then again with Scooby Doo. I also love some of Wet 'n' Wild's latest additions like Mammoth Falls etc. I'm not ever going to be impressed with walk-through exhibits and I don't really count those as major new attractions but that is just me. Don't get me wrong guys, I really think we do have some great parks (the Gold Coast ones). I was just discussing what would make me spend the money to return to Dreamworld. I was also suggesting that it would be a shame if Dreamworld's new attraction doesn't arrive until next year. That is a bit too far away for me

No, I don't think it does mean anything Flea. They use Spiderman because he would definitely be the most popular. If there was a new attraction coming they would (or should) release the Spiderman branding at the TIME the attraction opens... not months before. As I said before, they are just milking this cheap opportunity. The return they would get on this for the minimal amount they have spent would be massive. Also, regarding what you guys were saying about kids being scared of the characters. I have been to WS a few times and watched the interaction between the kids and characters and overall the kids absolutely LOVE them. In particular Spiderman. They are obsessed, trust me. The younger kids sometimes seem to be a bit scared but they probably come round at the end of the day. The costumes may not look great but the parents and kids don't seem to mind. I think it is probably the main reason a lot of families are visiting now. The parents love to see their kids with the superheroes and the kids love being around them. It's a win-win for Wonderland, unfortunately

Well that came out of nowhere... anyone would think I had said something offensive! A big part of these forums is discussing what we'd ideally like to see at the parks and if you read the post again you'll see that I was just referring to what I'D like to see at the park. It is what would make ME come back. It's not what I think Dreamworld has to or neccesarily needs to do. And as you said, you are part of the reason why theme parks in Oz don't need to add a new attraction every year... you keep going back anyway. The majority of Australians are obviously the same. I've always known this and have never said otherwise. Please don't snap at me and imply that I have 'problems' just because you don't agree with me

I really hope that this is not going to be the only attraction for this year. In addition to this ride, something of a smaller scale like Spongebob 3D would be very nice. Bring on Spongebob! If Dreamworld introduced one major ride and one smaller attraction this year that would definitely be enough to convince me to head up there. I just don't think one flat ride after a year of nothing is going to make me too excited. Then again if both MW and WNW added one new ride each aswell... that would definitely be enough to make me travel

Joz are you referring to these guys actually being involved with Wonderland? And why are these parks at all time highs? It's been a year of no new attractions so it should be a year of all time lows. If the parks do really well without spending too much capital on new attractions then they will probably continue doing nothing for the next year and the year after that (much like Wonderland). Just a thought

I hope we don't have to wait until 2005 for this thing (or anything else for that matter). That's just too far away. Come on Dreamworld give us something soon!

This leads on from what I was saying in another thread. It is something that really bugs me so I need to do a bit more venting. Basically I think it is such a shame that Wonderland managed to score the Marvel contract. I don't know a single theme park in the world that has the rights to a group of world renowned characters and has not incorporated them into the park in the form of rides or themed areas. It is totally disgraceful that Wonderland is benefiting by advertising the Marvel characters without so much as even a proper Marvel stage show (not that we ideally want a show). Spiderman and the rest of the characters are now so heavily incorporated into Wonderland's branding... on TV, on the website, on billboards and on their new park map (the entire front cover has all of the characters bursting out of it). But when you get into the park all you get is a few costumed characters. That is it. I really don't think that should be acceptable. I just wish a park like Dreamworld had scored the contract instead. Imagine the great stuff they would probably have done with it by now. Wonderland is going to milk this cost effective promotional opportunity for as long as possible. One thought I had is that maybe Wonderland IS planning on building a new themed area and/or attraction themed to Marvel over the next year (highly unlikely). But if this is the case I don't know what else they would be able to do with the marketing for the new attraction. The characters have already been so heavily pushed. I imagine that through Wonderland's advertising most people are fooled into believing that there is already a new Marvel attraction. So if something new finally does come out it will be kind of like the boy who cried wolf. They even used a great name like 'Super Hero Headquarters' just for a section in their RETAIL shop. There goes the themed area idea! The sad thing is that the Aussie public doesn't seem to mind too much. The people just keep rolling in... otherwise Wonderland would do something about it. Perhaps the families are happy just to meet a costumed character? It would seem that way. Kids are so obsessed with Spiderman that they will accept anything. I personally don't think it's good enough. Come on people, it's time to raise the standards!

