Village Roadshow Theme Parks
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| Industry | Amusement parks and attractions |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Operating income | A$101.1 million (2009)[1] |
| Profit | A$42.7 million (2009)  [2] |
| Total assets | A$239 million (2009)  [3] |
| Parent | Village Roadshow |
| Website | Official website |
Village Roadshow Theme Parks is a division of Village Roadshow Limited which operates theme parks and attractions in Australia and the United States of America.[3] The Sydney Attractions Group Pty Ltd was formerly part of Village Roadshow Theme Parks, however, it was sold in 2011 to Merlin Entertainments.
History
The theme park division of Village Roadshow was originally a joint venture between Time Warner and Village Roadshow until Village took full ownership of the group in 2006.[4] Time Warner continues to provide a licence to the Warner Bros. brand.
The group also owns the Sea World Resort, located next to the Sea World theme park. Previously known as Sea World Nara Resort (opened in 1988 as a joint venture between the then-owners of Sea World and the Japan-based Nara Group,[5] Village also moved to take full ownership of the resort in 2006,[6] resulting in the name change.
In April 2008, Village Roadshow Theme Parks proposed African Safari World, an amusement park and zoo to replace the Werribee Open Range Zoo, 32 kilometres (20 mi) southwest of Melbourne, Australia.[7] This was followed by the proposal to acquire and redevelop Aussie World into Wet'n'Wild Aussie World.[8] In June 2008, the proposal for African Safari World was rejected by the Victorian Government for a variety of reasons.[9] In September 2009, the plans for Wet'n'Wild Aussie World were cancelled.[10]
In late 2008, Sydney Attractions Group was purchased by Village Roadshow after months of discussions. This included the acquisition of Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Tower and Sydney Wildlife World.[11]
In 2009, the company expanded by purchasing Oceanworld Manly in Australia and Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World in New Zealand.[12] The company also purchased two water parks in the United States. Hawaiian Waters was renamed to Wet'n'Wild Hawaii and WaterWorld Safari was renamed to Wet'n'Wild Phoenix.[4]
In September 2010, Village Roadshow announced that they would be expanding the Wet'n'Wild chain by opening a water park in Sydney.[13][14][15][16]
In December 2010, they announced that they would sell approximately $115 million worth of assets to Merlin Entertainments.[17] On 3 March 2011, the deal was finalised with Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, Oceanworld Manly, Sydney Tower, Hamilton Island Wildlife Park and Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World all being sold off.[18]
On 4 October 2012, it was announced that Village Roadshow Theme Parks would be opening Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas in May 2013.[19]
On 17 October 2012, it was announced that the company had struck a deal with Guangzhou R&F Properties to assist in the design, construction and operation of two parks in China. The two parks would be based on the Sea World and Wet'n'Wild parks on the Gold Coast and would be named Hainan R&F Ocean Paradise and Hainan Wet'n'Wild.[20][21]
Properties
Current
- Australian Outback Spectacular is an Australiana dinner and show package featuring many Australian animals, songs and bush tucker. The show is located between Warner Bros. Movie World and Wet'n'Wild Water World at Oxenford on the Gold Coast in Australia.[22]
- Paradise Country is an Australian Farm experience where guests are shown a variety of Australian animals including koalas, kangaroos and emus. The farm tour also includes several shows which feature the making of billy tea, a stock horse demonstration and a boomerang throwing demonstration.[23]
- Sea World is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, and theme park located on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It includes rides, animal exhibits and other attractions, and promotes conservation through education and through the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured or orphaned wildlife.[24] The park also offers accommodation at an adjacent resort,[25] helicopter flights,[26] whale watching tours,[27] calm-water cruises[28] and children's books.[29]
- Warner Bros. Movie World is a popular movie related theme park on the Gold Coast in Australia. Opening on 3 June 1991,[30] the park contains various movie-themed rides and attractions ranging from motion simulators to roller coasters and slow river rides. In addition, costumed character performers also patrol the park, giving visitors the chance to take photos with them. These include Batman, Austin Powers, Marilyn Monroe, Scooby Doo, The Mystery Inc. Gang and various Looney Tunes characters.[31]
- Wet'n'Wild Hawaii is a Hawaiian water park, located in the Oahu city Kapolei. Opening in May 1999, the park occupies 25 acres (10 ha) of land and has 25 rides and attractions.[32] It was the first overseas acquisition of Village Roadshow.
