Snowy River Rampage themagician I know there is not really any new info as such in the articles (as I said I was not expecting any of you to be surprised) but as you said Richard it is the first time this angle has been published, unfortunately. Self care and ideas to help you live a healthier, happier life. Granted, it's the first time it's been published (what are the sources of the articles, by the way? Wobbies World in Melbourne's east opened in 1970 and closed in 1999. The park had three separate themed areas, including Hanna-Barbera Land, which featured rides and attractions based on characters such as Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones. "At lower elevations, where it did not snow He said Merimbula's Magic Mountain attraction was also considering subdividing parts of its land for residential development. He said some of the rides will stem from the now defunct Wonderland Sydney, such as the Bush Beast, but will harness cutting edge technology as well as setting new boundaries. Sydney's Wonderland is set to give our Queensland folk, a run for their money. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. ), but I don't think it's something that can be seen as. Visitors were told that the rides were being relocated to the remaining section, so that they would be closer (as the rides were spaced apart). 1996. Amidst record attendance set as a result of the announcement of the closure, Wonderland says goodbye. 16 February 2004The Sunway company announced that International Theme Park Pty. Mr Eddy said yesterday his park had just registered its best summer holiday period, and visitor numbers were soaring. Originally known as. Vekoma said it was not uncommon for its rides to remain in service for decades at a time. 09/03/04 - What do you think of Australia's Wonderland closing down? July 3 2004The Demon was completing several cycles.Snowy river rampage geysers where operating.Aug 7 2004The space probe and the demon were operating and the guysers on the snowy river rampage where going off. 01/01/92 - Bursting At The Themes; . Wonderland Sydney was a theme park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Magic Mountain at Gold Coasts Nobbys Beach was built in 1962 and closed in 1991. Your Rating. "There is always something fascinating about abandoned places," Watts said. Taking the technology and making it move in a different direction.. No claim is made as to the accuracy or currency of the content on this site at any time. You cannot paste images directly. Wonderland, Sydney. Charlene. Mr Eddy expects Wonderland's closure to benefit his business, although he admits he is sad to see the icon go. Once the largest amusement park in the southern hemisphere "where there was magic on every corner", the Wonderland management company, Sunway Group, blamed a multitude of factors for its closure including the September 11 attacks and the collapse of Ansett. Magic Kingdom Amusement Park. Sunway Group, who managed Wonderland, blamed a multitude of factors for its closure including the September 11 attacks and the collapse of Ansett Australia. The beauty of the SARS et al excuses is that they are actually quite true. Wonderland Sydney, then known as Australia's Wonderland opened amid much media attention and publicity on 7 December 1985 with financial backing from the New South Wales State Superannuation Board, James Hardie, Leighton Holdings and Taft Broadcasting (through Kings Entertainment Company)[3] at Eastern Creek on the junction of Wallgrove Road and the M4 Motorway. It is now the site of the Forest Hill police station. 15/06/91 - Holiday fun with famous Wrestlers; 1992. Music by Jonny Higgins - http://www.jonnyhiggins.com/contact/For a lot of Australian's Wonderland Sydney is ingrained in their childhood, but internationally. When we took over eight years ago, the park's future was uncertain, Since then, we have lifted the overall performance of the park, completely rebuilt its image and brand awareness but this had not been enough. Date: 18/02/2004 Closed in 1998. Your link has been automatically embedded. Speaking to Nine News at the time, Mr Naylor said visiting the site brought back memories he had as a child. Wonderland's lack of branding also meant the park could not harness valuable merchandising sales. