Wonderland Sydney

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Wonderland Sydney was a theme park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The park was the largest theme park in the southern hemisphere. It remained open for almost nineteen years and was the premier theme park in New South Wales for much of its life.

Originally known as Australia's Wonderland, it opened on 7 December 1985 with financial backing from the New South Wales government on a site now known as Eastern Creek. The developers sought to provide an alternative to the troubled Luna Park, which had opened and closed multiple times in its recent history. The site was also part of an extensive residential and commercial development project that would also see the opening of Eastern Creek Raceway as the Sydney metropolitan area expanded to the west.

Wonderland opened with three separate themes within the park: Goldrush, Medieval Faire, and Hanna-Barbera Land which featured rides and attractions based on characters from Hanna-Barbera (today Cartoon Network Studios) shows such as Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo and The Flinstones. The park was modeled heavily around Canada's Wonderland in Toronto, unsurprising since both parks were constructed by Taft Broadcasting, a company which also owned Hanna-Barbera.

For many years, Wonderland's flagship ride was the Bush Beast which at the time was the largest wooden roller coaster in Australia. The Beastie, a smaller version of the Bush Beast which catered to younger riders, was also one of the original rides. The park would later add rides such as the phenomenally popular Demon (1992) and Space Probe 7 (1995; named for the Seven Network who bought naming rights to the ride; after this contract expired, the ride dropped the "7" from its name). However the park lacked tunnel rides, and its equipment never matched its competitors such as Warner Bros. Movie World.

Wonderland also had a water park attached, known as The Beach, which first opened in 1988. Unlike the rest of the park, which remained open year-round, the Beach was a seasonal attraction which closed during the "cold" months (April-September).

As years went by, the popularity of the park began to dwindle. The dramatic increase in public liability insurance costs, plus a worldwide downturn in tourism travel, saw Wonderland's profits begin to turn into losses. The park was sold in 1997 to the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based Sunway Group.

Despite new ownership, a bold expansion plan for the park met with opposition from other local businesses and was deemed unfeasible as the park continued to struggle to turn a profit. With only one ride added since the Sunway Group bought the park (the Skyrider), many believed the park had been left to stagnate and a final decision was made in 2004 to close it down.

The gates shut for the last time on Anzac Day; 25 April 2004, and a complete demolition of the park was undertaken in September 2005. A small number of rides were sold to other amusement parks, while the majority were simply demolished.

[edit] Rides

[edit] Roller coasters

• Bush Beast - a 975 metre long wooden roller coaster designed by Philadelphia Toboggan Company. The roller coaster possessed two trains, each capable of carrying 28 people. It was the tallest wooden roller coaster in the southern hemisphere until its demolition.
• Beastie - Half the size and height of Bush Beast, the Beastie was a wodden roller coaster designed for younger riders. The ride was 460 metres in length, and ran with two 20-rider trains. Beastie was located in Hanna-Barbera Land, and was originally to be named the Scooby-Doo Coaster.
• Demon - A Vekoma Boomerang steel roller coaster, the Demon was installed in 1992, after having previously operated at Expo '88 (under the name Titan). When Wonderland was closed, Demon was dismanted and sold to Alabama Adventure Theme Park, where it has operated since 2005 as Zoomerang.

[edit] Amusement rides

• Antique Autos - An electric track used to propel scaled-down Ford Model T cars through themed scenery.
• Bounty's Revenge - A large inverting pirate ship. Bounty's Revenge could carry 50 riders at a time, in ten rows of five seats.
• Dragon's Flight - A large Wave Swinger (similar to the Chair-O-Planes ride).
• Fred Flinstone's Splashdown - A log flume.
• Galleon's Graveyard - Similar to a scaled-down Chair-O-Planes, riders were instead seated in two-seater 'flying boats'.
• Great Balloon Race
• HMS Endeavour - Originally known as Sea Demon, HMS Endeavour received its later name when the ride was moved to the old location of the Red Back Spider.
• Jousting Ring - A dodgem hall.
• Little Monsters Flying School
• Magilla Gorilla's Flotillas - A small lake equipped with paddle boats.
• Ned Kelly's Getaway - A steep sled slide, finishing in water
• Red Back Spider
• Scooby's Silly Stix
• Skyhawk - A 'Parachute Tower' built by Vekoma, the Skyhawk consisted of four cars; two for sitting passengers, two for standing. The four cars would be pulled to the top of a 30 metre tower, then released. A parachute would open, allowing riders to slowly fall to the ground. The ride was removed in 2001, and sold in 2005 to Fly Coaster, a small Gold Coast park
• Skyway - The only ride installed after the Sunway Group acquisition of the park, the Skyway was a chairlift stretching from Goldrush to Hanna-Barbera Land. The ride closed in 2002, three years after it opened.
• Snowy River Rampage - A 960 metre River Rapid designed by Intamin AG
• Space Probe - Originally known as Space Probe 7, due to sponsorship from the Seven Network, the Intamin AG Giant Drop was installed in 1995.
• Tasmanian Devil
• Wizard's Fury
• Zodiac - A Double Ferris Wheel designed by Intamin AG, the Zodiac consisted of 24 gondalas mounted on either end of a large hydralic arm. The Zodiac would be operated so that while one wheel was rotating at 58 metres in height, the 12 cars of the opposing arm would all be on the ground and taking on riders simultaneously. When loaded, the hydralic arm would be moved, lowering those who had been in the air back to the ground.

[edit] See also

• List of abandoned amusement parks

[edit] External links

• Wonderland History
• Wonderland Information & History
• Wonderland in Google Maps