The most depressing thing was realising we were standing on the exact same spot where the actual Beastie used to be, he said, referring to the parks smaller wooden rollercoaster. 27/04/04 - Laughter turns to tears as sun sets on Wonderland, 23/07/04 - Family seeks theme park ticket refund. The park opened in 1997 and operated for four years. You can post now and register later. Closed in 1990 to make way for the Australian Wildlife Park. What we have available now is on such a different level.. 19/09/86 - Why Wonderland is riding the J-Curve; 1991. Only one ride, Skyrider which was the former cable car at the Sydney Showgrounds, was added between the 1997 takeover and the park's closure. 14. It was built in 1980 and closed after a decade of operating. Mr Eddy said the park was on track to exceeding 200,000 visitors this financial year - up from 170,000 in 2002-03 and 165,400 in 2001-02. "At a time when international tourists want to do Cape York to Melbourne in one day, Wonderland was too far out of Sydney," he says. It is now a housing estate, with the only reference to it being a street called Leisureland Drive. log in. [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. by Anna Mendoza. Watts also chanced upon piles of documentation that explained how some rides operated. [27] The main attraction was its four water slides, particularly during the hot Adelaide summers. Bullens African Lion Safari in Rockbank also operated during this time and, much like Ashtons,it had had lions, tigers, bears, elephants and giraffes. The land value has put the viability of the site for development way ahead of it being used as a theme park." DECEMBER 14, 2004The Demon lift was taken down. No claim is made as to the accuracy or currency of the content on this site at any time. Join the conversation, you are commenting as. Mr Eddy said yesterday his park had just registered its best summer holiday period, and visitor numbers were soaring. Relocated from, This page was last edited on 6 February 2023, at 00:58. A spokeswoman for Intamin told nine.com.au the amusement company lost track of the Giant Drop after it was removed from Wonderland. It takes another player out of the market." To improve your experience. 2002-03: 81,500 Most of the rides were sold to other amusement parks, while 'The Bush Beast', 'The Beastie' and 'The Snowy River Rampage' were demolished. Bounty's Revenge was dismantled and sent to Sunway Lagoon. Well-known circus family, the Bullens, also had other lion parks in NSW, Queensland and South Australia. It remained open for almost nineteen years and was the premier theme park in New South Wales for much of its life, but was closed in 2004 after becoming unprofitable, The last lot of stors close on the 5th of January 2009. he closed down the monasteries because they were over powering I honestly think I would have gone to Wonderland every second day in the school holidays. Sydney's Luna Park has closed and re-opened numerous times. This guy thought he could charge what he wanted ($500 an hour to be precise) because there was such urgency to get the Demon down and out. Join the conversation, you are commenting as. I saw things I remember clearly as a child, pieces of rides I used to love that were still just sitting there, fading.. Wonderland Sydney was a theme park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Since then, we have lifted the overall performance of the park, completely rebuilt its image and brand awareness but this had not been enough. Paclib Industrial Pty Ltd a special purpose vehicle with a paid-up share capital of A$2.00. Wonderland opened with three separate themed areas within the park: 'Goldrush', 'Medieval Faire' (later renamed Old Botany Bay), and 'Hanna-Barbera Land' (later renamed 'Little Wonders Land' in 20012002) which featured rides and attractions based on characters from Hanna-Barbera animation shows such as Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones. Other proposals just never progressed beyond the drawing board, including the $485million Studio City proposal for Melbourne's Docklands and the canning of Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede planned for Surfers Paradise. Photo Wonderland Eurasia. Wonderland Sydney (Closed) Sydney, Australia I've done Wonderland Sydney. Balnaves started working on feasibility studies for Wonderland in the early 1970s and opened the park in December 1984. Pasted as rich text. Overseas attendees provide a better yield once they pass through the gates, with Japanese visitors the best spenders. Subscribe for free to get the latest breaking news and analysis sent to your inbox. Many rides closed, the rest lacking quality, incomplete landscaping in places, and Lightspeed breaks down and has people evaced from the brake run. Originally known as. The new project to resurrect Wonderland Sydney has been earmarked for completion by 2021 with a new location in Western Sydney still to be finalised. The Demon, or Boomerang as it classified by manufacturers Vekoma, originally operated at the shorty lived World Expo in Brisbane in 1988 under the name Titan. Attractions included a waterslide, chairlift, double-decker carousel, plane ride and giant cargo nets. However, media lambasted the company for using those as, 'Celebration of unity': Thousands create history during WorldPride march, Reports indicating Stalin was murdered hidden for decades, WorldPride grand finale: Incredible show of unity for history-making march. That changed over the years to include Botany . September 2004Bush Beast and Beastie carriages where moved from the maintenance area, out to the back paddock behind Minchinbury reservoirBush Beasts Yellow PTC Train, minus two cars, under the cover of the stables in the back paddock behind Minchinbury reservoir. Childhood shattered. Wobbies World in Melbournes east opened in 1970 and closed in 1999. Keep up with the latest daily buzz with the BuzzFeed Daily newsletter! Your link has been automatically embedded. By Speaking to Nine News at the time, Mr Naylor said visiting the site brought back memories he had as a child. The Fox Studios Backlot in Moore Park was also a much-loved treasure among film buffs. This goes against everything the CEO said and what Sunway would like the general public to believe. Wonderland was an Aussie theme park that created fond memories for many kids of the '80s and '90s. 