Jamberoo Action Park Changes For 2014-2015 Season: Any Cause For Concern?

[Jamberoo Fan]

Jamberoo Action Park's 2014-2015 operations started this week with the commencement of the selling of their 2014-2015 season passes. The 2014-2015 season - their first full season with their new competitor, Wet 'n' Wild Sydney - starts on Saturday the 20th of September 2014 and ends on Sunday the 19th of April 2015. The news relating to Jamberoo Action Park's 2014-2015 season is this:

- No further ride development occurred in the 2014 off season.

- However, there are a couple of 'enhancements' that will be included in the 2014-2015 season. Details of which will be put on Jamberoo Action Park's website at an unannounced date.

- Jamberoo Action Park is now only open on school and public holidays (except Christmas Day) & weekends as well as the whole months of December (except Tuesday the 9th of December 2014 - Primary School Day Only) and January & Monday the 9th of March 2015.

- Opening hours are still 10am to 5pm.

- Season Passes have increased in price from $89.99 to $99.99.

The fact that the season pass has increased by $10 even though Jamberoo Action Park isn't open on weekdays (except where stated above) and the 'season' has been shortened by approximately 100 days from last year has drawn some criticism on Jamberoo Action Park's Facebook page. Jamberoo Action Park has been opened daily between September and April since the 2007-2008 season when The Taipan opened. General admission prices are still to be confirmed.

Dax Eddy of Jamberoo Action Park said that Jamberoo Action Park did have a 15.2% drop in attendance during the 2013-2014 season from the 2012-2013 season which is lower than the 25% average drop in attendance a theme park has when a new competitor enters. Dax Eddy of Jamberoo Action Park also noted back in July 2012 that the proposed 'Thunder Downunder' Water Coaster, 'Cockatoo Gorge' Behemoth Bowl and the 'Emu Mountain Rapids' Mammoth/Tantrum Alley won't be built until attendance figures are at a level suitable for the construction of those rides. Whether this also applies to the proposed 'Platypus River' Lazy River and 'Koala Creek' Interactive Water Play Area is unsure.

Despite Jamberoo Action Park's attendance figures dropping less than the industry average when a new competitor enters, did Wet 'n' Wild Sydney's opening affect Jamberoo Action Park more than we expected?

Edited July 31, 2014 by Jamberoo Fan

[Jobe]

Dax Eddy of Jamberoo Action Park also noted back in July 2012 that the proposed 'Thunder Downunder' Water Coaster, 'Cockatoo Gorge' Behemoth Bowl and the 'Emu Mountain Rapids' Mammoth/Tantrum Alley won't be built until attendance figures are at a level suitable for the construction of those rides. Whether this also applies to the proposed 'Platypus River' Lazy River and 'Koala Creek' Interactive Water Play Area is unsure.

Interesting. New attractions are meant to boost attendance figures. Going by this statement, the proposed new attractions for Jamberoo could take a very long time to come to fruition, if at all. This is especially true if attendance figures had fallen by 15.2% on last year. A new attraction is a guaranteed way to increase numbers for any park and this is extremely important for Jamberoo. It cannot be seen to be stagnant too long while the new kid on the block gets all the accolades and press. Jamberoo has built up some nice momentum for new attractions since the introduction of Taipan and it would be a shame for this to stall prematurely. Hopefully , we can see their future expansion plans back on track, and sooner rather than later. They must keep evolving if they are to match what Wet' N Wild Sydney has to offer.

[Flea]

Not surprised by them shortening their season. In my experiences the park is either absolutely slammed or dead quiet. There's no way they could sustain daily operations with or without competition. Even WnWS - a brand new park with world class slides recognised this in their debut season.

[JulieLovis]

The price increase is reasonable and somewhat expected however this combined with a drop of 100 operating days from an 8 month season is sounding alarm bells to me..

The only explanation for such a significant reduction in hours is rampant cost cutting, in stark contrast to their last few years of expansion. Such a dramatic shift here is alarming. I wonder why they have not pursued the LPS model of opening 2 midweek days to capture school groups and midweek visitors?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I'm with you Jobe.

It's concerning that Dax Eddy of Jamberoo Action Park isn't thinking "build it and they will come". Surely Dax Eddy of Jamberoo Action Park knows new attractions will bring people back to the park. Dax Eddy of Jamberoo Action Park really needs to ensure he doens't piss off the loyal fans that Jamberoo Action Park has.

(Sorry JF - i'm assuming you pasted part of what you wrote and thats why the Dax part was in there twice?)

Anyhow - Jamberoo operated just fine for many years alongside Wonderland. Then Wonderland closed and they had a bit of a captive market for a while and it gave them a bit of money to expand. Their expansions have come on slowly (i'm not sure the year but I took a trip down there and took photos of the park at the time), and they've changed it up a bit as technology changed...

All round though - it seems like they've knee-jerked a bit too much in response to the losses they copped from WnWS. It was only one season - it's not white-flag-waving time just yet.

