Adventure World - History (80s & 90s)

[Tim Dasco]

So I was looking through the state records and found these photos on Archives of Adventure World at the State Library of Western Australia and thought I would share them all. It amazing how much the park has changed over the last 35 years. I have found different albums from different years including construction in decent quality pictures, so I thought I would share: (Pictures sourced from http://encore.slwa.wa.gov.au/iii/encore/search/C__SAdventure World__Orightresult__U__X0?lang=eng&suite=def)

 

30 JUL 1982 (Construction images of the park)

 

1983: Opening year, not the lack of shade in the opening years.

 

 

 

1984: 

 

 

 

 

1987:

This is now the animal section of the park.

This is currently were Black Widow currently is.

The main castle

 

Before they painted the boat purple.

 

 

Alpine Mountain, looking way different then it does today.

The main Water Mountain slides

Currently where Abyss, Rampage and Goliath sit.

The main pool with small trees.

The old train which now sits as theming in the Gold Rush section.

Paddle Boats

 

 

Along with this video I found show casing some old rides they had including a Cha Cha and a spider.

 

 

Edited February 19, 2018 by Tim Dasco

[iwerks]

Yup  - it was entry by token before that. They also had the shooting gallery too.

[ABYSS]

Sheesh the only source of shade were trees! 😂

[Tim Dasco]

Also wanted to add these few images from around the Anyss and Goliath area. Can't find dates or anything, however it shows some attractions the park had like bumper cars, spider, sky diver and a Tornado.

[iwerks]

Some of the above photos were from the Boans staff visit before the park opened.

Found this newspaper ad that someone shared on Facebook a year or two ago. 

Can we have those opening hours, please?

Edited February 21, 2018 by iwerks

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

That's quite reminiscent of the Wonderland pre-opening posters etc.

[elemist]

12 hours ago, iwerks said:

Can we have those opening hours, please?

Skip the opening hours.. Can we have those prices!! haha

These are awesome photos - so great to see how far the park has come.

[Mark Shaw]

13 hours ago, iwerks said:

Some of the above photos were from the Boans staff visit before the park opened.

Found this newspaper ad that someone shared on Facebook a year or two ago. 

Can we have those opening hours, please?

We found an original copy in the archives room in 2015 and framed it. It is sitting in the AW offices reception area. 

[rappa]

HAHAHA they had a special price for the Unemployed 😂😂

[New display name]

@djrappa Where does it say unemployed?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

11 minutes ago, djrappa said:

HAHAHA they had a special price for the Unemployed 😂😂

To be fair, the incidence of unemployment was pretty much at a record high level in 1982 when they opened. In just a year, between August 1982 and August 1983, the number of long-term unemployed in Australia more than doubled, from 88,000 to 189,000, which is staggering when you consider that in the prior 8 years, between August 1973 and August 1981, the number of long-term unemployed increased from 4,000 to 80,000...

And in the years that followed, From August 1983 and August 1988, the number of long-term unemployed fell by only 36,000 to 153,000... the 80's were a really shitty time to not have a job.

So to me it looks like a smart business decision - offer a discount for people who are unemployed, to encourage them to visit at the reduced rate - better for them to have the $7 unemployed admission than to miss out on a full priced adult ticket because it was too expensive to visit.

I'm not about to go into the flipside of the coin - the whole 'unemployed shouldn't be spending money visiting theme parks' and such - but for a business trying to make money - its still a sound concept when unemployment is a third of the adult working population...

(*i'm not trying to give you an economics lesson, but the stats are pretty shit all over - and this is as much for those who aren't as wise. Info sourced from ABS)

 

2 minutes ago, Skeeta said:

@djrappa Where does it say unemployed?

I think he was talking about this $7 deal in the video:

On 20/02/2018 at 1:56 AM, Tim Dasco said:

 

 

 

[New display name]

Thanks Alex the kid.   That is funny

 

Edited February 23, 2018 by Skeeta

[iwerks]

Reading the ad also reminded me about Michael Edgley and how it was called Edgley's Adventure World.  Edgley also developed the now defunct Perth Entertainment Centre.  We also had Alan Bond, who besides winning the America's Cup, which helped reinvigorate Fremantle, he also developed Atlantis, our former local marine park.  Back in those days, Two Rocks, really was in the middle on nowhere.

