Adventure Park Geelong Trip Report January 2019

[Jobe]

Continuing with my Trip reports from Melbourne/Victoria here is our day at Adventure Park Geelong.

The day we visited was quite a mild day with a top temp of around 26 degrees but there was a decent wind which made it seem cooler. Adventure Park is a bit of a trek to get to from Melbourne- from our apartment in St Kilda it was a 1 hour 16 minute journey. Easy to get to by car but much more difficult if you have to rely on public transport.

The tickets are based on height not age so my family attracted the top price with the total tickets coming to $178. Ouch.

Interestingly, the carpark is all grassed area with easy to navigate designated areas to park quite visible.

We bought our tickets and headed in. What struck us was the amount of covered areas for your bags etc- there were literally dozens of tables and chairs under large marquees where you could base yourself.  There was also a huge building that had at least 40 tables and chairs in a large open area which was adjacent to toilets/ change rooms and also lockers and the main food outlet area.

After settling on a space, we then booked a locker for our valuables. This cost $12 for all day but the system was quite practical. Where you paid, it assigned you a locker ( with handy card payment option) and then it asked how many wrist bands you required. We decided on 2 and then all you did was place the wrist band on your arm, select your locker and then the wrist band is assigned to that particular locker. No worry about remembering pin numbers or locker numbers. Very easy. Forgive me if other forum members are familiar with this type of system, but I had never seen it before. Extremely user friendly.

The first thing that strikes you about the park is the Ferris Wheel which dominates the skyline near the front. We rode this straight away as there was little to no queue ( and remained so throughout the day). It provided great views of the entire park and the surrounding area.

As you can see the main slide area is bounded by the lazy river which circumnavigates the entire area and passes underneath the racer slides.

We decided to do all the dry rides first up so the next stop was the Wave Swinger. This was a nicely presented smaller  unit ( I am unsure of the manufactuer of this one- @HussRainbow87 perhaps you can help out here?) with only 2 rows of riders. It featured murals of iconic world destinations as well as familiar Melbourne locations.

What I was surprised about this unit was that it had a weight limit of 104kg. To me, this was not overly heavy and I have never seen this specific a weight limit applied to a Wave Swinger before- can anyone answer if this is normal? I am assuming its the manufacturer's specifications and its size would be a factor but none of the other park Wave Swingers I have checked have a weight limit ( Aussie World's certainly does not). Curious. Anyway the kids loved this ride and got in 3 rides in quick succession.

We then moved on to where the remainder of the dry rides were located and rode the Crazy Coaster, another unit from SBF Visa. This unit differed from the LPM unit insofar that was a smaller figure 8 circuit whereas this included another helix. This remained popular all day , given its family nature, and once again , I was surprised at how good these rides are. This is a perfect installation for a small park such as Adventure Park.

The kids then tried the Little Buggy Speedway, which was well themed for what it was. I found it a little confusing that a park of this size has this for the kids yet there is no option for a full sized Dodgem set. Surely this would not be a huge capital cost but I guess there is the factor of riding this if you are wet or damp. This may play some part in their decision ( and Funfields) to not include Dodgems in their ride lineup. I guess they could look at including a Go Kart set up ( like Funfields) as a future attraction.

The park also has some old school retro attractions such as paddle boats on the lake. The kids loved these!

Speaking of old school attractions, anyone for archery?

The big new inclusion for this season was the standard run of the mill Tornado. These are becoming fairly anachronistic in Australia as most water parks seem to have an example.

This one has been installed with expansion on the left for another slide in mind for sure, but obviously the budget this time around did not include the conveyer for the cloverleaf rafts, I have to tell you, lugging one of these up by hand, is no mean feat and it was this fact alone that certainly kept ridership to a minimum throughout the day. I am sure this will be rectified in the future when Adventure Park installs an expansion slide into the ready made area.

 

The Aqua Racers are your standard mat racing slides- I always seem to get a mountain of airtime on this variety!

Bonito's Bay is your standard kids play area - it was well presented with cabana's available for hire on the periphery. It was a nice setup.

The Lazy river also hid access to premium cabanas on the other side, These were in an elevated position overlooking part of the Lazy river and included full fridges and TV's in each one. Very nice indeed!

The park also included on a separate island in the lake 2 x 18 hole mini golf courses. These were excellent and were also quite popular and were a great way to soak up a couple of hours as a family.

