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WhiteWater World

Coordinates: 27°51′52″S 153°18′53″E / 27.864384°S 153.314718°E / -27.864384; 153.314718 (WhiteWater World)
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WhiteWater World
WhiteWater World logo
SloganWater Powered WOW!
LocationCoomera, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates27°51′52″S 153°18′53″E / 27.864384°S 153.314718°E / -27.864384; 153.314718 (WhiteWater World)
OwnerArdent Leisure
General managerNoel Dempsey
Opened8 December 2006 (2006-12-08)
Operating seasonAll year round, heated in winter
Closed Christmas Day and Anzac Day Morning
Area4 hectares (9.9 acres) at opening[1]
PoolsA single pool
Water slides10 water slides
Children's areas2 children's areas
WebsiteOfficial website

WhiteWater World is a water park situated adjacent to the Dreamworld theme park, in the suburb of Coomera, on the Gold Coast, Australia.[2] Both parks are owned and operated by Ardent Leisure.[3]

After years of planning[4] and a year of construction,[5] WhiteWater World opened to the public on 8 December 2006.[6] A$56 million was invested[7] in ten attractions themed to the Australian beach culture.[1][8] Since then, the park has invested in three additional water slides.[9][10][11]

Since opening, attendance at the park has consistently been above expectations.[6][12][13][14]

History

Development

During 2004, planning began for a world-class water park to be located next to Dreamworld. Dreamworld's Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Gregg, and General Manager of Special Projects, Bob Tan, started with trips around the world to discover the most thrilling and cutting-edge water rides available. Tan stated that "the drawing board for the new park was a restaurant napkin in a little cafe in the US".[4]

On 28 November 2005, Macquarie Leisure (since renamed to Ardent Leisure) announced the investment of A$56 million into a world class water park to be located adjacent to Dreamworld. The announcement gave very few details about the water park which was referred to as the Dreamworld Water Park.[7][15][16][17]

Construction began shortly after the announcement with the existing Dreamworld car park redesigned to allow for not only more cars, but the addition of a water park in the southern portion of it. Construction of the water park itself began in January 2006. In June two out of the three slide towers were complete with several slides in the early phases of construction. One month later, several attractions were slowly announced by the park with others being speculated upon. Some of the attractions were nearing completion in September. By October, all of the attractions were known to the public.[5]

WhiteWater World opened three weeks ahead of schedule on 8 December 2006 after a week of previews.[6][18][19] Ten attractions were opened with the park including The Green Room, The Rip, Super Tubes Hydrocoaster, The BRO, The Temple of Huey (3 individual slides), Pipeline Plunge, Wiggle Bay and the Cave of Waves.[9] At this time, the park featured many Australian and world firsts: The Rip and Super Tubes Hydrocoaster were both Australian firsts;[20][21] The BRO was a world first;[22] and The Green Room was Australia's biggest Tornado slide.[23][24][25] After six months of operation Ardent Leisure announced that WhiteWater World attracted 247,360 visitors, producing revenue of A$8.7 million and a profit of A$4 million.[26][27]

The water park is currently ranked as one of the most water efficient parks in the world due to its sustainable water management and environmentally friendly technology.[4][8][27][28][29][30]

Performance

Looking towards WhiteWater World's entrance from the entrance of the adjacent Dreamworld theme park.

In the first 24 days of operation to 31 December 2006, WhiteWater World performed above expectation with over 23,000 guests going to the park.[6][31] WhiteWater World continued to exceed Ardent Leisure's expectations during its first year of operation.[12][32] The first year saw 493,227 guests enter the park exceeding the 450,000 estimate. This helped the park generate over A$8.4 million in revenue.[13][33][34] The park has continued to perform well in the years since.[14]

In August 2010, Ardent Leisure, the owners of WhiteWater World, released their financial results detailing a decline in revenue and profits for their theme park division which includes Dreamworld and QDeck. It also states that a "capital expenditure plan" has been endorsed which will "strengthen ride inventory and consumer appeal".[3]

Expansion

In September 2007, the park added two attractions. The first was The Little Rippers (a set of ProSlide Cannon Bowls) while the second was The Shell (an events venue).[10]

