Gumbuya World’s New Slides

[Mc coaster]

I was just looking at Gumbuya Worlds website and saw that they have redone it to include photos and information on each individual attraction and noticed that on one of the pictures on the Oasis springs page said this.

 

Any thoughts and what at do you guys think the slide should?

Edited June 28, 2018 by Mc coaster

[Jobe]

Didnt they purchase some of the slides from the ex Seaworld water park? I seem to recall seeing somewhere that the Mammoth Plunge slide going there? Can any one confirm this?

 

[Mark Shaw]

News Flash!

I have just been informed by the Park that they will double the size of the Water Park this winter ready for next Summer re-opening of the Water Park. Trading has been very strong this summer. 

GW is a work in progress, the guys know it but they are making great strides. At the rate they are going they will eclipse the others in time. 

[New display name]

Hopefully this time GW will not willy-nilly cut down trees on council land.  😎

GW is not recognised with the local planning scheme as a significant tourist destination but given the amount of investment that has recently occurred & the likelihood of further investments at GW a draft has been drawn up to recognise GW will have an emerging tourism role within the shire.

Edited February 19, 2019 by Skeeta

[aaronm]

I'd expect them to be Whitewater like the existing slides. There is already provision on the current tower for another two slides starting from the lower deck (presumably going out over the pump/filtration shed). 

[Jobe]

Gumbaya World has updated their Facebook page and have revealed their new expansion plans.

In summary, the park will add

• Victoria's most impressive Wave Pool
• 6 brand new slides including:
• 2 new "monster Twister slides
• Four lane racer slides.

Gumbaya World has certainly arrived with this announcement. This is fantastic and exactly what the park needs.

How good is the theme park industry in Victoria going with 3 excellent medium sized parks to choose from?

Why cannot NSW replicate this sort of success and investment in this state?? Its mind boggling.......

 

[pin142]

They're too busy renovating stadiums that don't need it.

[webslave]

13 hours ago, Jobe said:

In summary, the park will add

• Victoria's most impressive Wave Pool
• 6 brand new slides including:
• 2 new "monster Twister slides
• Four lane racer slides.

How exactly do you quantify "most impressive" I wonder?

I also quite dislike referring to a four-lane racer as four slides. Cheap.  Have they missed an opportunity here?  Neither of these elements is new to Victoria AFAIK.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

8 minutes ago, webslave said:

How exactly do you quantify "most impressive" I wonder?

You don't. I think the legal term is "mere puffery".

Like "greatest theme park attraction ever"

[webslave]

Seems like a pretty weak way to lead your marketing

[aaronm]

13 hours ago, Jobe said:

2 new "monster Twister slides

Anyone know what a "monster Twister" slide is? I haven't heard of this one before.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

sounds like the twister slide that used to be where Aqualoop is at WnWGC...

[melbourne_guy]

Great news, and will help keep Funfields and Adventure Park on their toes. What a great time for Victoria's 3 regional theme parks!

Also found this image of the new slides from this article https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/gumbuya-world-expands-to-include-new-gigantic-slides-and-family-wave-pool/:
 

Edited February 26, 2019 by melbourne_guy

[Jobe]

5 hours ago, AlexB said:

sounds like the twister slide that used to be where Aqualoop is at WnWGC...

That slide went to a small waterpark in Canberra called Big Splash,. The former Speed Slide from WNWGC also wound up here as well

6 hours ago, webslave said:

I also quite dislike referring to a four-lane racer as four slides. Cheap.  Have they missed an opportunity here?  Neither of these elements is new to Victoria AFAIK.

Yeah you are right- its definitely a bit misleading. You would think of that as one slide not 4 replicated slides. I think this is the first racer slide of this type in Victoria with the enclosed looping elements....hardly anything to write home about.

 

5 hours ago, melbourne_guy said:

Great news, and will help keep Funfields and Adventure Park on their toes. What a great time for Victoria's 3 regional theme parks!

Also found this image of the new slides from this article https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/gumbuya-world-expands-to-include-new-gigantic-slides-and-family-wave-pool/:

Absolutely its great to see the confidence in Victoria's parks translate into this type of investment. Mark my words, this could have an impact on Victorians travelling to the Gold Coast for theme park experiences if Victorian's have 3 strong  and growing options on their doorstep.

Didnt Gumbaya World also purchase the Plunge slide that was in the Seaworld Park ( and before that at WNWGC)? Can anyone confirm that rumour?

Great find also on the ausleisure site- this shows clearly that they are calling the racers "4" slides.

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

15 hours ago, Jobe said:

That slide went to a small waterpark in Canberra

Yeah, I knew that - the description just sounded like it could be an identical slide. based on the images, it isn't.

15 hours ago, Jobe said:

You would think of that as one slide not 4 replicated slides. I

Where is the line drawn though. Is the GC Aqualoop installation 1 slide or 4? And if it's 4, why isn't a racer? because each flume is connected? *cue debate*

15 hours ago, Jobe said:

Absolutely its great to see the confidence in Victoria's parks translate into this type of investment.