The last 2 major slides ,Wild West Canyon and Gold Rush Rapids , are enclosed raft slides. These ones are obviously original slides hearkening back to the earliest days of the park. Certainly do not see Wooden Towers much anymore!!! They both provided a good ride experience, operations were excellent and as a result, there was minimal lines.

Adventure Park is a park that is quite beautiful - it has well landscaped grounds and a picturesque lake in the middle. It has huge areas and huge potential for expansion- they are certainly not lacking in land options.

The food options were excellent and quite varied throughout the park- this was a bit surprising to see. The option to bring in esky's and your own picnic lunch is a welcome choice , especially for larger groups or families.

Its a park that is very old school in some of its attractions (paddle boats, Archery and Mini Golf) but this does nothing to undermine the charm that it has acquired. This park is on the cusp of becoming a larger player in the amusement market in Australia and they are really only another major slide and dry attraction from really putting themselves on the map. They dont quite match up to FunFields offering ( more on this later) at this particular time, however, I can see them really challenging this status quo in the years to come.

The somewhat strange ( to me ) combination of water park and traditional amusements is of course driven by Victoria's weather and its high seasonality for water rides. It does work but it means that they are going to have to continue adding dry and water attractions back to back to maintain some sense of equilibrium. 

The park was also open to 6pm during holidays in the summer to take advantage of the later day light that Victoria enjoys. This was excellent and something that Wet 'n' Wild Sydney and Jamberoo should take note of.

All in all, we had an excellent time at Adventure Park and for families , it really is a great day trip. I would definitely recommend a visit!

 

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by Jobe

[Www worker 3.0]

So to your understanding wnw GC is also a pain in the ass for thier tornado? 

[Jobe]

11 hours ago, Www worker 3.0 said:

So to your understanding wnw GC is also a pain in the ass for thier tornado? 

Not having been to Wet'N'Wild Gold Coast for at least 10 years but if you are required to carry the cloverleaf raft up the stairs by hand ,then yes it is definitely a pain in the arse. Especially when parks such as Jamberoo, Whitewater world , Wet and Wild Sydney all have automated conveyor belts to take the raft up. Why wouldnt you find it a pain in the arse?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I have a distinct memory of riding Tornado in September 2004 - but apparently my memory is wrong, as the Wiki says it opened in September 2006. This is only about 3 months before the Green Room opened in White Water World (WWW opened in December 2006) - and that just doesn't seem right - but according to the forums it is...

I just felt like the Tornado was so much older than all the others, and kinda felt this explained why it didn't have a conveyor when all the others did. I realise Mammoth had a conveyor several years before the Tornado arrived, but being the mammoth are such a large raft, it wasn't really possible to carry them.

Who knows? Maybe WWW already had their order in, and ProSlide couldn't deliver another conveyor, so WnW's race to market before WWW opened meant they had to forgo the conveyor? Realistically though, the design of the WnW Tornado probably couldn't accommodate a conveyor - the enclosed section is laid out differently to Green Room, and I don't think you'd get one in. Who made that decision or why, no idea - but there it is.

I've seen two kids carry the cloverleaf up the stairs. it IS a pain in the arse, but its not overly heavy - just bulky.

[Jobe]

16 minutes ago, AlexB said:

I have a distinct memory of riding Tornado in September 2004 - but apparently my memory is wrong, as the Wiki says it opened in September 2006. This is only about 3 months before the Green Room opened in White Water World (WWW opened in December 2006) - and that just doesn't seem right - but according to the forums it is...

I just felt like the Tornado was so much older than all the others, and kinda felt this explained why it didn't have a conveyor when all the others did. I realise Mammoth had a conveyor several years before the Tornado arrived, but being the mammoth are such a large raft, it wasn't really possible to carry them.

Who knows? Maybe WWW already had their order in, and ProSlide couldn't deliver another conveyor, so WnW's race to market before WWW opened meant they had to forgo the conveyor? Realistically though, the design of the WnW Tornado probably couldn't accommodate a conveyor - the enclosed section is laid out differently to Green Room, and I don't think you'd get one in. Who made that decision or why, no idea - but there it is.

I've seen two kids carry the cloverleaf up the stairs. it IS a pain in the arse, but its not overly heavy - just bulky.

Yeah I cant remember riding the Tornado at Wet"N Wild GC at all- it must have been longer since I was there!! The Clover Leaf rafts are not overly heavy true but they are very bulky and difficult to ascend a narrow stair with. This is hampered even more if there is a decent wind as well. The best technique we found was to roll them up the stairs- this kept greater control and could be better managed by just 2 people.

