Gold Coast theme park history: 25 years since Dreamworld’s Wipeout opened its doors in 1993

Imagine getting to be the first members of the public to ride one of the Gold Coast’s newest theme park attractions. This ride was unveiled as part of a major revamp right in time for Christmas.

IMAGINE getting to be the first members of the public to ride one of the Gold Coast’s newest theme park attractions.

It is an experience which few get to have when they come along every few years.

Dreamworld has spent $15 million on its expansion of the White Water World park with more attractions on the way.

With the new Sky Voyager already unveiled and more to come, the theme park, which has had a tough few years, is looking to bring audiences back.

Dreamworld. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

This expansion comes 25 years after the Coomera theme park showed off its latest expansion.

It was December 1993 - Paul Keating was in his final term as Prime Minister, Mrs. Doubtfire was in cinemas and Gold Coasters were about to get a taste of what has become one of the city’s favourite thrill rides.

The Wipeout, pitched to audiences as “the wildest ride of your life’ was the first ride of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

The Wipeout on opening day in 1993

The surf-themed ride was the headline act of the theme park’s Christmas 1993 push for big crowds.

Costing more than $6 million, it pulled up to 2.5G of force and sent passengers on its gondola spinning in a 360 degree revolution.

The gondola sat between two 14-metre high Malibu surfboards, and swirled over a water tank bellow as two large steel arms on either side rotate in opposite directions.

A happy customer on the Wipeout on December 21, 1993

It was the latest step in a five-year expansion of the park.

The same week it was joined by the a multimillion-dollar dinosaur display which came at the height of the Jurassic Park-inspired craze for all things cretaceous.

It was the largest display of life-size moving dinosaurs ever seen in Australia and was part of a world tour.

The Wipeout in action.

Fifteen life-size dinosaurs that moved their heads and arms were dotted around the park including a pteranodon, a batlike creature that flew and had a wing span of more than seven metres.

The largest was the famous tyrannosaurus rex which stood five metres tall above the park’s Plaza Fountain, with 60 razor-sharp teeth.

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Cronulla Sharks players Danny Lee, Tawera Nikau, Richard Barnett and Craig Greenhill on the Wipeout.

The dinosaurs were created by the American-based Dinamation International Corporation.

They ran on compressed air and were computer-operated to make authentic dinosaur sounds and movements, determined by the palaeontologists.

Both attractions sent a surge of tourists and locals to the park.

But the Wipeout, which became famous during the 1990s for its breakdowns, was hit by unexpected occurrence on December 29 and that year.

Riders having the time of their life on the wipeout in 1996.

In the first incident, one of the computer checks indicated that a gate was unlocked, stopping the ride.

Dreamworld chief executive Jacques Merkus said the gate had been checked and was locked.

He said a an overhaul and inspection of the ride had followed.

The following day, around 40 people were stranded on the ride for 20 minutes after a power black out shut the park’s rides down.

Dreamworld’s cast of characters with the Wipeout.

Mr Merkus said told media the delay had been caused by an eight-minute power failure throughout the theme park.

Passengers were returned safely to ground with a winch in about 20 minutes.

Mr Merkus said the Wipeout had 100 safety checks which were carried out through a computer before a ride was allowed to start.

Now, 25 years later the Wipeout remains one of Dreamworld’s most popular attractions.