Wet 'n' Wild Gold Coast - August 2018

[themagician]

As @Theme Park said... does anyone know why Zipline never operated (or if it did, for such a short period)

And why is it still there VRTP?

And the Frozen Coke stand is getting a refurb

And I think they should really just remove this now pointless shelter to open up the area a little

 

[themeparkaddict]

Why are the 2 sets of BBQs just before the mammoth falls stairs still accessible by guests? One set have covers over them, and the others can still be used and there is no seating out. 

Also - the buggies are out back now, as seen through the mammoth falls queue

Zero change to Mach 5.

one thing which I noticed is that slides which had duel slides seemed to have pumps operating the whole day despite not being used, this was confusing as it doesnt seem like a good way to cut costs. 

Despite black hole being shut, its pumps were operating the whole day which looked to be full water levels.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

On ‎3‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 4:46 PM, themeparkaddict said:

one thing which I noticed is that slides which had duel slides seemed to have pumps operating the whole day despite not being used, this was confusing as it doesnt seem like a good way to cut costs. 

Despite black hole being shut, its pumps were operating the whole day which looked to be full water levels.

I'm not quite sure exactly what you mean, but:

• One slide closed = less wages to pay.
• Even if the pump has to run for the other slide it's attached to, its still a reduced wages cost.
• Perhaps the pump can be run at lower power?
• They would still be running the filtration systems which would circulate the water regularly, regardless of whether it is open or closed
• When a slide is turned off, all the water pools at the bottom thanks to a little thing called gravity. If black hole was shut, and appeared to have very full water levels, what you saw is probably totally normal.

[rappa]

Wet n Wild Gold Coast seems to have suffered from a real lack of love in recent years. Probably due to its poor performing sister down in Sydney. 

It will be interesting now that Sydney is gone, and there’s been a big shakeup in management like the departure of Greg, to see if this parks starts getting some of the focus back on it. 

[Park Addict 93]

Part of the reason I think WNW Gold Coast has been neglected (especially in regards to new attractions) is because it still performs great and has no real compition from WWW. 

With the departure of WNW Buggy I would love to see that plot finally built upon.

[-nick.white.1543]

And I think the chances of a new attraction soon are higher now that WWW is getting something new.

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

1 hour ago, -nick.white.1543 said:

And I think the chances of a new attraction soon are higher now that WWW is getting something new.

Not really, WWW already have a lazy river so unless WWW are planning to add a Gold Coast first slide that has an appeal big enough for people to visit WWW than WNW will most likely continue to dominate the teen market. However I think WWW is more attractive to the family market.

[joel]

Since when does WWW have a lazy river????

[webslave]

3 minutes ago, joel said:

Since when does WWW have a lazy river????

It doesn't.  Read the contextual clues and you'll quickly work out it's a typo.

[-nick.white.1543]

11 hours ago, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

Not really, WWW already have a lazy river so unless WWW are planning to add a Gold Coast first slide that has an appeal big enough for people to visit WWW than WNW will most likely continue to dominate the teen market. However I think WWW is more attractive to the family market.

It doesn't matter. If people aren't sure which waterpark they are going to go to, they are going to go to the one with a newer attraction.

[pushbutton]

53 minutes ago, -nick.white.1543 said:

It doesn't matter. If people aren't sure which waterpark they are going to go to, they are going to go to the one with a newer attraction.

I go to the one with the attractions I most want to use that day.

If I want to go on a lazy river, spa, and have a bigger choice of waterslides, Wet n Wild.

If I want to go on a Masterblaster, and have the option to walk through to Dreamworld, I go to WWW.

[New display name]

Problem with people comparing WWW with WnW is:    WnW is a standalone park and WWW is a world within DW.   You can’t get a one-day pass for WWW anymore.

That’s the theory anyway but for Village it’s not how it works.   WnW & SW have become a free bonus park when you purchase a 3-park season park.  Skeets financial expert radar (which is nil) tells him this giving away 3 theme parks for the price of one is hurting the business.

An enthusiast or even a non- enthusiast would benefit if all 3 parks were run separately.  15 Years ago, the Gold Coast had 4 different parks, now the Gold Coast has 2, Village and DW.   Village have taken the wrong path in running multiple parks because MW has gone forwards and SW & WnW have gone backwards. 

The problem is 110% due to the fact the Village treat the parks as one identity now.  Back in the “olden days” every time one park received a new addition the other park would react with a new addition of their own but Village thinking these days is we just installed Rivals at MW so that’s our one big ticket item and SW can get a half-ass Jelly exhibit.

I’m in full support of Village owning all 3 parks because the sharing of resources can be a good thing in reducing cost, but the sharing of attraction shows & events only hurts everybody.  Village have literally turned 3 successful parks into 1 park. 

Unto DW recently had to give away the gate to get people in the park DW and Village pricing was the same which doesn’t make sense.  SW was always a competitor with DW and now it’s a bonus park for MW. 

Skeets season passes grouping to compete with DW offerings.

