Wonderland Sydney - History

History

Wonderland Sydney, opened amid much media attention and publicity on 7 December 1985 with financial backing from the New South Wales State Superannuation Board, James Hardies Industries, Leighton Holdings and Taft Broadcasting (through Kings Entertainment Company) at Eastern Creek NSW, on the junction of Wallgrove Road and the M4 Motorway. The developers sought to provide an alternative to the troubled Luna Park, which had opened and closed multiple times in its recent history. The area would also see the opening of Eastern Creek Raceway in 1990 as the Sydney metropolitan area expanded to the west.

Wonderland opened with three separate themed areas within a park: Goldrush, Medieval Faire (later renamed Old Botany Bay), and Hanna-Barbera Land (later renamed 'Little Wonders Land' in 2001-2002) which featured rides and attractions based on characters from Hanna-Barbera shows such as Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones. The park was modeled heavily around Canada's Wonderland located north of Toronto, not surprising since both parks were constructed by Taft Broadcasting, a company which also owned Hanna-Barbera.

For many years, Wonderland's flagship ride was The Bush Beast which was the largest wooden roller coaster in Australia. Australia's Wonderland also claimed that it was the largest wooden rollercoaster in the Southern Hemisphere. The Beastie, a smaller version of The Bush Beast which catered to younger riders, was also one of the original rides. The park would later add rides such as the Demon (1992) and Space Probe 7 (1995; sponsored by the Seven Network, who bought naming rights to the ride. After this contract expired, the ride dropped the '7' from its name).

Wonderland expanded, now known as Wonderland Sydney it featured an all new water park known as The Beach, which first opened in 1988. Unlike the rest of the park, which remained open year-round, The Beach was a seasonal attraction which closed during the winter months (April–September). In 1990 Wonderland opened the Australian Wildlife Park . Another attraction named The Outback Woolshed was added in 1995, along with an a-la-carte style restaurant.

Eventually, in 1992, all of the Taft Broadcasting Parks were sold to Viacom and re-branded as Paramount Parks.However, Taft only had a minority stake in Australia's Wonderland and sold their stake to other Australian investors. Today, the five Paramount Parks continue successful operation, purchased in 2006 by amusement park operator Cedar Fair.

Interestingly, many of Australia's Wonderland's rides correlate to the rides at the former Paramount Parks still in operation today. The Bush Beast was identical to wooden roller coasters at Canada's Wonderland, and Kings Dominion.

The park was sold in 1997 to the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-based Sunway Group. Only one ride, Skyrider which was the former cable car at the Sydney Showgrounds, was added between the 1997 takeover and the park's closure.