Jamberoo planning a new ride...already?

[Ranger]

So, according to this Illawarra Mercury article (which is behind a freakin paywall), the Eddy's, the owners of Jamberoo Action Park are planning a new slide. May I remind you that Velocity Falls, a mega slide complex with 3 different slides, opened just last year. I swear to god, this park is the opposite to Sunway-era Wonderland. 

 

https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/8276236/the-risky-business-of-being-jamberoo-action-park-owner-jim-eddy/ 

[TBoy]

54 minutes ago, Ranger said:

I swear to god, this park is the opposite to Sunway-era Wonderland.

A more closer example would be Raging Waters Sydney as well. Since opening, they have only opened one new slide. That’s it. Meanwhile Jamberoo has opened Velocity Falls as well as Perfect Storm and now this. No wonder why more people are going there instead of RWS.

@Ranger could you copy the article onto here if you can? It would be greatly appreciated, I don’t have a subscription so it would be awesome if so.

Edited July 29, 2023 by TBoy

[Tricoart]

1 hour ago, TBoy said:

@Ranger could you copy the article onto here if you can? It would be greatly appreciated, I don’t have a subscription so it would be awesome if so.

In the meantime, googling the title of the article gives this featured snippet from Google:

Quote

Jim is banking on a big season in order to finance the next step in the park's 14-year-old master plan: a new ride. The 440-metre rapid river will wrap around existing attractions the Funnel Web, Perfect Storm and Banjo's Billabong, jostling the tube-buoyant rider down a descent of four metres from start to finish.

So, if that’s indeed what the article says and Google isn’t just pulling that quote from somewhere random (it says it’s a quote from the article), next up is a second, larger lazy river.

Edited July 29, 2023 by Tricoart

[Tim Dasco]

I managed to find this image from the article on google as well. Seems like some update concept art. 

 

[Rabbit2014]

This is part of the kangaroo island masterplan which was originally announced back in 2009 as a 20 year development. 

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Rabbit2014

[GoGoBoy]

Looks like there will be a nice long master blaster judging but the updated concept art too - looking forward to that! 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Many years ago I attended Jamberoo to take photos of the park and meet with Dax Eddy over their recently announced master plan. What you see today in the above posts looks almost nothing like what I saw, save for the mammoth slides - it's great to see they've embraced the changing tech and industry developments to deliver the newest concepts. I don't know how much of this will get built before things change again, but its always exciting to see what Jamberoo can come up with - it's a shame Raging Waters doesn't seem to have the same appetite for growth and change.

[Jobe]

Here is an updated interview with Jim Eddy, owner of the Jamberoo Action Park in NSW. It details that they are indeed gearing up for a new attraction that is planned for this year- weather and conditions permitting. That will be the Action River which , from the above artwork, looks super long and will encompass a large tunnel through the Funnel Web and Perfect Storm slide complex. What they also state is that a SECOND wave pool will be constructed along with the River. There is no mention as to if this Wave Pool will be any different to the exisiting Wave Pool but they do add that these attractions are being added to help with capacity. Beyond that, the artwork does show another slide complex to the right of The Funnel Web and also the Master Blaster water coaster that has its circuit around the end half of the new Action River. These 2 future attractions will complete the Kangaroo Ilsand Master Plan, started over 20 years ago. Hopefully the Action River will be the equal of Volcano Bay in Orlando's Action River, which has to be one of the best of its types and examples in the world.

In other quick news Jamberoo have replaced their old land train with a new unit- one that is larger and higher capacity. Thennew land train is now powerful enough to climb the mountain and it completes a full circuit of the park with stops at every major slide and the 2nd Station of the Chairlift. Its a great addition to the park as it encompasses some great views of the surrounding landscape and is now a great attraction in its own right. This runs throughout the day and when i visited last weekend, proved to be extremely popular.

 

So quick discussion here- will this addition catapult Jamberoo into the position of best water park in Australia? The competition is fierce and there are several contenders who could take that crown.......

 

 

https://regionillawarra.com.au/how-visionary-jim-eddy-turned-a-cow-paddock-into-the-largest-water-theme-park-in-nsw/11216/

Edited February 27 by Jobe

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

This concept art isn't new, though i've no idea how long ago i've seen it or where (probably Parkz though). Good to see they're pressing on with it. If I remember, I think the new wave pool was meant to be a surfable wave?

