Who originally owned wonderland?

[Ruddegar]

Hi there, First post to this forum. Just was reading about the levers mentioned on BB. Firstly, there was only one lever and it was at the end of the station, along with lift start, lift stop and e-stop buttons. The lever operated the airgates. The unloader would stand at the end of the platform and observe the lift hill, which they could stop if someone was standing up etc. Originally both the unloader and op would have to simultaneously hold down their respective lift start buttons to get the lift to start again if it was stopped. This was changed after the rides went to one person op, as well as the airgate lever being moved into the op booth. As mentioned the lever were purely to operate the airgates. The unloader never had control over the brakes. This applied to both Beastie and BB. When Wonderland went on their cost cutting ways and moved to one person op, they actually moved the op booth to the same side as the airgates. It was located next to the back row. They didnt even make a booth for the ops, they just moved the entire control panel over to that side. They then realised after all the work that you couldnt see the lift hill from that position (they tried to use a camera but it didnt cut the cheese) so it was finally moved over to the unload side where it stayed until the parks demise. Cheers.

[Ruddegar]

Sorry, just to clarify there was only one lever. Cheers

[Bussy]

See Alex I was right yet again. Remember I was a ride operator for a long time. "The Bus is now leaving for Time Rock, Western Australia"

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

well see now, theres an inconsistency there. you say they're buttons, ruddegar says they're levers. im not inclined to take either word for it so im afraid i have to disagree until further proof is provided. considering i have recollections of this control being used to bring the train back into the station, and also since ruddegar was a fake name used by Bart Simpson in the episode "be like the boy", im inclined to believe it is also a fake name here. agree to disagree at this point Bus.

[Guest galbraith]

What do you mean a fake name? Not everyone is like you and willing to put their real one on the internet. You're Mr Knowledge anyway, so believe what you like.

[T-bone]

Now concerning the Spider type ride that was once in Goldrush, i have seen pictures and actually seen the ride in person, and i reckon that that ride is the same ride as Luna Park Melbourne's Spider. I will post a pic of the Spider at LPM soon, but yes. Anyway, what do you think?

[Bussy]

well see now, theres an inconsistency there. you say they're buttons, ruddegar says they're levers. im not inclined to take either word for it so im afraid i have to disagree until further proof is provided.   considering i have recollections of this control being used to bring the train back into the station,   and also since ruddegar was a fake name used by Bart Simpson in the episode "be like the boy", im inclined to believe it is also a fake name here. agree to disagree at this point Bus.

So because Ruddegar said that there was a lever as well as the buttons everything he and I said is incorrect? Maybe it's your recollections that are wrong. Just because Ruddegar is a fake name does that mean that his information is wrong? If it does than me, Hussy, Slick, scream, GoBoi, dj, rabid, Neb, as well as many others post disinformation all the time. Face it Alex you are wrong. "The Bus is now leaving for Collector, NSW"

[GoGoBoy]

Mickazee - you have put together some great history there. It is my understanding that Sunway bought the park in 1997 (including surrounding property) for only $50 million. They then gradually sold off and redeveloped parcels of property and eventually the park itself for HUNDREDS of millions of dollars. It is worth noting that they are not finished yet either... they still have some remaining property

[rappa]

Okay FIRST... There was indeed 1 lever on both BB and Beastie and also a Go, E-stop and indicator light on a panel at the Brake Run end of the station. The lever was in fact to operate the original station gates (it has a few hoses coming into the air valve it was connected to). The tiny control panel was indeed used to enable or E-stop the lift as said. SECOND Nothing nasty in any way here Alex but I don't think you can accuse someone of having a fake name...after all

[Wazza1]

Every thing that Ruddegar said in regards to the Lever and Buttons for Bush Beast is 100% correct. Obviously, he had worked there for quite quite sometime to have remembered having the ops panel next to the back row, as it was only there for a matter of weeks.

[Bruiser]

It is my understanding that Sunway bought the park in 1997 (including surrounding property) for only $50 million. They then gradually sold off and redeveloped parcels of property and eventually the park itself for HUNDREDS of millions of dollars. It is worth noting that they are not finished yet either... they still have some remaining property

Wow, what a bargain considering what they've made from the park since.

[Slick]

Yeah, with the amount of money they made from day to day operation could've bought them a whole mcvalue meal with ketchup.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

what i meant in terms of a "Fake name" is an id created by an already existing user, wanting to utilise this name to back up the original posts of another user, and not simply a "screen name" to cover a persons "real name" ok so now we have - a control panel of buttons, then levers, then control panels AND levers, then a control panels and ONE lever. I am aware i have never been "employed" as an operator of bush beast, but I have still operated the ride. I was also in the park on its very first day of operation - its "pre-operation" day, on november 2nd, as well as its next operation day, november 9th, 1985. since then i have been to the park many times a year, for every year and seen the park move from design to design. Find me an operator from opening season that says different, and i'll believe it. the brake runs were originally controlled from the brake end of the platform.

[Mickazee]

Guys, Any of you have any information (or even a copy!) of an old booklet that was sold in the giftshop back in 85' with pictures and info on the construction of the park? I already have 1 ex-WL employee hunting it down for me (kudos to you kind sir) but anyone else know of anyone with a copy? *hopeful*

[T-bone]

That would be a good book to see. If you do get it, post some info about what the book says, and possibly some pictures please Mick.

[steve$]

yeah,that would be heaps cool

[Johno]

Hey, I own that book, right NOW! The front has: Souvenir Limited Edition 'AUSTRALIA'S WONDERLAND' with a picture of 'The Beastie' and at the bottom 'The greatest fun you'll ever have' and on the back it has 'The Bush Beast' logo with 'The greatest thrills you'll ever share' at the bottom! I have it in my desk drawer! I would post infomation about it but, I am too lazy and don't have the time at the moment to write down whole pages from the book! Don't have access to a scanner or digital camera either, at this time. The good thing about the book is it has infomation and pictures about the construction of the park, including 'The Bush Beast' and 'Bounty's Revenge' It even has the price label still on it, '$2.95!' Of course it is NOT for sale, so don't bother asking! This beautiful book is priceless! It contains a park map on two pages, and it shows the waterfall that DID exist before 'Space Probe' was constructed, 'The Funnel Web' and 'Ned Kelly's Getaway' were there but, to my surprise, the 'Zodiac' was NOT even there at the time! I am pretty sure I have a few pages I have written down on my old computer, so I'll try and hook it up and see if I can floppy them over! No promises, ok? Bye!

[Mickazee]

..any other takers? :-)

[Bussy]

Alex can you answer me this, who is Ruddegar's alternate username? "The Bus is now leaving for Ruddergrange, NSW"

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Johno, would you consider allowing Mickazee to copy it to the web for all our benefit? where abouts are you located? i know how treasured a posession it is, and we would definitely NOT want to deprive you of such a valued item, but the information and photographs contained within are a priceless memory of how the park once was... im sure between all of the forum users that we could arrange to have it copied for everyone's benefit. I have decided I am not going to post the wonderland music on this site, nor am i going to distribute copies of the cd, but I might be able to trade you a copy for the access to the book to have it copied...?

[steve$]

Good deal There. Everyone benefits

[Bussy]

Alex you missed replying to my post. "The Bus is now leaving for Sulky Alex Hill, NSW"

[Johno]

I'll have to think about it a bit more. My friend has a scanner, so I could see if I could use it or not and get back to you! Thanks for the music cd offer, thats really kind of you! Bye!

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

yes wonderbus, i did.

[Bussy]

So are you going to reply? I guess you thought it was me but yet again you are wrong. "The Bus is now leaving for Towrong Creek, Victoria"