Australian theme park operator buys Hawaii attraction

KAPOLEI, Hawaii -- Australia's biggest theme park owner-operator is taking over the closest thing Hawaii has to an amusement park for residents and tourists.

Village Roadshow Limited signed an agreement to pay $27 million for the assets of Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park, including its 29 acres of water rides and attractions in Kapolei, park officials announced.

The water park is also in a major growth area of Oahu. Target and Costco big box stores are being developed nearby, with new roads, office buildings and a shopping complex planned for Kapolei, which is being developed as Oahu's "second city," roughly 20 miles southwest of Honolulu's main business and hotel districts.

Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park is Hawaii's only water theme amusement park, with a variety of water rides and other attractions that attract about 348,000 visitors a year.

Some of its latest additions are an 18-hole, high-end miniature golf course and an attraction that features artificial surf just a few miles from the real Pacific Ocean surf that is a major island lure.

With 1.2 million residents and 7 million tourists a year, Hawaii has a variety of man-made attractions, including the popular Polynesian Cultural Center with villages representing several Pacific cultures, but there currently is no permanent amusement park in the islands.

Among VRL's attractions in Australia are Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World, the Australian Outback Spectacular, and Wet 'n' Wild Water World, which it describes as one of the world's largest and most successful water parks.

The company also has been in the movie business since the 1960s. Village Roadshow Pictures, which VRL owns with other investors, is described as the leading independent Hollywood movie producer, with such films as "Happy Feet," ''Training Day" and "Mystic River."