Leaderboard

GOLD Coast’s Sea World will tomorrow unveil a “game-changing” new visitor attraction city leaders have been desperate for: a $50m new thrill ride precinct. Village Roadshow Theme Parks, which operates Sea World, will reveal three new adventure rides in a new 1.5-acre zone being added to its Sea World park in the next 18 months. Village Roadshow CEO Clark Kirby, in an exlusive interview with the Bulletin running tomorrow, says it plan will be a “game-changer” for the city and create a whole new destination. A Village preview of tomorrow’s announcement, to be attended by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, says: “Village Roadshow Theme Parks is set for an exciting 18-months with $50 million dollars scheduled to be spent, including thrilling new attractions for the Gold Coast parks, enhancing guest experiences, and maintaining Village Roadshow Theme Parks’ high standards of animal welfare, technology and plant integrity. Village Roadshow Theme Parks CEO, Clark Kirby will be joined by Queenlsand Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk at Sea World tomorrow to announce the new attractions.” The investment is Village Roadshow’s biggest since it unveiled the new 1.5km hyper coaster at its Movie World theme park at Oxenford in mid-2017. The Gold Coast Bulletin will have full details of the new Sea World precinct and the first images exclusively at goldcoastbulletin.com.au from midnight Skeet needs to buy more beer on the way home so he doesn't run out before 12.

F-me I'm sitting here having a beer and toasting Village on their commenment and love they're giving to the parks. Village is investing in Australian parks like we have never seen before in this country and I can't believe somebody is being negative Nancy without even knowing the details.

Fifty million is more than enough for one to be shit hot.

G.C.C.C. cleaned it up. 😀 "Graffiti is a crime that affects us all. It can lower property values, make people feel unsafe, reduce business patronage and encourage other types of crime. Most graffiti occurs on exposed walls and fences and is usually in the form of messages in letters or images, written in spray paint, permanent marker or even etched into the surface with a sharp instrument. Graffiti vandals have no respect for private or community property and no regard for the negative impacts of their actions. Their aim is to impress their peers and strengthen their reputations, by putting their graffiti tags in as many places as possible. Graffiti that is left intact attracts more graffiti and the longer it remains, the greater the gratification for perpetrators. It also suggests that the community does not care or is unable to deal with the problem. Keeping business premises graffiti free helps to reinforce a professional image with customers, while keeping our neighbourhoods graffiti free reinforces pride in our city and helps to maintain feelings of safety and well-being. You can help us to stay on top of graffiti vandalism by taking measures to prevent it, and if it does occur, by making sure it is cleaned as quickly as possible. City of Gold Coast supports a range of programs aimed at preventing graffiti - such as encouraging property owners to be more aware, working with retailers of paint products and working with police and other government agencies on crime prevention and education".

So take this with a grain of salt, but I got an Uber out of Disney World a few days ago and my driver was telling me that her husband had just retired. She also thought there was 100% a Disney park happening in Australia because they had been asking her husband to go. He was involved in the initial build at Shanghai and reportedly turned them down for the Aus trip to spend more time closer to home. I’m taking it as though they’re keeping an eye on things down here.