I am re-posting the following as it got moved to the theming discussion but it was intended for this discussion. Feel free to delete my other post Richard. There is no doubt in my mind that Wonderland is doing really well in terms of visitor numbers. It seems they can do anything and still draw a crowd. The wildlife park is constantly filled with asian (and other) tourists. There is not a day that goes by without large numbers of tour groups. The theme park itself still draws in loads of families over the holiday periods and then there's the massive amount of school groups that visit for weeks before xmas. I would find it very hard to believe that Wonderland is not making a lot of money... they are just taking every last cent and not putting anything back in. In terms of the theme park I'm sure the Malaysian owners would have been very happy with the Marvel contract... it allows the park to advertise the association heavily which appeals hugely to a lot of people. The best part for them is they have been able to do it on the absolute cheap. No new themed area, no new rides. Just a couple of costumed characters standing around. It's been an absolute minimum expenditure for them but it has still managed to pull in thousands and thousands of families and kids who want to meet spiderman and the others. So in summary... I hope the park HAS been sold (although I highly doubt it). It might be good for a new company to come in and shake things up a bit. With Sunway owning the park the chances of a new attraction or major capital investment are incredibly slim. Just look at their own Sunway Lagoon park in Malaysia... it hasn't had any significant new attraction since it opened years and years ago. That is obviously their theme park policy

There is no doubt in my mind that Wonderland is doing really well in terms of visitor numbers. It seems they can do anything and still draw a crowd. The wildlife park is constantly filled with asian (and other) tourists. There is not a day that goes by without large numbers of tour groups. The theme park itself still draws in loads of families over the holiday periods and then there's the massive amount of school groups that visit for weeks before xmas. I would find it very hard to believe that Wonderland is not making a lot of money... they are just taking every last cent and not putting anything back in. In terms of the theme park I'm sure the Malaysian owners would have been very happy with the Marvel contract... it allows the park to advertise the association heavily which appeals hugely to a lot of people. The best part for them is they have been able to do it on the absolute cheap. No new themed area, no new rides. Just a couple of costumed characters standing around. It's been an absolute minimum expenditure for them but it has still managed to pull in thousands and thousands of families and kids who want to meet spiderman and the others. So in summary... I hope the park HAS been sold (although I highly doubt it). It might be good for a new company to come in and shake things up a bit. With Sunway owning the park the chances of a new attraction or major capital investment are incredibly slim. Just look at their own Sunway Lagoon park in Malaysia... it hasn't had any significant new attraction since it opened years and years ago. That is obviously their theme park policy

I really think our Aussie waterparks are seriously lacking (with the exception of Wet 'n' Wild). Both Wonderland and Seaworld have EXTREMELY basic waterparks which haven't been touched since they were built years ago. It surprises me then that the parks are still so popular. It also makes me realise that Australians love being in the water so why aren't more (better) waterparks being constructed? Even if SW and WL kept their waterparks small but just replaced the existing slides with some more modern slides and attractions (as suggested already) it would be fine. Waterslides have really advanced in the last few years and there is some great stuff available now. The families that visit these parks need to start becoming more fussy re their waterpark experiences and then maybe something will be done

Haha yeah Flea I forgot about 'cokecool' - what happened to that guy? I have a funny feeling he might have been one of nightshifter's many incarnations. Regarding the incident... this type of thing happens ALL the time in the US. It happens at both permanent and travelling amusement parks or carnivals. Small one-off incidents don't seem to dent the industry too much. Especially if there is just an injury and no fatality. Sorry if I don't sound very compassionate. For those that don't know there is a website which has a listing of all known US amusement industry accidents - http://members.aol.com/rides911/accidents.htm

Wow, tsunami looks awesome! Riding a big wave as you enter the boomerang section... what a great concept. It would be very cool if the water actually sprayed on riders as they were going through the loops. Is that what you see happening? It might actually make the boomerang a fun coaster (it's not one of my favourites)

Hate is such a strong word. I'm not going to suggest you do your updates any faster rabid... you can do what you like with your site. I'm sure you are very busy at work and don't always have time for outside projects. Therefore I'm just suggesting that Flea saves time by posting his pics directly into these forums like he used to. If he wants to additionally add the pics to your site as an 'update' then that's fine. Flea takes pics regularly so I'd like to start seeing them closer to the time they were taken. It's always quicker when you eliminate a middle man. Just a suggestion