DW & WWW & Q1

MW & WnW & PC

SW & WnW & PC

But never MW & SW & WnW & PC.

No need to give SW away because MW hold its own and 10 years ago so did SW.

[Jamberoo Fan]

On 09/09/2018 at 12:59 PM, djrappa said:

Wet n Wild Gold Coast seems to have suffered from a real lack of love in recent years. Probably due to its poor performing sister down in Sydney. 

I still believe it is because waterslides are becoming cheaper and thus opening at more locations. The audience for individual water parks are thus becoming more local and smaller particularly for Wet 'n' Wild Gold Coast, who is used to lots of out-of-town visitation.

But, similar to what @Skeeta said above, if your whole audience for water parks are now local, reliance on season passes (particular a multi-park season pass) is not good. Multi-park annual passes doesn't guarantee visitation at Wet 'n' Wild and for any type of annual pass at the current prices, whatever the level of actual visitation is at the park, the park is really relying on food and beverage & upcharges for revenue.

If your audience is only locals and they all have annual passes, if they don't spend on food and beverage & upcharges, that's a lot of lost revenue. Wet 'n' Wild Sydney's decline was due to a similar situation even though poor park design was also a role in why it declined. Whilst Wet 'n' Wild Gold Coast's decline may seem to be linked to the decline of the Sydney park (which is heaps worse), it probably is due to mismanagement of both parks rather than just Sydney. That is, the overselling of season passes at both parks. Wet 'n' Wild Sydney has a new owner so they may stop the reliance on season passes there but Wet 'n' Wild Gold Coast still has the same owner - could they do the same?

On 09/09/2018 at 8:42 PM, Gold Coast Amusement Force said:

Not really, WWW already have a lazy river so unless WWW are planning to add a Gold Coast first slide that has an appeal big enough for people to visit WWW than WNW will most likely continue to dominate the teen market. However I think WWW is more attractive to the family market.

Remember Whitewater World's proposed lazy river is completely different to Calypso Beach. It includes a wave machine. Jamberoo's Rapid River is Australia's only themed lazy river with a wave machine and I can say it makes a whirl of difference. I'd ride Rapid River instead of Calypso Beach any day.

For starters, it actually makes it a ride rather than just a relaxing form of transportation. The first half of Rapid River is a typical lazy river - slow and meandering. You travel past some fountains shooting over you, you go under a bridge and then travel over some bubblers. You then travel past a gentle but long waterfall & you enter a cave, where the 2nd half of the ride begins. A hole in the centre of the cave's roof has a waterfall dropping from one side into the centre of the River. The cave is covered in Aboriginal art works. A wave machine generates 1.5m high waves that push you back to the exit, which is about 100 metres away - the waves only last about half that distance though. 60 metres after the wave machine, you then travel under Surf Hill, which has it's own waterfalls falling from under the ride, to another bridge. From the cave to this bridge, short but heavy waterfalls fall down an artificial cliff on the northern side. After the bridge, you arrive back at the start.

Unlike Calypso Beach which has 3 entrance/exit points, Rapid River has only 1. I might be wrong but originally Rapid River was built as a 'hop on/off as you please'-type ride (like Calypso Beach) but it turned out to be so popular, that the entrance/exit was divided so there is now an official queue line and lifeguards now have instructions that they have to tell you to hop off after 1 circuit. You cannot do laps (unless, of course, the ride's queue is short enough to justify allowing laps). Once you finish 1 circuit, you must hop off and re-join the queue (unless the current of the water forces you past the exit then you get a lucky extra ride). The queue easily gets long but doesn't extend far from the start of the 'official' queue line. Imagine how long the queue would get if the lifeguards didn't have to ask people to get off after 1 circuit! 

If Ardent put in a decent effort with this lazy river, it would provide some serious unexpected competition for Wet 'n' Wild Gold Coast. But knowing Ardent, they would most likely do what Village Roadshow did with Wet 'n' Wild Sydney - Boomerang Bay (a generic lazy river now called Dinosaur Lagoon as they added dinosaur statues around the ride a couple of years ago) - and that will not do much (even with just adding a wave machine) in re-generating some competition between the 2 Gold Coast parks. You might as well go back to Cave Of Waves (unless you really need to relax).

On 10/09/2018 at 8:26 AM, -nick.white.1543 said:

If people aren't sure which waterpark they are going to go to, they are going to go to the one with a newer attraction.

It depends on what the newer attraction is though. If it doesn't appeal to you, then there is still every possibility you would visit the other park with older attractions.

[pushbutton]

Every guest spends a minimum of  $10 just to get a locker at both WWW and WnW, so passholders don't get in for free. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

4 hours ago, pushbutton said:

Every guest spends a minimum of  $10 just to get a locker at both WWW and WnW, so passholders don't get in for free. 

Oh FFS. Enough already.

I visit WWW more often than WnW simply because my Son enjoys the kids area better. We take a stroller and an esky, neither of which fit into the locker... so we don't get a locker.

So... WE get in for free.

