KIBOB Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I have been searching the forums and found nothing on this, so here we go...... Many on this site may know about this, but for those who didn't know, in 1985 Taft Broadcasting had opened another theme park; Australia's Wonderland in Sydney, Australia. The park was the sixth in the KECO chain, and was built upon many of the same design concepts as Canada's Wonderland. Australia's Wonderland proved successful during its initial years, and was viewed as the largest theme park in the southern hemisphere. Although the new park lasted through the final years of KECO, it did not pass ownership like the rest of the family. In 1992, when Paramount Communications bought KECO, they decided that they would not include the Australia park as it was "too far of an investment", since the other parks were all in North America. With this in mind, while the rest of KECO became Paramount Parks, Australia's Wonderland was left to defend for itself. With rising prices within Australia, such as insurance for the park, and with a decrease in travel, Wonderland began to enter a state of being financially unstable. In 1997, the park was purchased by Sunway Group, and rebranded as Wonderland Sydney. Although plans for park expansion were made, they never prospered, and the park eventually failed financially. In 2004, the park closed for good, and was later completely demolished. As the rest of the former KECO parks prospered, the Sydney park was sadly being driven into the ground. Australia's Wonderland could really be thought of as the "forgotten brother" to the other parks. If you would like to read more (although it may not be completely accurate), I posted the link to a historical site about the park, as well as the Wikipedia article below. http://wonderlandhistory.net/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderland_Sydney If you have any other information about this park, please spread the knowledge. I am sure many others might find this as interesting as I do.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Also don't forget about Hanna Barbera Land in Texas. The park only lasted two years 1984 and 1985. I forgot Marineland of the Pacific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawg1998 Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Off topic, but I would just like to say I am loving this site right now! I've counted three different topics that are all about amusement park's past! Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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