Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast: Staff check the rides and try them before opening

Every day a handful of lucky staff members get up and pop on their wetsuits, ready to test out rides at one of the Coast’s wettest and wildest theme parks.

NOT too many people go to work everyday and say they’re going to jump in a Black Hole.

For Damien Price, a kid’s dream is his reality - beating the nine to five grind by spending the day as a professional waterslide tester at Wet’n’Wild.

For the better part of five years he has been riding the slides at the theme park, getting on them before the public hits the AquaLoop, the Black Hole and the Constrictor to name a few.

The thrill of riding the same slides every day for five years hasn’t worn off, with his heart still getting a good kickstart on a couple of the rides.

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Damien Price is a daily safety ride tester at Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast. Picture: Jerad Williams

“I still enjoy going on the rides,” he said. “My favourite ride is probably the AquaLoop, it still gives me a bit of an adrenaline rush because it’s the fastest.”

The job has a serious side, however, with Mr Price sometimes riding the same slide multiple times to check a raft of different issues.

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“There’s roughly 15 of us altogether, but there’s only four a day that check the whole park and get to ride all the rides.

“What we check for is literally what a guest would feel going down the ride. If there’s a bump that really jolts you then we’ll have to go test it a few more times and maybe get maintenance to come have a look.

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Just another tough day at the office. Picture: Jerad Williams

“Maintenance may have turned the water up a bit too much or maybe, just over time, the fibreglass might have moved a bit because the sun heats it up, but it’s not too drastic.”

The ride testing all begins two hours before the park opens its gates. Each ride takes about 10 minutes to test.

“We roughly start at 8.15am and we need to test everything before the park opens so we try and have everything done by 9.45pm.”

A chilly winter day is the only downfall of the job, he said.

“Luckily, it doesn’t rain that often in winter here but it does get chilly and the heaters don’t kick in until later on in the day, but we have our wet suits on so it’s not too bad.”