In December, Parkz reported that Ardent Leisure's WhiteWater World was set to receive Australia's first looping water slide, to be built by White Water West -- until Village Roadshow-owned Wet'n'Wild Water World came in and ordered several units from the Canadian water attraction manufacturer in exchange for exclusivity.

It turns out that may not be the end of the quest for bragging rights to a water slide that completes a 360º near-vertical loop. Documents submitted to the Gold coast City Council for development approval indicate WhiteWater World is now seeking to attach an attraction they title "The SuperLOOP" to one of the existing slide towers at the park.

ProSlide Technology Inc., the Canadian company behind most of WhiteWater World's attractions to date, is listed as the manufacturer. ProSlide have not publicly announced their own looping water slide, but with White Water West selling many such attractions around the world, other manufacturers surely have their own versions in the pipeline.

It can't be confirmed at this stage that SuperLOOP is in fact a looping water slide, but it certainly fits with ProSlide's typically descriptive attraction names. Assuming WhiteWater World is installing a ProSlide version of the attraction, it demonstrates a particularly interesting method of responding to competition.

A move like this doesn't seek to strengthen their own product offering; rather it's a strategy that achieves the primary goal of diluting their competitor's ability to successfully market a major new attraction. While WhiteWater World don't necessarily have a lot to gain from competing this directly, they can certainly minimise how much Wet'n'Wild Water World and Warner Village Theme Parks gain from the attraction and divert some would-be WVTP customers back towards WhiteWater World and Dreamworld. 

If the SuperLOOP goes ahead and is in fact a looping water slide, it can naturally be expected to debut sometime in late 2010 to coincide with Wet'n'Wild Water World's AquaLoop.

Comments

Posted by themeparkgc at 9:04am, 16 Feb 10

It's good to see that WhiteWater World have not given up. If they are opened at the same time, I wonder which park will win in the marketing department.

Posted by GoGoBoy at 10:51am, 16 Feb 10

Hmm I'd be hoping that ProSlide develop a superior attraction... the WhiteWater West version looks kinda ugly. ProSlide would probably do it well.

Still I have to say this is quite disappointing. There is so much WhiteWater World needs OTHER than a looping waterslide. How about some more waterpark essentials such as a lazy river, family raft slide etc. Then they can look at these 'novelty' slides. I really think the park needs to grow significantly rather than just attaching a single new slide to an existing tower.

I don't think we can blame WhiteWater World necessarily for stealing the idea. At this stage we don't know who came up with it first. There was talk that Wet 'n Wild may have copied from WWW. Still I don't see both parks adding basically the same slide as being of much benefit to the consumer or growing the customer base

Posted by JD_bunnies_supporter at 11:30am, 16 Feb 10

QUOTE (GoGoBoy @ Feb 16 2010, 10:51 AM)

Still I have to say this is quite disappointing. There is so much WhiteWater World needs OTHER than a looping waterslide. How about some more waterpark essentials such as a lazy river, family raft slide etc. Then they can look at these 'novelty' slides. I really think the park needs to grow significantly rather than just attaching a single new slide to an existing tower.

I was thinking the same thing. Before I red the article, I was hoping this could be the start of their expansion with the annoucement of this slide, but after reading it, it still looks like their expansion plans are being put off.

Even after the past few times I have been to the Gold Coast, I still havent been to WWW, and now that both Water Parks are getting a similar slide, I still wont go past WnW.

Posted by GoGoBoy at 11:59am, 16 Feb 10

I couldn't find this info on the GC DA's online site. Any idea where the news came from?

Posted by AlexB at 1:26pm, 16 Feb 10

If Richard has posted it, you can bet the source is solid.

Posted by GoGoBoy at 1:30pm, 16 Feb 10

I certainly don't doubt the source... having been a member of these forums for many years I am quite aware that Richard has accurate info. I was just interested in seeing if there was any further information or documents posted with the application on the DA's online site

Posted by skeetafly at 2:59pm, 16 Feb 10

I was at WWW on Saturday and excavation work has started with temporary fencing added.

Posted by GoGoBoy at 4:00pm, 16 Feb 10

QUOTE (skeetafly @ Feb 16 2010, 03:59 AM)

I was at WWW on Saturday and excavation work has started with temporary fencing added.

Where??? ie. around which tower?

Posted by joz at 5:02pm, 16 Feb 10

Aren't WWW trying? Basically what they're doing is giving the middle finger to WVTPs. While I don't have a problem with that, and they are by no means the first company to want to do this, they're pretty much pissing away their own money in doing so. I think GoGoBoy said it best

QUOTE

Still I have to say this is quite disappointing. There is so much WhiteWater World needs OTHER than a looping water slide. How about some more waterpark essentials such as a lazy river, family raft slide etc. Then they can look at these 'novelty' slides. I really think the park needs to grow significantly rather than just attaching a single new slide to an existing tower.

The funny thing is they could add a Lazy River better then Calypso Beach, they could add a family raft slide better then Mammoth falls, the can add tube slides better then Black Hole, but instead they're adding an inferior version (in capacity if nothing else) of what WnW is getting. How did that meeting go? "WnW are stealing the looping slide thing from us. Don't worry, we'll show those bastards and build our own anyway!" Sorry to point out the obvious but WnW is by far the dominant water park on the Gold Coast, and WWW have nothing to gain by doing the same thing WnW do since WnW is starting from a much stronger position.