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. Wonderland Sydney is set to be operating within 3 to 5 years time. TBoy Bush Beasts Red PTC Train and two Yellow PTC carrages in the back paddock behind Minchinbury reservoir. [1] Officially opened in December 1985 by the Premier of New South Wales, Neville Wran,[2] the park was the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is kind of like having a foot but you dont know the exact shoe size., SYDNEY WALK-THRU JUNKYARD THAT HAS EVERYTHING. Why did wonderland shut down? At the time it was the largest open air amusement park in the southern hemisphere. International guests aren't attracted to Australian theme parks by big thrill rides, they are attracted by uniqueness, diversity and in particular wildlife. But it was so popular I really wanted to explore it. August 2005Site access is granted after 5 months of delays. Bounty's Revenge was dismantled and sent to Sunway Lagoon. Produced by Kings Entertainment Company. Anzac Day - April 25, 2004The gates shut for the last time. While Intamin's Giant Drop failed to live on after Wonderland, its Bounty ride which operating in Wonderland as the Bounty's Revenge was also shipped to Sunway Lagoon. The park featured alarge lake with an island, steam train, go-karts and merry-go-round. For many years, Wonderland's flagship ride was 'The Bush Beast' which was the largest wooden roller coaster in Australia. Ninety per cent of what I want (for the master plan) I already have, Mr Bakas, operations manager of Orlandos Walt Disney World, said. Its headline feature was a jungle boat cruise which allowed visitors to pass large concrete dinosaurs, with speakers set into the grass. What did you think of Wonderland Sydney? Western Sydney resident Chris Watts spent 19 years living a short drive from amusement park Wonderland. Friday August 26, 2005The Beastie was demolished. it had had lions, tigers, bears, elephants and giraffes. After Wonderland shut Watts roamed the abandoned lot and took the liberty of entering sections of the park that were off-limits to visitors when it was open, including climbing to the top of The Beastie roller coaster structure. 2001-02: 165,400 April 28, 2004"Wonderland IS CLOSED" sgin in the carpark. In September 2015 the proposal received financial backing with a $1 billion cash injection from a consortium of investors via the multinational, Fox Petroleum Limited.[28]. The ride was sold in 2005 to Fly Coaster, a small. Don't have an account? Wonderland's 400 employees would get their full entitlements and help to find new jobs.Stephen Galbraith. It is now the site of the Forest Hill police station. At its peak the amusement park featured 24 rides across five themed sections. It remained open for over 18 years and was the premier theme park in New South Wales for much of its life until its closure in 2004. According to Khan, the construction of the Park would take three years. Property News:Sunny playground where the growth is only just beginning - domain.com.au, Your web browser is no longer supported. In 2004, the theme park closed its doors. Well-known circus family, the Bullens, also had other lion parks in NSW, Queensland and South Australia. Australia's Wonderland's predecessor, Magic Kingdom Amusement Park opened in the 1970s and promised a massive day out for just $6. Also interesting to read about Jamberoo and Magic Mountain - a great example of the difference between capital and no capital expenditure. The park shut its doors in 2005 citing financial woes. [9], The entry way signage at the time of closure, featuring Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk, was sold to a junkyard in Londonderry in Sydney's north west where it remains today.[10]. Badgerys Creek is ideal but the sites are still under investigation, he said. Domestic tourism accounted for 96 per cent of the park's business, and 68 per cent of visitors were from Sydney. Sega World Sydney (1997-2000) Tomteland, Williamtown; White City, Rushcutters Bay; Wonderland City (1906-1911) Wonderland Sydney, Eastern Creek (1985-2004) Queensland. A spokeswoman for Intamin told nine.com.au the amusement company lost track of the Giant Drop after it was removed from Wonderland. After this contract expired, the ride dropped the '7' from its name). Cox says Wonderland also suffered because of its Eastern Creek location. 