Gold Coast theme parks: First look at Australia’s tallest water slide at Wet’n’Wild

Australia’s tallest water slide will be built on the Gold Coast in a multimillion-dollar revamp of one of the nation’s best-loved theme parks. SEE THE PLANS

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THEME park giant Village Roadshow will build Australia’s tallest water slide on the Gold Coast in a multimillion-dollar revamp of its facilities.

The 130-metre long slide, already under construction at Wet’n’Wild, is one of three attractions being unveiled on Friday to launch celebrations for sister park Warner Bros Movie World’s 30th birthday.

In a major boost to the city’s struggling tourism industry, the new mega slide structure is being targeted for a pre-Christmas opening in time for the school holidays.

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New Village attractions include:

* A new water slides complex with several standouts led by the Kaboom raft ride starting from 23 metres up, making it Australia’s tallest. It boasts a “master blaster” start – with water jet propulsion – sending riders down a 10m drop and into a tailspin featuring multiple corkscrews;

* A Super Ripper which is two new body slides dubbed “not for the faint-hearted from 12 metres up, and what’s described as a “heart pounding” Double Barrel option;

* H2Oasis, an 872 sqm family-friendly water park as part of the slide complex;

* A meerkats family to go on permanent display at Country Paradise in June for the winter school holidays;

* A celebration of Movie World’s 30th, dubbed Hooray for Hollywood, with displays of props from classic films plus the theme park’s largest-ever parade each afternoon of the June-July school holidays.

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It will be 130m long and 23m high.

While reluctant to disclose the exact value of the investment, Village Roadshow Theme Parks chief operating officer Bikash Randhawa said new attractions were critical to the city’s success short and long-term.

“The sector was heavily impacted by COVID-19 so what we are trying to do is drive visitation back to the Gold Coast,” he said.

“This is a huge investment and we are confident this is the right step for driving tourism and bringing people back here to support the economy.

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Bikash Randhawa. Picture: Jerad Williams

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“New rides and attractions incentivise the local market but we are also investing in products which will bring more tourists and there is a flow on impact because it fills up hotels and gets people into restaurants and other small businesses.”

Village’s new attractions are part of a dramatic recent uptick in theme park activity to lure visitors back to the city.

It will have a family-friendly water park area.

In December 2020 it launched the first stage of the $50 million New Atlantis precinct at Sea World with the Vortex, a Wipeout-like ride. The Leviathan wooden roller coaster and Trident ride which spins people around 42 metres off the ground are still under construction and expected to open in late 2021.

Village Roadshow has also lodged trademark documents for a hotel it plans to build at Movie World on land occupied by its northern carpark.

Ardent Leisure is ramping up its own new attractions, unveiling plans for a $75 million hotel at Dreamworld. Dreamworld Resort will include a four-star 250 room resort-style hotel, 40 bungalows and a five-star tourist park.

Construction continues on its new Steel Taipan inverted loop rollercoaster.

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