Press Release Formerly Wild... now it's raging! Sydney's largest waterpark is now Raging Waters Sydney

[Parkz News]

Formerly Wild... now it's raging! Sydney's largest waterpark is now Raging Waters Sydney

New Name, New Ride, and VIP Amenities Announced for 2019 – 2020 Season.

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[Jobe]

Well at least we now know why they removed 2 of the Aqualoop slides on the left hand side of that tower. Makes perfect sense. Good option. Will try and visit in Summer to check it out!! 

[Mc coaster]

I definitely would have rather them kept the name WNWS just because it what I’m used to and I know most other people are going to keep calling it that anyway but its ok. I think the new slide will be a very welcome addition being the first slide added since opening i am also excited to see White Water west’s take on the proslide flying sauces which this seems to resemble. 

[Jobe]

52 minutes ago, Mc coaster said:

I definitely would have rather them kept the name WNWS just because it what I’m used to and I know most other people are going to keep calling it that anyway but its ok. I think the new slide will be a very welcome addition being the first slide added since opening i am also excited to see White Water west’s take on the proslide flying sauces which this seems to resemble. 

Mmmmm....saucy!!!!!!!!

[pushbutton]

1 hour ago, Mc coaster said:

I definitely would have rather them kept the name WNWS just because it what I’m used to and I know most other people are going to keep calling it that anyway but its ok. I think the new slide will be a very welcome addition being the first slide added since opening i am also excited to see White Water west’s take on the proslide flying sauces which this seems to resemble. 

If McDonald's sells one of its restaurants to you, you don't get to keep calling it McDonald's! 

Unless of course you're a franchisee, but that's not applicable here. 

[Gazza]

Agree, its not like the Paramount parks kept their names when Cedar Fair bought them out,  nor did the Six Flags parks that were sold in the 2000s keep their names.

[Mc coaster]

4 hours ago, Jobe said:

Mmmmm....saucy!!!!!!!!

Hahahaha didn’t even notice meant to say saucers. 

 

4 hours ago, pushbutton said:

If McDonald's sells one of its restaurants to you, you don't get to keep calling it McDonald's! 

Unless of course you're a franchisee, but that's not applicable here. 

I mean if they could have keep the name then why not. I don’t think it is worth the name change if it is just so it matches some other water parks owned by them. The park is known by everyone as WNW and it will confuse a lot of people. Anyway I don’t mind it I am not trying to be negative about the name or the changes they are making on the contrary I am happy they are choosing to invest and change the park to make it there own and can’t wait to see what is In store for the future.

[pushbutton]

4 hours ago, Mc coaster said:

Hahahaha didn’t even notice meant to say saucers. 

 

I mean if they could have keep the name then why not. I don’t think it is worth the name change if it is just so it matches some other water parks owned by them. The park is known by everyone as WNW and it will confuse a lot of people. Anyway I don’t mind it I am not trying to be negative about the name or the changes they are making on the contrary I am happy they are choosing to invest and change the park to make it there own and can’t wait to see what is In store for the future.

You misunderstood my message. The new owner was, in all likelihood, legally required to change the name of the park, whether they wanted to or not.

They could not choose to keep the name! 

Edited July 2, 2019 by pushbutton

[Mc coaster]

4 hours ago, pushbutton said:

You misunderstood my message. The new owner was, in all likelihood, legally required to change the name of the park, whether they wanted to or not.

They could not choose to keep the name! 

Do we know that for certain though considering other WNW branded Water Parks have kept there branding after being sold by VRTP e.g WNW Las Vegas.

[Gazza]

It would be too problematic having different companies using the same name in a market as small as Australia.

Also, whoever the social media manager is at both parks will have to be constantly reminding guests "No sorry, we have the same name but are different ownership, please direct your comment elsewhere, no your pass isn't valid here either"

It would be like the SeaWorld / Sea World "no we don't have orcas" thing.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Gazza

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Indeed. I was just reading a case this week in the federal court regarding trademarks - Monster Energy Drink thought people would be confused by a company selling an alloy car wheel called Monster Wheels... because as you can see - they're so similar.

