New Sydney Theme Park Being Discussed

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Bear in mind that the set up costs for Disney would be to utilise local manufacturing where they can, and ship it in from their own sources overseas where they cannot. The Aussie Dollar is strong right now, but Americans still get more dollars than sense when they exchange currency... It would cost a lot less to establish a park in Australia than it would in the US, and on that note, going by the old mantra of "if you build it, they will come", there may not currently be the tourism base in NSW to support a Disney Park. but build one, and watch the people flock to it. If you are interested in a theme park and you travel to Europe, you dont miss Disneyland Paris. If you're in California, you dont miss Disneyland Anaheim... When we travelled to the states last time, Disneyland Anaheim was OUR DESTINATION - OUR REASON TO TRAVEL THERE... and I can see a lot of people coming to Sydney for just that purpose... and a lot of extra dollars will be spent here on the same token. A Disney Park in Sydney will make it a destination for EVERY australian, the same way Movie WorldDreamWorld have been primary destinations for a high population in Australia in previous years... but our local neighbours dont come to Australia to visit movie world, but might go there as part of their overall visit. Australia might not have a large population, but our neighbouring countries will boost the attendance at a Disney park because of its sheer "destinationalism" (i made a new word!). New Zealand, Timor, Guinea, Phillipines, half of south east asia... and Hawaii as well (its about halfway between Sydney and California...) The population base of Australia is not the figures you need to analyse this on. A Disney park is a REASON to travel to Aus... and a lot more people will come along...

[bigglesworth003]

Well, KBF and SFMM have little themeing compared to Disney, but they survive.

Different Catagory Knotts And Magic mountain fall under the Regional Amusement Park catagory- as in they do get out of town tourists but there key demographic and attendance is from the region and its residents. Disney Parks and Universal, Seaworld are tourist parks- they still get the local market just as much but also major tourist attendance and in turn major tourist dollars compared to regional parks these are the parks tourist vist when in town. its just one of those things like AlexB said when your in california you vist Disneyland USH when your in paris you visit Disneyland Paris etc etc. Also AlexB well said! We were the same our last vist to the USA's key reason was to goto Disneyland

[Gazza]

The thing is, will the people in the Asian countries you mentioned just go to DLT or DLHK?

[Nebuchanezzar]

They might, but by that token you could say they can do half of the stuff they come over here for, in their own country. Judging by what I've heard about the Japanese tourists (this could be a stereotype, I dunno), they love everything about Australia, and hence if a Disney theme park was to be built over here with a bit of Australian theming (Disney's Australian Adventure, as someone mentioned before), you'd expect it would do rather well from the tourist peoples from Japan, China etc.

[Gazza]

See, that was the vein I was trying to hit, if it were australian themed then it could then have a chance in the Asian market, I can just see it now, The Australian animal kingdom, AUSCOT, some sort of of Australian themed water park, hotel/s ect.

[Adam]

Judging by everyone’s knowledge of the Australian tourism industry it seems Disney have made the wrong discission to have not invested in an Australian park. Anyway, has anyone got any more info on this new Sydney theme / amusement park?

[bigglesworth003]

^ Its all speculation and rumor at the moment

[SeanM]

http://smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/14/1110...0649129303.html

[T-bone]

The land, within parklands near Blacktown, could house a zoo, amusement park, theme park or water park, the Minister for Western Sydney, Diane Beamer said yesterday, after inviting expressions of interest in the site.

Could be any of those.

Sydney is large enough for another theme park, Luna Park managing director Peter Hearne said.

Even the LPS Boss supports it.

[Adam]

Thanks Sean. How awesome would it be to watch an entire theme park being built from nothing to finished? Keep us updated.

[GoGoBoy]

It's interesting that the land is again in Western Sydney and being promoted for use as a theme park by Diane Beamer. Good on her I guess. As much as I am not a fan of seeing a theme park out west, if the council in that area is going to support it (and they obviously are) then I assume it could be a positive thing. Also in the SMH today there was mention of a proposed high speed rail link between the city and Paramatta. It would significantly cut travel times to the Blacktown area. This could also be a very positive thing for a new park out there. We all know that a new theme park could definitely be feasible in Sydney. You only have to look at the huge response Luna Park has received to see that. Critics will say that it could fail just as Wonderland did. But people in the know (like us) understand that Wonderland closed because Sunway wanted to cash in on land values. Had the park received proper investment and attention over the last 10 years 'failure' would have been unlikely

[GoGoBoy]

It's interesting that the land is again in Western Sydney and being promoted for use as a theme park by Diane Beamer. Good on her I guess. As much as I am not a fan of seeing a theme park in the Blacktown area again, if the council in that area is going to support it (and they obviously are) then I assume it could be a positive thing. Also in the SMH today there was mention of a proposed high speed rail link between the city and Paramatta. It would significantly cut travel times to Blacktown and surrounds. This could also be a very positive thing for a new park out there. We all know that a new theme park could definitely be feasible in Sydney. You only have to look at the huge response Luna Park has received to see that. Critics will say that it could fail just as Wonderland did. But people in the know (like us) understand that Wonderland closed because Sunway wanted to cash in on land values. Had the park received proper investment and attention over the last 10 years 'failure' would have been unlikely

