Stories, memories, and anecdotes shared by visitors and staff about Australia’s Wonderland over its 20-year history.
Stories & memories — The first day
The first day
Original post
Did anyone go as a guest on the 1st day of opening? Or was anyone there working on the first day?
It would be interesting to know how many people actually went to the park on it first day of opening. There appeared to be a lot of marketing promotions and newspaper press releases in the lead up to the opening day so it would be interesting to know whether than was refelected in the number of guests who went on the opening day? Also was that same level of interested maintained throughout the first season of Wonderland’s opening, or did it start to die off after a while.
Comment 1 — Patrick
Subject: The first day
Hi Wazza. I was working on the first day of operations (on the waveswinger in medieval faire) but cannot remember how big the crowd was. My recollection of the first season was that crowd sizes were pretty patchy – we would get some really big crowds on weekends in fine weather, but some quite small crowds on rainy days mid-week. Cheers.
Stories & memories — Cinnamon Donuts
Cinnamon Donuts
Original post
I have just got to mention one of my fondest memories from Wonderland was getting a freshly made, hot cinnamon donut on a cold winters day from the little booth near the Snowy River Rampage..
I have never had a donut that tasted so good!
Comment 1 — Wazza
Subject: Cinnamon Doughnuts
Oh man they were sooooo good. They sold them at the place next to the Wizard’s Fury as well
Comment 2 — hoonster
Subject: Drover’s Delights
The name of the booth near the Snowy River Rampage was called Drover’s Delights, and if you had a few doughnuts there between 1994 and 1996 then chances are some of them were made by me! I loved working there and still have some fellow Drovers staff who are friends today. But after seeing how doughnuts were made and what they were fried in (at least at Drover’s) I’ve never eaten a doughnut of any kind again since I left AWL. Good times.
Comment 3 — Wazza
Subject: Cinnamon Doughnuts
So what were they fried in?
Comment 4 — hoonster
Subject: Doughnuts
We fried the doughnuts in animal shortening, but it wasn’t so much what they were fried in as how the doughnut fryer was maintained. My understanding when I started working there was that the used shortening was to be drained out of the machine and replaced with fresh stuff on a regular basis. But in three years at Drover’s, I never saw it done. If the oil was running low, we just dumped a couple of handfuls of new shortening into the old stuff. There was a layer of crud at the bottom of that machine that probably came to life at nighttime and went walking around the park.
Mixing the doughnut batter was also problematic. There were so many flying bugs around and the batter was so sticky that it was impossible to remove any insects that may have tried to land in the batter and got stuck. So they were just incorporated into the mix. Tasty!
So that’s why I don’t eat doughnuts. Not now, not ever.
But again, good times.
Comment 5 — alexb
Subject: Well thats just like the
Well thats just like the sausage sizzle near the goldrush theatre… try keeping bugs off that food….. 😉
Comment 6 — hoonster
Subject: Drover’s Signs
These signs were lovingly ripped off the back of the doors at Drovers on my last day.
Now they live in my backyard shed.
Comment 7 — Wazza
Subject: Drovers Signs
I hope you display Safety First Last and Always while you are working in your shed
Comment 8 — hoonster
Subject: Drovers Signs
I will definitely be saying those two phrases to my daughter when she turns eighteen and starts going out. She’ll hear them each time she sets foot out of the front door!!
Stories & memories — Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
Original post
In about 1999/ 2000 I was on the Endeavour, and neither of the gates would open to let the passengers off. I was on it by myself (with no friends or family) as a sort of ‘fill in’ ride between Bounty’s Revenge and the Bush Beast, and ended up stuck on there for what seemed like an hour. I was devastated that I’d lost so much time!
But, when they FINALLY got us off the ride, we were given a ‘Skip the line’ Pass, and what better ride to use that on during summer than on The Snowy River Rampage! (By the way I’m sorry if I yelled at anyone here about being stuck! I was only 13 at the time, and it was a big deal!)
Comment 1 — T-bone
I never have been stuck on a ride during or after the ride (my aim is for that to happen one day lol) but I saw a few ride break downs at Wonderland over the years.
I saw the Bush Beast’s red train once stuck half way up the lift hill, and it was stuck for quite a while, so I saw these people in space suits (possibly Space Probe Themed Suits?) walk up the lift hill with Beverages and packaged food for the riders. This was during the yellow logo days.
Another breakdown I witnessed was when the park opened (was probably the first round of rides for the day). One of the Space Probe’s gondola’s was stuck around half way up the tower. They were stuck up there for about half an hour.
Comment 2 — Bussy
Never stuck on a ride myself, but attended countless ’61 Charlie’s’ on all of the major rides.
One funny ’61 Charlie’ story I heard was when the call came over the radio for one at dodgems, puzzled the supervisors on that day headed up to the ride expecting something like a car overturned. To their amusement and everyone in the queue line a large man had got into a car and some how managed to put the seatbelt around his waist instead of putting his arm through it only. After much pulling and squeesing he was released. Sadly I wasn’t working that day and didn’t get to see it, probably a good thing because I would have burst out laughing as soon as I had seen what was going on.
Bussy
Comment 3 — maccadog15
I remember Dad telling me when he was rides manager about the times he had to walk the Bush Beast or Beastie tracks because they got stuck on the chain lifts.
But I personally never got stuck on a ride.
Comment 4 — djsupersleuth
Skyrider circa 2001-2.
Prick of a ride to open up pre park open, I was doing the ride check on it one day and you needed a maint person at the other end in order to do this. So the sparky goes to the drive end (HB) and I was down the return end (Goldrush) and whilst waiting for the sparky to make the 5 minute drive up the back road I decided to "have a rest" in a gondola. In I go and the gondola swings sideways and the door slams shut behind me. Well those here who are familiar with the gondolas would know that there is no handle on the inside so I had effectively "Charlied" myself. I could hear the sparky up the drive end trying to raise me on the "airphone". I called 61 Charlie position 19 to my sparky colleague who confused came all the way back and let me out. Very red faced I must say. Also put us back 15 minutes on our busy weekend schedules of getting back to the canteen for smoko and floating around the park on social calls. The remote boats may even have went in late as a result delaying the "sparky bonus".
Comment 5 — samantha
Subject: Re: Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
You guys will probably never believe me.. but probably around 5 years ago, in 2002 or something.. I went to Wonderland with my cousin.. (It was traditional to attend Wonderland every time I went to Sydney- in fact I pretty much went every year for 10 years until it shut down soo sad I can still remember the growl of snowy river rampage and the excitement of space probe 7)
Mmm anyway, I got stuck on the Demon. Apparently it was playing up badly the day before.. kept stopping randomly.. and well when I was on it it stopped UPSIDE DOWN! Scared me so much.. you know how it drags you up, backwards and drops you?? Well it stopped probably halfway through that first loop!!