[Jamberoo Fan]

Jamberoo Action Park's 2014-2015 operations started this week with the commencement of the selling of their 2014-2015 season passes. The news relating to Jamberoo Action Park's 2014-2015 season is this:

- Season Passes have increased in price from $89.99 to $99.99.

The fact that the season pass has increased by $10 even though Jamberoo Action Park isn't open on weekdays (except where stated above) and the 'season' has been shortened by approximately 100 days from last year has drawn some criticism on Jamberoo Action Park's Facebook page.

Correction: Season passes purchased on Jamberoo Action Park's website have increased in price by $10 from $89.99 to $99.99 while season passes purchased at Jamberoo Action Park have increased in price by $20 from $99.99 to $119.99.

(Sorry JF - i'm assuming you pasted part of what you wrote and thats why the Dax part was in there twice?)

Haha no, I didn't paste part of what I wrote. I just typed it twice without realising that it makes for bad reading. Anyway, back on topic...

Edited August 1, 2014 by Jamberoo Fan

[JulieLovis]

Potentially a 15.2% drop in attendance could result in a substantial loss-making season for them. Also any future development is going to need financing, and no institution is going to finance a loss making operation.

So this potentially leaves them in a pickle... and perhaps explains their price increase and reduction in hours.

Cut costs to return a profit and therefor keep the door open for finance and future expansion, or run a loss and go nowhere.

This may also explain Dax Eddy's comments- unless attendance picks up they have no option to expand.

I think it will be an important season for jamberoo.

I hope everyone supports them as I would hate to see it go the way of wonderland

[Jamberoo Fan]

While starting to recruit new staff for the 2014-2015 season today, Jamberoo Action Park have revealed 1 of the 'enhancements' that will be included in the 2014-2015 season.

Reporting to the Marketing Manager, the position of Outback Bay Entertainment Precinct VDJ (OBEP VDJ) will be involved in a broad range of entertainment activities including the production of all audio and visual content to be shown on the Big Screen located on The Deck of Outback Bay.

The Big Screen will operate from 10am to 5pm on a 'regular basis' as well as daily in peak season. It will have social media/online capabilities and may be used for promotional activities. The successful applicant will though professionally create the displayed content and will have the flexibility to be as creative as they like when creating the displayed content but will have to follow Broadcast Guidelines as well as ensuring the displayed content adds to Jamberoo Action Park's motto of providing a "quality entertainment experience".

Edited August 8, 2014 by Jamberoo Fan

[Jamberoo Fan]

Jamberoo Action Park opens tomorrow for their 2014/15 season so here are the latest developments about the 2014/15 Jamberoo Action Park season:

Correction: Season passes purchased on Jamberoo Action Park's website have increased in price by $10 from $89.99 to $99.99.

Another correction: That price increase only applied if you purchased a Jamberoo Action Park season pass on their website before Sunday the 31st of August 2014. Jamberoo Action Park season passes purchased on their website after Sunday the 31st of August 2014 cost $109.99 - a $20 increase in price from the 2013/14 Jamberoo Action Park season.

Jamberoo Action are also now opening on Monday the 20th of October 2014 as well as on Fridays in November 2014 and February 2015. Jamberoo Action Park have also confirmed their general admission prices for the 2014/15 season on their website:

Children 3 and under: Free

Children (inclusive) 4-12 years: $41.99

General Admission 13+: $49.99

Senior 60+ years: $41.99

All the prices listed above in the quote box (except the Children 3 and Under price) have had a $7.99 increase in price from the 2013/14 Jamberoo Action Park season. Also, here is an interesting an article published on the Illawarra Mercury website on Wednesday 10th of September 2014:

Jamberoo ready for (a little less) action/Jamberoo set for another season

By Brendan Crabb

As Jamberoo Action Park opens its shutters for 2014/15, senior staff believe the attraction is well-prepared for the new season, despite complaints regarding reduced opening days.

The Jamberoo park will reopen for the new season next Saturday.

Action Park marketing director James Cook said during the off-season, they'd invested in a "fairly significant" entertainment precinct, incorporated into the Outback Bay wave pool area.

They've installed a large outdoor screen on the deck, which will aim to keep visitors entertained between wave sessions.

They spent $250,000 on this technology.

Screening twilight movies in January for season pass-holders is also a possibility. "It adds a new dimension to what we do here," Mr Cook said.

The Funnel Web water attraction is also being themed with a "large spider, 20 metres by 20 metres in size", which should be available for the summer school holidays.

"This has been a non-development year for us, so we don't have any new rides and attractions," Mr Cook said.

"But what we have is enhancement within existing rides and attractions."

Wet 'n' Wild sold more than 160,000 season passes, worth $12.5 million in revenue, before its opening on December 12 last year.

A Jamberoo season pass was $99.99 for unlimited season entry if bought before August 31.

The new season runs until April 19.

The park will be open every weekend, every school and public holidays, and selected weekdays.

During shoulder periods (October-November, February-March) on Monday to Thursday, the park will usually be closed.

Some disgruntled residents have taken to the park's Facebook page to voice disapproval with a reduction in opening days.

