Shane's Amusement Attic

[montezooma"Can I get clamshells out of this ATM?"]

AUSTRALIA'S WONDERLAND

Well I don't know too much about this park, maybe our friends down under can shed some light and history about this park that is now gone.

I know it was designed and managed by KECO (the company that Paramount bought out) but the park always remained under a private owner, it never became part of the Paramount Parks.

It seems to have alot of similarities to Canada's Wonderland as far as the theme areas go. The Medieval Faire section of the park changes names several times to: Old Bounty Bay & International Plaza.

I am not sure what happened to the Intamin Drop Ride but the Boomerang was sold to Alabama Adventures

[coastercrazed49I Love Eli Manning!]

Great Stuff Shane.
Dream World always looked like a cool park. Its really cool how they combine the Intamin Freefall Tower and the reverse freefall coaster.

[coastakid“Fear can make a donkey attack a lion”]

^ Right info, but Dream World is not what that article is about. It is about Wonderland. Dream World is still operating while Wonderland has closed down...

Well anyhow, thanks Montezooma for putting this all together. It really is very interesting!

[coastercrazed49I Love Eli Manning!]

Wow I had a total brainfart there. Sorry.

Idk maybe it was the black Intamin Drop Tower that threw me off and got it into my mind.

[Sgt. FoxWhat's with the donkeys anyway?]

Awesome thread!

Anyone else notice the Indiana Jones EMVs in the Ride Trade catalog on page 4 of the thread? What year was that from? It looks like Disney stole it straight out of the catalog. lol

[TheRapidsNerdMullets never go out of style!]

Shane, great stuff!

Yes, The Demon (now Zoomerang) is doing well at Alabama Adventure as of summer 2007. I think one or two of the Wonderland's wood coaster trains are running on Rampage, since one in particular had a red to yellow color change. Saw pics of what seemed like the same train sitting idle at Wonderland, and it was about the time AA bought Demon.

EDIT: Posted a couple pics of Demon and a clip of the above mentioned Rampage train.

[montezooma"Can I get clamshells out of this ATM?"]

ARROW DEVELOPMENT

Now this stuff goes way back...I think this may be the earliest that I started to collect stuff. I received this marketing packet from Arrow back in 1977. It shows the Knott's Corkscrew when it was set up for testing at the plant in Mountain View, CA.

Also there is a some great stuff on the Steeplechase, Log Flumes and other rides that Arrow manufactured at that time.

This was also when they had just began to market their latest development, the Suspended Coaster. You can see an early layout of what the ride could have been along with a diagram of the suspended coach.

If you are an Arrow fan, read up, there is a lot of interesting information that is included in this post, amazing that it took six years to develop the Corkscrew. I also have more brochures coming from when Arrow went through its many transitions from Arrow Development to Arrow Huss to Arrow Dynamics.

click here to see another Arrow Development marketing brochure that focuses on engineering, fabrication, and installation of coasters, particularly the Loch Ness Monster.

click here to see the second ride packet Arrow released in 1980.

click here to see the 1981 brochure from Arrow Huss.

click here to see stuff from Arrow Dynamics.

[SharkTumsSite Admin]

I visited Australia's Wonderland in 96 and had a lot of fun. Shane you're totally right though about the park being like Canada's Wonderland. A bad woodie, a kiddie Woodie, a boomerang, random flats...but...Mmmm Space Probe 7 was amazing!

At least when I was there with all of the effects, and employees really getting into their jobs it was quite the experience. I also remember the rapids being okay, and they had some really good fresh mini-donuts.

[montezooma"Can I get clamshells out of this ATM?"]

Does anyone know why this park closed? They advertise as being Australia's biggest theme park, that would be like Kings Island closing over here in the states. What is left of it now? Is it still there or has it been redeveloped?

[d34thstrik3There is no such thing as a donkey punch.]

Does anyone know why this park closed? They advertise as being Australia's biggest theme park, that would be like Kings Island closing over here in the states. What is left of it now? Is it still there or has it been redeveloped?

Apparently it was unprofitable or at least that is what the company claimed (and blamed a number of things for downturn in guests). The park is now gone and is an industrial estate.