Lucky it only stopped for about 15 seconds or so before a lady called over that we shouldnt panic and there was loud clicking noises as the ride was slowly let go backwards and kind of slid to a stop halfway on the track.
Haha shook me up so much, I was on the stupid thing by myself too. I never went on the silly ride after that.. especially when I saw it closed the next day because of the incident arghhhh
Comment 6 — djsupersleuth
Subject: Re: Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
Samantha,
You are right, at first I was thinking no that did not happen but then I realised that yes there was a incident where that would have happened and thinking more about it I was the Maintenance Fitter who attended then. The cable on Lift 1 snapped and the train went into the first loop with the catchcar and approx 100 metres of cable still attached, the operator E stopped the ride (a little late) and luckily it didnt make it into the boomerang. So yes if you were in the front of the train then you would have stopped upside down but not for too long as the train came back into the station but stopped a fair way out. I had to open the harnesses and get the people out so what a small world eh?
Comment 7 — samantha
Subject: Re: Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
Hey- Yeh it is a small world, if that was you… I know its happened a couple of times, apparently. I askted the operator about it and she said it was nothing to worry about.. but the ride was shut down for the rest of the afternoon. (It had been jamming all day..) I loved that ride too, but after that there was no way i was risking it again hahahaha.
Comment 8 — djsupersleuth
Subject: Re: Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
Well the cable only snapped once and that would be the only time it would have gone through the station and into the boomerang and back. The only other incident I could think of would be a running wheel seizing which happened about then but I dont think the train stopped as you said into the boomerang.
Comment 9 — samantha
Subject: Re: Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
Okay, well no this wasnt a cable. This must have been the wheels.. because everything went as normal.. how they drag you up backwards, speak to you and then drop the carriages forward Only problem was as soon as it started to zoom up the first loop it made loud clicking noises and all of a sudden came to a stop. I had my eyes closed and I remember opening them, scared because we had stopped, and finding myself hanging upside down.. (you were correct when you said the back carriages were not exactly upside down, but the first couple of front ones were..) I can still remember to this day screaming, and a couple in front of me turned around and told me not to cry. AND like I said, it was only up there for a few seconds before we came clicking down slowly and came to a random halt near the stopping bay.. someone came and undid our harnesses, and I ran away from that ride as soon as I found out there was problems.. haha I was stopped by random people while I was walking out who were asking me if I was okay.
Im not lying?? Why on earth would I lie about being stuck on a ride? It was over in a matter of seconds..
Comment 10 — Bussy
Subject: Re: Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
Dj and Samantha, it seems you are talking about two different incidents. Firstly, the Demon never became stuck in the boomerang with people loaded on the train. I remember once not that long after I started at the park in 99/00 I had to stand at the bottom of the exit path near Wizards and tell people that the ride was closed, when they asked me why all I had to do was point at where the train was. Secondly, I was the ride operator when the cable snapped on the Demon and I know Wazza was one of the first people at the ride. I had dispatched the train and when it was about 5 meters from it release point up lift one I heard a huge bang and automatically hit the e-stop. I remember like it was yesterday watching the train come down the lift and seeing the cable whipping around behind it (I can’t believe how lucky the people in the last carriage were not to be hit), then the train going part of the way into the boomerang and rolling back down into the station, the train actually stopped only a meter or two from where it normally did. I then picked up the phone and called through a 61 Charlie. A short time later the phone rang and it was Wazza asking what had happened, I said the cable had snapped, he asked if it was at the catch wagon, I said no it was at the winch, the phone was put down rather quickly after that and the next thing 4 or 5 ride supervisors, the operations manager, OH&S manager and a heap of maintenance guys, including DJ (from memory) turned up.
I’m not 100% sure or not but either that day or the morning after I went back up to the ride with the OH&S manager, operations manager, ride supervisor and again a few of the maintenance guys and explained to them what had happened, I was able to walk around and under the ride and have a look the damage, most of the brakes were destroyed or damaged at a result of them closing and then having the cable pulled through them and there were several large metal rollers that the cable sat on underneath lift 1 and these had been bent at 90 degrees.
Bussy
Comment 11 — samantha
Subject: Re: Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
Okay, well no Im not talking about any of these incidents that you have all mentioned. This did not involve heaps of people nor did it involve safety checks or people deterring others away from the ride.. I dont understand why you both feel that you were there?.. but its very coincidental that you both think you were operating the ride at that time.. but okay what ever makes you feel better about yourself….
Comment 12 — Bussy
Subject: Re: Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
I think you need to read the post again, DJ was a maintenace technician at the park and never offically operated a ride with guests on it. I was a ride operator, among other things, and was the operator of The Demon when the cable snapped and numerous other ride incidents. I wasn’t saying I was the operator when you had your incident
Bussy
Comment 13 — galahs
Subject: Re: Anyone else get stuck on a ride?
I was on the Demon when it broke down.
We did the first half of the ride successfully, but as we rocketed up the 2nd incline we heard a massive clunk, then BANG as the chain failed to grab the carriage.
We went backwards at a very reduced speed around the loop to loop where the train got stuck half way upside down. The operator told us not to worry and they drove the train forwards so we could get out at the bottom of the 2nd incline.
We were given a "jump the line" card which said we could use it on any ride except the Space Probe. But that was OK because it too was stuck half way up the tower.
This happened in the late 90’s from memory.
Comment 14 — galahs
Subject: I also remember on the pirate
I also remember on the pirate ship, if you held on to the restraints with your elbows, your entire row wouldn’t release, and for some reason we were forced to go around again. lol
Comment 15 — niladmirari
Subject: Bush Beast
I remember one time when I was at Wonderland and I was riding the Bush Beast with my brother (for about the 13th time haha) and the ride stopped just before the end of the ride because apparently there was someone walking underneath the rollercoaster, not too sure why. We were stuck there for like 20 mins or something, although i’m not terribly sure whether that was the reason the ride was halted for that time, that’s what they told us anyway. Nothing went wrong with that ride but yeh, just though I would mention it in this forum! Seemed like an eternity because I was dying to go on more rides!!! Omg this website is awesome. It brought a tear to my eye when I was looking at the demolition/closure pictures. Now we basically have nothing in NSW as good, Luna Park really does not compete.
Comment 16 — Marto
Subject: Bush Beast
Wow they stopped you on the ride for 20 mins because someone was walking under, that sounds crazy. I remember seeing the Bush Beast get stuck one day up on the curve near the M4. They were up there for about 10 mins before they could get the ride going.
You’re right niladmirari Luna Park really has nothing on what Wonderland was. Even the new Wet and Wild won’t be as good
Stories & memories — GENERAL
GENERAL
Original post
hey people, who started thiswebsite and what period did you guys work there.
would love to know
regards,
manny
Comment 1 — Dasha
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Nearly 3 months before it opened up and bailed 3 weeks before it closed.
