Rainbow's End Recent Developments/Attractions

[themeparkboy]

Hi everyone, 

I'm new here but a long time reader of the forums and a huge fan of the Gold Coast theme parks. 

I live in New Zealand, and unfortunately we only have one 'real' theme park here; Rainbow's End. Although it's definitely not up to the standard of other parks overseas, and is quite small in size and number of attractions, personally I still think it is a great park with lots of potential. I don't see much regarding Rainbow's End here on Parkz, so I thought I would just let you all know about a few developments the park has recently completed.

A few months ago, the 'AA Driver's Town' opened in the area where the old cinema 180 used to be. I checked it out a few weeks ago, and although obviously intended for young kids, it's still a good addition to the park and the facades and other details like traffic lights look really good.

Rainbow's End also has a new modern front entrance and ticket booths which are a huge improvement over the old front gate where there was only one lane into the park!

I also came across this article which is an interview with the CEO of Rainbow's End, Chris Deere. https://blooloop.com/features/going-for-gold-at-rainbows-end-how-kidz-kingdom-changed-the-theme-parks-fortunes/ He mentions how he wants to incorporate virtual and augmented reality into the park, as well as possibly adding a dark ride. 

Quote

In our strategic plan, we have an idea what our next two attractions are going to be. Once the driving school is up and running, the next type of attraction we’re looking to put in is some sort of dark ride. This is something we don’t have in our attraction mix at the moment. I’ve researched this over the years, particularly at IAAPA. The traditional transportation system with animatronics has changed a lot; the use of virtual reality, projection, holograms, and similar technology platforms are where it seems to have gone. So we’re looking carefully at how we can trade a state-of-the-art attraction in here for a budget we can afford. Being a smaller park in a small economy we always have to do things as cleverly as we can.

If you're ever in the Auckland area, I really would recommend a visit to Rainbow's End because it is a good park; but don't have your expectations too high because it's definitely not on the level of Movie World or Dreamworld in terms of number/quality of attractions. My favourite rides at the park are the Stratosfear (Zamperla Discovery Revolution, does a 360° rotation), the Gold Rush (a small coaster through an abandoned gold mine, with animatronics and decent theming) and the Enchanted Forest log flume (it's a charming little ride )

Rainbow's End still has it's Arrow double corkscrew coaster (same ride as the Sea Viper), I believe it was built in 1986. It still seems to be running fine, but I would be happy if the park decided to remove it and replace it with a new coaster; obviously there's not much land (or money) to work with, but it would be a step in the right direction to help really transform the park. 

I'm interested to hear all of your thoughts on Rainbow's End and if you have any ideas for future attractions that could be possible for the future. I'm looking forward to being involved here on Parkz! 

(Photos from Rainbow's End's Facebook page)

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

11 hours ago, themeparkboy said:

He mentions how he wants to incorporate virtual and augmented reality into the park, as well as possibly adding a dark ride.

There you go @pushbutton - maybe you should move to NZ?

[themeparkaddict]

I also live in NZ, Rainbows End is a surprisingly well maintained theme park with some excellent rides, especially the coca cola corkscrew which is still operating well, a bit bumpy but hasn't gone under maintenance since 2015 so obviously in a healthy state. I went there in march, three days before AA opened. Would love to see another ride there soon. Gotta say it's definitely something worth checking out if your in Auckland.

[JaggedJanine]

I grew up going to Rainbows End and moved to the Gold Coast 3 years ago. I have now become very familiar with the standard of upkeep at the GC parks. Going back to visit Rainbows End earlier this year, you definitely notice the difference in the standards. RE does look a little old and hasn't changed much since it opened except for adding new rides or changing ride theming eg. The log flume after the fire. The logs for this ride have been the same since day one and are very worn down, especially on the inside. There is always some sort of rubbish in the bottom too. The only area of the park that has had an upgrade at all is the kids area. Which now has a nice indoor area for younger kids.

The GC parks are definitely cleaner and better presented. For any guests that are more use to parks such as Universal/Disney or any of the larger overseas locations(including the GC) will definitely notice that RE is definitely smaller park with a smaller budget.

Edited July 20, 2017 by JaggedJanine

[themeparkboy]

47 minutes ago, JaggedJanine said:

I grew up going to Rainbows End and moved to the Gold Coast 3 years ago. I have now become very familiar with the standard of upkeep at the GC parks. Going back to visit Rainbows End earlier this year, you definitely notice the difference in the standards. RE does look a little old and hasn't changed much since it opened except for adding new rides or changing ride theming eg. The log flume after the fire. The logs for this ride have been the same since day one and are very worn down, especially on the inside. There is always some sort of rubbish in the bottom too. The only area of the park that has had an upgrade at all is the kids area. Which now has a nice indoor area for younger kids.

The GC parks are definitely cleaner and better presented. For any guests that are more use to parks such as Universal/Disney or any of the larger overseas locations(including the GC) will definitely notice that RE is definitely smaller park with a smaller budget.

I agree. Visiting the Gold Coast parks for the first time last year, I definitely noticed how much better they were in terms of ride quality, and overall cleanliness and presentation compared to little old Rainbow's End. Obviously, I expected this to be the case because Rainbow's End is a lot smaller of a park and makes a considerable amount less profit than the parks on the Gold Coast. 

The log flume boats definitely do need a repaint (both inside and out) but I would hate to see the park get rid of them as they are very nostalgic for a lot of people. Speaking of the log flume, there is some new themeing on the first part of the ride; a pixie campsite, temple ruins and some signage which all ties in to the 'Enchanted Forest' theme and warns riders about the upcoming pirates. (The pixies + pirates thing still doesn't really make sense but it's an improvement nonetheless )

Rainbow's End really needs to offer annual passes though... like surely that wouldn't be very hard to implement and I've never understood why they don't have them in the first place.

 

[Slick]

Really dig their new entrance. Saw it in person last year and can appreciate the effort they made to clean up what’s essentially people’s first and last impression of the park.