GoGoBoy

Just heard some more info on this. Apparantley it is going to be some kind of dark ride. The slab is complete and is quite large and is ready for the building to be constructed on top of it which will house the attraction. Rumour has it that it could be scary. If this is true I'm glad to see DW finally investing in a real dark ride (besides Red Car) but again the timeframe they have left themselves is not very promising

Spot on Gazza, that was exactly my point. And I agree with the rest of your post entirely

EYE wonder what it could be...

According to a contact I have doing some work for Dreamworld, the Blue Lagoon area has had a concrete slab built over some of the pool area. He thinks this will be for the new ride in December. His guess is that it is going to be some sort of carnival-style ride and may not really be themed properly as the location is out of the way. I have my doubts that we would see a new ride by xmas but if we do I certainly hope it is something decent and not a carnival ride. It would also be a major step down for the park if they didn't end up theming and presenting it properly

Yes mate, I can confirm it. I have carefully researched and been involved to some extent with Luna Park since 1995. I know its full history and the current arrangements inside out. You need to understand that I have immense respect for Luna Park (in its heyday) and its place in Sydney's history which is why I get upset with the way it has become today. The car park was essentially sold to Multiplex (who also have a part share in the company). The way Luna Park has 'sold' the various land parcels/buildings recently is through long term leases. As these leases are all around 99 years, essentially a lifetime, they are considered sales. Luna Park receives millions of dollars for these sales. The biggest problem I have with it is that Luna Park is crown land which means it is owned by the public. It was always intended to be used by the public for amusement purposes only. However, the current Luna Park owners have been able to sell off large amounts of this crown land for private purposes under the guise that it helps to fund the fun park. As has become obvious however, the fun park is doing well and would now really be self funding. I would be happy if they were putting this money back into the park but they are not

I love the way Wet 'n' Wild is getting so friggin paranoid with WWW opening up any day now. All their marketing has changed to stuff like "biggest and best" as in the leaflet above

Very well said Richard. Sorry you are taking it so personally T-Bone but that is my opinion, that is how I strongly feel about the park and I will continue to express that opinion on these boards as that is what they are here for. You will notice that both myself and the others on this forum are more than happy to give credit where credit is due (as you can see in my original post that sparked this debate I was actually complimenting WhiteWater World). That is not an attitude problem, it is called relevant discussion and opinion. I personally think the Luna Park rides you referred to as 'awesome' are no less than heaps of junk. Some of the rides might have had a very small amount of potential if they had been looked after properly by Luna Park and presented a little better rather than just being plonked down on a bit of asphalt. Do you really find it appealing when you walk around to the unthemed, unlandscaped haphazard mass of black asphalt that is Maloney's Corner and see a random selection of old carnival rides just sitting there? The place looks like it has been stuck together with sticky tape and added on at the last second. How is that respecting their attractions? Let me give you some facts. The current owners of Luna Park claim to have spent almost $100 million dollars on refurbishing the park for its 2004 reopening. Makes it sound like they poured a stack of money into the rides and fun park doesn't it? This ensures Luna Park is able to continue to receive their rental concessions from the Government and do basically what they want with the place as it appears as though they have spent big $$ on the fun park. Want to know how much of that budget went into the actual rides? From what I heard from a few park sources a couple hundred thousand at best. The majority of the millions was spent on: 1. Creation of function facilities in the Crystal Palace 2. The construction of the large function venue; the Big Top 3. Construction of the brasserie building at the front of the park, which was sold off on completion 4. Construction of multi-storey underground carpark, again sold off on completion 5. Construction of large office building behind Maloney's Corner, also sold off upon completion 6. Another yet-to-be-built office block located on the cliff top which will also be sold off As you can see they certainly recouped a heck of a lot of the initial construction costs and yet they have put virtually $0 back into the rides and fun park. The new owners did not install a single new ride for the reopening of the park in 2004, they just used the crap that was already there. Not only this but they actually removed a number of rides. The park currently has less rides than ever before in its operating history. Yet despite all this the park is doing well as there is no other choice for the people of Sydney and the demand for amusent leisure is very high right now. The park is also trading off peoples memories of the place from its heyday. It bothers me that the company is doing so well even though they have such little regard for the true spirit of Luna Park and have been allowed to sell off so much of the crown land

That was a great trip report - thanks very much for taking the time to write it. Amazing to hear that the lines are so long even with all the extra attractions. Does Wet 'n' Wild always start getting that busy around this time of year? I wonder if the Tornado has something to do with it. I hope WhiteWater World gets a similar response

$32 is so cheap. Luna Park in Sydney is more expensive than that! Whitewater World is offering state of the art attractions in a themed environment while Luna Park offers a small selection of ex-carnival rides from the 1970's and 80's with no theming and pretty average presentation. If that ticket price is right I'd say Whitewater World is excellent value