29 / 37. DECEMBER 18 2004The Wonderland Sign above the front gate was taken down and sold for $1,000 to a Junkyard in Londonderry. A 'Parachute Tower' built by Vekoma, the Skyhawk consisted of four cars; two for sitting passengers, two for standing. It remained open for over 18 years and was the premier theme park in New South Wales for much of its life until its closure in 2004. Started February 23, By The park included the Big Dipper roller-coaster,mini golf, ice cream kiosk and a miniature railway. The park was sold in 1997 to the Kuala Lumpur, based Sunway Group. Political turmoil, uneven ride quality, and a lack of attendance caused the massive park to. More than often new trains and improvements to keep the ride up-to-date are recommended," a spokeswoman said. Also thought it was interesting to hear from Neil Balnaves and it pleases me that he is obviously well aware of the need for capital investment in a park. All this mess with lawsuits to play out helped cause the lateness of the approvals to demo rest of the park which then caused heat for a certain ex-Wonderland CEO. Wonderland was designed in the late 1970s. Reporting on what you care about. Okay, so the official reason given by the park was that it was a combination of a downturn in air-travel post 9/11, SARS, Bird-Flu, HIH Insurance collapse, (stuff outside it's control). He describes its closure as a tragedy. Richard - the source, author and date for each article are written underneath each of the bold headlines. Plans for the park include a water park, a wildlife park and the return of the Wonderland. The budget supermarket chain has done it again, sparking a frenzy over its latest Special Buys just in time for the holidays. The park featured dolphin shows, similar to Sea World at the time, and closed due to financial issues. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. An electric track used to propel scaled-down, 'Bounty's Revenge' opened 1985. However, media lambasted the company for using those as scapegoats for poor management. A former employee made a list of what happened to some of the rides. The 100ha site in western Sydney was worth about $100million, and its owners could make more money from subdividing the site than they could from a theme park, he said. The main attraction was its four water slides, particularly during the hot Adelaide summers. Im really surprised with how much stuff is still there, he said. 'Funnel Web' opened in 1985, and removed in 1990. It takes another player out of the market." There was an error submitting the form. While few probably still play this game or even heard of it, it was one of the few turn based MMORPGs out there. Featured as the world's tallest and fastest free-fall ride at the time, Space Probe quickly became a crowd favourite with guests often queueing up for almost an hour to ride the attraction that lasted only 3.8 seconds as it dropped guests at 120km/h. Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe was so impressed with the honesty of a liquor he tasted while working in Dublin he bought shares in the company. Australia's Wonderland Sydney - TV Commercial 1987 Watch on Children's author and good friend Andrew Levins has spent some time in lockdown researching the history of Wonderland, 35 years after it first opened, and shared some of his stories on Hope Breakfast. The area would also see the opening of Eastern Creek Raceway in 1990 as the Sydney metropolitan area expanded to the west. ``We had 91,000 visitors over December and January, compared to 81,500 last year and 79,600 the year before." The heartbroken family of Matthew Eakin, who died on the K2 in Pakistan, has made a desperate plea for help to retrieve his body. They may have made a verbal agreement to get things moving but verbal agreements can have a nasty habit of changing or disappearing. Perhaps put more eloquently than Daniel, but yeah, there was really nothing there that is terribly new. The only ride installed after the Sunway Group acquisition of the park, the Skyway was the old cable car from the old Sydney Showgrounds stretching from Goldrush to Hanna-Barbera Land. From foraging for food to prepping for an apocalypse, holidaying in the metaverse and bondage retreats: Youll never believe the holidays Aussies are most excited for in 2023. Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. I honestly think I would have gone to Wonderland every second day in the school holidays. 