Bid to create Coomera 'Jurassic World', Gold Coast Bulletin Article Options

[themeparkgc]

Bid to create Coomera 'Jurassic World'

Coomera residents could have some new neighbours that look like this if Rod McLaughlin's bid to create 'Jurassic World' is successful

Jessica Elder | July 31st, 2010

DINOSAURS died more than 65 million years ago but one ambitious Gold Coast businessman is on a mission to bring the prehistoric creatures back to life.

Mobile life-size replicas of 17 different species of dinosaur could call Coomera home within 12 months if financial and council support can be gained for the Coast's sixth theme park dubbed 'Jurassic World'.

Rod McLaughlin, the man behind the dream, said he had been working on idea for the past 10 years.

He said the theme park's motto would be 'education through entertainment'.

''This proposal has been a long time in the making, but I am confident now is the right time for it to become a reality,'' he said.

''I have invested $100,000 in to this project so far, but the total cost will be closer to $25 million.

''I have had the business plan independently looked at and financially it stacks up all I need is some financial backing and a site.''

Mr McLaughlin said he wanted a site in Coomera, to keep Jurassic World in the theme park corridor.

The theme park is planned to be a giant warehouse, similar to a Bunnings hardware store, but it will be transformed in to a Jurassic wonderland.

The dinosaurs are engineered to move, roar and blink their eyes designed to give visitors the ultimate dinosaur experience.

Mr McLaughlin said the experience was the most important thing.

''We want people to leave saying 'wow','' he said.

Jurassic World would include a theatrette, a cafe, 17 dinosaur displays and an archaeological dig site for kids to discover their own dinosaur bones.

Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter said the Gold Coast would benefit from another theme park.

''There is only one city in the southern hemisphere where theme parks and major attractions are a success in any great number and that is the Gold Coast,'' he said.

''I can't speculate on the success of this particular proposal, but it is clear there is a market for unique attractions on the Coast.

''Gold Coast Tourism believes the city needs continued investment in attractions and activities to remain competitive.''

[jdool16]

It looks like a great family attraction but its a shame that it doesn't has a ride. (like Looney Tunes River
but with dinosaurs)

[themeparkgc]

^ What like the Jurassic Park rides at Universal parks?

[jdool16]

Like JP River Adventure or DINOSAUR at Animal Kingdom

[DonjaiInLA]

If it was more like Walking With Dinosaurs live show but with more in the style of Outback Spectacular I think it might be successfull, but the current plans sound like one day it might in fact have to be purchased by Bunnings after being vacant for years

[Gazza]

^You know, Coomera could do with a Bunnings actually, Harbour Town is a bit far away for that part of the GC.

[djrappa]

I dunno. From Movieworld I have 3 bunnings all within about 15 minutes drive. Pretty saturated.

[AlexB]

Sounds like someone has done many a dash to the hardware store, pre-show...?

[Original]

Really? Where are the Bunnings? I can only think of the one at Harbour Town, because the Southport one is more than 15mins away... I'm literally racking my brain trying to figure it out.

Anyway unless this has more things to it i.e. rides... and sounds more interesting and bigger than just a Bunnings I can see this turning into the thing like SpaceWalker at Surfers... but good luck to them though!

[DonjaiInLA]

I hope it works out, but yeah it needs to have a major drawcard, with the possibility of future expansion for it to even think about being a good move

[Richard]

I thought the days of calling any two-bit tourist attraction a "theme park" were well behind us?

My guess is that we'd be looking at a $20-30 ticket price, and I wouldn't be convinced that people would want to go all the way to Coomera from their accommodation for something like that when there's half a dozen or more similarly priced tourist attractions in Surfers Paradise. It's unlikely that people would tack it on after a day at Dreamworld so I'm really not seeing the merits of this.

Come back with three times the budget and a product that outdoes the current parks in some aspect/s and we might be talking.

[AlexB]

There we are folks... the kiss of death from the master of theme parks (no sarcasm)... Richard you do tend to be on the pulse of the industry - so i'd have to agree with you that its looking unlikely...

[rival81]

No rides or rollercoasters = not a theme park

[Gazza]

T bone, how popular is this place? It's probably the closest thing to what is proposed.
http://www.nationaldinosaurmuseum.com.au/

[bluman]

Canberra's Questacon has a few old dinosaurs available!

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local...ho/1904904.aspx

[djrappa]

Bunnings at southport, harbour town, and nerang are all 15-20mins from helensvale.

Never done any emergency runs but have been to bunnings A LOT over the years (yay for company accounts).

Now sooo off topic so back on track...

I can really see this place being frozen/snow world 2.0

[Gazza]

Bunnings at southport, harbour town, and nerang are all 15-20mins from helensvale.

I have a bunnings 5 minutes from my place, and then another is 10 minutes away, and they are both by Motorways. Brisbane + Market saturation FTW.

This post has been edited by Gazza: Aug 9 2010, 03:34 PM

[T-bone]

T bone, how popular is this place? It's probably the closest thing to what is proposed.
http://www.nationaldinosaurmuseum.com.au/

I'll put it this way, I've lived here for 10 years and have many fond memories of visiting Canberra well before we moved here, and I've personally never been to the Dinosaur Museum. I have heard in a recent discussion that it is quite lame.
I'll put it this way, I pass the place on the way to work everyday, there is often a coach parked there, but I have never seen the carpark overflowing.

[stardust]

Sounds boring with no rides..

[jakeman398]

Bobby?!?!?! really?

[stardust]

Are you talking about my new avatar? If you are, I have liked Bobi since 2008 when he represented Macedonia in the Junior Eurovision in Lemesos. He's really good in Macedonian. I'm a JESC fan not just a Bobi fan, I run a website on it www.junioreurosong.net

Anyway, what happened to Snow World? What was it like?

This post has been edited by stardust: Aug 14 2010, 02:08 PM