It's quite curious if you ask me. Waterparks are cheap and easy and everyone is building one these days. It reminds me of the 80s and 90s where you had these standalone places that just had 3-5 slides on a tower and a bit of grass and they were called a park - only these days instead of being standalone they're being tacked on to every council pool, dry amusement park, foreshore and shopping centre.

Why do I find it curious? Surely Victoria isn't quite as suited to waterslide investment as, say - Queensland - and yet, Queensland seems to get an announcement about a new waterpark proposal being built every other week - with little to show for it 6 months later. (I think the most progress any of them have made has been the one up near Australia Zoo, and even then, that isn't much)

15 hours ago, Jobe said:

this could have an impact on Victorians travelling to the Gold Coast for theme park experiences

Let's not get carried away. I think it's great to see them improving the park, and making some good progress, but let's remember that few of us had ever heard of the park 2 years ago before Mark Shaw got involved. They have 38 "attractions" on their park map, and nearly 50% of them are animal \ wildlife exhibits. A further 9 of them are "waterpark" items (and two of them are "cabanas" and "relaxing area"). They have a little coaster, which is a nice little SBF racer suitable for the kids, with much of their remaining 'dry' lineup being suitable for the littlies.

It might encourage those with toddlers to stay home, but I doubt very much than anyone with kids over the age of 8 would be choosing Gumbuya over Movie World in the current set up.

They've got a bit of room to grow, and I look forward to seeing what they do with it - I just don't think they're quite at the point of challenging the GC as a destination just yet.

[Naazon]

31 minutes ago, AlexB said:

They've got a bit of room to grow, and I look forward to seeing what they do with it - I just don't think they're quite at the point of challenging the GC as a destination just yet.

But the continual investment in the parks may get the GC parks to spend a little more to not lose those tourist dollars. WnWGC hasn't had a big investment in a long time, and the continually discussed SW lack of attractions come to mind and it appears Gumbuya is slowly replicating the best aspects of those two parks (although land animals, not sea).

[aaronm]

2 hours ago, AlexB said:

Why do I find it curious? Surely Victoria isn't quite as suited to waterslide investment as, say - Queensland - and yet, Queensland seems to get an announcement about a new waterpark proposal being built every other week - with little to show for it 6 months later. (I think the most progress any of them have made has been the one up near Australia Zoo, and even then, that isn't much)

I think in general water parks end up being "locals parks" more than tourist destinations for the most part. There's at least a million people within a 30 minute drive of Gumbuya and it seems to be packed every time I drive past or visit. Clearly the demand is there and it doesn't seem to have dropped off in year 2 despite the attraction lineup being largely the same. Funfields and Adventure Park also seem to draw a reasonable crowd with a relatively small set up compared to the GC parks. Sure the weather isn't as good as up north but you only have to look at the US and Europe to see that seasonal parks can be quite successful - I mean, Cedar Point has a waterpark and it snows in Sandusky during the winter!

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, aaronm said:

Sure the weather isn't as good as up north

That's kinda what i'm getting at. Despite QLD having the better weather, and the possibility of year round operations - we've got one waterpark closing for winter because of poor trading conditions, and the other stagnated with no development in years. Aside from those two - there's very little else going on in SEQ. Plenty of those inflatable travelling waterparks but nobody else going 'i'm gonna built a racer \ tornado \ bowl like every tom, dick and harry in victoria.

[Jobe]

9 hours ago, AlexB said:

Where is the line drawn though. Is the GC Aqualoop installation 1 slide or 4? And if it's 4, why isn't a racer? because each flume is connected? *cue debate*

Yeah that's the conundrum. It begs the question though- they are usually marketed as one ride but when it comes time to count slides in the park, they suddenly count as 4 or 6?? I am of the opinion that it should count as one attraction and one slide.

9 hours ago, AlexB said:

It's quite curious if you ask me. Waterparks are cheap and easy and everyone is building one these days. It reminds me of the 80s and 90s where you had these standalone places that just had 3-5 slides on a tower and a bit of grass and they were called a park - only these days instead of being standalone they're being tacked on to every council pool, dry amusement park, foreshore and shopping centre.

True, waterslide installations are more prolific, but one or two slides at your local pool does not make a water park. The installations that are being invested into Funfields, Gumbaya World and Adventure Park go a little beyond these sort of one off slides, both in scope and cost. Also, they are mostly being added to existing slide structures  to enhance their offering  and to expand their footprint, to build a "true" water/theme park, far greater in scale to your local council pool offering.

 

9 hours ago, AlexB said:

Let's not get carried away. I think it's great to see them improving the park, and making some good progress, but let's remember that few of us had ever heard of the park 2 years ago before Mark Shaw got involved. They have 38 "attractions" on their park map, and nearly 50% of them are animal \ wildlife exhibits. A further 9 of them are "waterpark" items (and two of them are "cabanas" and "relaxing area"). They have a little coaster, which is a nice little SBF racer suitable for the kids, with much of their remaining 'dry' lineup being suitable for the littlies.