It is certainly good to see a park in the Sydney area recognise the serious demand that exists in this market for theme/water parks. I have said it all along the only problem that existed within the Sydney market was/is the dodgy operators who were/are in it for the wrong reasons (Wonderland, Luna Park). There always was and continues to be a healthy appetite for amusement activities in NSW. However I agree with Hugh_gazzz's comments. The timeframe Jamberoo has attached to these attractions is a little ridiculous. Proslide Bowls, Tornados and Rockets are certainly some of the best attractions available in waterparks today, however this may not be the case in another 5 or so years time. And by then some of the novelty will have worn off as both WnW and in particular WWW will have already had a number of these attractions for years

Courtesy of GoGoBoy - Park will rival best in world Author: By GREG ELLIS Date: 16/09/2006 Words: 570 Source: ILL Publication: Illawarra Mercury Section: News Page: 4 'You come over this rise on a 45-degree drop where you almost feel weightless. And you are dropping down 20m in free fall before being shot up and down the sides of the giant funnel.' - Jameroo Action Park's Dax Eddy PLANS have been released for a water-based action park in the Illawarra to rival the best in the world. The owners of Jamberoo Action Park are so confident about the future of the region's tourist industry, they have decided to invest up to $20 million, doubling the size of what is already NSW's largest theme park. On the eve of Illawarra's first Tourism Week, the Eddy family has revealed plans for seven more stages of water-based activity, increasing Jamberoo Action Park's capacity above 10,000 people by 2010. They said for action and adventure it would equal the world's best water adventure parks. General manager Dax Eddy has just returned from North America where he and his father Jim Eddy visited the world's top 10 water parks and test-rode the best action rides. "We are basically taking the best of everything they had to offer," Dax Eddy said. They will immediately start preparing a site to install two giant 180m-long water slides. The Jamberoo park has been so successful, the Eddys believe another good season will allow them to finance construction of the Taipan water slides next winter. The first giant snake slide will be ready to strike in summer next year. Clover leaf-shaped rubber tubes, each carrying four people, will drop 18m down the ride through sharp turns and steep inclines. A conveyor belt will quickly return the tubes to the top. "We're going to make the corners a little bit faster, we are putting more acceleration lanes and sharper corners," Dax Eddy said. "It will be a huge structure." Using the natural terrain means there will be no need to construct towers like other parks and there is more room for run-off areas. A high-adrenaline magnetic-levitation water roller-coaster is also planned for 2010. The Rocket will pull carriages uphill faster than they hurtle down. "It will definitely pull your hat off," Mr Eddy said. By 2008-09 the park's Le Mans Karts will be replaced with a children's play area five times the size of Billabong Beach. It will be surrounded by a river ride with more rapids and rocks than the existing Rapid River. Mr Eddy said this development alone would effectively double the size and capacity of the park. By 2009 the first of two giant funnels would be built. The Tornado is a massive six-storey ride with a 16m-wide mouth. Mr Eddy said it terrified the bravest and toughest-looking men he saw taking the ride at Palm Beach in Florida. "You come over this rise on a 45-degree drop where you almost feel weightless. And you are dropping down 20m in free fall before being shot up and down the sides of the giant funnel. "It is a really good development because it is just so exciting." The aim of the rides is to increase the park's capacity and reduce queues. Jamberoo has targeted rides that can handle large volumes of people quickly and efficiently. The Taipan will provide thrills for 1500 people an hour. The giant wave pool installed last year proved so popular it gave the Eddys the confidence to pursue their new 10-year master plan. The master plan for Jamberoo 2007 - Taipan mammoth river ride - $2.9 million 2008 - Rapid River and larger Billabong Beach. 2009 - Tornado giant funnel ride. 2010 - Cannonbowl and pipelines 2011 - Rocket mag-lev water roller-coaster - $2.5 million. 1012-16 - Range of other rides in the planning stages.

Gazza that's not fair you're not allowed to guess... I already told you what it is a while ago

Yes I am pleased to say each ride will have an individual name and theming. Some of the actual colours chosen for the slides will match the name/theme of that slide. There is a specific reason why the Octo Racer is orange with blue bands and it has to do with the theme that has been chosen for it. Ten points if anyone can guess what that is. I do agree that while the brightness of the park is a good thing some of the colours do not compliment each other. Example the purple support poles for the orange Octo Racer. Then there is the general orange overkill. Apparantley the theming company Atomiq also decided to make some of the exit portions of the slides slightly transparent. This is why the rocket slide has that terrible poo brown at the end (while the rest of it is red and orange) and the blue Cyclone slide has a weird lighter blue in its mid section. I think they should have just kept the colours consistent. However I am being really picky here and overall I think the place is going to look excellent upon completion. A big part of it will be thanks to the no doubt excellent landscape design the park will receive from the company Urban Landscape Design. And let's not forget about the parks brilliant line up of attractions. How good are they!!