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. Cox says Wonderland also suffered because of its Eastern Creek location. ``We had 91,000 visitors over December and January, compared to 81,500 last year and 79,600 the year before." 15/06/91 - Holiday fun with famous Wrestlers; 1992. Publication: Illawarra Mercury A 'Parachute Tower' built by Vekoma, the Skyhawk consisted of four cars; two for sitting passengers, two for standing. 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. Grundys, on the Surfers Paradise beachfront, opened in 1981 and closed in 1993. But a small handful didn't suffer the same unceremonious fate and were packed up and shipped off to other amusement parks all around the world. An electric track used to propel scaled-down, 'Bounty's Revenge' opened 1985. "Everyone is not doing as well as they were because the fall in international tourists has dented theme park revenues," forensic valuer Brian Cox says. 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. Why this 'quiet' 1970s farmhouse has been added to the NSW heritage list, Barb has been boating around her outback station for months but she's not complaining, Driver of ute charged with manslaughter after teen dirt bike rider dies in hit-and-run accident, Alex De Minaur into Acapulco final after tough win over Holger Rune, Racing around Scotland from a garage in regional Queensland. August 22, 2005Demolition is allowed to continue only in Gold Rush, this is because Probe and Zodaic have not been removed. Sunway Group, who managed Wonderland, blamed a multitude of factors for its closure including the September 11 attacks and the collapse of Ansett Australia. Paste as plain text instead, Despite the ride being 23 years old, it was sold again in 2011 to Wonderla in India where it took on its fourth name, Recoil and is still operational to this day. Wobbies World in Melbourne's east opened in 1970 and closed in 1999. Convincing the operator on the Tasmanian Devil to go backwards. Australia's oldest running coal-fired power station is about to close. 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]. Closed in 1998. The Bush Beast's wooden tracks were torn apart and carriages left to rust, and the. Wonderland will shut its doors on April 26. 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. 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 ride was sold in 2005 to Fly Coaster, a small. Far fewer know their real story. Badgerys Creek is ideal but the sites are still under investigation, he said. The most notable attractions included The Demon, The Beastie, The Bush Beast and the Snowy River Rampage. A large inverting, 'Fred Flintstone's Splashdown' opened 1994. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. Property News:Sunny playground where the growth is only just beginning - domain.com.au, Your web browser is no longer supported. Henry VIII and were earning lots of money so they decided to close 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. Marvel characters - Never produced Wonderpass and staff ID cards. Started Friday at 03:54 AM, By Wonderland relied on I believe about 25% of its attendance from international guests. [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. 2001-02: 79,600. 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. After a tourism boom, the park changed owners, and a Magic Castle was built in 1976 which saw attendance dramatically increase. He cited events including September 11, the Ansett and HIH collapses, bushfires and SARS. Just 14 years ago, Sydneys Wonderland was filled with the screeching of roller-coasters, the scent of dagwood dogs and the laughter and excitement of schoolkids spending their pocket money at Australias most loved theme park. Sydney electrician Dave Naylor made a similar visit, Aussie travel predictions will surprise you, Familys plea months after climbers death. Lots of money, Jewellery and Mobile phones.Most of the rides still on site where removed. But it was so popular I really wanted to explore it. "Many of our Boomerangs have been relocated over the years. "I climbed up to the top of the lift hill [an upward sloping section of track] of The Beastie to take some photos and get a better idea of the devastation of the park," Watts said. Ten years following its closure, property developer and former Wonderland employee Ammar Khan announced his plan to resurrect the amusement park. Due to a lower-than-expected attendance and repeated financial losses, the park closed in November 2000. When the Wonderland closed down in 2004, the Space Probe remained on site for more than year and acted as a nostalgic beacon for anybody that drove past. 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." This week Wonderland's chief executive Stephen Galbraith cited a litany of reasons for the park's demise, including Asian bird flu, SARS and the collapse of HIH. 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. Get The New Daily free every morning and evening. mini golf, ice cream kiosk and a miniature railway. The beauty of the SARS et al excuses is that they are actually quite true. Wonderland Sydney was a theme park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 3.8 . 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. Richard - the source, author and date for each article are written underneath each of the bold headlines. When we took over eight years ago, the parks future was uncertain, Wonderlands then chief executive Stephen Galbraith said two months prior to the theme parks last day of trade. On several occasions in the period between the park's closure and its demolition, he jumped its fence and roamed the abandoned acreage. An "extravagant" project. 