All that time in maintenance.
Comment 2 — manny
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Then you would know who i am. i must be talking to Jimbo. am i right
Comment 3 — Dasha
Subject: Re: GENERAL
No, but right department, Jims up near Parkes now and i still stay in touch with Rob.
So i think you’ll know who now, What are you doing these days? Do you still have the Monaro?
Comment 4 — manny
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Hey,
you know what i still do not have a clue who this is for some reason. help me out please
Regards,
Manny
Comment 5 — Dasha
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Darrell the Painter You had a HQ Monaro? Drove my daughter to her formal in it? …OR am i talking to the wrong guy????
Comment 6 — manny
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Hi,
i rememebr you but i know who you are talking about. (MANNY the maintainance guy). i came from Atractions. i was an unloader at Bush Beast and SRR, then moved to IVT, i was then made supervisor of HB and eventually finished at IVT again. i was suping under Nathan in HB and then under Damian in IVT. i had a great time there. Manny from MAINTAINANCE was a top bloke have not seen him for ages. This website is great to see how the park started and i wish i could work there again. i remember putting maintainance request forms to get some painting done and you would come up with some great artwork. how are things these days for you and what are you up to. who are the others who started this website and do i know them as i do not know the names they have posted as their ID. would love to know to see if they rememebr me or if i worked with any of them
Regards,
MANNY
Comment 7 — Dasha
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Well yes it’s not the Manny i thought it was, but it’s still nice to see another AWL person out there.
Is that Damien Green you spoke of? He works at Bridge Climb , i have told him of the site .
Comment 8 — manny
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Hi,
No i worked under Damian Boyce who later married Bianca. i also worked under Amanada Hoye. do not know what she is up to. i know Diana is back in Sydney. she went with Jason to Luna Park in Melbourne. anyway what are you up to these days
regards,
MANNY
Comment 9 — Dasha
Subject: Re: GENERAL
I had been doing some maint painting for Skytour at Sydney tower (Bianca was there for a while) before i left the Park.
So i just chased up more work and i do the maint painting for Skytour/Skywalk, Sydney Aquarium/Wildlife World and Bridge Climb
keeps me busy enough and i still see a few AWL’s at these places.
Actually i had a quik chat with Todd Coates tonight.
Comment 10 — manny
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Hi,
it is a shame that the park ended the way it did. just something interesting that i learned the other day, i was talking to one of the people that demolished Beach and even he said those pools were built for a lifetime. the amount of concrete used was unbelievable. he even said that it was a shame to do it.
regards,
MANNY
Comment 11 — wonderland
Subject: Re: GENERAL
[quote="manny":5e4fb]hey people, who started thiswebsite and what period did you guys work there.
would love to know
regards,
manny[/quote:5e4fb]
I started this website in 2005, When i started the site it was just a few pics of wonderland afterclosure before demolition,
Since then people have sent me heaps of pics, video, audio, and other cool stuff.
I never worked at wonderland, wish i did, it opend when i was 14, i spent lots and lots of time there in the early days, i stopped going to wonderland in 1992 and did not return until NYE 1997, i did not go on the last day in 2004 wish i did.
This website is dedicated to the remembrance and history of Australias Wonderland aka ‘Wonderland Sydney’.
Comment 12 — wonderland
Subject: Re: GENERAL
[quote="manny":ad7dd]Hi,
it is a shame that the park ended the way it did. just something interesting that i learned the other day, i was talking to one of the people that demolished Beach and even he said those pools were built for a lifetime. the amount of concrete used was unbelievable. he even said that it was a shame to do it.
regards,
MANNY[/quote:ad7dd]
The same dudes that demolished the beach also demolished the rest of the park, i would love to get more info from this person you where talking to. Can you ask him some questions for me?
How where Space Probes foundations removed?
What day was Beastie demolished?
How where Bush Beasts foundations removed?
Did anyone demolishing the park take any pictures?
i have more questions but thats a start, see how you go.
thanks
Comment 13 — manny
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Hi,
i will do my best with the questions but thank you for your reply. talk soon
regards,
MANNY
Comment 14 — Bussy
Subject: Re: GENERAL
I worked at Wonderland from ’99 till close with a small break in 2002. I ended up being The Beach supervisor, main trainer and team leader for Rides. I have heaps of great memories and a few bad ones.
Comment 15 — raverguy
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Hello I am new here.
What I would like to happpen, is for a campaign to get going to get another new fun park for western sydney!
As soon as possible.
I think if anyone who is interested in getting another fun park puts in a bit of effort such as writing emails or letters to their local members of parliament and also sending emails to other companies that run fun or theme parks such as Australian parks like Dreamworld, Wet n Wild and also foreign companies like Six Flags in the U.S.A and if enough people regularly hound them to build another park out here in the Western Suburbs and anywhere else that wants one for that matter then eventually they will see the light and the demand by the people and the potential and hopefully build us a new park!
C’mon let’s do it. Let’s annoy them long enough until they give in to just get rid of us..
Be Positive, people power will win in the end.
I mean I miss Wonderland so much like millions of other people. We are lost with out such a place to enjoy life.
I am also absolutely disgusted that there is no decent fun park in Sydney!!! It is unbelievable!
Sydney is the capital of N.S.W. the biggest city in Australia with the largest population, yet it does not even have a proper entertainment fun park! It is outrageous
We are a first world country, yet our biggest city has nothing, no proper fun park at all!
Why should only QLD have fun parks?? Why should NSW be a hole?? NSW has Jamberoo which is great but it’s too far from western sydney and apart from that there is not much else that is very decent.
The greater western suburbs of westen sydney is as the name suggest a very large area with a boomming population that has been booming for years and there is plenty of parcels of land left to build a new and better park and the population is crying out for places to have fun at and to enjoy life but still we have no fun park! It is a disgrace.
Please I urge anyone who is interested in getting a new park to write emails and or letters to anyone they can think of, especially other existing fun park companies like sixflags in the U.S. or White Water World in Australia etc and ask them to expand and build more fun parks in other cities as people are desperate for them.
I have already sent emails to some fun park companies and i am continuing my campaign, because one day we will get a new park and we should have one. I believe every state should have a decent park or two or more so people don’t have to travel to one state to have some fun and some quality of life!
If you want to join in, send some emails please, pressure them, let’s make this a CAMPAIGN to get more fun parks, the more people that send their emails the better I say.
It’s up to you.
I could go on about my memories of Wonderland and other theme or fun parks I have been to over the years, and there is nothing wrong with that but what I am more interested in is helping in getting another park for the people, for all of us!
Comment 16 — Dasha
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Unfortunatly any sizable tract of land within a resonable distance to Sydney would be worth more to investors as industrial complexes than any theme park.
