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I just can’t believe how far Gumbuya has came in 10 years. Back in 2012, it was still the little park Gumbuya Park where people went on paddle boats and also jumped on the Toboggan. No big rollercoasters that have 100 km/h, no massive waterslides and it was just a cheap little park. And look 10 years to 2022 and look at what happened to the little Gumbuya Park near Pakenham now. 3 rollercoasters including one of the fastest, tallest and that has the most G Force out of a rollercoaster in this country, one that is a thrill ride for kids and bigger than the current kids coasters like Escape From Madagascar and Road Runner Rollercoaster, and one for young children. Not to mention 8 waterslides, 4 racing, two tubes and two big ones as well as a lazy river, wave pool and a tree swing. And now that they have got 5 times the land than Dreamworld they can make coasters that match with the ones at MW. Seeing that they will most likely have a hotel like Sea World/Movie World in the fourth phase, it makes it Victoria’s best theme park by a big mile, as well as one of Vic’s best zoos and one of Australia’s best theme parks. If people were deciding on FF/LPM/GW/AP I would get them to choose Gumbuya World. In the next few years I can see them becoming one of Australia’s biggest parks.

Thrillseekers will soon speed along at more than 100km an hour and face the kind of G-forces F1 racers endure as Victoria’s biggest theme park gets even bigger. A pair of new roller-coasters will push Gumbuya World into the territory of Dreamworld and Movie World on the Gold Coast, with one of the fastest rides in the nation. And after last month splashing $2.6m on a 44.5ha rose farm next door to the attraction southeast of Melbourne, the operators’ total landholdings have reached an enormous 287ha — believed to be the biggest landmass owned by a theme park in the nation. The Australian Amusement Leisure and Recreation Association (AALARA) this week confirmed the Gold Coast’s biggest attraction, Dreamworld, only covers about 54ha, less than a fifth of the 287ha Gumbuya World now owns in Tynong North. They also confirmed the faster of the two new roller-coasters would be among the speediest roller-coasters in the nation at 105km/h — though still outpaced by Movie World’s 115km/h DC Hypercoaster. Gumbuya World chief executive Ron Weinzierl said the new coasters, worth a combined $40m, were just weeks away from opening. Mr Weinzierl said the new rides would bring their total to 13, in addition to a zoo and other nature experiences that were part of a broader plan to lure tourists to Victoria that would ramp up as the 2032 Brisbane Olympics approach. They include a 46m-high Project Zero, which will have riders pulling up to 5gs, and a more family-friendly attraction named TNT that will hit speeds up to 67km an hour along its 453m length. “These coasters makes us the leader in the theme park industry here in Victoria,” Mr Weinzierl said. “And on land size we are the biggest theme park in Victoria, if not Australia. “We are now competing up against those leading theme parks on the Gold Coast.” LJ Hooker Pakenham’s Sam Paynter brokered the latest acquisition and said Gumbuya was also now competing with the biggest dairy farms in the region, and that any expansion to the theme park was a “massive boost for the area”. “They’d be up there as one of the biggest landholders in the area, without a shadow of a doubt,” he said. Mr Weinzierl said the eco-friendly theme park, which is involved in a number of conservation projects including efforts to re-establish the critically endangered mountain pygmy possum, was considering renewing some of the latest acquisition to suit native wildlife once the rose farm currently operating at it reaches the end of its lease in seven years. “It’s an opportunity to make sure that nature and the fauna on the site stays the way it should,” he said. “We now have 660 acres (287ha) to be developed alongside the community in as far as what we do and what we put here.” Gumbuya World’s wildlife attractions are expected to get a lift in the near future, having recently added a tree kangaroo from Taronga Zoo, they’re now investigating bringing in meerkats and monkeys. The park had its busiest ever February earlier this year, but new rides are expected to bring in the biggest crowds yet with up to 5000 people on peak days over summer and total visitors as high as 500,000 a year. “I figure it will be our hottest summer yet,” Mr Weinzierl said. Gumbuya World replaced Gumbuya Park in 2018 and with the completion of its new roller-coasters will conclude the third stage of a five-phase masterplan to overhaul it. Phase four is expected to deliver accommodation, most likely eco-friendly spaces. “The goal is that people will come down, spend a day at Gumbuya and then the next day go to a winery or Phillip Island,” he said. Mr Weinzierl added the attraction was already expecting a “bonanza” when Brisbane hosts the Olympics, and Gumbuya World would be among the attractions working to lure international crowds to Victoria. An AALARA spokesperson said the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane presented “amazing opportunities” for the wider theme park industry and that they were working with the federal government towards a “bright and exciting journey” to the international event.

Now that stage looks a lot better, fits in a bit more and the carousel looks great. Defiantly good to see the kids area getting some TLC. Hopefully the hut in on, the to do list

I managed to get some photos of the area the other day and it looks a billion times better IMHO. The Carousel looks like it’s just about ready to open too.

(wasn’t show which topic to post this under) however, the walls around the stage in the Kids WB Section are now down and the eyesore red that made up the base section of the stage has now been replaced with a stone textured base. a major improvement to what it once was.

New construction images (Credit to Destination Dad n Daughter)

Here are some close-up shots of the area. These “Ride” markers have now been placed in various locations around the area: This appears to be the location of the operator’s booth: Some of the existing speakers have been removed and one of their protective housings has been dumped near the former Marvin attraction: Existing electrical cables are also in the process of being removed: Some more general shots of the area:

Looks much much better

I do agree but for different reasons. First the ride's presentation is very underwhelming. It is presented like a zoo exhibit - not a theme park attraction. Wipeout and Taipan have both served as 'great white hope' investments, but Wipeout looks far cooler on a TVC or on social media than Taipan is (given the level of detail between these two rides are night and day). The ride itself isn't exactly that special either, because to an average guest it looks similar to rivals - both cosmetically and in terms of ride layout - an inverted coaster would have given them something unique rather than dropping a cool $30 million on a clone. A well-done flume could even have been an even better use for that money at the time to bring back families. The Kenny & Belinda theme is going to probably take over Dreamworks. The license is probably up for renewal soon and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Comcast isn't keen on renewing one of their IP's to a competitor, or is charging a hefty amount for the privilege. IMO it's a shit retheme - because there's attractions like Pandamonium that you need to fit into that area which skew well above what the theme would suggest. A simple generic theme would do nicely without use of characters.

This is actually a common misconception. Its not a warner park and hasnt been since 2006. Village licence the use of the warner bros. name and anything associated with them as far as IP rights and retail sales. They dont even have a film distribution agreement with roadshow studios/pictures anymore. So pretty much everything WB you see is being used under licence. IE, they are paying for it.

It really feels like everyone just disagrees with me for the sake of it. We all agree that MW needs a new high capacity, world class family friendly ride - no matter what, this is going to cost millions. My choice would be a trackless dark ride - first in the southern hemisphere (I think) and all that jazz. Copying an existing ride will be cheaper which ever way you look at it - but you guys are insisting that that’s a stupid idea? Not sure what’s going on with that. Heck I’d be happy even if they put Riddlers Revenge (Zamperla Disc’o) in a shed which will provide a different ride experience for the park, high capacity (with adjustable cycle times) and also wet weather safe! You could do Halloween overlays too.

Thoosies will fly to Australia just to go on rivals - and maybe back in the day europeans/asians would for ToT. This can’t be said for ST.