If you're interested, Monster Energy Drink didn't win their case... but in the same industry, it'd be a nightmare.

http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2019/923.html

 

[pushbutton]

As far as I'm concerned, Monster Energy  Drink is basically engine coolant. Not the same thing as wheels, but it is broadly the same industry! 😉

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I don't know what engine coolant tastes like (i'll take your word for it Push), but it certainly wouldn't be an effective coolant- at least, not any more effective than water.

[New display name]

Warm beer, Coolant, Tea.  What don't poms drink? 😂

[Richard]

Village doesn't own the Wet'n'Wild name in the US so that's a different set of circumstances.

The Sydney local market directly impacts the Gold Coast tourism market unlike regional US water parks that have no bearing whatsoever on each other. Maintaining complete ownership of the Wet'n'Wild name in Australia would have been very important to Village in this deal.

Not sure why anyone would feel disappointed about losing the WNW name in Sydney. VRTP did their very best to destroy the brand and associated goodwill with that park.

It's just a name, logically it was always going to happen and it's in everyone's best interests. Village can restore faith in the WNW brand by investing at the Gold Coast (we're waiting...), Parques Reunidos can draw a line in the sand and operate Raging Waters without the baggage of six failed seasons (they get to disappoint people on their own terms).

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

46 minutes ago, Richard said:

Village can restore faith in the WNW brand by investing at the Gold Coast (we're waiting...)

This.

With every other property on the coast getting some love in one form or another (including Paradise Country), Wet N Wild Gold Coast is the elephant in the room that everyone at VRTP is hoping so desperately that we'll just ignore.

The park is literally littered with failed previous attempts at investment -

Mach 5 tower still stands rusting.

WnW Buggy is abandoned (at least the beach volleyball court looked like it was available to use if you came prepared)

The Flying Fox sticks out like a sore thumb

Whirlpool Springs is a shadow of what it once was - no reason was ever given by the park for keeping it in Winter mode year-round.

Black Hole - assuming a similar age to Mach 5 and Sidewinders continues without a shade sail, indicative that it's been abandoned, and will likely succumb as soon as it is deemed too expensive to continue running.

Even Dive In Movies - the screen still sits atop the wave pool, gently rusting away. This would be something that could be reinstated very quickly with the acquisition of a new projector... or better yet with the modern technology for daylight LED screens, perhaps they could install a big screen they could use during the day as well - and show an afternoon \ early evening dive in movie before the usual sunset timeslot, meaning the park could open longer in summer, but not as long as they used to? Start the screening at 4:30pm, so the film is done by 6:30 for those with little kids, with the park closed by 7?

WhiteWater Mountain and Constrictor sit atop an old tower (that reeks of piss) at the top of a hill whose path is too steep to walk, and divided between the two attractions, which should have been overhauled when constrictor was built.

There is so much land in the Extreme H2O zone that it's such a missed opportunity to build an entirely new 'precinct' out there with the latest and greatest technology. its a blank canvas, and yet, we continue to pretend Wet N Wild doesn't exist.

Everyone laughed at Dreamworld announcing a new 'shaded seating area' - but wet n wild has so much shaded seating - some with a cost (cabanas everywhere) and others not (marquees with picnic tables and BBQ facilities). There are so many of them the park has actually removed some marquees that simply don't get used, leaving a concrete slab filled with picnic tables out in the sun.

Whoops. this didn't start out as a rant, but god dammit I wish they'd do something with this park, and after this many years of neglect - a single slide isn't going to cut it - they need a whole new area with several slides, and they need it now.

Edited July 3, 2019 by AlexB
(expanded on my dive n movie idea)

[pushbutton]

But they don't really. Wet & Wild has lots of great slides, of different types. It has a wave pool, spas.

The main buildings were given a decent facelift a few years ago. 