It might encourage those with toddlers to stay home, but I doubt very much than anyone with kids over the age of 8 would be choosing Gumbuya over Movie World in the current set up.

They've got a bit of room to grow, and I look forward to seeing what they do with it - I just don't think they're quite at the point of challenging the GC as a destination just yet.

Yeah you are 100% right about how Gumbuya World is growing and needing to grow more. However, I was referring more to the Victorian parks as a collective being a more attractive proposition than one single entity. Gumbaya World in its present form is a little attraction lite and the new additions will certainly bring it closer to parity with the other 2 parks. This is the reason i never included Gumbuya World on my itinerary on our recent Victorian trip. However, once these additions are built ,( plus the newly added Rebel Yell) it certainly looks a much more attractive proposition and I will certainly be putting it on the to visit list once these are constructed.

Both Funfields and Adventure Park are a little more mature in this aspect and have far more adult offerings to attract teens and above. You are absolutely right that none of these parks by themselves are anywhere a match for MovieWorld and its offerings, however, together they offer a far better proposition. Whilst even together, none can match the coaster offerings of Movieworld, the Victorian Parks offer enough thrills for the locals to enjoy at home and perhaps divert them from the GC to an overseas destination instead? Just a thought.

9 hours ago, Naazon said:

But the continual investment in the parks may get the GC parks to spend a little more to not lose those tourist dollars. WnWGC hasn't had a big investment in a long time, and the continually discussed SW lack of attractions come to mind and it appears Gumbuya is slowly replicating the best aspects of those two parks (although land animals, not sea).

Absolutely- great point.

For mine its a great representation of where competition breeds activity and investment. We saw this in recent years when Dreamworld was on the ascent and added Whitewater World and other attractions and the various responses for the Village parks

There are other examples- Wet N Wild Sydney opened and Jamberoo responded with installing The Funnel Web and the Perfect Storm.

We already know that both Adventure Park and FunFields have plans for new slide installations and you can bet your bottom dollar that they will already be planning new attractions for after this. The Victorian parks have stepped up their investment because firstly of this competition and secondly, because of strong attendance. Gumbuya World had a huge summer attendance-wise and is the impetus for this new  investment announcement.  Both Funfields and Adventure Park have also seen very impressive attendance figures for this summer. This indicates  strong, local support , which means that more and more Victorian's may not have visited the GC theme parks. The newfound strength of these parks as legitimate options must have some sort of effect on local numbers from Victoria ( not international tourists) heading north. 

 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

14 hours ago, Jobe said:

For mine its a great representation of where competition breeds activity and investment.

I don't disagree with these points - jamberoo and WnWS, WWW and WnW... but i think Victorian regional funparks vs. Hollywood on the Gold Coast is a bit of a stretch.

Did Adventure World's Abyss prompt any major response from MW or DW?... I don't think anyone would regard these parks as direct competition to the GC - just like nobody considers Jamberoo to be a direct competitor to White Water World.... they're worlds apart.

[aaronm]

15 hours ago, Jobe said:

We already know that both Adventure Park and FunFields have plans for new slide installations and you can bet your bottom dollar that they will already be planning new attractions for after this. The Victorian parks have stepped up their investment because firstly of this competition and secondly, because of strong attendance.

It's interesting that this is being perceived as a sort of waterslide arms race between the three parks, given they aren't really all that close to each other - would be close to a 2.5 hour drive from Gumbuya to Adventure Park for instance. I think what we're seeing is more that park investment/opening new rides drives ticket sales, which in turn provides the income to fund further additions. I also think that dollar-for-dollar the Victorian parks have made smart choices in terms of how they've spent their money, whereas there have been some questionable decisions made by the bigger operators up north (not least the debacle that was WnW Sydney).

[Naazon]

2 hours ago, aaronm said:

It's interesting that this is being perceived as a sort of waterslide arms race between the three parks, given they aren't really all that close to each other - would be close to a 2.5 hour drive from Gumbuya to Adventure Park for instance.

The distance between the parks isn't relevant. Its the distance between a park and the population.

[aaronm]

52 minutes ago, Naazon said:

The distance between the parks isn't relevant. Its the distance between a park and the population.

Point being people are highly likely to go with the park they live closest to, and the three of them are far enough apart that there isn't much of an overlap in the catchment areas. Given all are very much locals' parks many visitors will go the annual pass route which further decreases the incentive to check out the other ones.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

There is a huge overlap in the catchment areas, when you consider the positioning of Melbourne in relation to the three of them.

find the centre mark on the map below, and it'll land quite near the city.

[aaronm]

1 hour ago, AlexB said:

There is a huge overlap in the catchment areas, when you consider the positioning of Melbourne in relation to the three of them.

If you had a version of the map that showed population within a 1 hour drive, there'd be some crossover in the northeastern suburbs but generally I think my theory still stands (bearing in mind Gumbuya is right on the freeway but Funfields is a bit more out of the way, and Adventure Park requires a drive through the middle of Geelong).