GoGoBoy

Love, love, love the idea. I recently had a similar thought. A Perilous Plunge ride would be the perfect match for Ocean Parade. It looks like a thrilling ride... I sure hope at least one of our Aussie parks get it. But it truly would be best suited to DW.

That's a great idea Nightshifter. And imagine the views too! It would be incredible...

Haha that's so funny psycho and so true! I had never actually thought about that...

I think you guys are perhaps forgetting about one thing - the Wild Mouse which is being reinstated into the new Luna Park. Jobe, you suggested they build a smaller version of Scooby Doo. Um, but that's kinda what the Wild Mouse is, minus the indoors part and the theming. Djrappa you mentioned that a coaster would work better at Luna Park if they utilised single cars... again that's the Wild Mouse. A lot of you also think it's a shame that the park missed out on Rail Chase. The fact is Rail Chase was never a particularly popular roller coaster. The track was very basic and did not deliver many thrills in the general publics opinion. I believe Sega used to get complaints about it all the time "I lined up for ages for THAT!?". The ride became slightly better when it was re-themed before Sega closed but still remained the same basic coaster. If you are talking about choosing one over the other, you would probably find that the general public would get more laughs and thrills out of the WM. Not to mention the fact that the WM is an outdoor ride and makes the most of the incredible Sydney harbour views. If you are talking about including BOTH rides in the park, well that doesn't make much sense either as they are both a tiny bit too similar (small single car coasters) and space at that park is PRECIOUS.

Wow, this is the first I've heard about the re-theming on Thunder River. Did anyone else know about this? Congrats to Dreamworld for paying such attention to detail and putting money back into existing rides. Dreamworld's rapids were always well themed (especially when compared to Wonderland) so it's great to hear they have been enhanced even more. Can you give any more specifics about what has been changed? I remember the last time I went on that ride the elephants that shoot water were looking a bit worn out. Have they upgraded the already existing theming also?

Daniel, I liked your above post regarding all the staff cut backs etc. It's interesting to hear an opinion from someone that has worked there. I have started a new topic in the WS forum for those of you that want to continue to discuss Wonderland's lack of expenditure etc. etc.

I went to post the following in the 'Space Probe vs Giant Drop' debate but read Richard's post re steering back on topic so decided to create a new topic for this. Some of my comments do follow on from the other topic though... You'd probably find that a lot of the current management WOULD like to implement the various improvements you guys have mentioned above but it all comes down to one thing... money. My guess is that the Malaysian owners have put out a directive to keep operating costs at an absolute minimum... thereby increasing returns to their shareholders. I know that Sunway has had a tough couple of years financially so their goal has been to gain maximum profits from their existing assets through minimum expenditure. Sad but true. So keeping that in mind you have to realise that even small improvements cost money. When you look at a place as big as Wonderland you can imagine that there would be tons of requests from the various departments every day for various expenditure. I'd imagine the CEO's goal is to spend money only on the essential items. Unfortunately though, Sunway (Wonderland's owner) will be able to continue to get away with this so long as people keep visiting Wonderland. At this stage it seems that they still manage to pull the crowds. It's hugely popular with the family market (particularly those western suburbs families). I also understand that a large proportion of Sydney's middle eastern community (families and teenagers) are happy to continue to support Wonderland also. So until these people stop visiting and renewing their Wonderpasses, Sunway probably won't start spending.

Hmm I have been slightly persuaded by Richards post as I wasn't aware that GD was double the height of SP. That's quite a difference. However I have always thoroughly enjoyed the SP experience. Everything from the landscaping around it (love that huge waterfall), the fact that it's on a hill, the great queue and station theming and the dome. I think having the Dome is a great feature (only when the tv monitors are working though!). It creates an intense sensation being in a semi enclosed room and then all of a sudden dropping out into the open again.

Ok, now we're COMPLETELY off topic. Let's steer back...