Which is exactly why Wonderland is what it is today. (greedy Malaysians)
An ex Wonderland executive told me that the only chance of anything remotely like Wonderland would be a giant surfable wavepool and hightech waterpark with a number of major ride attractions surrounding it , and to build it today, within a reasonable distance of Sydney is virtually a pipe dream.
Comment 17 — WorldwidePants
Subject: Re: GENERAL
There is a theme park not too far up the north coast (near Foster) a bit similar to WLS it has a ride very close to what the wizards fury. But it is a lot smaller not well known. Its Ton O Fun. http://www.tonofun.com.au/tof.htm
Comment 18 — Bussy
Subject: Re: GENERAL
[quote="WorldwidePants":e9f9f]There is a theme park not too far up the north coast (near Foster) a bit similar to WLS it has a ride very close to what the wizards fury. But it is a lot smaller not well known. Its Ton O Fun. http://www.tonofun.com.au/tof.htm[/quote:e9f9f]
A bit like WLS? In what way besides people pay to enter the park? I see no comparison at all.
Bussy
Comment 19 — wonderpasses
Subject: Re: GENERAL
"ton-o-fun", BAH its a tonne of crap, same as "The Big Buzz" which is just down the road from there, i refer to it as "the big fizz" there both miserable little fun parks on someones property, with dodgy rides and piss weak atractions. "ton-o-fun" has been around for as long as i can remember, i have been taking holidays at Forster since i was 18 months old, and now own an investment property up there. And im now 24. It has not changed AT ALL. It should of closed down years and years ago, unfortunatly it has survived through sheer luck and the fact its only open on school holidays. The most populated time in that area. Hence making maximum money from people cashed up on holidays wanting to shut there kids up
thats my 2c worth any how
Comment 20 — djrappa
Subject: Re: GENERAL
Sort of mentioned this in another threat but as you mentioned the names in here…
Bianca is up here on Gold Coast, she was with us at Outback Spectacular since opening but has recently moved to Seaworld as attractions manager.
Tim Fisher is our new COO, small world.
Comment 21 — alexb
Subject: Unfortunatly any sizable
Unfortunatly any sizable tract of land within a resonable distance to Sydney would be worth more to investors as industrial complexes than any theme park.
Which is exactly why Wonderland is what it is today. (greedy Malaysians)
An ex Wonderland executive told me that the only chance of anything remotely like Wonderland would be a giant surfable wavepool and hightech waterpark with a number of major ride attractions surrounding it , and to build it today, within a reasonable distance of Sydney is virtually a pipe dream.
So it would seem that Dasha may have been on the money there with the announcement of Wet N Wild Sydney – a sizeable tract of land IS available, if it’s part of your cinema chain and you already own it…. 😉
Stories & memories — Similar Wonderland in Canada
Similar Wonderland in Canada
Original post
I just wanted to let you know about the Wonderland here in Canada because the Wonderland in Australia was modeled to be pretty much another version of Canada’s Wonderland.
I am a Canadian and I have been to Canada’s Wonderland many many times as it is my favourite amusement park (and if i love Canada’s Wonderland, then you should (have) love(d) Wonderland Sydney just as much as I love the Canadian one)!
I have been on Wild Beast/Bush Beast (plus other similar rides) and it is my favourite ride in Canada’s Wonderland!
Canada’s Wonderland opened in May of 1981 and is still operating today in 2008. Our operating months are from May to the end of October because our seasons are opposite of yours. Our summers are from June to August and our winters are from November to February/March (around those months). We have 2 of the same themed areas that your park used to have; Hannah-Barbera Land and Medieval Faire.
Plus, most of the rides are the same too;
Canada’s Wonderland – Wonderland Sydney
(a previous ride that we used to have) Racing Rivers – Ned Kellys Getaway
White Water Canyon – Snowy River Rampage
Drop Tower – Space Probe (they do not look the same but are the same concept/idea)
Wild Beast – Bush Beast
Ghoster Coaster – Beastie
The Bat – Demon
Swing of the Century – Dragon Flight
The Rage (a swinging boat)/Jet Scream (a jet that swings 360 degrees) – Bountys Revenge
(another previous ride that we used to have) Wipe Out – Speed Slide/Free Fall Slide
CocaCola Oasis – CocaCola Cool Zone
Timber Wolf Falls – Fred Flinestone’s Splashdown (Timber Wolf Falls is higher)
(again, another previous ride which is no longer here) The Fury – The Funnel Web
Krachenwagen (don’t ask how to pronounce this or what language it is because I have no clue) – Jousting Ring
Aerofield – Little Monsters Flying School
Arthurs’ Baye Dive Show – Old Botany/Lake/Lakeside (same layout but different show I think).
Jokey’s Jalopies – AMPOL Cars
Did you guys have a ride called Skyrider? If so, what was it like because we have a [b:200c6]stand up[/b:200c6] roller coaster called Skyrider.
And there is another one but I don’t know what yours is/was called. Ours is called Jetson’s Rocketport. Also, there is a merry-go-round in Hannah-Barbera Land in both parks. Ours is called Hannah-Barbera-Go-Round and I don’t know what yours is called.
And another thing is that we do not a Wild Life Park that has kangaroos and sheep but we [b:200c6]had[/b:200c6] a Bedrock Aquarium which was a show with seals, dolphins and whales.
Canada’s Wonderland no longer has that show. The Canadian Wonderland has over 200 rides and attractions, a 20 acre water park, and 66 roller coasters! This year, it has a new coaster that is the fastest, tallest and biggest in Canada; BEHEMOTH!! It is a B&M hypercoaster with open air proto-type seating. It is 230 feet high and has 8 drops with speeds of 125 kilometers per hour (I’m not sure how you calculate the feet or speed in Australia). From 1981 to 1995 or ’96, Taft Broadcasting owned Wonderland, then from ’95 or ’96 to 2006, Paramount did and from 2006 to now Cedar Fair owns Canada’s Wonderland.
I hope you (hopefully) enjoyed this, as I enjoyed reading about Wonderland Sydney and its’ history. If you are not, please do not be rude about it. Thank you!
For more information about Canada’s Wonderland, go to the official website at http://www.canadaswonderland.com or the fansite at http://www.cwmania.com which I am a member on also, and my user is funnel_cakes (on cwmania.com)
Comment 1 — Dasha
Subject: Re: Similar Wonderland in Canada
Talking about how one park was modeled on the other , there were some pre opening advertising posters that were pics of Med/fare in Canada , as the Med/fare in Sydney wasn’t finished and a couple of ride pics too.
Comment 2 — mnemo
Subject: Re: Similar Wonderland in Canada
Very tru Daz… BUT… It took blokes like yourself and Wardy to bring AWL to life tho..
