Wet'n'Wild Sydney opening 'the biggest attractions launch in Australia in the present millennium'

Village Roadshow have opened the new Wet'n'Wild Sydney waterpark, in the western Sydney suburb of Prospect, the largest attractions launch in Australia in 20 years.

Opened yesterday (12th December) by Village Roadshow co-Chairman Graham Burke and NSW Tourism and Major Events Minister George Souris, the attraction has been dubbed the world's largest water theme park.

The first all-new theme park to open in Australia since Movie World opened on the Gold Coast in 1991, the arrival of Wet'n'Wild Sydney is a significant venture by Village Roadshow's theme parks division. The waterpark is opening in the often problematic Sydney attractions market that has seen more attractions closures than openings in the current millennium: Sega World Sydney having closed in 2000; the Fox Studios Backlot, which closed in 2001 after just two years of operations, and Wonderland Sydney, which closed in 2004.

However, with the NSW Government having aided the development by giving a Village Roadshow a 50-year lease on the site, the entertainment conglomerate's $120 million investment looks to have provided an attraction that residents in the fast growing western suburbs of Sydney will visit repeatedly.

Speaking at the opening, Minister Souris highlighted how Wet'n'Wild Sydney has already given an economic boost to the region already and created hundreds of jobs.

Anticipating Wet'n'Wild Sydney generating $500 million in economic activity for the local economy, Minister Souris stated "the park will provide yet another unique tourist experience, and will make NSW an even more attractive prospect for potential visitors. This will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the State's visitor economy and will be a much-needed boost for surrounding businesses and employment in Western Sydney."

Also speaking at the opening, Graham Burke thanked the NSW Government for its support and congratulated everyone who has helped bring the vision to a reality, explaining "Village Roadshow set out to create the best water theme park in the entire world (and) I have no doubt we have achieved this."

Welcoming the arrival of the waterpark in a major feature the latest issue of Australasian Leisure Management, Publisher Nigel Benton suggests "the opening of Wet'n'Wild Sydney is potentially the biggest attractions launch in Australia in the present millennium."

However, the attraction has not been immune from criticism.

In September, Sydney's media whipped up anti park sentiment over a perception of the high cost of entry while, prior to this week's opening, the Blacktown Sun reported 'Water park opening a public relations fiasco', suggesting that "the hopes of thousands of people looking forward to attending the opening of the new Wet'n'Wild Sydney Park (sic) at Prospect tomorrow have been dashed.

"Despite having booked tickets by phone and online earlier this year, many have yet to receive their tickets."

While the popularity of the new attraction had led to some delays in entry wristbands being despatched to guests, park management had been able to get the wristbands to all guests in advance of the opening.

Predicted to attract more than a million visitors a year, more than 15,000 guests visited the waterpark on its opening day.

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