Old Theme Park Pics

[REGIE]

I remember there was a very similar kangaroo statue at the tugan gas station and I used to think they were the same statue just moved to tugan but the one at the tugan gas station has much slimmer hips

[joz]

For what it's worth the Kangaroo is Matalida that was featured in the Brisbane Commonwealth Games 82 opening ceremony, lots of photos if you google it. It currently lives at a brand new service center just south of Gympie on the new Bruce Highway. It was at a Matilda Service station on the old Bruce but got moved recently.

[Slick]

2 hours ago, REGIE said:

I remember there was a very similar kangaroo statue at the tugan gas station and I used to think they were the same statue just moved to tugan but the one at the tugan gas station has much slimmer hips

Are they actually the same kangaroo? The proportions are wildly different. The height is the only thing that’s similar. 

[joz]

Not the same. 

[REGIE]

6 hours ago, Slick said:

Are they actually the same kangaroo? The proportions are wildly different. The height is the only thing that’s similar. 

 

6 hours ago, Slick said:

I USED to think they were the same statue but the one at the tugan gas station has much slimmer hips when compared side by side so they most not be

 

[themagician]

On 14/2/2023 at 11:01 AM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

 

 

Until the next image update it’s hard to exactly know what’s happening here, but it could be related to the additional of 2000 solar panels. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

16 hours ago, biasesumo said:

Does anyone happen to have old photos of Wet N Wild? I have a distinct memory of one of the children’s areas having a mountain you could crawl through but I could be mistaken. It was around the era that there was the big kangaroo out the front.

Can confirm the kids area (I can date it at 1994, but not sure when it was removed) had a mountain\volcano or similar with steps and small slides molded into the mountain itself.

There were also floating crocodiles in the pools. 

My mind is saying "buccaneer bay" but I feel like that was the next incarnation of the kids area before WNWjr that we have today.

 

[rappa]

Buccaneer Bay is indeed the incarnation when the volcano was ‘added’ (in reality it was an overlay on an existing dome type structure that already had the tunnels) as were the crocodiles. 

[REGIE]

Is there any pictures? It’s hard to find some. I can’t fully remember it I never hanged around that bit much

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Yeah, Everything I can find marked 'buccaneer bay' is with the current slide tower \ tipping bucket structure - can't find the mountain \ volcano anywhere - though it did occur to me that it might be worth checking those old aerial photos that we were checking for the Dreamworld corkscrew last week - as that might shed some light on the old mountain...

[Noxegon]

Not sure if they're old enough for this audience, but I did just rebuild my Luna Park album:

https://www.themeparks.ie/australia/lunasydney/index.htm

[themagician]

On 20/2/2023 at 8:26 AM, rappa said:

Buccaneer Bay is indeed the incarnation when the volcano was ‘added’ (in reality it was an overlay on an existing dome type structure that already had the tunnels) as were the crocodiles. 

I remember this area too. It had the volcano with a couple small slides coming from it, the mushroom fountains and a few other things in a shallow body of water. This was the only photo online I could find that sort of shows it 

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

23 minutes ago, themagician said:

I remember this area too. It had the volcano with a couple small slides coming from it, the mushroom fountains and a few other things in a shallow body of water. This was the only photo online I could find that sort of shows it 

 

This is indeed what I remember, and it appears to be prior to the 'buccaneer' theming i've been able to find (all the ones with buccaneer theming has the splashpad\tower with tipping bucket.)

This is definitely earlier, and for mine, doesn't fit the 'buccaneer' theme.

[themagician]

Buccaneer Bay was mostly a completely new development for this area of the park. The toboggans were removed and the area was replaced by the tipping bucket/play structure. The remaining shallow pool area was roughly where the old kids play area was, but I don’t think it ever had a theme, other than having a volcano

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Attached here is a Qimagery shot from 1999 showing the volcano.

There are a few other shots in the early 2000's but this is the clearest I could see.

The next available shot showing development of Buccaneer Bay was in June 2005:

So at least we know the timeline. I wonder if anyone has a pre-2005 WNW park map so we can figure out what the old area was called? Because, it seems likely it wasn't Buccaneer Bay...

[REGIE]

Did wet n wild still hold the WNW name or was it still cades county then?

[joz]

 Skip to 8:30

[New display name]

Joz Parks, so much better than this mob.

[joz]

8 minutes ago, New display name said:

Joz Parks, so much better than this mob.

😂

 

I seem to recall that was in reference to some pretty poor speculation that was going on at the time.

 

TPAGG still for sale though.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

6 minutes ago, joz said:

TPAGG still for sale though.

With these interest rates, i'll revise my offer to a Snickers wrapper and a FastPhoto Wristband (not activated, fresh from the dispenser at DC Rivals).

[Gazza]

As I recall it both the old and new iterations were called Buccaneer Bay, and it wasn't until they got the mini tornado that it was renamed Wet n Wild Junior.

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20040715085535/http://www.wetnwild.com.au/visitor_info/the_rides.cfm

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Gazza

[Gobbledok]

Yeah I remember when they got the Volcano. They also added extra theming to the ship that was in the middle with mini cannons and so forth to shoot water rather than simple hoses as before. 

[New display name]

On 19/02/2023 at 3:28 PM, biasesumo said:

Does anyone happen to have old photos of Wet N Wild? I have a distinct memory of one of the children’s areas having a mountain you could crawl through but I could be mistaken. It was around the era that there was the big kangaroo out the front.

When Matilda was first at Cade's County, she would turn her head and wink at you as you drove down the highway.  Kids would be hanging out the window of the cars, waiting to see the wink.

37 minutes ago, joz said:

 

I seem to recall that was in reference to some pretty poor speculation that was going on at the time.

I'm looking at you TPSN. 😂

[REGIE]

34 minutes ago, New display name said:

When Matilda was first at Cade's County, she would turn her head and wink at you as you drove down the highway.  Kids would be hanging out the window of the cars, waiting to see the wink.

That kinda stuff is what’s missing nowadays. People underestimate how much of an impact these type of things make. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

59 minutes ago, New display name said:

I'm looking at you TPSN. 😂

I miss the fountain of improbability.

25 minutes ago, REGIE said:

That kinda stuff is what’s missing nowadays. People underestimate how much of an impact these type of things make. 

If you look at the 1999 aerial I posted above, you can see that the M1 as it exists today wasn't built yet (looks to be early days of construction) and the actual highway at that point was immediately parallel to the WnW Carpark. The height, and distance between highway vehicles and Matilda back then was a lot different to what you'd see today (plus, the M1 today has hedges that would hide a lot of the park from view too)