Maybe they need to build a zoo on the Gold Coast. They also have Paradise Country but that is more of a farm place no one really knows about, they could always convert that into a zoo and include it with VIP passes.

Paradise country is far to small to convert into a zoo, it isn't marketed towards locals that's why we don't often here about, it is marketed mainly toward the Asian tourist market, which makes up for most of its visitor count.

9D cinema WHAT!

9D cinema WHAT!

....only 2 months late.

Today I stumbled across an article at work saying that the hippos are going to i believe Bali. I got a photo but need to fiddle with it on my phone before i can upload it.

When will dino island close?

Edited July 1, 201313 yr by Gazza

Mid next year.

Ok thanks

Gorillas on theme at Sea World GOLD Coast theme park Sea World is branching from marine to extreme with a new multimillion-dollar jungle-themed attraction featuring Queensland's first gorillas. The exhibit, to open in 2015, will include gorillas, hippos, crocodiles and other animals as part of an African encounter attraction. The gorillas would be sourced from an international breeding program designed to shore up populations of the primate. Sea World officials were yesterday tightlipped about the project, which is the park's latest foray away from traditional marine-themed attractions. An interactive dinosaur attraction was added this year. A Sea World spokesman said the African safari-style attraction would be an exciting addition to the theme park, which forged its name on dolphin shows and aquarium exhibits. "We are all excited about a wonderful new attraction which will be a Sea World first, but we're not able to release any more details just yet," he said. Gorilla populations have been decimated, as one of the closest living relatives to humans battles loss of habitat and hunting for sport and meat. There are about 50,000 gorillas left in the wild and just 600 of the famous mountain gorillas. Al Mucci, president of the Queensland branch of the Australian Zoo and Aquarium Association, said Sea World's gorillas could act as pin-ups for the plight of the animals. "The animals in the exhibit are ambassadors for their cousins in the wild," he said. "We have seen with the tigers at Dreamworld's Tiger Island the positive impact this kind of attraction can play in conservation efforts. "It is also heartening to see a theme park is choosing to spend millions of dollars on an animal exhibit rather than a ride. "It shows that there is value in this kind of attraction." Only three parks in Australia have gorillas and none in Queensland, but it is understood Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast has expressed an interest in housing gorillas.

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2013/07/10/454340_gold-coast-news.html

So much for animatronics...

isn't that a good thing?

thats about as much info as i've seen them release publicly to date... but it would seem they've finally admitted they will be live animals... well done to those who were guessing in that direction...

I don't think anyone reasonably thought they were going to be animatronics anyway? An extinct animal is one thing, you have no choice, but what reason would there be to have an animaltronic hippo, gorilla or croc?

Now that we have this info( great pickup by the way) we can really discuss the full scope of this attraction. Although I really do not feel that these animals are appropriate for a "Sea" themed park, I am betting that the eventual attraction will be world class. Whatever your thoughts or opinions on this, it will be a great addition to Seaworld's attraction list, and another slam dunk for Village theme parks in general. As an aside, is anyone else interested in the use of the wording " African Safari" style attraction and what that could portent??

I don't think anyone reasonably thought they were going to be animatronics anyway? An extinct animal is one thing, you have no choice, but what reason would there be to have an animaltronic hippo, gorilla or croc?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Cruise ?

It's a clever article. There's absolutely no new information in it.

It's a clever article. There's absolutely no new information in it.

To us that is. To the general public, this is major news. And newsagents seem to think so, I spotted a place in surfers with this as the main headline outside the store.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Cruise ?

Disney has an exception for everything. They also have practically unlimited money, so they are running in sandbox mode when it comes to their attractions.

They really don't have unlimited money. Even with a 200million attraction, speak with anyone involved in building them and they will tell you about all the things that were cut due to budget. Their budgets do seen huge but is all down to return on investment and visitation. Plus a lot of people don't realise huge amounts of attraction budgets at Disney are spent on the R&D to invent the technologies in the first place. Hence why they build clones cause they are cheaper.

As an aside, is anyone else interested in the use of the wording " African Safari" style attraction and what that could portent??

African Safari World still on the cards??? perhaps a temp home at SeaWorld after all, and long term home elsewhere(In Victoria??) Not like that hasn't happened before, even in this state (Crown Casino, Opened Temp in 1994, real opening 1997). I think it's too early to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was a temp exhibit. Certainly should be reproposed at some stage to the now Liberal Vic government. Instead of asking for the keys to Werribee Zoo and a $100 million bucks as well, perhaps they might come back with instead expanding the Zoo and putting cash into it on their own .. MIGHT.

Edited July 11, 201313 yr by colliric_855

African Safari World still on the cards??? perhaps a temp home at SeaWorld after all, and long term home elsewhere? I think it's too early to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was a temp exhibit. Certainly should be reproposed at some stage to the now Liberal Vic government. Instead of asking for the keys to Werribee Zoo and a $100 million bucks as well, perhaps they might come back with instead expanding the Zoo and putting cash into it on their own .. MIGHT.

Do you honestly think that they would advertise a temporary attraction from almost 3 years before opening? And if it was temporary, it would have to be in place for at least 5 years, constantly moving the animals around would stress them out. I'm pretty sure that this is going to be permanent, or at least as permanent as a permanent attraction is...

Do you honestly think that they would advertise a temporary attraction from almost 3 years before opening? And if it was temporary, it would have to be in place for at least 5 years, constantly moving the animals around would stress them out. I'm pretty sure that this is going to be permanent, or at least as permanent as a permanent attraction is...

Yes.... Because obviously any followup Park that came from it would take a further 5 or 6 years to be developed, negotiated and constructed anyway(even a return to their Safari Park plan). I guess some people would call that "permenant" but I say Temporary, but in place for a long period of time. By temporary I ment not the long term 5-10 year goal is all. When you think about, it's pretty clear they didn't just scrap the idea of a Safari Park OR Safari Attraction(which this obviously is), and now having those Animals(+a few years experience running "Wild" behind them) could help them push for a full Safari Park again in 3 years or so. But now we're talking too far ahead into the future.

Edited July 11, 201313 yr by colliric_855

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Cruise ?

Disneyland isn't really an "Animal Park" though, is it?

today? No.... but Walt's Circus had many animals inside the park once upon a time... so - no more than Dreamworld is...

I guess i'm just saying that it could have gone either way with the publicly available information out there. The information not publicly available gave insiders the knowledge that it would be live animals from day dot - but a layperson wouldn't have known either way, and using Dino Island as a guideline, an animatronic 'jungle cruise' could well have been on the cards.

Sea World will have a African jungle exhibit in 2015 called Wild! after the success of Storm this year. In the exhibit, it will have gorillas, crocs, hippos and more but the park has not released any further details about more animals. The exhibit will be located at the old Pirate Ship site and will also cover some of the Sea World Lake.

You're a wealth of knowledge....