Posted by Gazza at 5:32pm, 16 Feb 10

I'd even go as far to say it could cement WWWs image with the GP of being a poor mans WnW.

Posted by tipsy_bella at 5:37pm, 16 Feb 10

I can guarantee you - WWW was getting the slides first until Wet n Wild got with WhiteWater West to sign the exclusivity deal. All of the plans and survey work was already completed at WWW before the first deal fell through. WWW then started speaking to Proslide immediately and this slide is now in the pipeline.

As far Wet n Wild is being dominant - it is definitely bigger with more attractions but have a completely different target group - teens and thrills and WWW is all about the family. This slide offers thrills for those who are looking for them.

Capacity will be bad - i'll admit that but it's still an addition.

The whole of phase 2 is still in the pipeline but you all have to understand it is all about the money - which i've said a bzillion times it'll cost 20 million which Ardent do not have at this point.

I'd love no more than the next person to see phase 2 started but at least there will be a new addition.

The new slide is on target for an easter opening.

Posted by cadboy at 8:13pm, 16 Feb 10

Does anyone think that Whitewater will beat WnW in completing the addition first. The above comment says that WWW will get it in Easter while WVTP said they were hoping for a September opening. Maybe they will rethink after this new piece of information.

Posted by V8 Sportwagon at 8:49pm, 16 Feb 10

QUOTE (GoGoBoy @ Feb 16 2010, 03:00 PM)

Where??? ie. around which tower?

Yes I was there on Saturday also. There is a large area fenced off around the base of the Hydrocoaster tower and it wraps around the "Highway" side of the park. The little food outlet near the wave pool on the highway side is also within the fenced area.
So assuming this construction is for the loop I'm guessing they are going to place it so it gets maximum exposure from the highway.

Posted by Richard at 9:34pm, 16 Feb 10

QUOTE (tipsy_bella @ Feb 16 2010, 04:37 PM)

I can guarantee you - WWW was getting the slides first until Wet n Wild got with WhiteWater West to sign the exclusivity deal. All of the plans and survey work was already completed at WWW before the first deal fell through. WWW then started speaking to Proslide immediately and this slide is now in the pipeline.

Now that's true. WnW made the cheap move when they used their muscle to wrangle the attraction out of the hands of WWW. But I have no sympathy for WWW when they obviously didn't move swiftly enough on it.

However at that point WWW should have moved on and gone with one of the many different cutting edge water attractions on the market that Australia is yet to see. What we're seeing is a retaliatory move that is, as joz put it, just a middle finger to WnW.

Posted by GoGoBoy at 9:18am, 17 Feb 10

I noticed in the submitted documents that Proslide is referring to the slide type as a 'SuperLOOP' (as Richard referred to). So this does appear to be a new prototype as opposed to a version of a turbo tunnel etc. I'm just wondering whether Proslide created this new slide after having discussions with WWW and their dilemma or whether they had it ready to go anyway. I'm also wondering whether this will become a new standard product offering from Proslide. Any thoughts?

Posted by tipsy_bella at 6:49pm, 26 Feb 10

The Wedgie - opening in April - it's official - told you......

Posted by Gazza at 7:24pm, 26 Feb 10

^Re the SuperLOOP, it would be lame if Proslide decided to market it as a new product...As you said it's just a new layout for a turbo tunnel anyway.

Re the name, lol it fits in with WWWs tongue in cheek surfie names doesn't it? It's all right I suppose.
It's not the only water park attraction with Wedgie in its name though: http://www.sixflags.com/greatEscape/ridesw...ark/wedgie.aspx

Posted by GoGoBoy at 8:01pm, 26 Feb 10

^From the Six Flags website (not WhiteWater World): "Mega Wedgie, an entertaining waterslide with a whimsical name, provides thrill seeking guests with an exhilarating water ride!" - WORST COPY EVER!

Posted by lylefart at 4:18pm, 3 Apr 10

"The Wedgie" at WWW is not a near vertical loop, is instead more of a tight helix or slightly steep 360. Whilst WNW's yet to be named four AquaLOOPS are set to be more like an inversions then spins.

Posted by AlexB at 6:29pm, 3 Apr 10

wow Lyle, you're really making a good first impression, aren't you?

Posted by Gazza at 9:17pm, 3 Apr 10

QUOTE (lylefart @ Apr 3 2010, 03:18 PM)

"The Wedgie" at WWW is not a near vertical loop, is instead more of a tight helix or slightly steep 360. Whilst WNW's yet to be named four AquaLOOPS are set to be more like an inversions then spins.

We know , this article was written before the full details of the attraction had surfaced...We knew the product model from the manufacturer was called a SuperLOOP, so we thought it was a fair bet that it might be a looping slide.
Besides, pay attention to this line in the article:

QUOTE

It can't be confirmed at this stage that SuperLOOP is in fact a looping water slide, but it certainly fits with ProSlide's typically descriptive attraction names. Assuming WhiteWater World is installing a ProSlide version of the attraction, it demonstrates a particularly interesting method of responding to competition.

Pretty soon after though some plans emerged that showed it being a downhill helix rather than a proper loop.