12 February 2004ING Industrial Fund teamed up with The PacLib Group to buy wonderland.Hartford Lane Pty Ltd entered into a Put and Call Option Deed with Paclib Industrial Pty Ltd to dispose off Wonderland Sydney, the land measuring 58.87 hectares (Lot 11, Plan 1025320) and buildings, structures and theme park rides thereon for a total of $52.5 million AUD, excluding Goods and Services Tax, paying $10 million at exchange and the balance payable on settlement in January 2005.Hartford Lane Pty Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eastern Glory Enterprises Ltd.Hartford being the Trustee of Sunway Australia Unit Trust , the registered owner of the Property. You can post now and register later. Theme park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Mother's Consumer Guide to Australia's Wonderland, New South Wales State Superannuation Board, 'A visit to Wonderland 12/10/2004 after closure', "The lights go out at Wonderland, where millions got their thrills", "Australia's loneliest camel gets a new home", "Wonderland History: Demolition Timeline", "Theme Parks, Australian Theme Parks | Parkz Theme Parks", 'Australia's Wonderland Sydney Space Probe', 'Australia's Wonderland Sydney Blinky Bill Show', "Sydney's Wonderland to be a superpark on par with Gold Coast's theme park strip", "Sydney's Wonderland theme park set to make its home in the west", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wonderland_Sydney&oldid=1137703503, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, "Greatest Fun You'll Ever Have" (19851986), "Too Much Fun To Have In One Day" (19871988), "Wouldn't it be wonderful if the world was Wonderland (19881995), "No Wonder They Call It Wonderland" (19951998), 'The Beastie' opened 19852002. Saturday August 27 6am, 2005The Bushbeast was demolished.One of the steal cables from the Sky Rider was taken down and wrapped around the bushbeast and then connected to two D9 bulldozers which tried to pull the bush beast over, the bulldozers moved towards the Snowy River Rampage pushing everything in there path into the Snowy River Rampage with the cable around the Bush Beast and a dozer on each end of the cable they tried to pull the Bush Beast over, The Bush Beast did not go down without a fight, the SkyRider cable snapped several times and in the end they just drove the dozers through the supports with the structure coming down behind them.. Monday August 29, 2005 They started seperating Bush Beasts sleel track from the wood and demolished the station. November 2004The Lake was drained, there was heaps of stuff under there that had fallen out of people'e pockets over the years while on Bountys Revenge. Summer holiday (Dec - Jan) figures: Mr Bakas is closely monitoring a new $5.5 billion theme park in China called Shanghai Disney Resort which opened last month. Owners say the threat of terrorism, coupled with skyrocketing insurance premiums, SARS and the Asian bird flu have all taken their toll on the number of visitors to the park. GoGoBoy, Lewis Carroll's classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, starts with a plunge down a hole in pursuit of a white rabbit before things turn "curiouser and curiouser." Adventure Parc, Tamborine Mountain; Amazons Aquatic Adventureland, Jindalee - closed down in 2001, the site has since become Centenary Quays, a gated community To improve your experience. He cited events including September 11, the Ansett and HIH collapses, bushfires and SARS. A small lake equipped with paddle boats. Dreamworld did well to counter this with very well times thrill and family attractions. Discover unique things to do, places to eat, and sights to see in the best destinations around the world with Bring Me! It is now a housing estate, with the only reference to it being a street called Leisureland Drive. "Overall the theme park industry is in great shape," he says. On several occasions in the period between the park's closure and its demolition, he jumped its fence and roamed the abandoned acreage. Something for everyone interested in hair, makeup, style, and body positivity. [4] Today, the five Paramount Parks continue successful operation, purchased in 2006 by amusement park operator Cedar Fair. Wonderland Sydney (originally known as Australia's Wonderland), was an amusement park in Eastern Creek, Sydney, Australia. Wonderland City was an amusement park located at Tamarama, on Wonderland Avenue near the point at which it joins Fletcher Street, in Sydney, Australia. Canada's Wonderland will retire its standup roller-coaster SkyRider on Sept. 1 to make way for a new attraction. The four cars would be pulled to the top of a 30-metre tower, then released. WORLDS of Wonder is destined to propel Western Sydney to the nation's top theme park destination, knocking off the Gold Coast. The content of this website is provided for information purposes only. It was sad to look out and see there really was nothing left of it. The park appears to have been abandoned since 2015. A new 'veloway' is welcome news for Melbourne's cyclists. Western Sydney resident Chris Watts spent 19 . Display as a link instead, This decision was taken in view of persistent losses incurred and difficult market conditions. log in. Grundys, on the Surfers Paradise beachfront, opened in 1981 and closed in 1993. 