Dreamworld History

Let's fill in some history from before my map collection begins!

Most of the maps in this article are from here: http://www.scottware.com.au/theme/dream/logos_maps_etc/

Dreamworld's first map from 1981, taken from Dreamworld's Facebook page.

Dreamworld opened in 1981, when it was founded by John Longhurst, and the park was originally modelled on Disneyland - The entrance building is based on Disneyland's train station!

1981: Dreamworld Opens with:
- Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler (1981 – 2012), The channel which the boat tours is called the Murrissipi River. The ride originally featured a bush show themed to the era of Ned Kelly.
- Dreamworld Railway (1981 – ), Originally called the Cannonball Express.
- Imax Theatre (1981 – 2018), Updated and renamed in 2011 to Dreamworld Cinema, a 3D Movie theatre. Replaced with Sky Voyager.
- Vintage Cars (1981 – ), The ride was relocated from its original location due to the placement of Mick Doohan's Motocoaster ride in 2007.
- Rocky Hollow Log Ride (1981 – 2020)

1982 Map

1982: Country Fair opens, rides included:
- Thunderbolt (1982-2003), the first roller coaster in Australia to feature vertical loops.
- Zumer (1982- ), Chair Swing, later renamed Swinger Zinger and now Puss in Boots Sword Swing.
- Red Baron (1982-2010), a rotating plane ride, later renamed Dora the Explorer's Sea Planes. The ride was moved several times- in Country Fair, Village Green/Village Oval, and Nickelodeon Central.
- Grand Prix Go-Karts (1982-1992), a go-kart track found within Thunderbolt's footprint.

Gum Tree Gully also opened in 1982. The Gum Tree Gully Theatre housed the animatronic show Country Jamboree. The original show was home to Australia's first computerised animatronics.The Australian Country Jamboree closed in late 2001. Gum Tree Gully was converted into Wiggles World which opened in 2005. The Big Red Car Ride now operates inside the building where the theatre once was.

1985 Map

In 1983 Village Green was constructed to provide a link between Country Fair and Gum Tree Gully. The name was changed to Village Oval in 1998. Now part of the Nickolodeon/Dreamworks area. Rides included:
- Avalanche (1983-2012), renamed Angry Beavers Spooty Spin, 2002-2011, replaced by the Pandamonium.
- Bumper Bowl (1983- ), has also been known as Bumper Beach Dodgems and Rocket Power Bumper Beach, now Skadoosh Bumper Cars.
- Carousel (1983- ), has also been known as Mighty-Go-Round, Nick - O – Round, and know Ogre-Go-Round.
- Game Site Video arcade (1983- )
- Little Puff (1983- 1990s), a miniature kids train ride. Little puff is now located on the Main St of Dreamworld, sitting as a stationary photo-op outside the Ice Cream Parlour.

1983 also saw the Country Fair expanded with the addition of:
- Enterprise (1983-2014), later renamed Reef Diver in 2002. The original model was actually replaced in 2000. Replaced by Tail Spin.
- Roulette/Stingray (1983-2012). Originally known as Roulette and themed to a roulette wheel. It was rethemed as a stingray in approximately 1994 for the Ocean Parade themed area.

The Blue Lagoon water park opened in 1983 with a large lagoon pool, a children's pool and 3 water slides: Aqualoop Flume Ride (a body slide), Krakatoa's Revenge (a tube slide), and Toboggan Ride (a toboggan slide). It was replaced by WhiteWater World (on the other side of the park) in 2006.

1987 Map

Gold Rush Country opened in 1986. The area featured two attractions:
- Eureka Mountain Mine Ride (1986-2006)
- Thunder River Rapids Ride (1986-2016)

The Music Bowl also opened in 1986, and was later Dreamworld Amphitheatre and Dreamworld Studios.

1987 saw the opening of Koala Country, Dreamworld's native animal area. It  was redeveloped and expanded into the Australian Wildlife Experience in 2001. The Australian Animal Presentation and Oakey Creek Farm Show (Australian Sheep Shearing Show) were added at the same time. In 2013, the area became Dreamworld Corroborre, Expanding to include Indigenous Australian exhibits, shows and demonstrations.

1992 Map

1989 saw the addition of the Skylink Chairlift , which linked Gold Rush Country with Koala Country. The ride was originally located at Magic Mountain, Nobby Beach before being relocated to the park. It closed in 2005.

The Gravitron was added in 1990, and was later named Vortex to fit the Ocean parade theming. It was removed in 2009 to make way for the lien vs. Predator themed Laser Skirmish attraction named AVPX.

1994 Map

In 1993 Ocean Parade  took over the northern portion of the Country Fair area. Ocean Parade's flagship attraction was the Wipeout. The Roulette was rethemed to become the Stingray and relocated to a new location at the same time. The Wipeout closed in 2019.