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. Dreamworld did well to counter this with very well times thrill and family attractions. Friday August 26, 2005The Beastie was demolished. Crowd pleasers He found these particularly fascinating, and has even applied some of the technological principles to his own tech business. Sydney's Wonderland is set to give our Queensland folk, a run for their money. "We had a lot more rides coming in than going out and some of the smaller ones were moved to other sections when we got new additions like Space Probe," he said. Started Thursday at 09:35 PM. This amusement park in Frankston, opened its doors in 1966 and operated for almost 10 years. log in. ``We compete pretty hard with them so we expect to pick up (group bookings) Christmas parties, school excursions. With whispers of a future Wonderland in Sydney, it begs the question whether some of these rides may one day find themselves coming back to Australia or counterparts built to pay homage to the original attractions that made Wonderland a historic piece of nostalgia. 'The Beastie', a smaller version of The Bush Beast which catered to younger riders, was also one of the original rides. Wonderland's lack of branding also meant the park could not harness valuable merchandising sales. Jamberoo Recreation Park visitor numbers: Tweet. Jim Eddy, who runs Jamberoo Recreation Park, does not buy Wonderland's argument and says business could not be better. Sonfina demolitions is contracted in and they start in Gold Rush near where HMS was and work they way down towards the Bush Beast.August 25, 2005The overgrown ground around the Space Probe and the Zodiac was cleared and a cyclone fence was put up around them.The back road was opened up at the end of the new wonderland drive and a path cleared to allow direct access from Probe & Zodiac to the back paddock. Beasties two blue PTC Trains under the cover of the stables in the back paddock behind Minchinbury reservoir. After the Demon was down and out of the park the original Canadian company, who were contracted to pull it down, decided not to pay guy his exorbitant fee using the distance between the two countries as a safe haven. Plans for the park include a water park, a wildlife park and the return of the Wonderland. 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. Mr Eddy expects Wonderland's closure to benefit his business, although he admits he is sad to see the icon go. Publication: Financial Review Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. For almost two decades, Wonderland operated more than 20 rides in Sydneys Eastern Creek. The area would also see the opening of Eastern Creek Raceway in 1990 as the Sydney metropolitan area expanded to the west. He was there to witness his childhood favourites being torn to the ground. The first thing we saw was the paddleboats and a few old signs to do with ice cream and The Flintstones. There was an error submitting the form. This also impacted on Visionland who purchased the ride and they were also chased for payment even though it was outside their contract with the Canadian "experts". It was an institution for many, and a hotspot during school holidays. The hit did come from SARS and whatnot, but only because of the lack of investment to make the difference with domestic guests as was appropriately done on the Gold Coast. A Magic Mountain spokesman said all options were being explored, but for now the centre was still trading as a theme park. When the aforementioned "excuses" hit, this portion of the attendance did take a huge hit. 'Funnel Web' opened in 1985, and removed in 1990. The space probe and the demon were operating and the guysers on the snowy river rampage where going off. For almost two decades Wonderland operated as New South Wales answer to Disneyland, offering more than 20 rides from its Eastern Creek home until its eventual closure in 2004. To join the conversation, please We hold major institutions accountable and expose wrongdoing. Your Rating. June 2004A Heritage Order for the Bush Beast was submitted to Blacktown Council. But I am glad that some of the rides have managed to survive," Ammar Khan, who operated rides at the park for nine years told nine.com.au. The park was renamed Harbourside Amusement Park for a while before resuming its old name. Something for everyone interested in hair, makeup, style, and body positivity. The closure of several rides in 2002 was due to the reduction in operational area of the park. US residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data. It is now the site of the Forest Hill police station. Owners say the threat of terrorism, coupled with skyrocketing insurance premiums, SARS and the Asian bird flu have all taken their toll . Im really surprised with how much stuff is still there, he said. The park would later add rides such as the 'Demon' (1992) and 'Space Probe 7' (1995; sponsored by the Seven Network, who bought naming rights to the ride. I think he is spot on. The new project to resurrect Wonderland Sydney has been earmarked for completion by 2021 with a new location in Western Sydney still to be finalised. Drowning, 08/05/85 - The frame goes up for new coaster, 26/04/85 - Whoosh - and up she goes (Bush Beast), 16/07/85 - Wonderland Rises up from Suburbia, 15/08/85 - Hair-raising Beastie is ready to roll, 28/08/86 - It's as exciting as Disneyland, 19/09/86 - Why Wonderland is riding the J-Curve, 15/06/91 - Holiday fun with famous Wrestlers, 11/09/92 - Life's Ups And Downs Can Send You Loopy, 28/03/97 - Australia's Wonderland sold for $50m, 01/07/97 - Kelair keeps the rides running, 24/07/97 - Wonderland hosts feast of country music, 31/01/98 - Scooby's life not all happy snaps, 08/04/99 - Tie ends `Whirl till you Hurl'. The park, aimed primarily at younger children, featured a static Bell helicopter plus a chopper-themed Whirliebird monorail, golf course, trampolines and several food and drink kiosks. They started the diesel motor on Zodiac and manually operated the lift cylinders as per evac when no power is available, lowering the western arm ready for the gondolas to be removed. Yes it does seem like an eternity, but remember you heard it hear, at Weekend . Granted, it's the first time it's been published (what are the sources of the articles, by the way? Self care and ideas to help you live a healthier, happier life. 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. 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).