Good news about the train, and the fact it can make it up the hill - that ought to alleviate the pressure on the chairlift somewhat.

[Gazza]

2 Wave Pools

2 Lazy Rivers

2 Kids  Zones

2 Tornadoes

2 Raft Slides

2 Racers

The cosmic ballet goes on.

 

Quote

So quick discussion here- will this addition catapult Jamberoo into the position of best water park in Australia?

It already is very good. Definitely the best operations.

Edited February 28 by Gazza

[Jobe]

1 hour ago, Gazza said:

2 Wave Pools

2 Lazy Rivers

2 Kids  Zones

2 Tornadoes

2 Raft Slides

The cosmic ballet goes on.

 

It already is very good. Definitely the best operations.

You forgot 2 mat racer slides as well 😉

[TomiJ]

On 28/02/2024 at 1:19 AM, Jobe said:

So quick discussion here- will this addition catapult Jamberoo into the position of best water park in Australia?

Easy yes for me. 

[Jamberoo Fan]

On 28/02/2024 at 1:19 AM, Jobe said:

What they also state is that a SECOND wave pool will be constructed along with the River. There is no mention as to if this Wave Pool will be any different to the exisiting Wave Pool but they do add that these attractions are being added to help with capacity.

Don't forget the wave machine/chamber in Platypus River! It will be the park's 4th wave machine (after Rapid River's, Outback Bay's & the newly announced mini wave pool) & 2nd wave chamber (Rapid River's being the 1st). This has been the plan since Kangaroo Island was first unveiled back in 2006 and is still referenced on their website as a "wave chamber". You can see the future location of the wave machine/chamber in satellite images of the park (It acts in a similar way to Rapid River's wave chamber):

For comparison, here is the 2012 master plan (You can see the wave machine/chamber hidden under a large block of rock theming):

Edited February 29 by Jamberoo Fan
Just saw the new wave pool artist impression

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Nope. The concept very clearly shows a new wave pool, complete with waves originating at the 'deep end' in an orientation that cannot be mistaken for the current pool.

 

[Gazza]

In fact, 2 generators on this artwork visible, and potentially a 3rd if they do the one in the corner indicated on @Jamberoo Fans aerial image.

[Jamberoo Fan]

20 minutes ago, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Nope. The concept very clearly shows a new wave pool, complete with waves originating at the 'deep end' in an orientation that cannot be mistaken for the current pool.

 

Yes, I just realised shortly before you posted. Completely forgot about that new artist impression, having seen it before so didn't pick up on it. I don't think it's a surfable wave though - there is not enough room for such a powerful wave.

Having been away from Parkz for a while, the article that started this topic is actually a very interesting one. I'll post the article in full soon when the current burst of activity dies down as I'm sure it will generate more discussion but to confirm, the article says Platypus River will have 3 wave machines. The most interesting thing in the article hasn't even made a mention in this topic and it is the most bizarre theme park proposal I've ever seen (so bizarre that I remember it more than the mention of 2 more wave machines to Platypus River)

Edited February 29 by Jamberoo Fan

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, Jamberoo Fan said:

the article that started this topic is actually a very interesting one. I'll post the article in full soon when the current burst of activity dies down as I'm sure it will generate more discussion

Why do you insist on gatekeeping this shit. If you have it, just post it.

 

Edited February 29 by Gazza

[Jobe]

On 29/2/2024 at 1:39 PM, Jamberoo Fan said:

Yes, I just realised shortly before you posted. Completely forgot about that new artist impression, having seen it before so didn't pick up on it. I don't think it's a surfable wave though - there is not enough room for such a powerful wave.

Having been away from Parkz for a while, the article that started this topic is actually a very interesting one. I'll post the article in full soon when the current burst of activity dies down as I'm sure it will generate more discussion but to confirm, the article says Platypus River will have 3 wave machines. The most interesting thing in the article hasn't even made a mention in this topic and it is the most bizarre theme park proposal I've ever seen (so bizarre that I remember it more than the mention of 2 more wave machines to Platypus River)

So are you going to post it or are you going to hold us all in suspense? 🤔

[Brad2912]

11 hours ago, Jobe said:

So are you going to post it or are you going to hold us all in suspense? 🤔

Gees… now you’ve gone and done it, you’ve reset the activity timeframe so we’ll have to wait even longer now! 