VILLAGE Roadshow will build a new $50 million Gold Coast theme park with three cutting-edge thrill rides at Sea World in a game-changing 18-month redevelopment plan. The centrepiece of the 1.5 hectare addition to its Main Beach site will be a one kilometre wooden roller coaster – with a pair of backwards seats – that travels at 80km per hour. Village will roll out the first of the rides – an 18-metre giant pendulum swing similar to Dreamworld’s recently retired Wipeout attraction – by December. It will be followed by a 52-metre high ride that spins guests at 36km per hour high above The Spit in April, 2020. The new roller coaster will be operational by December, 2020. They are the key features of what Village Roadshow is calling The New Atlantis, a “utopian precinct”. It will also promote Sea World’s extensive marine conservation work. The new roller coaster will be 1km long and travel at 80km per hour Village Roadshow Theme Parks CEO Clark Kirby, speaking exclusively to the Bulletin, said the investment had been two years in the planning and would revitalise one of the country’s favourite theme parks. Mr Kirby, who will officially unveil the development this morning alongside Premier Annastacia Palasczcuk at Sea World, said: “The New Atlantis will be a game-changer for Sea World and become a destination in its own right where our guests can experience the myths, mysteries, quests and challenges located within this new multimillion-dollar utopian precinct. “The New Atlantis has been designed as a fully immersive precinct with the rides complimented by sleek, eye-catching and architecturally aesthetic theming including waterfalls, fountains, statues and hanging gardens to take guests on the ultimate Atlantean adventure.” It is Village Roadshow’s first big outlay since it launched Movie World’s new $30m DC Rivals HyperCoaster in Oxenford, the longest and fastest in the southern hemisphere. Mr Kirby said it had been encouraging to see Queensland’s Government investment in The Spit Masterplan which was key for Village to green light The New Atlantis. “We pushed the button on this because The Spit masterplanning – which we are actively involved with and working with Government on – was one of the catalysts. “Sea World is a beloved property here on the Gold Coast and across Australia. “But there was some ageing infrastructure that needed to be reborn. What we have come up with is true to what Sea World is all about – in terms of conservation, having fun and something really dramatic that will stand the test of time.” The new wooden coaster had a life span of 100 years and Mr Kirby said extra additions to the precinct would also be revealed when under construction. Village Roadshow Theme Parks chief operating officer Bikash Randhawa said The New Atlantis would be visible from Southport’s Broadwater and become a skyline icon. “I can see every promotion of the Gold Coast which features the Q1 tower now also featuring this. What we have here is world-class,” Mr Randhawa said. The New Atlantis will also draw more attention to Village Roadshow’s conservation work carried out by the Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation. It will feature an amphitheatre for shows, presentations and activities to educate guests on how they can help protect and conserve the ocean environment. Mr Kirby said it was time Village made a bigger deal of the marine conservation work which includes rescues of 60 sea turtles and relocation of a humpback whale. The foundation has also donated millions towards marine vertebrate research. Sea World staff are also on call 24 hours a day, every day of the year for marine animal rescues. On top of its Sea World revamp, Village Roadshow will also boost blockbuster theming at Movie World later this year. In November, Warner Bros. Movie World will host set pieces, props and costumes from big-budget films The Great Gatsby, Mad Max, Wonder Woman, Shazam and Suicide Squad. Cat and mouse duo Tom and Jerry will also be added to Movie World’s life-size character line-up from September. Gold Coast leaders across council, tourism and business have been crying out for new attractions to reinvigorate the city tourism profile since last year. Mr Kirby said Village Roadshow were happy to oblige with its megabucks Sea World investment. “We can see there is so much potential for the Gold Coast and it is wonderful to have such strong leaders at all levels of tourism,” he said. “Destination Gold Coast is doing a fantastic job of promoting the Gold Coast and we are giving them further tools to do their job. “The Gold Coast is world-class now with incredible restaurants, incredible shopping while beaches and theme parks are still synonymous with the Gold Coast and that is what drives tourism.”

All the second and third tier Facebook pages are doing around the clock reporting on the GCB exclusive at present. Fair to say we'll know more about the three rides at midnight and some more in-depth coverage tomorrow.

Fixed.

Well I wasn’t expecting anything of this scale. My thoughts - Very hyped for the wooden coaster. Obviously not the greatest stats by the looks of it but we have seen amazing “family” wooden coasters from GG and GCI in recent years so I hope SW goes with one of these guys - Nice to see a permanent addition of the sky flyer. With fountains too??!!?? - Hoping they won’t just place a fairground-y top spin and be done with it. There’s so much opportunity to theme these rides - Also concerned about the placement of the top spin near animals. Those things aren’t quiet rides. - This is an original theme and not aquaman-based right?