During the 2013/14 season, the park was open about an additional 80 days.

"No midweek opening, no thanks," one poster said.

"Crap and a rip off! QLD have their season pass for 3 theme parks for a year for $110," said another.

"Not buying. Just terrible u r no thinking of the locals... Looks like my kids will be having a couple of days off school to attend a water park in Sydney," another posted.

Mr Cook said the season pass was a "very valued product".

"You can use your season pass for 136 days.

"There was a slight increase in pricing from last year to this year, it's gone up $10.

"Thousands of people have renewed their season passes for this particular season."

Mr Cook understood these changes had an impact on people who enjoyed bringing their children on particular days for an hour or two. "As much as we would like to be all things to all people, you just can't," he said.

"The days which we aren't open this year are the days in which... Since 2007 (they've tried) to build a sustainable business in mid-week operations in October-November, and February-March, and we've tried all manner of things.

"Promotional tickets, giveaways, online sales, groups... We've been hopeful of building a sustainable mid-week business in our shoulder seasons; it just hasn't worked.

"With the landscape changing in NSW in relation to water theme parks, we've certainly looked at that and seen that it's unsustainable for us to continue to operate mid-week in our shoulder seasons."

Mr Cook said the opening of Wet 'n' Wild last season had actually grown the market for water theme parks.

He believed this growth may stop some of the escape spending by NSW residents heading to Queensland's theme parks.

"It's giving more people more choice and opportunity to enjoy a water theme park experience.

"We've been here 35 years, and regardless of whether the new entrants into the market come and go, we will be here for another 35 years."

The photograph at the bottom of this post is from the above article and is of Jamberoo Action Park marketing director James Cook in front of Outback Bay. You can clearly see the new Big Screen and you can also see new artwork on the Outback Bay wave pool wall which depicts crashing waves.

Below is also an excerpt from a Wollongong Advertiser newspaper article also issued on Wednesday the 10th of September 2014 called 'It's time to control the action at Jamberoo', which was located in their 'School Holiday Activities' special advertising feature. This excerpt gives more detail on the new Outback Bay entertainment precinct:

New this season is the BIG Screen, a huge six metre by five metre outdoor screen position on the deck of Outback Bay, one of NSW's largest wave pools.

Complemented by an entire new sound system, with eight independent speakers and precise volume control, it will create a dynamic and electric entertainment precinct for guests.

Throughout the season upwards of seven hours plus of broadcast quality content will be displayed on the big screen each day including the latest music videos, children's entertainment TV shows as well as episodes of Extreme Sports.

Further "Wave Cam" will display 'live images' of guests interacting throughout the wave pool area.

Over the season the BIG Screen will be controlled by a dedicated VDJ (Video DJ) who will 'pump up' the entertainment adding huge fun and excitement for guests using the wave pool.

Lastly, I have noticed in comments on Jamberoo Action Park's Facebook page that Wet 'n' Wild Sydney have also reduced their opening days too for the 2014/15 season. Can someone confirm if this is true?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Can we just call it 'Jamberoo' or 'The Park' ?

Otherwise talking about Jamberoo Action Park becomes incredibly disjointed everytime we say Jamberoo Action Park when talking about Jamberoo Action Park, it breaks up the flow of reading about Jamberoo Action Park every time it says Jamberoo Action Park...

We can say WnW, and MW, and DW... why not JAP?

[zacsta_1997]

I'm sorry. But I really don't like how the screen is positioned. Maybe it's OCD or something but I'd rather see the screen in the centre of the boardwalk rather than on the side. And maybe a little bit lower to the ground.

Other than that Jamberoo has done a good job at fixing up the park for the 2014-2015 season. Hopefully we see some more progress on the Kangaroo Island expansion next year!!

I don't agree with the park being closed Monday to Fridays. But they need to save money somehow.

[Jamberoo Fan]

Can we just call it 'Jamberoo' or 'The Park' ?

We can say WnW, and MW, and DW... why not JAP?

Noted.

Screening twilight movies in January for season pass-holders is also a possibility. "It adds a new dimension to what we do here," Mr Cook said.

Well 'Dive-In Movies @ Jamberoo' commenced on Saturday 27th December last year at 6pm. The movie listing is below:

• Saturday 27th December 2014 - 'Frozen'
• Saturday 3rd January 2015 - 'Ice Age 4 - Continental Drift'
• Saturday 10th January 2015 - 'Happy Feet 2'
• Saturday 17th January 2015 - 'The LEGO Movie'
• Saturday 24th January 2015 - 'Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters'

'Dive-In Movies @ Jamberoo' are held every Saturday night at 6pm between late December & late January and usually finishes around 7:30pm. It is free for season pass holders and part of the admission entry. As a result of this new attraction, I believe the floatation rings of 'Outback Bay' have returned after years of absence.

I also have an expectation that no new rides of the 'Kangaroo Island' expansion have been built over the 2015 season break.

Anyway, this post will conclude this topic and will now shift to the 'Jamberoo Action Park Expansion' topic which started on 14 June 2015.