[Jamberoo Fan]

On 29/02/2024 at 2:10 PM, DaptoFunlandGuy said:

Why do you insist on gatekeeping this shit.

Because I was busy and didn't have the time to post the article. As it is behind a paywall, it isn't as simple as copy and paste (and no, it does not involve hacking).  At least, I mentioned about the 3 wave machines.

18 hours ago, Jobe said:

So are you going to post it or are you going to hold us all in suspense? 🤔

I got time now so standby.

Edited March 2 by Jamberoo Fan

[Jamberoo Fan]

On 28/02/2024 at 1:19 AM, Jobe said:

So quick discussion here- will this addition catapult Jamberoo into the position of best water park in Australia? The competition is fierce and there are several contenders who could take that crown.......

On 28/02/2024 at 2:18 PM, Gazza said:

It already is very good. Definitely the best operations.

On 29/02/2024 at 9:50 AM, TomiJ said:

Easy yes for me. 

The below article is very interesting & inspiring for all in the theme park community. Jamberoo is a 'quiet achiever' in the Australian theme park industry as the above comments show, particularly in the water park market. Whilst telling some interesting & sad stories about Jamberoo's history (some I didn't know about until the article's publication), the article clearly reveals why Jamberoo is a 'quiet achiever'.

I won't give the whole story away but the article below should be essential reading for all theme park industry professionals particularly after the relatively recent Thunder River Rapids tragedy at Dreamworld. The article gives hope for the future of the Australian theme park industry and whilst I know Dreamworld has made significant & impressive announcements recently about their future, Dreamworld & Coast Entertainment Holdings management should use the below story as inspiration to motivate themselves even more to return as one of Australia's great & trusted theme parks (though I'm already very confident in Greg Yong's theme park managerial skills compared to the skills of pre-tragedy Dreamworld management under the recently renamed Macquarie/Ardent Leisure).

Whilst this interesting article focuses on Jim Eddy, Jamberoo's owner, it is somewhat overshadowed by what I described earlier as... 

On 29/02/2024 at 1:39 PM, Jamberoo Fan said:

...the most bizarre theme park proposal I've ever seen (so bizarre that I remember it more than the mention of 2 more wave machines to Platypus River).

Whilst it's not the most ridiculous idea in the world as it has been done in many countries on a larger scale, it is bizarre for 2 reasons - as far as I am aware, no other theme park in the world has contemplated such a proposal & secondly, it is controversial.

Apart from time & technical reasons, the latter reason (controversial) is another reason for the deliberate delay in publication of the full article into this topic since I mentioned it on Thursday. It was to make a clear gap in the forum discussion as moderators may have to justify the proposal having its own separate topic if it generates lots of discussion due to its controversial nature.

Surprisingly though, the proposal hasn't made any more news since July 28, 2023, particularly since Kiama, Jamberoo's local government area, is a very environmentally conscious locality & because the whole Illawarra (mainly between Wombarra & Kiama) is currently in the middle of a controversial debate on whether to have a wind farm off the coast. Heck, I'm even surprised not a single person on Parkz found out about the "bizarre" proposal at the time of its July 2023 publication as well.

Anyway, enjoy!...

(The "most bizarre theme park proposal I've ever seen" is in bold text (if you can't be bothered reading the whole article. However, the article builds to it though through its theme of 'risk'))

From The Illawarra Mercury:

Quote

New ride in planning as Jamberoo Action Park owner Jim Eddy prepares for 2023/24 season

 By Angela Thompson

Updated July 29 2023 - 12:20pm, first published July 28 2023 - 4:12pm

Jim Eddy, pictured with his partner of 35 years, Caroline Brinsmead, is preparing for what he hopes will be a bumper season at Jamberoo Action Park.