Comment 3 — Bussy
Subject: Re: Similar Wonderland in Canada
Welcome CanadasWonderland. I have a bit of a connection with Canada’s Wonderland and Toronto in general having lived just north of the park for 4 months and working at the park for 3 months or so back in 2002. It was the year Psyclone (which I got to operate) opened. I had a brilliant time there with great people.
I just got back recently from a month doing the Rockies, Alaska, Vegas and LA. We wanted to get over to Toronto to see family I have there and also to go to Niagra Falls but unfortunately due to time and money restraints we weren’t able to.
Your user name funnel_cakes brings back some delicious memories.
Bussy
Comment 4 — Dasha
Subject: Re: Similar Wonderland in Canada
Thanks mnemo , but it took a lot of people with enthusiasm(spell check) and vision of what it could become.
I remember on opening day, the bbq after for staff and to a few of us drinks up at the vip room late that night and a statement made by Rick Steel standing out on the patio looking at the park…. " You guys should feel proud that you are a part of creating something thats going to be here for a long long time."
Well we were proud and we did think the same.
Ps… there was a color book in the vip room about CW with an ariel shot of the park and we were surprised at the similarities…lol even down to the dirt service road around the park.
Comment 5 — CanadasWonderland
Subject: Re: Similar Wonderland in Canada
[quote="Bussy":24cfc]Welcome CanadasWonderland. I have a bit of a connection with Canada’s Wonderland and Toronto in general having lived just north of the park for 4 months and working at the park for 3 months or so back in 2002. It was the year Psyclone (which I got to operate) opened. I had a brilliant time there with great people.
Your user name funnel_cakes brings back some delicious memories.
Bussy[/quote:24cfc]
Thank you for the welcome!
I love Psyclone! It’s my favourite thrill ride in Canada’s Wonderland!
Did Wonderland Sydney serve funnel cakes?
Did you get to visit the whole park and ride some of the rides when you worked there? Plus, now they have a lot more rides and some of the rides that you would have seen back then when you worked there, are gone now.
This is kind of cool; talking to people who are pretty much across the world from me with an Australian accent! lol
Comment 6 — Bussy
Subject: Re: Similar Wonderland in Canada
No funnel cakes as WLS, in fact I have never seen them in Australia.
Yes I did get a couple of chances to explore CW on my days off and on a staff night. I have been keeping an eye on their website over the years seeing what rides have been removed and what is new. This years new ride is awesome.
Bussy
Comment 7 — Davemac
Subject: Re: Similar Wonderland in Canada
Thanks for the info champ. Must visit. After finding this groups got all nostalgic and sad. Had not been to wonderland since about 1996 even though I lived about 20 km away for years.
Comment 8 — billyb
Subject: Re: Similar Wonderland in Canada
I am currently planning a trip to Canada’s Wonderland late this year and maybe La Ronde if I have the time/money..
I have never been to CW despite living within two hours drive of the place for about a year !
I went to La Ronde back in 2001 and it was pretty cool but now has many more coasters to see
Stories & memories — incidents
incidents
Original post
I remember one incident with the ship. We were call to the ship because an operator noticed "something" coming out of the counterweigh. We made our way to the ship to find one of the 50mm broker rods (I think there were eight in total) had sheared off in the middle of the weight and was hanging out of the top of the counterweigh, naturally we shut the ride down. The counter weight was made up of a lot of steel plates put together with silicone to prevent water getting in between the plates and causing corrosion. It was thought that the plates must have shifted and sheared the rod in half, lucky it did not come all the way out. It was then decided to weld all the plates together and replace the broker rods with HT bar. If I recall it took us about two weeks, everyone rotating to us an arc cutter to prepare the plates for welding, trouble was the silicone was not affected by the arc cutter and it all had to be cut and removed by hand before it could all be welded correctly. Just imagine the view from working of a cherry picker to get to those counter weights.
Anyway, after the weight was welded up and the new bars put in place every thing was ready to start it up. Everything was going OK with the first run until the ship started to slow down. What had happened was the counter weigh was now one big solid mass, the ship started to vibrate, you could actually see the vibration running up and down the support arms, just like when you throw a rock in a pond. This vibration was so bad that it was decided to remove all the "trimings" off the ship, mast, sails riging etc. what was left was a bear ship, but it still scared the crap out of a lot of people.
Comment 1 — erin
Subject: incidents
Does anyone remember any ride incidents that occurred, i remember filling out lots of forms, but i cant remember all the incidents.
I do remember one though, on my first ever day of work after training, where a girl who even after told not to run, ran and tripped over a dodgem car. only i thought she got electrocuted because she just spent a while lying on the floor,but it turns out she just broke her leg or something. I hope she learned lesson from all that.
anyways i was a bit panicky and turned off all the electricity and called 333 emergency. oh the memories
Comment 2 — Jubbie
Subject: Re: incidents
I don’t think people really want to recall ‘incidents’.
Comment 3 — barbara
Subject: Re: incidents
Hi Guys : I remember my first day i was opening the pirate ship and had to test the stop button. I waited until the ride was ready to go round and accidently hit the emergency stop button. I totally freaked out as the ship came down so fast and heavy that the tyres smoked and the loudest noice occurred. Boy did i get introuble for that…..Talk about memories……….[
Comment 4 — Bussy
Subject: Re: incidents
I was involved with numerous incidents whilst working at Wonderland. The most memorable was when the cable snapped on Demon. The train was nearing the top of lift one when there was a huge bang and the train started to come down the lift, I hit the e-stop and watched in slow motion the train come into the station with the catch wagon still attached and the cable whipping around behind it (I still can’t figure out how no one was injured). I still remember the noise of the train going through the station with the brakes on. The train made it up the first part of the boomerang (the first carriage was on the horizontal part), before the train rolled back into the station and stopped about 2 meters from where it normally stopped. The people on the ride had no idea what had happened. I picked up the phone and called through a 61-Charlie. One of the supervisors the rang to ask what had happened, I said the cable had snapped and he asked if it was at the catch wagon and I said no it snapped at the winch at the bottom of the lift (the cable ran up between the tracks and back down underneath the tracks). Needless to say within several minutes all of the rides supervisors, operations and guest services managers, maintenance personnel we at the ride to see what had happened. The next day I went up to the ride with some managers, supervisors and maintenance guys to tell them what had happened and I was show what damage the cable had done to the brakes (destroyed the first 2 or 3 and severely damaged the rest) and also was shown one of the rollers the cable sat on underneath the track, which was bent at 90 degrees (the roller was thick metal which was the width of the track and about 10cm in diameter).