Their target market is not really going to be ride-goers anyway. As the park is so small and constantly plagued with complaints from neighbours it would not really be realistic for them to try and compete with modern theme parks (just look at the last version of the park which tried to aim at that market but was riddled with problems). Imagine the nightmarish time they would have even trying to get approval from local authorities to add a new ride every so often. I think it's great that they are still going to have some sort of rollercoaster however, even if it is just the tiny wild mouse. Mind you though, I love that particular mouse, especially the way it is situated so that the corners overlook the harbour. The Luna Circus looks to be completed already and I think it looks great. The roof is a massive yellow and white striped canvas. I'm not sure what material it is made from but it looks very permanent while still retaining the old tent 'big top' feel. I believe it will be used for other shows too, not just circuses.

I definitely agree with the first 2 posts. Richard - I have been thinking EXACTLY the same thing re Blue Lagoon for the last few months. What a great idea for their next refurb/expansion. I really don't think any of the slides in that area are any good at all now (way too dated)... they'd be better off to demolish parts and start from scratch. If Dreamworld does end up with a great water park, I think people would think twice before buying a 3 park super pass. I wouldn't be surprised if it's already on the drawing board. And I have never really liked the main entrance either. I agree, it truly is very 80's!

Ok someone... we need some pics of the Whirpool and an on-ride report please! I think WNW is a great park and would love to hear what this new addition is like. And I couldn't agree more about the Simpsons Extravaganza - pathetic! Those hosts from Cheez TV were dreadful. So, so bad. Australia tends to put together a lot of cheap shows where they just show a whole bunch of old eps and put a crappy host or two in between each ep. Foxtel does this all the time.

Wow... we finally see what Flea looks like! Great pics. So have you been able to find out what the real deal with Mountain Cascades is? Why was it closed for so long only to suddenly re-open half way through the holidays? And apparantley it has been closed for the last few days again. I assumed it had been closed for good because it really does have a very painful splashdown. I think you need to do some investigating with Billy. By the way, what is Billy doing down at The Beach now... I thought he was a ride op?

Yeah that's part of what I'm trying to figure out. Did they come to that total before or after capex? Maybe some of our more financially-minded users can offer their thoughts? Richard? Michael? The reports are at www.villageroadshow.com.au

I have been looking over the Village Roadshow 02-03 financial results and found that last year the 3 Warner Village parks made a combined operating profit of a little over $11 million. I was quite surprised by this result as it seems fairly small. I know there has been a negative impact due to SARS, Iraq etc. but the year before the combined total was only a little higher at $13 million. So my question is how can the parks afford to add multi million dollar attractions so regularly? With that sort of capital expenditure wouldn't the parks profits be reduced to virtually nothing? I can certainly see now why they only introduce a major new ride every 2 or so years rather than every year like some international parks.

I was just looking over the Village Roadshow 02-03 results presentation and they mentioned Shark Bay in Dec 03 for SW, the relaunch of Whirpool Springs in Sep 03 for WNW and a new 'night time' attraction for MW. What on earth could this be? I don't like the sound of it as I doubt it will be any kind of major ride. Does anyone have any idea? I certainly hope it is not going to be their only attraction in 2004.

Joz - I love your new news flash. It's funny yet completely true. The problem is we need to stop all those families who are still going to Wonderland despite the fact that nothing (positive) has changed in 10 years. They just keep on going back and Sunway is happy to keep taking their money (surprise). Maybe if we set up a booby trap at the front gates to the park?

Thanks for that description Richard! At frst I had my doubts about it, but now I love the idea of the attraction. I'm not particularly excited about the hot spas or the actual Whirpool itself but the way it's been designed makes it a very clever use of space. Allowing a conversion that serves 2 different purposes for the different seasons is a great touch. As you said Richard, anything that reduces the numbers in the queue areas is positive (nothing worse than lining up for ages when you're dripping wet).