WnW Hawaii's Tornado you also had to manually carry as well, so its not an uncommon issue. I guess when you find an example that is automated , it certainly is a welcome relief. It certainly, in my mind, is cause for considering WWW's example The Green Room to be superior , just on this feature alone.

[aaronm]

17 hours ago, Jobe said:

Where you paid, it assigned you a locker ( with handy card payment option) and then it asked how many wrist bands you required. We decided on 2 and then all you did was place the wrist band on your arm, select your locker and then the wrist band is assigned to that particular locker. No worry about remembering pin numbers or locker numbers. Very easy.

I have seen this system in action at Holiday World as well, very handy, wish more parks would do it!

[Paula]

17 hours ago, Jobe said:

I guess they could look at including a Go Kart set up ( like Funfields) as a future attraction.

Adventure Park used to have Go Karts but removed them a number of years ago.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, Jobe said:

I guess when you find an example that is automated , it certainly is a welcome relief. It certainly, in my mind, is cause for considering WWW's example The Green Room to be superior , just on this feature alone.

This is, however, flip-sided by the fact that Green-room queues on the stairwell - exposed and shivering up high in the air, with minimal shelter from wind and sun, whereas Tornado's main queue is on the ground, screened from wind, and with shadesails covering most of the queue, while you wait for a raft. The stair climb is then pretty quick, albeit lugging a raft.

Additionally, the green-room stairs are shared. Although the original design of the tower had two stairwells for the two slides on the tower (super-tubes is the other), the addition of Wedgie divided the stairs into a 'yellow' and 'green' side. Unfortunately this doesn't always work, and those wanting to ride Wedgie are sometimes prevented from reaching the slide by groups waiting for Green Room.

This strategy was clearly adopted for Wet N Wild Sydney.

[Brad2912]

Great report! Thank @Jobe!

The entry price based on height is a curious one... I mean I understand the logic behind it, but I haven’t seen it utilised before. I’m not overly familiar with the smaller/regional parks however - is this pricing model used elsewhere?

$178 for a family does seem a little steep to me... largely due to the distance outside of the CBD, but it appears to offer enough to be a comfortable full day experience

[khadro]

14 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

The entry price based on height is a curious one... I mean I understand the logic behind it, but I haven’t seen it utilised before. I’m not overly familiar with the smaller/regional parks however - is this pricing model used elsewhere?

Luna Park Sydney uses height based wristband prices. They use three tiers.

[Paula]

1 hour ago, Brad2912 said:

The entry price based on height is a curious one... I mean I understand the logic behind it, but I haven’t seen it utilised before. I’m not overly familiar with the smaller/regional parks however - is this pricing model used elsewhere?

Funfields also use Height to determine entry. 

[Tim Dasco]

Just on he topic of confused belts, the tornado was designed with one in mind and you can tell the pool has been built for one to be installed. But they just haven’t built it yet.

[Jobe]

51 minutes ago, Tim Dasco said:

Just on he topic of confused belts, the tornado was designed with one in mind and you can tell the pool has been built for one to be installed. But they just haven’t built it yet.

Yes Tim I am aware of that and mentioned that fact in the trip report here:

21 hours ago, Jobe said:

This one has been installed with expansion on the left for another slide in mind for sure, but obviously the budget this time around did not include the conveyer for the cloverleaf rafts, I have to tell you, lugging one of these up by hand, is no mean feat and it was this fact alone that certainly kept ridership to a minimum throughout the day. I am sure this will be rectified in the future when Adventure Park installs an expansion slide into the ready made area.

 

[Jobe]

On 30/01/2019 at 12:32 PM, Paula said:

Adventure Park used to have Go Karts but removed them a number of years ago.

Thanks for the info Paula. How long ago were they removed? Were they similar to Funfield's karts at all?

[Paula]

10 hours ago, Jobe said:

Thanks for the info Paula. How long ago were they removed? Were they similar to Funfield's karts at all?

From memory they were removed around 2014. 

 

[Jobe]

On 02/02/2019 at 12:24 PM, Paula said:

From memory they were removed around 2014. 

 

Cheers for the video Paula!! Where in the park were the karts located?

[Paula]

On 04/02/2019 at 4:39 PM, Jobe said:

Cheers for the video Paula!! Where in the park were the karts located?

Hi Jobe, the old Go Karts were located where the Red Baron & Crazy Coaster are now