The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1985–2004
Wonderland Sydney shut in 2004, blaming everything but itself
The Southern Hemisphere's biggest amusement park opened in 1985; after a 1997 sale it added one ride in seven years, closed on 26 April 2004 and was demolished.
Wonderland Sydney · Sunway Group · 2004-04
What happened
Wonderland Sydney opened on 7 December 1985 west of Sydney, backed by the NSW State Superannuation Board, James Hardie, Leighton Holdings and Taft Broadcasting. The largest amusement park in the Southern Hemisphere, it ran profitably for many years.
Kuala Lumpur's Sunway City bought the park in 1997, and between then and closure added one new ride. When the park shrank its operating area in 2002, management conceded it had been built too big, with rides spaced too far apart. Chief executive Stephen Galbraith's list of causes for the decline ran to nine external shocks — the September 11 attacks, the Bali bombings, HIH's collapse, SARS, bird flu, the Asian financial crisis, Ansett's collapse, the Iraq war and the 2003 bushfires — which led the Sydney Morning Herald to observe that Sunway blamed everything except poor management.
Wonderland closed on 26 April 2004. The 58-hectare site sold for $52.5 million to become an industrial estate, and demolition began in September 2005, with rides like the Bush Beast cut up or sold.
Why it happened
- Investment stopped after the sale: one new ride in seven years left a 1985 park selling yesterday's product.
- The park was too big for its crowds: by 2002 management itself was shrinking the operating area.
- Nine excuses missed the point: every rival faced the same shocks; the difference was reinvestment.
The lesson
Wonderland Sydney's owners blamed nine disasters for its closure; a park that added one ride in seven years was sold for its land — reinvestment is the moat.
Aftermath
The site became Interchange Park industrial estate. Wonderland remains Australia's cautionary case for parks run as land banks.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Wonderland Sydney (opened 7 December 1985; backed by NSW State Superannuation Board, James Hardie, Leighton Holdings, Taft Broadcasting; Kings Entertainment 1985–96 then Sunway Group 1997–2004; CEO Stephen Galbraith blamed 9/11, Bali bombings, HIH collapse, SARS, bird flu, Asian financial crisis, Ansett collapse, Iraq war, 2003 bushfires; operating area reduced 2002 — park too big, rides too far apart; closed 26 April 2004; demolished from September 2005)
- Visit Sydney Australia — Lost Sydney: Australia's Wonderland (largest amusement park in the Southern Hemisphere at opening; ran profitably for many years; fortunes worsened after 1997 sale to Sunway City Berhad; only one new ride, Skyrider, added 1997–2004; rides closed or scrapped in 2002 with reduced operational area; observers cited poor management as the primary cause; closed 26 April 2004; 58-hectare property sold for $52.5 million; demolished September 2005)
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