New Theme Park for Muswellbrook to be Best in World

Proposed Roller Coaster

It was announced today that developers will transform a large area of land near Muswellbrook, NSW Australia into a thriving entertainment district by 2015 - complete with a theme park, water park, snow park, and a new dining and music scene and more elaborate attractions.

Construction will begin on the Supper Dupper Oopper Hoonter Theme Park in June to be ready for a grand opening in October 2015 if all goes according to plan, said Mr Cole Myne, a pre-development manager for the project.

This is the first large Theme Park in rural NSW in Australia and will appeal to all of the fun seeking people around Australia and around the world. With 29 rides, including eight roller coasters, the proposed Theme Park hopes to cater to people of all ages underserved by theme parks in NSW.

The Theme Park will be built on land currently owned by Bobgalla Mine. The area will eventually cover  61 hectares (150 acres) utilising the vast eastern section of land already mined and filled in between the current open cut pit and the township of Muswellbrook.

Proposed Theme Park Site

It takes only one hour thirty minutes from the Theme Park to Newcastle, the largest city in The Hunter Valley. This will make it very convenient to the visitors from other Australian regions and the world.

Planned attractions include thrill rides, shows, movies, games, parades, water park, snow park, amphitheater and paintball arena.

The million dollar project is the brain child of dreamer Ms. Fan Ta Sizer, former CEO of Muswellbrook Growth Corporation. "It's just going to be so dramatic," said Fan. "It's going to light up the skyline in Muswellbrook and do more for its tourism than the Vivid Light Festival does for Sydney. You will be able to see the lights of the Amusement Park from as far away as Singleton, Merriwa and Tamworth. And it will not just be for a few weeks, but for every week of the year."

"The idea is to increase tourism in Muswellbrook. Usually people stay about .5 days out of the year. We want it to become more of a leisure tourist experience where maybe they will stay three, four, five days," said Fan.

Proposed Water Park

The cost of the Theme Park, which will be financially supported by Campbell & Co., will cost $220 million. The other developments, which include restaurant and hotel areas, will add $115 million to the overall cost. The project was discussed at a March 14 board meeting of the Muswellbrook Council Systematic Infrastructure Community Fundamental Improvement Works Commission Project Strategy Committee.

The Developers project the first year attendance at the Theme Park to be around 865,000, It is predicted that the Theme Park in will eventually attract more than 1 million visitors every year from around the world.

The Mollywood Company will serve as the operating partner and initially employ 850 full and part time employees. The Theme Park will provide many more job opportunities to those already provided by the mining, energy, horse and wine industries in the region.

"It's designed to focus on the residents of Muswellbrook," the Supper Dupper Oopper Hoonter Theme Park Publicity Officer, Ms. Mary Ment said. "There is no large-scale amusement park south of the Gold Coast on the New England Highway. We really feel like there is a void in this area." She said the idea is larger than a theme park and conceives of an entertainment district, complete with a water park, snow park, an amphitheater, a shopping, a dining and hotel resort areas. The indoor snow park will be the first of its kind in Australia."

Proposed Roller Coaster

"It's going to be great for the tourists that come to Muswellbrook, but it's also going to be great for the Muswellbrook residents too. We do miss our Plaza Movie Theatre which was opened in 1924 and closed in 1977" Mary said.

Mary called todays announcement, which was thirst conceptualised five years ago, a good day for Muswellbrook. "I think the closing of our Movie Theatre was a really bad idea because what happened was it took visitors to other tourist destinations," Mary said.

Mr. Spen D. Cash, NSW Minister for Fiscal Economic Monetary Development Augmentation, added, "Tourism is the second largest industry in NSW, generating more than a billion dollars in tax revenue annually and employing more than 1,170,002 people, This project will be a welcome addition to the wide variety of attractions and destinations across our great state, and I applaud the collaboration and spirit that has led to this announcement."

Phase II will include developing the rest of the land. Planning already has already commenced on the definite plans as to what type of amusements would occupy the extended space. There is plenty of room for expansion to increase the size of the park towards Aberdeen or Denman in later stages.

Despite the excitement that surrounds the upcoming business opportunity in Muswellbrook, some nearby residents are concerned about the impact it will have on traffic and their neighborhoods.

"Having a million extra people in town during the year is going to affect our surrounding roads and streets because they are basically struggling at the moment," concerned resident Ms. Zit E. Zen told The Holiday and Travel Magazine.

Proposed Indoor Snow Park

Mr. Pur Turbed is the president of the Muswellbrook River Flats Homeowners Progress Association. The neighborhood sits just on the other side of Mined Bend Road, not far from where the Theme Park will eventually open. "For some businesses they may be ecstatic about it because it's going to bring more business in. As a homeowner and the area I live in and the peace and quiet it concerns me," she said.

Despite the traffic worries, the NSW Department of Roads, Transportation & Sanitation said the towns streets and lanes will be able to handle the increased amount of traffic and that they are already developing plans to improve the area if needed.

Part of Proposed Theme Park

"Obviously the plan hasn't even been fully developed yet, but at this point as we understand it NSWDORTAS will be looking at the intersection at Slow Lane and Easy Street  to make sure this intersection can handle the thousands of extra people that will possibly come through here each day," spokesperson Ms. Joy Rhyder said. 

The area off Ben Gala Road has plenty of room to expand from the current two lanes, but there is the question if it can handle the extra traffic. "We'd look to make sure that road has enough room to accommodate this extra traffic flow along it," Joy said.

NSWDORTAS officials also said there is the possibility of changing the towns planned bypass route so that it goes alongside the Theme Park and has a dedicated exit, although it is too early to comment. It was emphasised that careful planning is the key to the bypass, which so far has only taken 20 years. "As the money continues to be spent on the planning of the bypass we'll be happy to work with all concerned  stakeholders to make sure the proper infrastructure is here to accommodate all those extra people flowing through here," Joy said.

Proposed Roller Coaster

The Supper Dupper Oopper Hoonter Theme Park will not only attract visitors to Muswellnrook, but it will bring 650 jobs in its construction stage. And that makes the sounds of construction like music to the mayor's ears.

"Muswellbrook will become a travel destination unlike any other in the country," Muswellbrook Shire Mayor Councillor Enfuse E. Astic added. "The addition of this large scale family entertainment complex nearby the existing playground equipment at Simpson Park and Highbrook Park will add a critical missing piece to our community infrastructure and tourist offerings."

"We're just really excited," said Mayor Astic. "We conducted our own feasibility study to ask people what they thought about the idea of a brand new amusement park in Muswellbrook."

Proposed Roller Coaster

"I think it's a great tourist attraction to help bring more money to Muswellbrook," said supporter Mr. Rol A. Coaster. "Anything that can be done to bring more tourists to our town will help out tremendously." 

"It will make it a premier tourist destination even more so because it's going to be something that's known Australia and world wide," said another fan Ms. Mary Go Rownde.

The goal is to make the Supper Dupper Oopper Hoonter Theme Park a destination more popular than Dream World and Disney Land. Let us see all the excitement in today's announcement  and look forward with eager anticipation.