[Brad2912]

I haven’t paid for a locker at WWW or WnW in about 10 years. 

Its called a backpack. Put it on a chair with a towel over it, like everyone else does. 

Like Alex, I usually have an Eski too. 

[pushbutton]

33 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

I haven’t paid for a locker at WWW or WnW in about 10 years. 

Its called a backpack. Put it on a chair with a towel over it, like everyone else does. 

Like Alex, I usually have an Eski too. 

You're very trusting!  There's no way I'd rusk my phone, wallet, house keys and car keys by leaving them unattended.

[red dragin]

12 minutes ago, pushbutton said:

You're very trusting!  There's no way I'd rusk my phone, wallet, house keys and car keys by leaving them unattended.

Leave everything but the car key & some cash back in the car, and enjoy the park. Makes for a more enjoyable day I've found.

[Brad2912]

20 minutes ago, pushbutton said:

You're very trusting!  There's no way I'd rusk my phone, wallet, house keys and car keys by leaving them unattended.

I don’t see it as trusting, I choose not to live a life thinking everyone is out to get me. 

My phone has insurance, I don’t carry cash only my card, my car is insured if they managed to find it somehow in the carpark. Worst case scenario I am slightly inconvenienced if some asshat decides to go through my bag - I cancel my cards. 

My bag isn’t in a dark walkway, it’s in a public area with hundreds of eyes around, most opportunistic thieves are looking for easy options, which that isn’t. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I also like to play a game called 'nappy roulette'.

Do you want to go digging through a couple of "apparently used" nappies in the nappy bag, in the hope that one contains a wallet, and not a god awful stench?

Sometimes the gun has a bullet, sometimes it doesn't - you wanna risk it?

As for the trust factor, it is possible i suppose for thieves to watch a group leave their belongings and head out of sight. The catch is whether anyone comes back. I can instantly spot where my stuff is from across the other side of the pool, so as soon as it comes into view, I can tell if anyone is near it. You'd need eyes in the back of your head to make sure i wasn't coming - and there aren't many exits from a theme park if you get caught.

If theft of personal belongings was a REAL big issue in the waterparks, don't you think we'd see heaps more signs from the park 'do not leave valuables unattended in every damn direction to try and appease those who would hold them liable? I'm sure the odd pickpocket does the rounds, but you have to be a bit stupid to try it in a waterpark as a general rule.

[joz]

It happens a lot more than you think, and you're a fool if you think it'll never happen to you.

 

You've got to decide if it's worth the hassle when your stuff is stolen. If you decide that spending $10 for a locker per visit is less preferable to being without your stuff for however long it takes to be replaced and lodge insurance claims then so be it. Seriously life your life the way you want to live it. Just don't be shocked when it happens.

 

As to the original point; I went with a group of 4 of us and we shared a locker. Per cap wise we spent $2.50 each on a locker.

 

And a final point, every 2 bit council has a 'Water Park' these days. WnW and WWW can't just be water slide parks anymore, they have to be water theme parks. That'll take effort that so far no one has been willing to put in.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

20 minutes ago, joz said:

As to the original point; I went with a group of 4 of us and we shared a locker. Per cap wise we spent $2.50 each on a locker.

But Pushbutton has to spend $10! Because he goes by himself!

*i neither ask nor invite anyone to speculate why that is the case, and am just repeating what has been stated previously by the user in question.

[pushbutton]

39 minutes ago, AlexB said:

But Pushbutton has to spend $10! Because he goes by himself!

*i neither ask nor invite anyone to speculate why that is the case, and am just repeating what has been stated previously by the user in question.

I'll be sure to invite you next time I go.

[Jobe]

54 minutes ago, joz said:

It happens a lot more than you think, and you're a fool if you think it'll never happen to you.

 

You've got to decide if it's worth the hassle when your stuff is stolen. If you decide that spending $10 for a locker per visit is less preferable to being without your stuff for however long it takes to be replaced and lodge insurance claims then so be it. Seriously life your life the way you want to live it. Just don't be shocked when it happens.

As to the original point; I went with a group of 4 of us and we shared a locker. Per cap wise we spent $2.50 each on a locker.

 

Fair point Joz and one that I echo.

It may not happen to you but it certainly DOES happen. If you feel that its worth the risk then who are we to judge.  Go for it. I for one, am not willing to take that risk as I have seen first hand several times instances of stolen items from parks , and beaches from people who did not mitigate the risk. 

We travel to Jamberoo on a yearly trip with about 8 families. We simply buy one locker and we all put our various phones, wallets and valuables in this. Cost is negligible. However, even if we were  on our own as a family, I have and would always take the locker option. In my mind , its simply the safest and smartest option to take

[Brad2912]

To each their own I guess. 

In 12 years of visiting the theme parks, and 20+ years of going to the beach I’ve never had an issue with leaving values in a backpack. 

I guess the old adage that every visit without an issue is one closer to the inevitable happening, but I guess I am conditioned now to not having issues so will continue on my merry way until something untowards happens.