I was also involved with 2 incidents at Snowy where it was thought kids had fallen out of boats, luckily they hadn’t. There was also a girl who slipped getting out of one of the slides at The Beach who we had to put in a spinal collar and transport to hospital in an Ambulance. I’m also aware of several other incidents including a boy who nearly lost his fingers in Beastie, a child who had to be airlifted out of the park after a copper log stuck her head whist she was waiting in the queue for Fred Flintstones Splashdown, there was also the cable snap on Space Probe. There were numerous other incidents I was involved in and I am aware of but the ones I have mentioned are the ones that come to mind at the moment.
Bussy
Comment 5 — Dasha
Subject: Re: incidents
Does anyone remember the centre mast breaking off the 360 ship?
Apparently the contractors hit the mast with the cherry picker when painting it and cracked it , when it was being commisioned the mast snapped of completly , so close to opening ,no time to fix it so it was left off never to be replaced, eventually the smaller ones were removed too.
Small thing, or 2 small things , when a revamp was done paintwise we repainted the toppless lady on the bow and gave her nipples for realism, it lasted a couple of days and i was asked to go up one morning and paint over them….prudes.
Comment 6 — alexb
Subject: Re: incidents
I don’t ever remember it having masts and rigging etc – just to make certain, we are talking about bounty’s and not endeavour\\\\sea daemon?
Surely there would be some photos SOMEWHERE of bounty’s with the sails and rigging etc?
Comment 7 — wonderland
Subject: Re: incidents
28/10/1985 – You can see a main mast and the two smaller ones on the front. – edited 2011, i found a better pic
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"2499","attributes":{"class":"media-image","style":"width: 850px; height: 1264px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid;","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]
Comment 8 — Robert
Subject: Re: incidents
bjs
haha, now that was interesting! Now, ive always wondered. Did you do these modifications without talking to Intamin first? What a disaster if the counterwitghs would have come down while intn the inverted position..they would probably demolished the drivewheels and the the ship will come with full speed..
Do you know the weight of the couterweight? It looks heeeeavy! Also, kind of random with the vibrations….Sounds really strange that a counterwieght would do that??
Comment 9 — Dooley
Subject: Re: incidents
I was the unloader on Probe during the cable snap incident. I still have the newspaper clipping bordered with down tape – very nice momento.
One night after I first started, 1995 I think, I accidentally forgot to change Demon from manual back to auto after a trolley stop procedure and caused a charlie on lift 2, whoops.
Was working in IV when the kid drowned at the Beach. One of the lifeguards on duty had her locker near mine and said they told her she couldn’t work beach again just to be safe, even though it wasn’t her fault.
I saw/was involved in a couple over my 3 years but can’t remember them all as it was so long ago now.
Comment 10 — wonderland
Subject: Re: incidents
Dooley,
Would you be able to scan the cable snap incident newspaper clipping you have please, it would be great to put that on this website, Do you have any other newspaper clippings, pics, etc…?
thanks
Comment 11 — jens
Subject: Re: incidents
i remember when i was about ten i was at the putt putt course and my brother had accidently hit me in the head (so he says) with a putter. When i noticed blood running down my face my mum took my hat off and blood went everywhere. Dont remember to much after that but an ambulance was called and my mum didnt let me go there the following year that we went. Just wanted to know whether anyone remembers that incident.
Comment 12 — Bussy
Subject: Re: incidents
i remember when i was about ten i was at the putt putt course and my brother had accidently hit me in the head (so he says) with a putter. When i noticed blood running down my face my mum took my hat off and blood went everywhere. Dont remember to much after that but an ambulance was called and my mum didnt let me go there the following year that we went. Just wanted to know whether anyone remembers that incident.
Jens
No and I’m suprised you do
Bussy
Stories & memories — I celebrated my 13th birthday at Australia’s Wonderland!!
I celebrated my 13th birthday at Australia’s Wonderland!!
Original post
Hi guys,
My name is Jarad but alot of people know me as Jazer.
I’m 21 years old and currently living in South Australia. When I was younger my family used to live in Sydney and just like everyone else, we used to go to Australia’s Wonderland.
In 1998, I celebrated my 13th birthday there with my family and I can tell you all that I had a great time.
Sadly I didn’t go on The Bush Beast, The Beastie and The Demon (as there were too scary for me ) but I loved going on the Snowy River Rampage & the Zodiac. I think I went on a couple of more rides but I can’t remember as it was so long ago.
I also went to Wonderland a few times before but this day would be the last for me. I’m happy that I still got photos from that day, including one of me eating my lunch!!
I will show you guys my photos soon as I’m getting them re-developed.
Has anyone else here celebrated their birthday at Australia’s Wonderland??
Comment 1 — Jazer
Here is one of the photos that I took all those years ago. Currently the ones I have are a bit old, so I’m going to get the photos re-developed!!:
[img:e72c1]http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/4817/scan0001bk0.jpg[/img:e72c1]
Comment 2 — maccadog15
Yep. Every birthday until we moved to Cairns in 1995.
I was fortunate because Dad worked there and we got in for free. My mates absolutely loved me for this and I’ll always remember going there just about every weekend during my childhood, it never got boring!
I’ll do you one better on the birthday at Wonderland, for my 5th birthday, Dad brought Wonderland home to our place.
The actors who played Scooby Doo, Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble got dressed up in the park’s character costumes and came to my birthday party at my house.
Below is a picture of Scooby at my party I found. I’m currently trying to chase up a heap of behind the scenes photo’s of the Wildlife Park we have for this site.
[img:3d78a]http://www.carloscomputers.com/images/scooby.JPG[/img:3d78a]
Comment 3 — Jazer
Awesome mate!! You must of had a good time back then.
While I didn’t get the park’s characters for my birthday party, at least I got to see them at Wonderland itself.
Comment 4 — wonderland
Subject: Now that is awsome
I love the pics, Can i use your pics to startup a new section on the site called wonderland birthdays? I will try to encourage people to upload there birthday at wonderland pictures for this new section.
Comment 5 — maccadog15
go for it. I just found a heap more from my Birthday at wonderland I think it was my 6th when they had the area up near the big slides and ball pit before it was turned into the Wildlife Park’s admin and vet clinic.
Comment 6 — Jazer
Yeah sure mate. Once I get my photos re-developed, I will post them here on this forum. Looking forward to the Wonderland Birthdays page as it will be good to see if other people have celebrated their birthday there!!
Comment 7 — mnemo
soooo.. I wasn’t the only one to ‘hire’ AWL characters for my kids berthday!!.. good to see Garry used his influence for good.. keep the pics coming Macca.. i would post my girls fotos.. but she’d never speak to me again.. <puh!> teenagers!!
Cheers
RN
Comment 8 — galahs
Subject: Re: I celebrated my 13th birthday at Australia’s Wonderland!!
I celebrated my 7th birthday in 1987 at Wonderland. I remember walking around proudly with my "I am 7" button.