Just one month later, in October 2007, WhiteWater World submitted a development application to the Gold Coast City Council in an attempt to receive approval to extend the water park.[35] The main feature of the application was a 25-metre (82 ft) tall tower featuring three new water slides. The proposed slides were all manufactured by ProSlide, including two Mammoth slides, and a Tornado Tantrum Alley. In addition to the slide tower, the expansion proposal featured a lazy river (featuring a "wave channel") as well as a large water play area.[36] After two years the application was approved by the council.[35] WhiteWater World have not yet proceeded with the expansion citing the financial crisis of 2007-2010 as a reason for delay.[37]

In December 2009, it was reported that WhiteWater World would add a WhiteWater West AquaLoop. However its competitor, Wet'n'Wild Water World, entered into an exclusivity agreement with the manufacturer to ensure WhiteWater World did not receive one.[38] Three months later in February 2010, it was announced that WhiteWater World were going to build an alternative attraction built by ProSlide before the start of the April school holidays.[39][40][41] At opening, The Wedgie was the first ride in Australia to feature a trap door release[11] and was marketed as Australia's first looping water slide.[40][42]

In the middle of 2011, WhiteWater World's contract with Nickelodeon was terminated resulting in Nickelodeon's Pipeline Plunge being rethemed to just Pipeline Plunge.[25][43]

Attractions

WhiteWater World features several water slide attractions, a large wave pool, as well as separate children and toddler areas. There are also food and beverage outlets, retail stores, a surf school, a function area as well as numerous shaded areas to sit down and relax. The park features three water slide towers each featuring a collection of slides grouped by the level of thrill. The park also features three, family-oriented water attractions separate from the towers.[44]

A view across Dreamworld and WhiteWater World's car park towards the Super Tubes Hydrocoaster and The Green Room.
Super Tubes Hydrocoaster and The Green Room from the car park.

Upon entering the water park the first slide tower guests will see contains the park's main thrill slides.[44] The Wedgie is a body slide featuring a trap-door release into a near-vertical 17-metre (56 ft) drop.[45] Riders then enter a fast downward spiralling turn as they reach speeds of nearly 45 kilometres per hour (28 mph) before they are slowed in a run-out chute.[11][46][47] The ride was the first ProSlide SuperLOOP in the world.[48] The Green Room consists of four people boarding a cloverleaf-shaped tube in which they traverse a 66-metre (217 ft) long tunnel followed by a 17-metre (56 ft) drop into a funnel.[23] Within the funnel, riders are sloshed back and forth up the walls at the side, before dropping out the bottom and into a splash pool.[49] Since its opening, The Green Room has been Australia's largest ProSlide Tornado beating Wet'n'Wild Water World's Tornado in height and tunnel length.[23][24] The third and final attraction on the tower is the Super Tubes Hydrocoaster.[44] Three people sit inline on a 45-kilogram (99 lb) raft. The raft's weight is mainly attributable to a large magnet on its underside.[50] The ride consists of several steep drops followed by magnet-powered inclines. It concludes with a splashdown in a small pool.[51] The Super Tubes Hydrocoaster was the second ProSlide Hydro Magnetic Rocket Slide in the world and continues to be Australia's only water coaster.[21]

The BRO's eight lanes descend tight helices before dipping down two hills before the splashdown.
The BRO, the world's first ProSlide 8-lane Octopus Racer.

The second slide tower features two rides with more moderate thrill ratings.[44] The Rip is a slide where riders hop into a four-person, cloverleaf-shaped tube. Riders are then sent down a dark tunnel before entering a large, open bowl. The raft circles the centre of the bowl once or twice, before exiting down through the centre and into a splashdown pool.[52] Since The Rip's opening, it has continued to be the first and only ProSlide Behemoth Bowl in Australia.[20] The BRO (Blue Ringed Octopus) is a water slide consisting of eight 120-metre (390 ft) long lanes.[53] From a height of 16 metres (52 ft), riders slide down head first in an enclosed spiral tunnel before merging into open, parallel lanes to the finish. In just 24 seconds riders can reach speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph). The BRO has a capacity of 1000 riders per hour.[25][54] When The BRO opened in 2006, it was the largest ProSlide Octopus Racer in the world. Since then it has continued to be the only one in Australia.[22]

The Temple of Huey's and the Little Rippers' slide tower.
The slide tower housing The Temple of Huey and the Little Rippers. Some slides interact with Dreamworld's Cyclone roller coaster.