1998 Map

Tiger Island opened in 1995 with six Bengal tigers. At the same time they also constructed the path from Gum Tree Gully to Koala Country. In 2016 Tiger Island was renovated and refurbished. 

Tower of Terror opened in 1997, its entrance was originally located in Village Oval, and was relocated to the opposite side of the track in 2002, due to the construction of Nickelodeon Central. In 2010 its car was replaced with a new backwards-facing model, and the ride was rebranded as Tower of Terror II. It closed in 2019. The Giant Drop was Added to the tower in 1998.

The short lived Creature Cruise boat ride also opened in 1997. Around 1999, the Creature Cruise was converted from a boat ride into a walkthrough attraction. Located in Village Oval, This short-lived attraction was replaced by Kennyland, a childrens area that was replaced with Nickeldeon Central in 2002. 

2000 Map

From 1999 – 2002, Kennyland was a children’s area themed after Dreamworld's main mascot Kenny Koala. Located in the northern portion of the Village Oval, it closed to make way for part of Nickolodeon Central. Rides included:  Wild Wheels, track ride with a variety of different cars connected in one train; Kenny Karts, children sized electric cars; Adventure Trails, a jumping castle; and Dreamcopters, a rotating ride with small helicopters. Dreamcopters was rethemed as Blues Skidoo for Nickolodeon, and then as Dronkey Flyers for Dreamworks. 

Three of the four rides of Kennyland- The Dreamcopters, Adventure Trails, and Kenny Karts- were moved to Gum Tree Gully in early 2002 to aid in the construction of Nickelodeon Central. A children's Ferris Wheel was also included in the lineup.

2001 Map

In 2001 the Cyclone opened. The ride was the former Big Dipper roller coaster at Luna Park Sydney. Became Hot Wheels Sidewinder in 2015. 

The Big Brother House and Dreamworld studios were added as the reality TV show Big Brother commenced broadcasting from Dreamworld studios in 2001. 

2005 Map

I'm putting this one here as it is different to any of the maps I have.

Check out these sites for more Dreamworld history and pictures:

http://www.scottware.com.au/theme/dream/logos_maps_etc/

https://www.facebook.com/dwgoldenyears/

https://www.facebook.com/thrillhistory

https://ourworlds.co/2018/08/building-impossible-john-longhurst-dreamworld/

Wet'n'Wild

I only have one map from Wet'n'Wild, so I'm adding other maps and pictures I've found online to this one.

1980s: Wet'n'Wild opened in 1984 as Cades County. The original attractions were the wave pool; the four body slides known as White Water Mountain; Rampage, a Tobboggan slide later renamed Double Screamer; and the speed slides.

1990s: This picture is from the 1990s, by which time the park had been re-named Wet'n'Wild. The Twister had been added here, and later in the 90s saw the addition of Terror Canyon.

2000: Super 8 Aqua Racer was added in 1997, Calyso Beach in 1998, and Mammoth Falls in 2000. The picture above shows Mammoth Falls when it first opened, with one twisting slide (Mammoth Falls) and one straight slide (Mammoth Plunge). The Plunge was moved to Sea World just a few years later, and a mirrored Mammoth Falls was installed in its place.

2007: The only physical map of Wet'n'Wild I have. Whirpool was added in 2002, and Bucaneer Bay in 2005. In 2006, the Extreme H2O Zone opened with Mach 5, Blackhole, and Tornado. The Surfrider had just been added, but this map doesn't show it yet. Double Screamer had been removed around 2005.

2010: The White Water Mountain slides were replaced with the River Rapids in 2007, and Terror Canyon closed in 2009. Kamikaze was added in 2008, and in 2010 Aqualoop replaced the Twister and the speed slides. The Flowrider and the Zip Lines have also been added.

2017: Additions here the Skycoaster (2011), Constrictor (2012) and Wet'n'Wild Junior (2014).

2020: New CGI style map. Mach 5 has been removed.

Movie World

I first visited Movie World, and the other Gold Coast theme parks, around 1994 - I would have been 4 years old! The park first opened in 1991, the earlist map I have should be 2002, but I lost that one, so I've added one from around the same time that I found online.

2002: At this point the park still had many of it's original attractions, including the Movie Magic Special Effects Show, Police Academy Stunt Show, and Looney Tunes River Ride, while the Great Gremlins Adventure ride had just been replaced with the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster. A Harry Potter walk through attraction was located were Intencity and the bumper cars are, from 2001-2003.

2007: Superman Escape and Batwing Spaceshot added, Intencity and the bumper cars replace The Matrix exhibit, which replaced Harry Potter.