[GoGoBoy]

It's interesting that the land is again in Western Sydney and being promoted for use as a theme park by Diane Beamer. Good on her I guess. As much as I am not a fan of seeing a theme park in the Blacktown area again, if the council is going to support it (and they obviously are) then I assume it could be a positive thing. Also in the SMH today there was mention of a proposed high speed rail link between the city and Paramatta. It would significantly cut travel times to Blacktown and surrounds. This could also be a very positive thing for a new park out there. We all know that a new theme park could definitely be feasible in Sydney. You only have to look at the huge response Luna Park has received to see that. Critics will say that it could fail just as Wonderland did. But people in the know (like us) understand that Wonderland closed because Sunway wanted to cash in on land values. Had the park received proper investment and attention over the last 10 years 'failure' would have been unlikely

[scott]

Thanks for that Sean, I really hope this turns out to be a park. It's quite possible that it will be one but I'm still doubting for a Disneyland.

[DisneyDoll]

Yes... many thanks for that link SeanM. It would be great to get a theme park in my area

[scott]

If it is another park then hopefully it will boost Australias coaster count and encourage others into the buisness.

[Ruddegar]

This is great news....of course there's no point celebrating until everything is signed off, but it does look very promising. This report was in both local Blacktown papers as well. The list of options they give is a zoo, amusement park, theme park or water park. A zoo is out of the question, as Zoos are run by the Zoological Department (NSW GOVT) so I doubt that is going to happen as they are inviting corporations to tender their submisisons. There was an ad in the same paper as the articles requesting private companies already, so that is most certainly a good sign. Amusement/Theme park would be great, but I am concerned after Wonderland's demise it may turn off the corporate sector to this idea, but as mentioned already, it was due to pi@s poor management (eg. opening 7 days a week in a non tourist market, shutting down HBL etc), rather than a lack of demand, so hopefully they can see their is definately potential in opening a Sydney Theme park. I'd love a themepark with a small water park component, but my personal tip is that it will be a stand alone water park. Or maybe Six Flags will branch out into the Asia Pac region??? Now that's wishful thinking!

[matty_o_911]

I have always wondered why it is the Gold Coast that manages to have 3 main theme parks which are quite successful while Sydney has not. Sydney is Australia's largest city and is the destination of 50% of all international tourists to Australia each year because it has the major international airport for one. There surely has to be enough demand for a themepark in Sydney if it has a good location, because it definately has access to a greater number of visitors than what the three main Gold Coast parks share.

[DisneyDoll]

I doubt that they'd build a water park on it's own. The water works at Mt Druitt went bust as did the one in Manly. A theme park is the best plan IMHO

[scott]

I think Six Flags is the sort of company which would look into an Australian theme park and I won't be surprised if they end up with the land.

[DisneyDoll]

I agree...although a Disneyland would be awesome, so would a decent Six Flags park, oh hell ANYTHING would be better than what we have which is zip!!!

[Nebuchanezzar]

I personally doubt that Six Flags would even consider putting a theme park in Australia at this time. In fact, isn't Six Flags still in a bit of a financial problem time still? I'd like Cedar Fair to build one out here, but that is probably even less likely. Either way, build it near Camden, yes, that's a great idea!

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

actually, Camden would be a viable area, because it has enough area around it that it won't suffer from the hassles that Luna Park is suffering with its residents at the moment. It's also readily accessible via the southbound highways. I still like the idea of Western Sydney, as it keeps it in touch with all the other western tourist attractions - jenolan, katoomba, lakeswhitewater etc, whereas, there aren't too many attractions towards Camden unless you head further into the southern highlands. As far as Six Flags not wanting to branch out because of financial difficulties, it could be another way for them to make money. If they were to invest 100 Million into an Australian Park, they would have the market for the entire South East Asian Market (as far as there being no other Six Flags parks in the area). Remember that Six Flags does a lot of Ride sharing, installing a new attraction in a park, and moving it out a few years later to "Travel" it around the other parks, getting the best value for money. Imagine Six Flags Australia involved in a ride-share with some of the great american Six Flags parks like Great America, Magic Mountain, Over Texas and Over Georgia? there would be nothing like it anywhere else in South East Asia..... how many people would go there over say WBMW or DW with rides added to every few years, where SFAus would have at least two new rides every year??? If we had a SF in Aus, I'd go there over WBMW or DW anyday...

[thunder001]

Well this is all starting to fall into place with some of the rumors that I have been hearing within the construction world. About a month ago, I received a rumor that Disney was looking to purchase land around the Blacktown area, but I dismissed it as I get these rumors all the time. I also heard that they were going to check out the old WS site to see what how large the park was and if it was worth making an offer on. Now that all of the above has been said, I am beginning to see that I might have dismissed this a bit soon. I will still treat it as a rumor, but I just thought that you would like to know that it was out there. I hope for Sydneys sake, that it all comes true.

[T-bone]

I hope it works out for sydney aswell. Remember Sydney is not that far from my place. I would be there on opening day (if it happen's). And would visit as often as I did for Wonderland after I moved to the ACT. About every year.