The third and final slide tower contains five slides designed for those who desire a more mild thrill.[44] Some of the slides on this tower interact with Dreamworld's Cyclone roller coaster. The Little Rippers are two ProSlide duelling cannon bowl slides. The slides can accommodate guests riding in either one or two person tubes.[10] Riders begin in one of two parallel chutes before entering tunnels and splitting off in opposite directions. Each of the tunnels have a steep drop into the bowl element of the ride. After going around the bowl one or two times, the raft safely drops down through the centre and into a run-out chute.[55] The other three slides on this tower are collectively known as The Temple of Huey. Similar to the other rides on this tower, guests can ride in a single or double tube down the enclosed and open flumes.[56] All three slides are ProSlide Pipelines.[57] The three slides are individually named Broken Headz, Cut Snake and Screamin Right Handers, and are Template:Convert/3 long respectively.[25][58][59][60]

Three family-oriented attractions exist on the ground level detached from the three slide towers. Two of these are themed children's areas while the third is a wave pool. Pipeline Plunge is a children's area with four flume slides and hundreds of water activities.[25] The area is a large, multi-level water play structure featuring an 1,000-litre (220 imp gal; 260 US gal) tipping bucket which dumps water on guests every few minutes. It was originally called Nickelodeon's Pipeline Plunge and played host to two Slime Fest events. Slime Fest included several live shows, a dunking chair and "Australia's biggest sliming" where 1,000 litres (220 imp gal; 260 US gal) of slime was dumped on park guests. To create this sliming, the park coloured the water in the Nickelodeon Pipeline Plunge giant tipping bucket green twice daily.[61][62][63][64] The mass sliming returned in the 2010/2011 summer holidays as part of the Summer Funomenon.[65][66] Nickelodeon's Pipeline Plunge is a WhiteWater West Aqua Play area.[25] Wiggle Bay is a Wiggles themed toddler area featuring musical and interactive water play activities, a shallow pool and four Wiggles-coloured water slides located at the back of the area. The slides are manufactured by ProSlide while the interactive features are manufactured by WaterPlay.[25][67] The Cave of Waves is a themed 2,685-square-metre (28,900 sq ft) wave pool which can generate waves of up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) high. Built by Murphy's Waves of Scotland, the pool has a constant temperature of 26 degrees Celsius.[25][68] The Get Wet Surf School makes use of the pool for its lessons outside of normal park operating hours.[69][70][71]

Other facilities

The Beyond the Beach merchandise shop is also the exit from the park.

In addition to its lineup of attractions, WhiteWater World also has a retail outlet, an events venue, cabanas and several food and beverage outlets.[44][72]

The Beyond the Beach retail outlet is located adjacent to the entrance of the park and offers a variety of surf and WhiteWater World branded merchandise.[44] A Kodak photo centre is part of the shop which allows guests to purchase on-ride photos taken on the Super Tubes Hydrocoaster and standard photos taken throughout the park.[44] Beyond the Beach also serves as the exit gates for the park.[44]

WhiteWater World operates three dining outlets in their peak holiday seasons: Bite Me Cafe, Sandman's Cafe and Bar, and Salty's Kiosk.[72] The widest range of meals is available from the Bite Me Cafe which is located adjacent to Beyond the Beach and operates all year round.[72] Sandman's Cafe and Bar is a licensed bar where guests can purchase alcoholic beverages in addition to a variety of food options including Eagle Boys pizza.[72][73] It is located between the Cave of Waves and the splashdown of the Wedgie.[44] Finally, Salty's Kiosk is located next to The Bro and offers slushies, ice creams and other snack foods.[44][72]

Since September 2007, WhiteWater World has been home to the largest undercover events venue at an Australian theme park, The Shell. The venue can cater for up to 2000 guests attending gala dinners, cocktail parties, corporate functions or cabarets.[74] The Shell is located on the southeast corner of WhiteWater World adjacent to the Temple of Huey and the Little Rippers.[44]

From April 2011, WhiteWater World has also offered 12 luxury cabanas for guests to hire. The cabanas are located are various areas around the park including adjacent to Pipeline Plunge, Cave of Waves and Wiggle Bay. Each cabana comfortably caters for up to four guests with each featuring deck chairs, couches, coffee table, iPod dock, freshly laundered towels and a mini refrigerator.[75][76]

References

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External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WhiteWater_World&oldid=446355294"