mattcrombie that's up to you. There is only 1 more attraction which has not yet really been revealed. I haven't mentioned it yet as there have not been any pics of its construction. This is because apparantley Dreamworld put in a late order for this particular attraction so Proslide are still manafacturing it. The supports are up for it though and the splashdown pool shell is built

You can blame Atomiq (the company creating the theming for the park) for the colours. They chose the colour scheme for all the attractions and the entire park in general. As I said I am happy that they have gone with bright colours to set them apart from Wet 'n' Wild however some of the individual choices appear to have been a bit wrong. Anyway we will have to wait and see when it's all finished it should come together okay. Regarding the front entry awnings Gazza, I agree they are a bit average. However when combined with the colour scheme, the mural which is going up on the front building and the cool palm trees, I think the overall effect will be quite good. Very beachy

Something seems to have gone wrong with the pics Richard. Some of them are only half displaying with the other half left as a grey box

Great update. Rich has now confirmed that the park will be getting a rocket slide so it's time to start celebrating all you coaster fans! Some truly great attraction choices. The only thing I would say is there is a bit too much orange but I think it's good they've made the park so bright. I also think the landscaping is going to look excellent, those palms are very cool. Will be a lot better than WnW's cheap and abundant grass 'landscaping' plonked in for H20 Zone. Rich you mentioned that the Nickelodeon kids area is similar to WnW's Bucaneer Bay however from my understanding it is quite a lot larger. Is that right? From what I saw of Bucaneer Bay it only had a couple of very small slides whereas the Nick area has multiple slides which are quite a lot longer

Love the design Liam. A very professional looking website overall

Well actually according to Wet 'n Wild's latest campain ALL of them are there for that reason and that reason only. The slides are just for a bit of fun on the side apparantley. If this whole image for H20 Zone and corresponding events/half pipe/music/crap is basically a one off thing for schoolies only then I would be ok with that. However if it became more of a permanent thing I would be very disappointed. I admit I'm a theme park purist and hate to see all these changes in direction, but again I can handle it if it's only temporary

Hmm not bad. I wouldn't normally like the fact that they've made it look so surfy but as Richard revealed the parks theming is going to be based around Aussie beach culture and surfing so in this way it makes it more fitting. I really like the tie in with Dreamworld they've created in terms of those same spikes behind the logo and I also think the 'By Dreamworld' is very clever. Look forward to the colour version. As more and more is revealed about this park it makes it seem like the Flowrider would have been right at home in the waterpark and should never have been put into Dreamworld

Thanks for that matt. I am so glad the park purchased one of these slides - how impressive is it!

Make sure you tell us all about what the job is like Tony. I've always wondered what it would be like to work at Wet 'n' Wild. I can tell you as someone with a long background in the theme park industry (all my previous jobs were working at theme parks until now) that they would absolutely love you if you are making yourself available for weekends. One of the hardest shifts to fill is weekend work because ofcourse most young people want to be out having a good time plus weekends at theme parks are the hardest work with the thousands of families and people in attendance. Weekdays are a nice bludge in most cases (except when the school kids have their excursions). What's the difference between an attendant and a life guard?

You can see they're getting nervous when Steve Peet makes comments like "nothing can compete with the world class bla bla bla attractions at Wet 'n' Wild". Sorry Steve but something can compete and compete it will from December

lisalila you've missed the point. I have absolutely no problem at all with bikinis. It's the fact that the camera keeps panning up and down the girls bodies with multiple shots zooming in on only their tits. While these shots are being displayed you can hear a voice in the background saying "going out with girls is fun". The boys in the meantime give each other a high five. The whole concept is based around sex and picking up just look at the 'flirt and float' event. There have already been a number of sexual harrassment and other serious incidents at schoolies. I think it would have been a much, much better approach for Wet 'n' Wild to promote socialising and having fun with your friends without all this other crap

I think this is disgraceful. Have they not learnt from Superman Escape? Why does this marketing department insist on trying to capture these markets in such an obvious and try-hard way? Dreamworld manages to attract these same demographics but at least they do it in a subtle way where the information almost presents itself (just thinking back to the Claw commercial which made the ride look good without being too obvious). It seems like recently Village always takes it that step too far. I have seen the new WnW H20 Zone commercial and for every shot of a waterslide there is another shot of a girls bikini top. Now I don't normally care too much about this sort of thing but I think in this context it is totally inappropriate and sexist. They are playing up the sex factor way too much and I think it puts a lot of pressure on both the guys and girls, particularly the ones participating in schoolies week. Yes a lot of them will be hooking up but not all of them will want to and a company like this should not be promoting it. I just wouldn't have expected this from a family theme park. I could understand if they wanted to show a group of teenagers of that select age range riding all the rides and having a good time but a little less of the sex and 'pick up' factor would have been better. I don't like the 2 fake teenage 'characters' they have created either... a bit pathetic really. The only positive thing I will say about this campaign is that the visuals, particularly for the commercial, are very good. It makes H20 Zone look really well presented... something which it certainly wasn't when I was up there in April