Bereft of squealing children, with its normally heaving wave pool drained dry, only the sounds of power tools and tradespeople break the silence of Jamberoo Action Park in its off-season.

The bottom of The Rock pool is getting a fresh coat of blue paint, and there are parts of the park's waterslides, built into the ever-shifting green slopes of Jamberoo, to tighten against leaks.

A packed schedule of maintenance and repairs is an annual prelude to the hordes that will erupt through the gates come Spring.

By opening day, September 23, the air will almost crackle with the collective abandon of thousands of visitors.

"An electric environment" - is how one employee describes it.

There to oversee it all is the park's founder, Jim Eddy.

An artist's rendition shows the rapid ride encircling much of the park. Image: supplied

Jim is banking on a big season in order to finance the next step in the park's 14-year-old master plan: a new ride.

The 440-metre rapid river will wrap around existing attractions the Funnel Web, Perfect Storm and Banjo's Billabong, jostling the tube-buoyant rider down a descent of four metres from start to finish.

The ride, which comes with a price tag of $10-12 million, promises a different experience to the park's existing Rapid River, a gentle, meandering affair powered by a single wave machine set on low.

"It will have three other wave machines - dialled up so we can get a lot more activity" Jim said.

"It will simulate a more exciting rapid ride."

Now 75, Jim has never stopped chasing his next big thrill.

He recently returned from a trip to Dubai to see the world's newest version of the rapid ride in action.

Long-time colleagues wondered if Jim's retirement could be nearing in 2016, when he bought a waterfront Wollongong site and helped make it into a landmark restaurant, Steamers Bar and Grill.

But the restaurant became the domain of his life partner, Caroline Brinsmead, a restaurateur, while Jim again set his gaze southward to the Jamberoo hills.

Those closest describe him as a visionary with a high risk threshold and an unparalleled business acumen.

"He's got a knack for knowing what's going to work. It's a bit uncanny," said Ms Brinsmead, who says Jim can be found walking the park's grounds during Summer, "looking, feeling, asking, 'what the customers saying?'."

"But there's also a lot of heartache; a lot of debt. ... a lot of sleepless nights. It all revolves around the weather."

The park's long-serving chief financial officer, Jon Bailey, says Jim's superpower is that he'll "have a go at anything".

"He's not scared of borrowing the money with an idea in mind, and putting that idea into place," he said.

"He does his numbers, he does his checks. He goes around the world looking at all these rides. I've been with Jim a long time and so far, everything's worked."

Eddy pictured in the park's landmark wave pool, which is drained dry for the off-season. Picture: Adam McLean

Another of Jim's businesses, the Belmore All-Suite Hotel in Wollongong, was reportedly performing nicely, with a reliably high occupancy rate making it sure business bet, when Jim sold it in 2019, having found the operation boring.

There is no such problem at Jamberoo, where each season brings a new wave of financial uncertainty.

With such large sums of money involved, the years spent introducing a new ride are the riskiest of all.

The stakes are only ever high.

"Most of this is pioneering stuff and you've got to work it out as you go, so you've got to have a very high contingency factor," Jim said.

"Every time we add something new, we're on the brink."

"You've got to be really careful. You're under a lot of pressure to get the planning process right ... otherwise costs will run out to an exorbitant amount."

The park was dairy country, owned by the East family, of Easts Beach fame, when Jim pooled funds with his mother, sister, brother-in-law Robert and Robert's brother, Peter, to buy the land in 1979, so Robert could be a dairy farmer.

Soon after, the NSW Government opted to share the Illawarra's milk quota with the North Coast, slashing the farm's income by 18 per cent.

"We had a milk quota problem, which led us to a debt repayment problem," said Jim, who was a surveyor with BHP and a real estate broker before he became a theme park owner.

The group pivoted to grass skiing, importing 10 pairs of skis from Italy, with good results.

There were 22 per cent interest rates to contend with and - always - the weather.

When drought burnt the grass off the ground in 1982, turning it and the grass skiing business to dust, Jim again pivoted, this time to the park's first waterslide.

"I found it on the Gold Coast. It was a roaring success," he said.

"It was accidental progress."

A young Jim as he appeared in a news article in 1984. Picture: Illawarra Mercury archives

Many theme parks are built on denuded land, their attractions laid bare on baking concrete slabs.