- Wet'n'Wild Phoenix is a water park located in Phoneix, Arizona in the United States. It opened its doors to the public 1 July 2009 after Village Roadshow invested over US$30 million in the park. The park features over 30 rides [33] on approximately 35 acres (14 ha) of land making it the largest theme park in the state.[34]
- Wet'n'Wild Water World is a large water park situated in the suburb of Oxenford on the Gold Coast in Australia. The park is Australia's largest waterpark and the third largest waterpark in the world. While the park remains open all year, all pools and slides are heated during winter.[35]
Future
- Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas is a water park under construction in Spring Valley, Nevada, United States. It will be the company's third Wet'n'Wild park in the United States when it opens in May 2013.[19]
- Wet'n'Wild Sydney is a water park under construction in Prospect, New South Wales, Australia. Announced on 11 September 2010, the proposal includes 3 pools, 16 water slides and 2 children's areas on a 25-hectare (62-acre) site. The A$80 million park is set to be one of the top ten water parks in the world.[13][14][15][16]
- Hainan R&F Ocean Paradise and Hainan Wet'n'Wild are two parks destined to open in 2015 in the Chinese provence of Hainan. R&F Properties will own the parks which are to be designed, constructed and operated by Village Roadshow. The two parks will be based off Sea World and Wet'n'Wild on the Gold Coast.[20][21]
Former
- Hamilton Island Wildlife Park (now Wild Life Hamilton Island) is a small wildlife park situated on Hamilton Island in Queensland, Australia. Guests are able to view a large collection of native Australian animals including koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, crocodiles, wombats, Tasmanian devils, frilled necked lizards and various reptiles.[12]
- Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World is a public aquarium in Auckland, New Zealand, which was the brainchild of renowned New Zealand marine archaeologist and diver Kelly Tarlton.[36]
- Oceanworld Manly (now Manly Sea Life Sanctuary) is located just 200 metres (660 ft) from Manly Wharf in Sydney, Australia. It features aquariums including sharks, giant stingrays, sea turtles and other marine life. Oceanworld also allows guests to take part in Shark Dive Xtreme, where they can swim with sharks.[37]
- Sydney Aquarium (now Sea Life Sydney Aquarium) is a public aquarium located in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the eastern (city) side of Darling Harbour to the north of the Pyrmont Bridge. It contains a large variety of Australian aquatic life, displaying more than 650 species comprising more than 6,000 individual fish and other sea and water creatures from most of Australia's water habitats.[38]
- Sydney Tower (now Sydney Tower Eye) is Sydney's tallest free-standing structure which is home to the second tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere. The tower is also home to the Skywalk (where guests can walk around the top of the building outdoors) and OzTrek (a virtual reality ride).[39]
- Sydney Wildlife World (now Wild Life Sydney) is a wildlife park in the centre of the city of Sydney, Australia. Officially opened in September 2006, it is located on the city side of the Darling Harbour leisure and retail precinct, next to Sydney Aquarium. The wildlife park features a wide collection of animals including butterflies, invertebrates, reptiles, koalas as well as specifically designed habitats including semi-arid grasslands and a rainforest.[40]
Results
The group claimed an annual patronage of approximately 4.2 million across all of its properties during the financial year ending on 30 June 2007, including 1.3 million each to both Movie World and Sea World, and 1 million to Wet'n'Wild.[41]
References
- ^ "Annual Report - 2009". Village Roadshow. 2009. p. 4. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Annual Report - 2009". Village Roadshow. 2009. p. 12. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ a b "Annual Report - 2009". Village Roadshow. 2009. p. 56. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ a b "Theme Parks". Village Roadshow. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "History and Development of Sea World". MyFun. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
- ^ "Annual Report 2006". Village Roadshow. 2006. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
- ^ The Sunday Mail (5 April 2008). "Victoria's African Safari World to pinch Qld theme park crowd". News Article. The Sunday Mail. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ Wilson, Richard (20 May 2008). "Village Roadshow buys Aussie World". Parkz. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
- ^ Turnbull, Jeff (1 July 2008). "Vic govt rejects $220m Werribee Zoo plan - Breaking News - National - Breaking News". Melbourne: The Age. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
- ^ "Sunshine Coast Water Park". Press Release. Village Roadshow. September 2009. Archived from the original on 29 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
- ^ Wilson, Richard. "Sydney Attractions say accept". Parkz. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
- ^ a b "Attractions". Village Roadshow. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ a b AAP (11 September 2010). "Keneally touts $80m water theme park". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ a b "$80 million water park plan unveiled". Sky News. 11 September 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ a b "Water theme park planned for Sydney". ABC News. 11 September 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ a b AAP (11 September 2010). "NSW $80 million water park plan unveiled". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ AAP (17 December 2010). "Village Roadshow sells Sydney Attractions". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
- ^ AAP (3 March 2011). "Plans for a Madame Tussauds in Sydney". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- ^ a b Westthorp, Tanya (5 October 2012). "Coast Wet'n'Wild inspires Vegas park". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ^ a b Kitney, Damon (17 October 2012). "Village Roadshow inks China deal". The Australian. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
- ^ a b Rasini, Martin (18 October 2012). "Coast-style water parks for China". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
- ^ "Australian Outback Spectacular". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Paradise Country". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Sea World". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Sea World Resort & Water Park". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Sea World Helicopters". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Sea World Whale Watch". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Sea World Cruises". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Sea World Books". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ History and Development of Movie World[dead link]
- ^ Main Street Entertainment: Warner Bros. Movie World
- ^ "Wet'n'Wild Hawaii About Us". My Wet'n'Wild. Retrieved 6 September 2009.
- ^ "Wet‘n’Wild Phoenix". Amusement Industry News+Notes.
- ^ "Cool down this summer at Wet‘n’Wild in Phoenix". ABC 15 News.[dead link]
- ^ "Wet'n'Wild Water World". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Kelly Tarlton's - About Us". Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter Underwater World. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
- ^ "Oceanworld Manly". myfun.com.au. MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Sydney Aquarium". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Sydney Tower". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Sydney Wildlife World". MyFun. Retrieved 30 July 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Annual Report 2007". Village Roadshow. 2007. p. 6. Retrieved 12 November 2007.[dead link]
External links
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