Miscellaneous

In this section I have included a few Australian parks that are not known for thrilling roller coasters but do deserve a mention.

1.       Myer Brisbane, Queensland: This indoor shopping centre in Queensland was once the home of a little fun park called Tops which ran from the late 1980s. It was situated on the top level of the centre, which I think was around nine stories high at the time. It was the place where I first drove dodgem cars, and enjoyed swinging on a pirate ship that was attached to the roof overlooking the many floors below. More importantly, it housed a rooftop ride known as the Dragon Coaster. I don’t remember it being particularly fast or scary, but the novelty of squealing above shoppers who were clearly annoyed with kids having fun was high. Sadly, the whole place closed down in 2000 to make way for a cinema complex.

2.       Aussie World Sunshine Coast, Queensland: Yep, Queensland likes to hog the majority of parks in Australia. Aussie World has a bit of a ‘kiddy carnival vibe’, so it is no surprise that the only coaster for many years was The Wild Mouse. This has now closed, but in 2011 a disk’o ride opened called the Redback, which is similar to Shockwave at Dreamworld. In 2022 a new spinning coaster was added called Dingo Racer. Aussie World was a great place to stop by on road trips to the Sunshine Coast, although I think we generally looked forward to the Ettamogah pub next door a little more. I haven’t been to Aussie World since the new rides opened, so perhaps they will improve my view of the park!

3.       Wet n Wild Gold Coast, Queensland: This is a pretty great water park that used to be known as Cade’s County. In 2007, the first and only coaster opened at the park. Called Surfrider, this giant half pipe features spinning seats and packs a punch for a relatively compact structure. It used to have water features that would spray the riders, but these are no longer in use (rumour has it because they were rusting the ride). I have a bit of a soft spot for this one, as I operated it for a few months when I worked at the Village Roadshow theme parks. It has spent years sitting closed at Wet n Wild. In 2023, various amuseument park forums were suggesting this will get relocated to Movie World, to be positioned under Superman Escapes. I would love to see it in action again!

4.       Scenic World Blue Mountains, New South Wales: The most tragic of all Australian roller coasters is surely Orphan Rocker. Named after the nearby Orphan Rock in the stunning Blue Mountains, this coaster never actually opened to the public. It was built in the 1980s, and staff recently told me that the employees back in the day did a lot of test runs after hours. They also said that it would have opened, had the Government not made demands that just weren’t financially viable for the owners at the time. It has sat rusted among the canopies of Scenic World ever since. Scenic World has a couple of gondola/train rides and is worth a visit for the beautiful bushwalks alone.

5.       Luna Park Melbourne, Victoria: This is one of Australia’s oldest parks, opening in 1912. It is also home to one of the world’s oldest coasters – the Great Scenic Railway. I love that the operator still stands in the middle of the wooden ride to run it. What a job!

6.       WhiteWater World Gold Coast, Queensland: This water park is part of Dreamworld. Although not technically a roller coaster, there is a water slide called the Hydrocoaster. Riders sit in a raft that acts like a typical water slide, except you also get propelled UP the hills.

7. Merimbula Magic Mountain, South Coast, New South Wales

This little park has a special place in my heart, as our family would road trip down to the South Coast in the 1980s and 90s for fish and chips at the stunning beaches. Magic Mountain was always a special treat, as we laughed our way down the two original water slides including the Black Hole. This was my first experience of a dark water slide, and I loved it! We also enjoyed the mini golf, toboggans, and breathing in the petrol fumes from the old school go-karts. I returned for a visit just prior to Covid with my niece. Part of the charm of the place is that it stays small and family friendly. The area will never have the population or tourism to warrant millions of dollars of investment. However, we were pleasantly surprised to see the addition of a tree top ropes course, and a rollercoaster called Diamond Python (built in 1994, so I guess it had been about 20 years between visits!) The coaster was a mixture between a Wild Mouse and a portable carnival style coaster. With a top speed of 36km/hr, this won’t be breaking any records, but does fit nicely with the family vibe of the park. This has since been rebranded as the Sapphire Speedster Coaster.

8.      Tree Tops Central Coast, NSW: Home of the Treetop Crazy Rider, which has been described as a combination of a roller coaster and a zipline. You harness up, then fly around the bush along a 1km track. I rode this one in 2017 and can confirm it is NOTHING like a roller coaster, and is really just an overpriced zipline. $79 for less than 5 minutes of fun? Heck, I’d rather go back to Sea World…