But the lay of the land at Jamberoo allows for a sense of discovery, with multi-million dollar rides nestled sometimes hidden in 100 acres of green hills.

There have been landslides here; the land is always slightly slipping which requires funds and infrastructure to manage.

When it comes to tight times, COVID lockdown doesn't warrant a mention from Jim.

The years 1989 and 1990 were two of the wettest in the park's history.

"In 1989, it rained every weekend for 23 weekends in a row. Golf courses were going out of business."

But the park had already survived its darkest hour by then.

In the winter of 1984, a 20-year-old Fairfield West man, Warren Grant Drewett, died after coming off park's famous toboggan ride at high speed.

He was impaled on a fence post that had been brought down in an earlier landslip..

Some fence posts, brought down by a landslide, posed a lethal hazard beside the toboggan track. Picture: Illawarra Mercury archives

Jim was there that day during what became an extended emergency response.

Drewett died while undergoing surgery in hospital.

Park officials of the day told the Mercury that Drewett had earlier been warned eight times to slow down and had complied with a direction to leave the park, only to slip back inside.

"It devastated everybody involved," Jim said.

Him and his business partners all struggled with their commitment to the business.

"And I struggled with it too, because I was heavily involved in it at the time," he said.

"Everyone lost their spirit for the business at that time, even myself."

But the tragedy ended up reshaping the park and galvanising Jim to it for life.

He threw himself into a tour of American theme parks, with a new driving mantra of "never again".

"I met with number of major operators over there - Disney, Six Flags - and talked to them about their experience of people losing their life in their park," he said.

"And it sort of opened my eyes up. You bring a lot of people together; there's safety risks.

"The most important thing that came out of it for me, the experience I got from those people is: you've got to do everything possible to avoid it.

"And when you think you've done enough, you've got to start again and do it again and keep on. It's something you work on the whole time.

"From there we took a lot more of a strategic approach to the business and how we took it forward.

"It led me to this conclusion that we had to do a lot more than we were doing to stop that from happening again.

"That put us on the pathway that we've been on ever since."

Jim bought out his co-financiers.

The tragedy made front page news in the Mercury in 1984.

His own three children have been among the thousands of workers the park has employed, with the current workforce at more than 300 seasonal attendants plus 30 permanent, year-round workers.

While the rising cost of public liability insurance looms large as a current concern, Jim says it is power - the cost of it and growing uncertainty surrounding its supply - that poses the single greatest threat to the park's future.

A favourable five year electricity contract expires in December next year balloon from $500,000 to $1 million - "serious money" - as Jim puts it.

Ever the out-of-the-box thinker, the problem has turned Jim's thoughts to a controversial place - nuclear.

He ultimately knows it cannot happen; he says he has no plans to lobby government on the issue.

But he was serious enough about it to have had "discussions" with scientists at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisations nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights.

Those conversations covered the cost of powering the park with a type of modular reactor.

"We would be serious [about it] if we were allowed to be serious," he said.

"The big thing is the waste. The waste lasts 30,000 years ... but from what I've read, that's overcomable."

"Without that there's no other forms of mass generation that will fulfil the needs of our state. In the absence of that we've got to come up with a solution, and got to come up with it quickly. I'ts just disgraceful that it's not better planned."

Despite the park's rising costs, Jim's strategy for the 2023/24 season includes a price freeze, aimed at encouraging maximum numbers through the gates.

It seems a small gamble, in this place built on thrill, by this man seemingly made for risk.

"Time heals all sorts of wounds," Jim said.

"Ever since Captain Cook arrived, property's been going up and if you can stay the distance, you can last long enough, you'll come out of it. But if you can't, you'll definitely go down."

With thanks to Wollongong Library's Local Studies section.

The risky business of being Jamberoo Action Park owner Jim Eddy

 

Edited March 2 by Jamberoo Fan

[Brad2912]

Powering the park with pixie dust is just as likely. I don’t think this is going to generate media attention or a crazy amount of discussion because it’s just not going to happen so it’s not even worth debating the plausibility or ethics of it. It’s beyond pipe dream, pie in the sky stuff.