Article: Jamberoo unveils $20 million investment plan

[Richard]

Article: Jamberoo unveils $20 million investment plan Monday 18 September 2006 - Jamberoo Action Park The small family owned park on the NSW South Coast has recently announced its plans for the rollout of $20 million in new attractions. Read On... Well, is this not the most unexpected and exciting news we've heard from NSW in a while. I think it's great to see a park stepping up to the loss of Wonderland and making genuine steps in the right direction.

[Jamberoo Fan]

Hi, I'm new here and i was just updating the Jamberoo Action Park database entry because of the redevelopment. I got a full newspaper article about the revelopment showing where the attractions will be kept. Jamberoo is my favourite park and they are going for more redevelopments after 2010. You forget other rides coming soon too! I could tell them if YOU want.

[Spotty]

^ Do tell, we are all interested...

[Jamberoo Fan]

1. All the rides that will be built will be: - 2007 - Taipan Mammoth River Ride - 2008 - 5x Bigger Billabong Beach Rapid River Raft Ride - 2009 - Tornado Alley which include a tornado like at Wet 'n'Wild. The Pro Bowl which includes The Behemoth Bowl. - 2010 - The Cannonbowl & Pipelines. - 2011 - I think this is an Australian First - The Rocket which is a mag-lev water rollercoaster. All other rides past 2011 are still to be announced. Le-Mans will be pulled. 2. I would appreciate it if i don't get any personal messages. 3. I am 13 years old and i don't work at Jamberoo, i just read it in the Illawarra Mercury newspaper. I would like to work at Jamberoo or any theme park someday.

[Gazza]

This sounds excellent, its basically our 3rd major water park. But a couple of things, firstly, the Rocket is not mag-lev, it simply uses fast moving conveyer belts to move the rafts uphhill. Also, you mention a Tornado Alley, while there is a good chance this will be the same as the ones at WWW and WnW, it could very well be the actual alley slide, if you look on the Proslide website it is actually 2 mini tornados, with one leading into the other. I wouldnt mind seeing this, its something different. Also, any chance of you scanning in, or taking a photo of the article?

[GoGoBoy]

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.

[aidan]

Thanks for the article GoGoBoy, its so great that aussie parks are getting better and better.

[Hugh_gazzz]

excellent to hear a NSW themepark doing so well. An excellent line up of rides but by the time all of them get built WWW or WNW may already have them and even better ones.

[Jamberoo Fan]

There is a picture going with the article showing Dax Eddy with the plans and a aerial shot showing where the rides are going to be. All rides are pointing to Le-Mans in a triangle shape with mammoth river near rapid river.

[dreamworld_rulz]

From what i've just read they are trying to get the Gold Coast's Tourists. If and i mean if this goes ahead it'll give the Gold Coast for a run for their money.

[Richard]

I wouldn't say they're trying to get the Gold Coast's tourists as such. Water parks are very regional by nature and you won't find many people will base a holiday around a water park unlike theme parks. I can't see it having a profound effect on Gold Coast attendance figures (certainly not the way Whitewater World will no doubt affect Wet'n'Wild), but I have no doubt it'll do very well by itself and attract very healthy numbers from Greater Sydney. If they play their cards right, I have little doubt that Jamberoo could, 10 or 15 years from now be far more than Wonderland Sydney was. So long as we see the Eddys retain control of the park it'll go places.

[GoGoBoy]

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

[Richard]

I would expect that the key reason for the length of time is finance related. The article cited that they are relying on a strong season to fund the first phase and when you're looking at a family-owned park with only relatively small attendance (200,000 in 2003-04; I'd expect this is up to 250-300 now with the recent additions), the scope for large-scale expansion is fairly limited because there's smaller money-making opportunities and significantly smaller equity than say the Gold Coast parks. It's very likely that ProSlide encouraged them to sign a multi-attraction contract, the incentive to Jamberoo being a significant enough discount to warrant such forward planning and of course ProSlide are guaranteed a customer for 5+ years. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a clause that allows them to change ordered attractions down the track within a certain time frame etc. based on altered public perceptions, modified rides/improved technology or new product lines. I'm not so sure novelty plays any significant factor in water parks, quite like it does with theme parks. A simple way to demonstrate this - Wet'n'Wild's attendance continued to increase in the five years of virtually nothing between Mammoth Falls and Extreme H2O Zone. Their attendance is also not reliant on the tourist market but rather the locals, evident by their pricing of annual passes (the day to year price ratio is highest by a long shot at Wet'n'Wild). A water park really has very different motivators to a regular theme park. I fully agree that it's a bit odd to be planning these things so specifically five years in advance but at the end of the day it's a strategy which Jamberoo obviously believes is the most conducive to growth.

[Jamberoo Fan]

Usually Jamberoo only does construction on the days when the season finishes (May 1st to September 1st) but if runs late they will open the park with the construction going and just read in the Illawarra Mercury that the Outback Bay wavepool has been renovated so it can run for two hours non-stop (originally 15 minutes) and produce bigger waves (originally 1.5m).

[Gazza]

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

I dont think Jamberoo really goes by the competiton anyway; all their "water park" style additions in recent years are all what WnW has had in the past.

[joz]

... and I bet they're excited to be able to steal off someone else now! Nah, This is pretty exciting, good luck to them, as far as Aussie water parks go, the number 3 spot is there for the taking, and they've got daylight between them and Adventure World.

[Jamberoo Fan]

Dax Eddy believes that if a lot of people visit his theme park, he could build all the rides by September 2007!

[Jamberoo Fan]

Looking through the net to find info on Jamberoo expansions i find something. This is from the Australian Amusement Lesiure And Recreation Association Inc newsletter available at their website. Website of newsletter - http://attractions.co.uk/AALARA/newsdetail.cfm?codeID=17216 2007 - Taipen Mammoth River Ride - Confirmed Name Is "The Taipan" (don't know why i just wrote that) - It is actually a Dark Mammoth River Ride from Proslide. - It commences construction February 2007. - If it's a Dark Mammoth it must be built underground because in the article they want it to be blended in with the hill.

[Gazza]

- If it's a Dark Mammoth it must be built underground because in the article they want it to be blended in with the hill.

Not necessarily, i think by that they mean that it would follow the contours of the terrain. It would probably be built maybe only a meter or two off the ground, maybe less. It would be very expensive to excavate the volume of dirt needed to fit the wide mammoth slide sections underground.

[Jamberoo Fan]

Not necessarily, i think by that they mean that it would follow the contours of the terrain. It would probably be built maybe only a meter or two off the ground, maybe less. It would be very expensive to excavate the volume of dirt needed to fit the wide mammoth slide sections underground.

That's what i meant, just couldn't get the words out of my mouth

[OzCoasterFreek]

That article is pretty interesting, nice find Jamberoo Fan. It seems that Jamberoo won't just be slapping in some standard clones, sounds as if we could see a couple of unique twists! Look forward to seeing it all unfold.

[mickey_079]

I have never been but I want to, I think I will just hold it off until all these expansion are completed. It sounds great

[Jamberoo Fan]

That article is pretty interesting, nice find Jamberoo Fan. It seems that Jamberoo won't just be slapping in some standard clones, sounds as if we could see a couple of unique twists! Look forward to seeing it all unfold.

Were you referring to in the newsletter this right - "With some of the attractions we selected we have made small changes to the way in which the ride has been configured which we believe will add to the excitement,” said Eddy.

[dreamworld_rulz]

I have never been but I want to, I think I will just hold it off until all these expansion are completed. It sounds great

You'll be waiting awhile

[mickey_079]

You'll be waiting awhile

Lol I dont mind, im a patient man