The only things I'd like to see are a master-blaster type slide maybe  (but only maybe as there's already one at Whitewater World), and one or two decent quality restaurants. 

More importantly though, the changing rooms could really do with a major refurbishment, as they're disgusting! 

[New display name]

I said it 2 days ago and I'm willing to say it again.

On 01/07/2019 at 10:25 AM, Skeeta said:

Last time I went WnW GC I thought I was in the Bronx.

[pushbutton]

15 minutes ago, Skeeta said:

Last time I went WnW GC I thought I was in the Bronx.

I can see the similarity.

 

Well, they both have sky!

Edited July 3, 2019 by pushbutton

[New display name]

Great argument @pushbutton  You cut & pasted an old photo off the internet.

 

 

[pushbutton]

4 minutes ago, Skeeta said:

Great argument @pushbutton  You cut & pasted an old photo off the internet.

 

 

I did. Possibly the Bronx is totally different now. I don't know. Never been! 

WnW is the same though. 

[New display name]

Fair go @pushbuttonyou put up a random old photo from the internet.  DW looked great on opening day too.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

1 hour ago, pushbutton said:

But they don't really. Wet & Wild has lots of great slides, of different types. It has a wave pool, spas.

The main buildings were given a decent facelift a few years ago. 

The only things I'd like to see are a master-blaster type slide maybe  (but only maybe as there's already one at Whitewater World), and one or two decent quality restaurants. 

More importantly though, the changing rooms could really do with a major refurbishment, as they're disgusting! 

I'll gloss over the Aqua Racer replacement, as it really was like for like.

The last slide installation was Constrictor, in 2012. It replaced Terror Canyon I & II

WNW JR opened in 2014, it replaced the previous kids slides that (despite a 2005 refurbishment) had been around for decades

Aqualoop arrived in 2010, replacing both speed coaster and twister.

Prior to these, Kamikaze was the last slide installation that didn't replace something else, which opened in October 2008. For those who can't math, that was almost 11 years ago.

Prior to that, we got river rapids - a revamped white water mountain - but effectively another like-for-like, in 2007.

2006 gave us the extreme H2O zone - opening Mach 5, BlackHole and Tornado. 2 second hand slides - already very old tech, and one new one. Only one of these is likely to survive for much longer.

2005 saw the closure of the double screamer to make more room for buccaneer bay (now also replaced), the change to Mammoth from "plunge" to "river" (with Plunge moving to Sea World, now removed) which served to duplicate the existing 'river' on the other side of the tower, increasing capacity rather than introducing something new, and also in 2005 was the reopening of the refurbished buccaneer bay.

Whirlpool arrived in 2002.

In the 17 years since Whirlpool, we have seen 2 new slides that aren't either refurbishments, substitutes or replacements for old or aging infrastructure - Kamikaze and Tornado (and 2 "not new" slide sets - Mach 5 and Blackhole. Excluding the kids slide area, we've had 7 slide sets in total added, and 7 slide sets closed or removed. The park has trod water.

From 2005 to 2012, something new arrived every year, with the exception of 2009. Since 2012, we've had a new kids area. Don't tell me the place isn't stagnating, and isn't screaming for investment.

One thing I do agree with you on though - is the standard of the changing rooms and showers. It really shouldn't be that hard for them to bring in some demountable shower blocks and toilets, and to shut down the old block changerooms for a complete overhaul.

40 minutes ago, pushbutton said:

WnW is the same though. 

This is the problem. it's the same - nothing significant since 2012. Been there, done that. what's new to bring people back, or to offer something different?

9 minutes ago, pushbutton said:

To use Parkz forums, you either have to be very thick skinned, or just very thick. 

It is abundantly clear that you are not thick skinned.

[Gazza]

42 minutes ago, Skeeta said:

What are you on about @pushbutton? The photo was taken from the top of the kids slides.

It's got stock photo watermarks.

[New display name]

36 minutes ago, Gazza said:

It's got stock photo watermarks.

Yes.