Space Probe & Zodiac - Where did they end up?

[Slick]

This has been bugging me for many years now. Being a fan of all things Intamin and anything park nostalgia, I've continued to find it maddening how a 67m tall tower and its rotating cousin have just vanished into thin air. Now there's a lot of rumours, half truths and chatter from the grape vine as to where they landed up. From what I can gather, they weren't scrapped, were infact dismantled and prepped for shipping, and even the space probe parts made it as far to Malaysia, where they were prepped for install until "something happened" (I've heard footer and safety issues to my knowledge.) So to further the story I thought I'd open it up to the broader community. Do some of our ex wls employees know anything further? I've been persisting with sunway for answers but still hasn't gotten any results. I'm sure any information will be greatly welcomed by the community at large.

[downunder196]

Zodiac was the flying island right? If so I have a feeling it ended up at SFMM. But after it was taken out of there I have no idea where it went, if anywhere. Also not sure about Space Probe but I highly doubt it went anywhere other than the scrap yard.

[ih8toast]

Info on the Space Probe here: http://www.wonderlandhistory.net/content/space_probe_ride_removal

"The Space Probe was then sent to Sunway Lagoon in Kuala Lumpur, but was never erected. It still sits un-erected in a nearby paddock. The reason for this is the cost associated with the concrete footings required, and the cost to upgrade the ride."

[Reanimated35]

Did it burn?

http://www.wonderlandhistory.net/media-gallery/detail/105/5032

[Jobe]

Pretty sure that Zodiac was scrapped!! Can anyone confirm/deny this??

[T-bone]

Whilst I am happy to be corrected, if the Zodiac was scrapped, why would they have taken it apart and put it into shipping containers for presumably shipping somewhere, instead of just pulling it apart with no care in the world and taking it to a local scrap heap? Same goes with Probe, it seems really weird that they would pack them up into shipping containers for presumably shipping overseas if thats where they went when if they had no plans for them they could have saved a whole lot of money and scrapped them locally.

[Slick]

Info on the Space Probe here: http://www.wonderlandhistory.net/content/space_probe_ride_removal "The Space Probe was then sent to Sunway Lagoon in Kuala Lumpur, but was never erected. It still sits un-erected in a nearby paddock. The reason for this is the cost associated with the concrete footings required, and the cost to upgrade the ride."

Thanks for that. I had a good dig through wonderland history already, and while its all well and good, it still doesn't clarify where it is in the present, as to my best bet it's been quite a few years since that was written. Also, I can't for the life of me find said paddock.

[Monkeypie]

If I recall correctly , it was only a few months ago Wonderland History found out about the location of the Space Probe and are still waiting for pictures from their source in Kuala Lumpur.

[Slick]

The whole situation regarding the parks closure and the rides has been somewhat shifty when you look at the bigger picture. All this "quarry" talk... You'd think if someone knew there was another reason behind the parks closure they would've whistle blown it by now instead of playing the "wait until 2054" cards.

[JeffreyMoore]

when

james hardie 23.75 %

jacor-taft broadcasting 23.75

sas trustee corp 33.75%

leighton holdings 18.75 %

sold australia's whonderland to sunway for 50 million in 1997 that was at a loss of 15 million on the cost of building the park in 1984-6

its not known what profit - any profit the park made in its first 11 years that mite have made up for that 15 million lost or even covered the cost of the beach - demon and space probe added in 1988-1992-1995

when sunway sold the park in 2004 for 52 million thats only 2 million more then it cost them in 1997

who knows if the park ever run at a profit between 1997 - 2004 as it seems it never made enoth profit to make it worth adding any new rides - id think it whould have been running at a loss from around 2001 - 2004 for sure

so with the cost of closeing hanna barbera land in 2002 and removeing the licence then moveing the rides around the park - buying the marvel licence

and the cost of closeing the park and demo cost i dont think sunway whould have made much if anything from the park overall

just how i see it anyway

Edited June 23, 2013 by JeffreyMoore

[jjuttp]

I would have thought Marvel would cost more than a Hanna license would.

[JeffreyMoore]

im sure it whould have cost more the main reason the park had the hanna barbera licence in the first place was the its owner taft broadasting built and part owned the park

but by 2002 warner brothers owned hanna barbera and im guessing thay whould have increased the licence fee or just did not wish to renew the licence as thay were opening the scooby doo spooky coaster at movie world

[Jobe]

Interesting!! From what you have posted , you are stating that the park NEVER operated with a profit at any time of its life! I was under the impression that the park WAS profitable to the day it was sold!! I am sure there are more learned people on this board who can confirm or add to this debate!! Rappa or Joz perhaps??

[JeffreyMoore]

i dont know if it did not operate at a profit at some point in its 19 years just know it was reported as makeing a loss in its early years and by sunway when thay decided to close the park in 2004

and that it was sold at a loss of 15 million on the cost to build the park in 1984-6 to sunway in 1997

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

just how i see it anyway

It would seem you might be onto something there...

but I guess we won't know for sure for a few more decades.

[Slick]

After digging and digging and digging for quite a number of months now, i've got official word back from Sunway themselves regarding what happened to Space Probe.

Long story short, it's been scrapped.

Yes it is confirmed that Space Probe was brought over to Sunway Lagoon a few years ago when Wonderland closed up. The costings for setting back up the ride was too high therefore the management decided to sell it off as scrap. This is purely a management business decision and we do hope this puts your mind into ease.

[Jobe]

Thanks Slick. Great work!! I am pretty sure that this was the fate of Zodiac as well. Now if someone would like to add further to the discussion of whether Wonderland was profitable that would also be great. I remember that not long after the park closed there was this very debate on these boards . I am pretty sure that some members argued that Wonderland was profitable and that this was just a smokescreen for Sunway to sell the park. Maybe things have changed and opinions altered. Happy to see some evidence to the contrary!!

[Wazza1]

Thanks Slick. Great work!! I am pretty sure that this was the fate of Zodiac as well. Now if someone would like to add further to the discussion of whether Wonderland was profitable that would also be great. I remember that not long after the park closed there was this very debate on these boards . I am pretty sure that some members argued that Wonderland was profitable and that this was just a smokescreen for Sunway to sell the park. Maybe things have changed and opinions altered. Happy to see some evidence to the contrary!!

I can't talk with hard facts for the period prior to 1995, (only word of mouth discussions with people) but from people I know it is a general consensus that Wonderland NEVER made a profit.

Onto harder facts. I know for a fact that in the financial year 1996/97 (just prior to Sunway purchasing the park) Wonderland made a loss of exactly $4.429 Million.

The old consortium obviously put together a crazy 5 year plan to show how profitable Wonderland could become with a bit of work, (I guess in order to make it look more attractive to a potential buyer.) Their budget plan showed that by 2000/01, Wonderland would welcome over 2,000,000 guests through the gates, and as a resut they would reaslise a profit of $15 million. (lol)

But of course this didn't happen, and while the losses were minimised under the stewardship of Sunway, the place still consistantly lost money. Don't take my word for it, here are Sunway's words "Given the persistent drain on the Group’s resources,the Wonderland Sydney Theme Park will be closed

by the 1st half of 2004." This quote is taken directly from Sunway's 2003 annual report.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

That's some of the best research i've seen in the past 9 years. Of course - having a slight inside channel doesn't hurt...