This is very exciting news indeed. Let's break it down: New wooden roller-coaster - looks to be a family coaster in the same vein that Jet Rescue is (TLDR; not really a family coaster) which is great news. Unconfirmed manufacturer. 80k/ph top speed. 1km+ of track. Trident-shaped sky flyer - not sure if ride goes up to 52m or whole tower including trident-head is 52m. If it's the former, i'm guessing that Trident head will top it over 60m+, making it the tallest thing ever to grace the spit. Unconfirmed manufacturer. Top Spin ride, unconfirmed manufacturer. Bit cheeky. Placement next to dolphin pools is concerning. New amphitheatre is being wedged in somewhere Movie World's WB Exhibit/Museum is getting new artefacts. Movie World's also getting Tom & Jerry characters in park from September. Overall i'm really pleased with this - what i'm interested to learn is if they're going to leave Viking's Revenge SBNO until 2020 and beyond or if there's something else yet to come in regards to its future? I'm also going to guess that to fit this all in the bridge to where Jet Rescue resides is finally getting the flick.

Wow I wasn't expecting anything let alone something this extensive for an Australian theme park. I had presumed that the theme parks would be on the back foot for the foreseeable future after the Dreamworld incident. Really exciting! I think a family-ish GCI is perfect for Seaworld... Movieworld is the place for the big thrill rides. And Australia will have a modern wooden coaster... this is great.

Can you post the article?

Wow haha Wipeout style ride? Too funny! Not sure if this is just an early rendering but the Woodie looks pretty lame?

I'm not sure if the article has been updated with the pictures, but the thumbnails are showing some renders that I assume are the official ones. It looks like a pretty exciting development.

Would the Brogent Q ride be a 7D / 9D cinema? Looks like one. It would need more seats though to work in a theme park. Log flume and big dipper would be replacing Vikings Revenge and Sea Viper, so all good. However there'd still be the chairlifts and most importantly, Bermuda Triangle to replace.

$50 million isn't a small amount of money to put into a park addition. This should be interesting!

A Monorail is a thrill for some people and a double decker would be taking it to the next level.

With no air con.. that’s the thrill component..

Double decker Monorail. 😎

Permanent replacement for SkyFlyer, the largest woodie in the Southern Hemisphere and hmm...

The Ski truck only works if Mishka drives it and runs over some animal rights activist.

Where did the joker's funhouse graffiti go?

Annual Theme Park Attendance report is out. WetnWild Gold Coast hanging onto the 20th spot globally for Water Parks. Theme-Index-2018-3.pdf

Winterfest Nights. July 6. Well that makes sense.

+1 to that. I took the family to SW recently while we were staying down on the GC. We caught seal guardians (first and probably last time i'll do that), and made it to the top for the dolphin show. Took the kiddo on plenty of rides he was big enough for, and spent a fair bit checking out the animals. We arrived back at the front of the park with about 30 minutes to showtime, had nothing else of interest to occupy us and a 3 year old, didn't like the idea of parking up on the metal benches in full sun with a stroller for ~an hour, so we left. I hear what you're saying, and i'm probably being a little harsh. I bought a pass post-incident. I was keen to support them. I was waiting on the next 'big thing' and eagerly awaited SkyVoyager, and hoping it was going to arrive before my pass expired. The announced lazy river also had me debating a renewal, as we enjoy spending time at Calypso, but prefer the children's options at WWW. With all that blowing up in their faces, I admittedly feel a bit cheated that all the things promised fell flat... At this stage, i'm beyond giving a shit. Nothing short of blockbuster, and a complete overhaul of their practices is going to see me set foot in that park again. Greg's arrival is positive, albeit a little overdue, and i'm keen to see whether he can make some magic, or whether he finds himself constrained, and i hope he does well with the park. At this stage for me its a case of too little too late - and when many (here at least) are inclined to criticise these things, when in reality, doing something new (and included in admission) is still better than nothing, is very telling for how badly they've managed to this point. I do hope Greg is the person that can change my mind... because ice skating certainly doesn't.

If that was the childhood you really had, I think that's very sad. If it was going to be a really awesome new ride, it would be one, not several.

I'll wait till I see the details, but I really hope "thrill ride" doesn't mean what it does at Dreamworld! I'm quite concerned at the inference that there will be multiple new rides. The space and money mentioned are barely enough for one really good ride, let alone several. Still, we'll see. It is possible at least one of the new attractions might be good.