Ardent Leisure unveils Jungle Rush roller coaster, wave swing, new kids rides in $50m redevelopment
Dreamworld has unveiled a $50m rollout of rides and attractions, including a big new roller coaster, as it positions itself for a bright future. DETAILS:
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Dreamworld has unveiled $50m rollout of rides and attractions, including an exciting new roller coaster, after wiping its debt and posting its best results in five years.
Among the suite of new drawcards is the $35m Jungle Rush, a family roller coaster on the bank of the park’s Murrissippi River, at what is currently Wiggles World and ABC KIDS.
The coaster is set to be a similar experience to Disney’s Indiana Jones Adventure, but will be styled to fit Dreamworld’s new heavily-themed Rivertown precinct, where long-time favourite Vintage Cars will also be relocated and redesigned as Murrissippi Motors to fit the new theme.
Jungle Rush will be the park’s biggest ever capital investment, eclipsing the $32m spent on the Steel Taipan which launched in 2021.
Designed and built by world renowned manufacturer, Vekoma, the ride will feature the world’s first inclined turntable, as well as Dreamworld’s most immersive theming and storytelling ever built.
It will include 12 airtime elements, dedicated show moments and the ability to run both backwards and forwards.
Guests entering the park will be greeted by another new ride - the Dreamworld Flyer, a “wave swinger” which will twirl and tilt child and adult riders into the sky.
More new rides will be created in a $15m new kids land which will see Dreamworld end its association with Dreamworks, removing the names Madagascar, Shrek and Kung Fu Panda from its rides.
The new kids land will be the new home of Play School, Bananas in Pyjamas and The Wiggles brands, along with Dreamworld’s own Kenny and Belinda the Koala mascots.
The refurbishment will also extend the existing Ocean Parade precinct and include a re-imagination of the bumper cars attraction and Pandamonium thrill ride, with the addition
of a new themed splash zone to help younger guests cool down in the warmer months.
Tired parent facilities will be comprehensively updated with a state-of-the-art and accessible parents room, acting on some stinging feedback from locals.
The Dreamworld Flyer is expected to open by mid 2023, while Dreamworld hopes to launch Jungle Rush, which is already being manufactured, in time for Christmas 2024.
In the meantime, Dreamworld has recruited Ashton’s Circus to erect its big top in the park over the summer holidays, with daily shows, globe riders, aerial acts, comedy acts, hydro stunts in the Dreamworld Pond included in park entry until January 8.
Dreamworld CEO Greg Yong says that the dream of Dreamworld’s recovery lives on, with
more enthusiasm than ever to return the park to its former glory.
“Since the announcement of the first phase of Dreamworld’s future growth, while we have faced various challenges, we have also reached some incredible milestones and made some significant improvements both fiscally – and, importantly, in relation to our guest experience,” he said.
“Despite the challenges faced, we have reached the incredible milestone of helping guests at Dreamworld make memories for over 40 years, and this series of announcements will help us to ensure we make them for many more.”
One of the biggest changes coming for the park will be on its renowned Tiger Island, where direct contact between tigers and handlers is set to be phased out within 18 months as public amid shifting public sentiment around performing animals.
Despite the change, Dreamworld said Tiger Island would remain a fixture at the park, with guests still able to view them, and that it would continue to support tiger conservation projects in the field via Wildcats Conservation Alliance.
New rides at the park will be partly powered by another key capital investment - a 2000-panel solar system, which Dreamworld said would cover 28 per cent of its annual usage.
Dreamworld wipes debt, flags new attractions
November 18, 2022: Dreamworld parent company Ardent Leisure is primed to announce up to $60m in new attractions as visitors return to its Gold Coast theme parks in droves.
Shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting heard revenue was up 154 per cent for the first quarter of FY23, with earnings and ticket sales value at their highest levels since 2017.
The company reported a $97.4m loss for FY22, despite posting its highest best ticket sales value and lowest costs in five years.
The net loss held a $455.7m silver lining for shareholders.
Ardent’s annual general meeting heard the sale of its Main Event business to Dave & Buster’s for $1.2bn allowed it to wipe a billion dollars of debt and still have change to pay $455.7m directly into shareholder pockets.
Dreamworld and WhiteWater World together posted a 35 per cent year-on-year revenue increase for FY22 – the highest in five years and better than its pre-Covid FY19 result.
Ardent attributed its extended net loss — up to $97.4m from $86.9m the previous year – to one-off significant expenses, including transaction costs for the Main Event deal.
The bottom line belied Ardent’s best-looking balance sheet of recent years – debt free and featuring unencumbered and potentially undervalued theme-park assets.
Ardent flagged a $50-60m pipeline of new attractions for the next four years, with announcements to be made before Christmas.
Chairman Gary Weiss said FY22 marked a turning point in Ardent’s performance.
“With this recovery now under way, the Board believes that there is good scope to rebuild shareholder value over the medium term,” he said.
“On behalf of my Board colleagues, I would like to thank all our team members for their hard work, dedication and resilience this year.”
CEO Greg Yong said Ardent had achieved its first quarter of positive earnings since the Thunder River Rapids tragedy in 2016.
“I cannot state how excited we all are to have seen our first quarterly profit for Dreamworld since October 2016,” he said.
“This is a meaningful milestone in our recovery journey but is just the start.”
Mr Yong praised staff of the theme parks and SkyPoint for generating the sector’s highest guest service scores for the quarter and said a “significant announcement” was upcoming.
“We are very excited about this new product which has been carefully curated to what our guests are looking for in their theme-park experience,” Mr Yong said.
“Importantly, we will be bringing new attractions to market in each year, which is crucial in continuing the trajectory we are currently seeing.”
After Ardent struck the deal to sell Main Event last year, Mr Yong hinted at using the proceeds to invest in new attractions, possibly bigger than its new $32m Steel Taipan.
“All I can say is, the Steel Taipan is the biggest thing we’ve ever done – for now,” he said at the time.
Shares rose 5c to 57c after Wednesday’s AGM.
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