This got me to thinking about our current crop of theme park instigators.  We definitely need people who are lightning rods of fun around Australia.  People who can help promote our leisure sector services.  In Perth, it's great that the Woodcock's were able to get seed funding for a water park at The Maze (although we're still waiting to see the final version of this come to fruition). Then there are people like David Bakas trying to create some heat for Sydney's Wonderland 2.0.  It's kinda frustrating when you look around Australia and look at the lack of development of our fun park sector, although regional Victoria seems to be an exception to the rule, and how places like Adelaide and Hobart don't seem to have much at all.  Why can't everyone have the right to catch a coaster after work, like some of us can with Abyss in Perth and you guys on the GC?  

In Perth, we also had Eric Person, who helped develop the InspireWA theme park concept that was initially working along with companies like Sally Corp.  He's now co-operating with Jimmy Choo and helping to promote Australian fashion.  And then we have Mark Shaw and his recent work with Gumbaya World.  Mark was fantastic with his promotion of Adventure World during his time at the helm and I hear that he's got some great things coming up.

We need people like this.  Goodluck to them all.           

Edited February 23, 2018 by iwerks

[WCE87]

On 20/02/2018 at 9:48 AM, Tim Dasco said:

Also wanted to add these few images from around the Anyss and Goliath area. Can't find dates or anything, however it shows some attractions the park had like bumper cars, spider, sky diver and a Tornado.

These photos from around 1985

[J. Gilbertson]

When adventure world was being built,my father was employed as caretaker/animal trainer and we lived on the grounds of adventure world. I was 9yrs old at the time. So 41 yrs ago. I watch it all being built like skull rock, the castle, everything basically. One of the first on the water slides, go-karts bumper boats etc. Was even in the very first tv ad with the koala and platypus mascots. Awesome days.. 

[REGIE]

What ever happened to the castle..?

[Gazza]

It burnt down.

https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/adventure-world-to-sue-fireworks-company-over-fire-that-destroyed-landmark/

Edited February 27, 2023 by Gazza

[Aw hype]

'How to (allegedly) offset the value of the largest investment in your parks history with an insurance claim on a dead asset and a lawsuit against a subcontractor'

 

[REGIE]

Could you explain? @Aw hypeI don’t really get what you mean?  

[Aw hype]

Abyss, the largest investment in the history of the park, opened in the days before the castle burnt down. The castle being an unpopular attraction of little to no value ('Mr Shaw said the structure had been there since Adventure World opened 31 years ago and could not put a value on it.') It was dead weight in a park run by a CEO ready to spend and expand, of which an old castle sitting on centre-park prime real estate was off brand. See this post Quoted By @Iwerks for more context. I feel like it'd be at least a little naive not to be at all suspicious of the incident, given they received their insurance claim as well as attempting to sue the fireworks company for $1 million, a lot more than its actual value, which id argue was close to nil.

[REGIE]

Pretty smart move in some ways haha. I got a feeling then the CEO might not have been so unset

[Baconjack]

That space is yearning for a big family ride. I had no idea the paddle boat lake in front of the castle was filled in too. There's an absurd amount of prime real estate towards the front of that park that's ready for some rides next time the owners are spending big.

Edited February 28, 2023 by Baconjack

[6DELTAOSCARFOX7ROT]

Does anyone know about this?

Google Maps 2008 https://www.google.com/maps/@-32.0947696,115.8157128,3a,75y,82.65h,89.17t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sMBuE5dVi3HYGtOOp-vRNmA!2e0!5s20080101T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0.8270825939243593%26panoid%3DMBuE5dVi3HYGtOOp-vRNmA%26yaw%3D82.65241152170496!7i3328!8i1664?coh=205410&entry=ttu

[Tricoart]

27 minutes ago, 6DELTAOSCARFOX7ROT said:

Does anyone know about this?

Google Maps 2008 https://www.google.com/maps/@-32.0947696,115.8157128,3a,75y,82.65h,89.17t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sMBuE5dVi3HYGtOOp-vRNmA!2e0!5s20080101T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0.8270825939243593%26panoid%3DMBuE5dVi3HYGtOOp-vRNmA%26yaw%3D82.65241152170496!7i3328!8i1664?coh=205410&entry=ttu

https://rcdb.com/1126.htm

[Baconjack]

6 hours ago, 6DELTAOSCARFOX7ROT said:

Does anyone know about this?

Google Maps 2008 https://www.google.com/maps/@-32.0947696,115.8157128,3a,75y,82.65h,89.17t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sMBuE5dVi3HYGtOOp-vRNmA!2e0!5s20080101T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0.8270825939243593%26panoid%3DMBuE5dVi3HYGtOOp-vRNmA%26yaw%3D82.65241152170496!7i3328!8i1664?coh=205410&entry=ttu

Old schwarzkopf jet star 2 the park used to have. The drop tower sits on its land these days. Some track pieces are still stored in BOH iirc