2013: Police Academy Stunt Show, The Batman ride and Looney Tunes River Ride all closed. Lethal Weapon became Arkham Asylum, and the roof over main st was added. Hollywood Stunt Driver, Green Lantern and Justice League 3D opened.

2016: The Junior Driving School opened.

2018: A new CGI style map. Doomsday Destroyer and DC Rivals Hypercoaster added.

2020: The only change here is the addition of the WB Studio Showcase in the old western show stage, with displays of props and costumes from various recent Warner Bros. movies.

Sea World

I first visited Sea World, and the other Gold Coast theme parks, 1994 when was 4 years old. Sea World is the oldest park on the Gold Coast, having started way back in 1958 as the Surfers Paradise Ski Gardens! in 1971, the owner, Keith Williams, moved the park to the current site on the spit and added marine animals such as dolphins and seals to expand his attraction.

A carousel, train ride, swimming pool and a replica of Captain Cook's ship the Endeavour soon followed. In 1976, Sea World bought out the nearby Marineland (founded in 1965 as the Seaquarium) and transferred all their animals to the Sea World site. The park's first true theme park ride was the Viking's Revenge Flume, opened in 1979.

So, maps ...

2002: The newest attractions at this time were Cartoon Network beach and Polar Bear shores. The white loops of the Corkscrew and the flame-spewing Volcano of Bermuda Triangle were park icons.

2007: Shark Bay and Dugong Discovery added, along with the Sea World Eye ferris wheel. Cartoon Beach is now Seasame Street Beach.

2013: Jet Rescue, Penguin Point, Ray Reef, and Penguin encounter all added. Castaway Bay replaces the water park. Seasame Street Beach had become the generic Beach Break Bay, but the Nickelodeon Characters were appearing in the park. Storm Coaster was under construction after Bermuda Triangle had closed, and the Dinosaur Island exhibit was running. The endeavour replica ship has been removed.

(From around 2005 - 2015, Sea World didn't seem to know what they were doing, with a number of cancelled attractions, like Surfrider, which went to Wet'n'Wild, and the 'Wild' exhibit which actually advertised before they pulled the plug. The Wild exhibit was supposed to have Gorillas, Hippos and Crocodiles, which doesn't even make sense for a marine park...)

2016: The middle of the park is a construction zone while the new plaza is built. Storm Coaster, Seal Harbour and Nickelodeon Land added. The Creatures of the Deep display is there too, replacing the dinosaurs, which didn't make any sense anyway. The Corkscrew/Sea Viper and the Skyway are gone.

2018: A new CGI map, and Viking's Revenge Flume closed.

2020: This year's map has a new style again, with an oversized Jet Rescue to hide the empty space, lol XD. The 'New Atlantis' area is under construction. It is planned to include three new rides, The Vortex (a top spin ride), Trident (a spinning tower ride) and Leviathan (a wooden rollercoaster).

Dreamworld

I first visited Dreamworld, and the other Gold Coast theme parks, around 1994 - I would have been 4 years old! The earlist map I have for Dreamworld is 2002, but the park's history goes back to 1981, when it was founded by John Longhurst.

Here are some links where you can find out more Dreamworld history and old maps of the park:

http://www.scottware.com.au/theme/dream/logos_maps_etc/

https://www.facebook.com/dwgoldenyears/

https://www.facebook.com/thrillhistory

https://ourworlds.co/2018/08/building-impossible-john-longhurst-dreamworld/

The maps that I have, starting with 2002- click the pictures to see the maps at a larger size:

2002: The area marked as being underdevelopment is the Village Green, which became Nickelodeon Central shortly after this, and is now the Dreamworks experience.

2007: The Claw, Wiggles World, and the Motocoaster have been added. The Thunderbolt and chairlift have been removed and The Mine Ride is closed. Whitewater World was built next door replacing Blue Lagoon, but had a separate map at this point...

...which is this one.

2013: Whitewater World now shares the same map as Dreamworld, and the Spongebob Flyer (now Gingy's Glider), AVPX laser tag, Shockwave and Buzzsaw have been added, while Stingray and Vortex (Gravitron) have been removed. Oh, and Nickelodeon central has become Dreamworks Experience with the addition of the Pandamonium. So a lot of changes on this one!

2016: Tail Spin replaces Enterprise/Reef Diver, Wiggles world is expanded to become ABC Kids world, and Tiger Island is closed for re-development.

2018: Conspicuous absence of Gold Rush Country, following the unfortunate incident on Thunder River Rapids...

2020: This year's map, with Sky Voyager replacing the Cinema on main st. Rocky Hollow Log Ride has closed, though it's still on the map. Wipeout and Tower of Terror are also gone.