I was very proud to have conqured the Bush Beast on that day having ‘just’ passed the height requirment. I remember the feeling of the big dip as I struggled to stay in my seat. Freaked me out but I loved it!!!
Unfortunately I wasn’t tall enough to go on the Pirate Ship which sucked, but I sure made up for it in future visits!
Comment 9 — Marto
Subject: Re: I celebrated my 13th birthday at Australia’s Wonderland!!
I remember going to Wonderland on my 13th birthday too. Infact I got a Wonderpass for my birthday that year. Man those were the days, I am pretty sure that was the first time I went on the Demon, I was far too scared to go on it any time before.
Stories & memories — Any Secrets about Wonderland??
Any Secrets about Wonderland??
Original post
I was wondering any secrets about the themepark? And what really was the truth like why did they close down was there a reason because been hearing different things lately.
Hope you get back to me!!! Thanks
Regards:
Mitch
Comment 1 — Bussy
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
I guess it depends on what you know as to what "secrets" are out there. Tell us what you think is the reason and I’m sure someone will be able to confirm or deny what you think.
Bussy
Comment 2 — Mitch
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
I thought they were going to close down the park because of the new M7 coming in
Comment 3 — Dasha
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
I don’t think having a theme park right next to one of the biggest if not the biggest intersection in NSW with local and interstate traffic at its front door would have been a detriment to the park.
Stories abound as to why it happened and as time goes by i’m sure they will become foklore.
To get the whole truth you would have to have someone from SUNWAY tell the story.
The response your after would depend on who was told what and at what level they were in the company at the time as a lot of people could only speculate on what Sunways intentions were when they bought the park, as there actions unfolded a picture began to appear that didn’t include the park continuing.
I’m not sure that anyone here knows the whole story, it seems people know some things i don’t and i probably know some things they don’t.
But until everyone throws there 2cents worth in and name names to establish some sort of credability of there information we may never know. I’m relativly new to this forum but have read enough to see that there are certain people here that have information and a LOT of people that would like to know.
So how about some of the more prominent and knowledgable people on this forum sticking there hands up first .
Instead of doing the above , it seems, or they portray to know a lot more than they are saying .
Don’t critisise anyone that has a different story!!… support what parts you can and give the version you heard to the rest.
So … thats a pretty good ramble, lets see what becomes of this???
Comment 4 — Mitch
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
I also forgot to ask.I dont remember but i thought wonderland had a tour helicopter right.Do you have any pictures of it??
Comment 5 — Dasha
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
Yes they had a tour helicopter at the park for a while operating as a consesion out of Goldrush, had 3 or 4 different tours, cant remember what year. sorry no pics
FYI , i can remember a security gaurd getting in trouble for taking a freebie ride while on duty though.
Comment 6 — Mitch
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
What a shame you guys couldnt get any pics of anyway then.
Comment 7 — Mitch
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
Lol a guard going for a freebie ride while on duty, he must of got sacked or a warning that day.
Comment 8 — Dasha
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
I don’t remember if he got the sack or not….but on the subject of security gaurds .
Action watersports show in the main lake area?..after hours?..jet ski’s?…security gaurds ?… not a good outcome!
I wonder if anyone has more on that?
Comment 9 — Wazza
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
Well if you wrote off a jet ski after crashing it into Lakeside in the middle of the night, you might get the sack too One of them certainly wasn’t back afterwoods
Comment 10 — Mitch
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
Guys about the bush beast was sad they were gonna save it as a herritage site but (Sorry for me language) but the fucking council gave the dozers a green light to demolish it they said it had no value to the land and i wreckon it was worth it to stay up because it was the only wooden coaster in Australia and not only that it should of been there to remember Wonderland Sydney i wreckon.
Comment 11 — Dasha
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
Speaking of the coaster, would you beleive this photo was found while searching in the national library pictures!
Comment 12 — Mitch
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
Guys ive got some news a new theme park is coming to West Sydney here is more.It explains it on these 2 sites:
http://www.roller-coaster.com.au/park.php?pid=57
http://www.parkz.com.au/parks/AU/Sydney … heme_Park/
That is all i have about theme parks i hope it comes around syd west
Comment 13 — djrappa
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
Is that photo Tim Fisher? It’s called tf.jpg so I’m going out on a limb and thinking it is.
Maybe he’d be interested to see it now that he’s here at WVTP.
Comment 14 — Dasha
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
Yes it is , a young, new to australia ,director of operations.
Comment 15 — Bussy
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
[quote="Mitch":ccd0a]I thought they were going to close down the park because of the new M7 coming in[/quote:ccd0a]
That is completely false. The location of the M7 had no effect on Wonderland as Wonderland was on the western side of Wallgrove Road and the M7 is on the eastern side. I also know this from working for a year (directly after finishing at Wonderland) for the company that built the M7, and spending a fair bit of time talking to the design and construction engineers.
[quote="Dasha":ccd0a]I don’t think having a theme park right next to one of the biggest if not the biggest intersection in NSW with local and interstate traffic at its front door would have been a detriment to the park.[/quote:ccd0a]
I completely agree, having exposure to that much traffic would have been a huge bonus for attendances.
[quote="Mitch":ccd0a]I also forgot to ask.I dont remember but i thought wonderland had a tour helicopter right.Do you have any pictures of it??[/quote:ccd0a]
I’m not sure exactly when the chopper flights started but they were there when I started at the park in the summer of ’99 and at that stage were operating from the pad next to Zodiac, opposite the Galaxy theatre where Millennium Magic, later Spellbinding Sorcery was held. The flights then moved to Goldrush with the closure of Little Wonders Land. There were 4 different flights to choose from, varying in distance and time and of course price, from the 5 minute over the park tour (the most popular) to a full hour which went right out over the Harbour and Sydney CBD.
[quote="Dasha":ccd0a]FYI , i can remember a security gaurd getting in trouble for taking a freebie ride while on duty though.[/quote:ccd0a]
Oops, myself and another Operations Supervisor, who were the only 2 on during the day on a weekend. Decided, because it was very quiet, to go for a freebie on the helicopter. The other supervisor went first and about 30 seconds after take off he received a radio call, so I had to answer it because I had both radios. The same thing happened to me when I went up for my flight, it was funny because both of us hadn’t received very many radio calls during the day and both calls were from the Operations Manager.
[quote="Mitch":ccd0a]Guys about the bush beast was sad they were gonna save it as a herritage site but (Sorry for me language) but the fucking council gave the dozers a green light to demolish it they said it had no value to the land and i wreckon it was worth it to stay up because it was the only wooden coaster in Australia and not only that it should of been there to remember Wonderland Sydney i wreckon.[/quote:ccd0a]
I remember this ‘campaign’ to have Bush Beast saved. Personally I thought it was pointless and would have been very expensive. There was the fact that parts of the track needed to be replaced due to the age and condition of the wood. If the ride was to remain operational it would have required several staff to keep it going and the ongoing cost of that would be a major factor.