For ages now I have been confused over this whole Whirlpool Springs/Whirlpool attraction. I could not work out whether it was one attraction or 2 different ones or what. After looking at the photo gallery on this site it is all clear to me now. My question is, how does the transformation from the Springs to the actual Whirpool work? Are all of the spas and that whole round section lifted out? It would be quite a large task wouldn't it or has it been designed to be an easy process? I think it's a very cool idea anyway. I also hear that they had problems with the attraction. They must have been fairly major probs for it not to be opened on time... I know they would normally try very hard to avoid that sort of thing.

Great post! Glad to hear you're enjoying it up there. I assume then that working for WNW and MW would be much the same as SW? Do you hear many comments from the staff at those other parks? I've always thought that Movie World would probably have the nicest facilities for staff as it is still relatively new compared to the other parks. The backstage staff areas are important as they are where you often start and end your day and have your breaks too. Good to hear that SW refurbished their areas rather than leaving them untouched since the early 80's (like some parks I know). I've always wondered what it would be like to work at WNW... spending all that time out under the sky working amongst tropical landscaping. Sounds very nice.

So, as the topic says, which Aussie theme park do you think/know is the best employer? I'm talking about pay, working conditions, staff amenities, backstage areas, management, co-workers, morale, daily tasks etc. etc. I'm interested to hear your thoughts, particularly from those of you that work for the parks but all comments are welcome. Working for a theme park SHOULD be fun. I don't know about the Queensland parks but from what I've heard Wonderland is not a great employer. I have some friends that work there and they tell me that morale is fairly low. This is partly due to the fact that some of Wonderland's operational management and supervisors seem to cause a lot of upset among staff. The other problem is the fact that the staff have lost confidence in the park as it has become so dated and they are sick of waiting for new attractions. I also hear that the pay is rather average/bad.

I read somewhere that Sunway paid $50 million for Wonderland. Not sure how correct this is, I read it somewhere on the net. But if it's right Sunway certainly got a bargain. But then again, it is Wonderland we're talking about. Still, there's a heck of a lot of land out there plus some good assets (not to mention all the goodwill that has built up in the business over the years).

So have you guys seen Wonderland's TV ad yet which advertises the opening of The Beach? I saw it yesterday during the day. It shows a whole bunch of computer animated $50 notes sliding down the slides and diving into the main pool. It mentions the opening of The Beach and the Splash for Cash promo where you could win $1,000,000. The thing that annoys me is that on the various posters they are advertising it as 'The New' Beach. The fact is there is really nothing new about it apart from the fact that 2 slides have been painted and there are new huts. A new attraction would have justified the word 'New' or a MAJOR refurb but as it is they did not even re-paint all of the slides. The Splash for Cash promo would have tied in brilliantly with a new slide. Just one new slide - that's all we ask! Oh Wonderland, so close yet so far...

Ride operators and other operational staff are usually the last to find out. So, if Wonderland was planning a new attraction we'd probably all find out the same time they do. And on this point let me just mention that from what I've heard from Wonderlands staff - they are all just as desperate for a new attraction/s as the rest of us. If Wonderland wants to continue to promote itself as a world class theme park it truly is time. By the way... what on earth is Aqua Golf?

In regards to unions assisting with wage problems... Unfortunately in recent years unions have become far less influential and a large amount of power has shifted back to the employers. This is due to the introduction of workplace agreements etc. Great for the employers (particularly cheap employers) but not good at all for employees. Richard, I am interested to know where you have been able to access information regarding Wonderlands financial situation? It would be very interesting to compare the various parks around Australia with Wonderland. I think it's quite sad if Richard is correct and Wonderland is still successful even without any new attraction. It frustrates me that the people of Sydney are all still happy to return to Wonderland year after year even though nothing has changed since their previous visit. It also makes me wonder why no other major theme park has been opened in Sydney. The competition would be good for Wonderland. An attempt was made with Sega World but this was a dismal failure. From what I understand amusement attractions in Sydney simply do not work well. So why has wonderland been such a success? Although I would still like to see proof that Wonderland has been a success, afterall it has changed hands a few times.