Wonderland Sydney

History

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 Hardies Industries, Leighton Holdings and Taft Broadcasting (through Kings Entertainment Company) at Eastern Creek NSW, on the junction of Wallgrove Road and the M4 Motorway. The developers sought to provide an alternative to the troubled Luna Park, which had opened and closed multiple times in its recent history. The area would also see the opening of Eastern Creek Raceway in 1990 as the Sydney metropolitan area expanded to the west.

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 2001-2002) which featured rides and attractions based on characters from Hanna-Barbera shows such as Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones. The park was modeled heavily around Canada's Wonderland located north of Toronto, not surprising 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 was the largest wooden roller coaster in Australia. Australia's Wonderland also claimed that it was the largest wooden rollercoaster in the Southern Hemisphere. 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 Demon (1992) and Space Probe 7 (1995; sponsored by the Seven Network, who bought naming rights to the ride. After this contract expired, the ride dropped the '7' from its name).

Wonderland expanded, now known as Wonderland Sydney it featured an all-new water park 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 winter months (June–September). In 1990 Wonderland opened the Australian Wildlife Park. Another attraction named The Outback Woolshed was added in 1995, along with an à-la-carte-style restaurant.

Eventually, in 1992, all of the Taft Broadcasting Parks were sold to Viacom and re-branded as Paramount Parks. However, Taft only had a minority stake in Australia's Wonderland and sold their stake to other Australian investors. Today, the five Paramount Parks continue successful operation, purchased in 2006 by amusement park operator Cedar Fair.

Interestingly, many of Australia's Wonderland's rides correlate to the rides at the former Paramount Parks still in operation today. The Bush Beast was identical to wooden roller coasters at Canada's Wonderland, and Kings Dominion.

The park was sold in 1997 to the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based Sunway Group. 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.

Closure

Sunway Group stated the September 11 attacks, the 2002 Bali bombings, the collapse of HIH Insurance, the SARS virus, the bird flu virus, "consistent losses" on the Asian financial crisis, the collapse of Ansett Australia, the Iraq War and the 2003 bushfires all contributed to the park's closure. The Sydney Morning Herald stated that Sunway Group "blames Wonderland's demise on everything except poor management".

The gates shut for the last time on 26 April 2004, the day after the Anzac Day public holiday, and a complete demolition of the park was undertaken in September 2005. Most of the rides were sold to other amusement parks, while "The Bush Beast", "The Beastie" and "The Snowy River Rampage" were demolished. Visit Wonderland History to see demolition pictures. A former employee made a list of what happened to some of the rides. Two of the park's camels were adopted by a family in Goulburn, New South Wales.

Roller coasters

Amusement rides

There was a miniature golf course called Top Cat's Putt Putt Park; prior to the installation of Fred Flintstone's Splashdown there was a putting course known as Old McScrappy's Golfing Farm.

The closure of several rides in 2002 was due to the reduction in operational area of the park. 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). Some of the rides were moved, whereas others were scrapped.

Shows

Rebuilding proposal

Property developer, and former employee of Wonderland Sydney, Ammar Khan, has announced plans to develop a new amusement, entertainment and retail attraction to be named Sydney’s Wonderland in Western Sydney and has been seeking financial backing for the relaunch since 2009. Plans for the park include a water park, a wildlife park and the return of the Wonderland. While Khan does not have a site for the Park he plans that it would occupy a site around 300 acres in and around Eastern Creek or towards Hoxton Park. According to Khan, the construction of the Park would take three years. 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. In July 2016 the project revealed that the new theme park will probably be renamed 'Worlds Of Wonder' and is aiming for a target completion of 2021. In January 2017 the project's Facebook site revealed that a site in western Sydney has since been identified and is working on several milestones and approval before it is purchased and officially announced.