[quote="Mitch":ccd0a]Guys ive got some news a new theme park is coming to West Sydney here is more.It explains it on these 2 sites:[/quote:ccd0a]
Those site (both the same site by the way) have zero information except "This theme park is expected to cost $340 and commence construction in the near future. Little else is known at this stage." now thats a very cheap park or a miss print. These rumours have been going around long before Wonderland announced it was closing down. There has been speculation of Disney and Six Flags coming to Sydney. The problem is there is very little free land for something like this to be built on, there is a vast track of land extending about 40km’s that has been declared a "green belt" which means it will not be built on and is to remain parkland. The rest of the vacant land is being snapped up for either residential or commercial/industrial use.
Hope some of that information is helpful.
Bussy
Comment 16 — Mitch
Subject: Re: Any Secrets about Wonderland??
How did you guys get on dismantling the rides. Because i heard the workers had to Dismantle them. Was it hard
Stories & memories — Staff Forum – All welcome
Staff Forum – All welcome
Original post
This heres the place for all past employees to post anything ..
Please Note ! Gossip, unfounded rumours and half truths will be accepted until the real truth gets in the way.
Cheers
RN
Comment 1 — Turnstiler
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
Hi all
I would just like to say i am sorry for it was me that closed the gates forever on that last day of wonderland.
Rob the turnstiler
Comment 2 — grooviechickie
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
Wow, what a cool forum!
I was there for over a year between 2000 and 2002. I was originally on the games and then helped out in the pay office two days per week.
Does anyone know what happened to Tim the Blacksmith?!
I miss going on the rides in my lunch break.
Belinda
Comment 3 — grooviechickie
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
Oh! And I will try and dig up a pic of the Christmas party… all of us from the Retail section were in it. That would have been in 2000.
Comment 4 — grooviechickie
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
Oh, and the old guy who used to drive the train through the park (name escapes me). He was a top bloke.
What happened to him?
Comment 5 — Jubbie
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
I am amazed this site exists. I even found myself in a photo!
Comment 6 — Jubbie
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
I started in the end of 1995 as a life guard at the beach. I still remeber the job interview. The 19 years old manager who was also my brother’s mate said, " So do you like to party." And that was the interview in a nutshell. In 1995 the park only opened on weekends and school holidays. This was the best job for Students (I was at TAFE doing marketing). I worked the summer in the beach then went to HB Land in the winter of 1996. I returned to the beach in end of 1996 but due to a tragic drowning the year before the uniforms were changed and we had to be trained properly. At the end of the summer I tranfered to the Gold rush and remained there till I got a real job in March 1998. Now that I have had real jobs (exporter/ Marketer/ Police Officer) for the last 9 years I can say that the most rewarding job was landing kids onto rides.
Now I load Drunks into prison Cells
Comment 7 — coolio
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
I worked at Wonderland from 1994 to 1998 in IVT, GR and HB. I was in the opening night of the the space probe in 1995 and one of the first person to operate it. This site is cool!!!! It brings back good memories.
Comment 8 — Bussy
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
Oh, and the old guy who used to drive the train through the park (name escapes me). He was a top bloke. What happened to him?
grooviechickie
His name is Roderick, I have no idea what he is up to, he left Wonderland under pretty bad circumstances, and left me along with others to drive the Wonderland Express. Bussy
Comment 9 — grooviechickie
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
That’s right, Roderick! Poor bloke – I remember he was one of the last who was permanent part-time and had decent working conditions. Nearly everyone else were casuals (sorry, I still think like a pay officer). What happened, dare I ask?
Comment 10 — Bussy
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
He was a Union rep and had a dispute with management over his hours (he only worked weekdays) and status at a permanent-part timer, in the ned he told them where to go and quit. I don’t know if it was true or not but they were just about to sack him anyway.
Bussy
Comment 11 — Dasha
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
Roderick did some casual charactor work for shopping centres etc after the park and still lives in St Mary’s
Comment 12 — grooviechickie
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
Ah, good. At least he is okay.
I remember that my job was particularly interesting because I was privvy to some information due to being in the pay office, yet still being out on the games (I worked both).
Comment 13 — AAnyday
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
Hi all,
I worked in the park from 90-99. An old Wonderland mate pointed me to the site – Great work getting all those photos up…
Anyway I spent 4 years in tranny food and then moved to WH. All great times and I have plenty of stories to share. I’d like to hear from anyone that may may know me…
When I left in 99 I didn’t think that I would never return – Its sad that my little boy will never see the place where his mum and dad met…
Mr wls – any plans for placing old staff photos on the site?
OK – Now post some funny events…
My first one isn’t that ‘funny’ but I can remember the sign pointing up to the grumpy maintanence boss… there was a hand with some fingers chopped off making a nice pointing gesture…
Apparently he lost some fingers using the bandsaw so the guys made an appropriate sign…
Comment 14 — mrskilla
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
WOW .. this website is great! .. The memories are both happy and of course disheartening that i wont be able to take my children to where i first worked. Australias wonderland (as it was called then) was my first job at 15 and I was there for 7 1/2 years.
Looking through these pages at all of the stuff you have collected reminded me of a box of stuff I still have at my family home in Sydney. (I was a serial hoarder) And I still have most of my uniform (naughty me!), Including the "Australias Wonderland" Emblem Jacket that was red white and blue .. It went SO well with my McDonalds inspired green and white striped shirt!
I worked in Guest Relations for majority of my time there, and still have incident reports, manuals and all of that stuff … I will have to dig it all out on my next trip to Sydney and relive all of those memories. …. Halloween-dressing up … Security/Guest relations at the Take That concert … ah the memories
Oh and I still have the keyrings from the photo place (cant remember what that was called .. eye-spy maybe) those annoying people who were forever asking people to stop for photos upon entry to the park … at least thats something that has lasted all of those years.
Its great to see you have kept wonderland alive .. It was a very special time in my life for so many reasons!
Comment 15 — wonderland
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
Thankyou very much, I am going to do another site update in the next few months, ive collected around 400 new pics and some more video, it will all go up on the next site update, stay tuned.
Comment 16 — alexb
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
WLS i’ve lost your email mate, but that FTP I did a few weeks ago is ok to go live.
Comment 17 — Patrick
Subject: Hi there,
Hi there,
I was an original rides cast member from 1985. Met my wife there. We now have 3 kids – we took them back just before it closed down to see where mum and dad met.
Great memories of the park – still disappointed it closed down to be replaced by characterless warehouses.
Comment 18 — Marto
Subject: Re: Staff Forum – All welcome
Hey Partick, what area did you work in when the place first opened?