27/04/04 - Laughter turns to tears as sun sets on Wonderland, 23/07/04 - Family seeks theme park ticket refund. BuzzFeed Staff, Australia. 19/09/86 - Why Wonderland is riding the J-Curve; 1991. We couldnt get the smiles off our faces, he said of the visit. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. [5] Sydney Morning Herald stated that Sunway Group "blames Wonderland's demise on everything except poor management". It had several attractions including the popular Gee-Wizz ride, flying boats, merry-go-rounds, shooting and archery galleries. June 17th 2004Wonderland became a danger-land training environment for soldiers of 5 Bdes Reserve Response Force (RRF) during the conduct of Exercise Ferris Wheel.The space probe, demon and the snowy river rampage where reported to be seen operating from outside the park. After being installed at the Malaysian theme park in 2005 it was rebranded the Pirate's Revenge and remains one of the park's most popular attractions. Sunway Group, who managed Wonderland, blamed a multitude of factors for its closure including the September 11 attacks and the collapse of Ansett Australia. March 10, 2004 in Theme Park Discussion, I have found a couple of articles which give a far more accurate account of why Wonderland is closing and the deceptiveness behind it. When it shut its doors to the public in April 2004, he wasn't quite ready to let go of his childhood. The developers sought to provide an alternative to the troubled Luna Park Sydney, which had opened and closed multiple times in its recent history. Here Are 21 Photos of Wonderland After The Theme Park Closed Its Doors To The Public. Overseas attendees provide a better yield once they pass through the gates, with Japanese visitors the best spenders. close its doors. Crowd pleasers Galleon's Graveyard was dismantled and taken off site by its new owner. 'Scooby's Silly Stix' opened in 1985. Serendipity Fun Park in Devonport opened in 1988, but closed only 16 months later, after facing financialproblems. Clear editor. He found these particularly fascinating, and has even applied some of the technological principles to his own tech business. 3.8 . Several rides were closed in 2002 due to the reduction in operational area of the park. Little Monsters Flying School was dismantled and taken off site by its new owner. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Sydney's Luna Park has closed and re-opened numerous times. We hold major institutions accountable and expose wrongdoing. SUNWAY CLOSURE OF WONDERLAND SYDNEY; The Final Day; The Last Day; A visit to Wonderland 12/10/2004 after closure; Demolition Time Line; Wonderland Galleries; Wonderland History; Wonderland Wedding; Retail Plaza Marvel Spider-Man dome Removal 2004, Wonderland Items at Valley View Park Horse Riding. 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AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), abc.net.au/news/wonderland-to-close/136728, Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article, These engineers break their silenceafterdecade of criticism over2011 Queensland flood handling, Tens of thousands of pigs and buffalo pegged for mass culls in Kakadu, in bid to curb feral animals, With Russian forces closing, Svyat rolled the dice in the last days before Bakhmut fell, Anna called police to report an assault, but it backfired and she lost her home, Home ownership remains in fantasy territory for many. A look back at Australias forgotten theme parks. I think he is spot on. Half the size and height of, 'Antique Autos' opened 1985. mini golf, ice cream kiosk and a miniature railway. A steep sled slide, finishing in water. Subscribe for free to get the latest breaking news and analysis sent to your inbox. Mr Eddy said he believed development pressures, rather than hard times, had prompted Wonderland's closure. In 1995 Wonderland installed what was to become its new flagship attraction, the Space Probe a Giant Drop developed by Intamin that cost almost $10 million. Its main attraction was a figure-eight roller-coaster called Jazz Junction, with its track running overhead along the fifth level. In 2016, Sydney electrician Dave Naylor made a similar visit to the site with friends, describing the area as a boneyard of fond childhood memories. The park was modeled heavily around Canada's Wonderland, a theme park located north of Toronto, with both parks being constructed by Taft Broadcasting, a company which also owned Hanna-Barbera.