Gumbuya World Takes A Big Step Forward

Advertisements

Back in April 2022 I wrote about an earlier visit to Gumbuya World and how the waterpark area (Oasis Springs) was amazing but the rest of the park was lacking.

For those who don’t know, Gumbuya World is essentially three attractions rolled into one: a water park, a native zoo and an amusement park. The amusement park section was by far the most underdone featuring little more than standard carnival rides and cheap kids rides.

Which makes sense, because large scale attractions and rides come with a large scale price tag. The former Gumbuya Park was refurbished into its current guise about five years ago and the bulk of the investment clearly went into Oasis Springs.

A rendering of the new TNT rollercoaster. We presume the explosives are just props.
Advertisements

The money was well spent as the waterpark section features a wave pool, lazy river, multiple slides for varying levels of courage and much more.

The downside is that the rest of the park now looks dated compared to the clean, modern layout of Oasis Springs. Particularly the amusement area which was a cobbled-together collection of kids rides and small thrill rides.

While I lamented this lack of major ride investment at the time it is now clear that Gumbuya World was well ahead of me in the planning department. The park is about to debut not one but two significant rollercoasters which will raise the bar for this park considerably.

Advertisements
TNT under construction with Project Zero looming in the background. Photo credit: Mitty Theme Parks
Advertisements

The first is an inverted coaster called TNT. It appears it will have a mining theme (which is a little cliche in the world of rollercoasters but we’ll let it slide) and looks to be a small-medium size ride aimed at families.

The second is Project Zero, formerly the Buzzsaw at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast. It has been relocated and refurbished and is a tried-and-true Maurer AG Skyloop coaster. The company has installed ten such coasters around the world since 2004 and all are still in operation.

Related: Gumbuya World – Fun But Incomplete

Both are set to open December 23, 2022 and will drastically improve the scale of rides offered by Gumbuya World. As they seem to fill an obvious void in the ride offerings of the park it would be expected that Gumbuya World will see an spike in patronage.

Of course it is the quality of the ride experiences that will determine their success. The Project Zero theming sounds interesting and TNT should be a blast (pun intended). Gumbuya World has already shown with Oasis Springs it can produce a quality themed environment so hopefully they don’t skimp on the two new rides.

Advertisements
Photo credit: Mitty Theme Parks
Advertisements

Buzzsaw was well received at Dreamworld and operated fairly reliably by all accounts so the signs there are good. TNT is a bit more of an unknown but time will tell.

Neither coaster appears to require a particularly large footprint but with the park buying up the surrounding land for future expansion maybe in a few years we will see a Millenium Force-style giga coaster at Gumbuya World. There’s a new slogan for the park: Cedar Point Of The South!

The track length of Project Zero is only 150 metres so it clearly packs it’s thrills into a short, sharp package. Primary of these is the heartline roll inversion which is the equal third highest in the world at 152 feet.

Overall the signs are good and these two rollercoasters should be a significant step in the right direction towards developing Gumbuya World into a world-class theme park. Along with Oasis Springs these new attractions should not only see an influx of guests but they make this interested observer optimistic about what the next 5-10 years might bring to the park. The Gumbuya World master plan definitely appears to be heading in a promising direction.

Advertisements

Now hopefully they’ve worked out how to operate their rides more efficiently because the queueing process for some of their rides when I visited a couple of years ago was abysmal.

Call me, Gumbuya World. I can fix all your queue management issues!


Want more info on the new rollercoasters at Gumbuya World? Check out this great video from Mitty Theme Parks.

Advertisements
Advertisement