liz.wis

I was heading up to the sunshine coast today (a rare occurrence) and drove past Aussie World and it looked packed - the cars were parking in the street in front, so I'm guessing the carpark was full. Is it starting to build in popularity with the newer additions? Admittedly I've never been there because I figured there wasn't much to occupy the 4 year old (unenthused by little kids rides, not old/tall enough for the faster ones). I don't recall ever seeing that much traffic around it though.

While I could understand why the prices could go up, I think it would stop a number of families buying the passes. When you have to get tickets for a couple of kids as well, it's not a cheap exercise. We seriously had to think about whether we could afford to renew this year (FWIW we decided to renew, with the new attractions coming, plus we'll be spending some time down the coast over the Summer). Taking young kids, we'll buy lunch down there every couple of visits (or eat sandwiches in the car the rest of the time), but we still tend to buy water, softies, ice-creams, and occasionally our older daughter sees something that takes her fancy in the gift shops. As we go fairly regularly, we tend not to take up space in shows (in the last year, we saw Stunt Driver once, and have seen Ice Age just the once), and just hang about the kids / family rides.

I only went on Lethal Weapon once - went on it the day after I had ears pierced, the pain was insane. I'm yet to make it on Arkham, but it couldn't be any worse.

Would I be right in guessing it's a bad idea to visit MW or SW on the Ekka holiday, or over the next couple of weekends if wanting to avoid big crowds/lines?

I think Clive Palmer speaks a lot of hot air, but if it were true it'd make me a whole lot more likely to visit the sunny coast occasionally. Maybe he should invest his billions trying to develop a commercially viable hoverboard. I'd buy one

Great news for Sea World I think. We went there regularly when our daughter was too young to care about rides, but she much prefers MW these days where there's a bit more choice for her age, so SW doesn't get much of a look in.

Agree that Jupiters needs a MAJOR update. It really is just a casino, not an entertainment venue. I went there a couple of months ago, and it was very dated. If you're going there solely to gamble, or to see one of the shows, you could probably be occupied for a while, but I think I lasted all of about an hour, before heading back into the main strip of Broadbeach. There's a far better choice of bars and restaurants across the road.

Out of interest, what age restrictions in WB Kids did you find? I've only seen the height restriction on Road Runner, and being a coaster, that's kind of obvious that there'd be one. My 3 year old hasn't been questioned about going on anything (including RR). I found the restrictions far more obvious in the Sea World kids area.

I ended up heading down there today - it was packed, as expected. We had the kids, so most of the day was spent in the kids area. For the size of the crowd, everything seemed to be moving along there fairly well. Was the first time we've been that the Tijuana Taxis were working, that was quite popular with Miss 3. She also went on the kids dodgems, I'm not sure if we've just never made it up to that back corner before, or they weren't operating, but it was something new for her. We got in one ride of Road Runner Coaster, though took longer than normal, with the maintenance guys having to fix something up just before we were due to get on. Was keen for a ride on Superman, but the queue was 90 minutes, and we weren't prepared to wait that long. Does it typically take an age loading/unloading? Husband had his stopwatch going, and it was taking over 6 minutes between rides. We saw the new Ice Age 4D - it was pretty good - I thought visually it was slightly better than some of their previous showings, the rest was most of the same effects. Was very pleased to see it was running every 20 minutes or so throughout the day - we were just walking past before it was due to start, and went straight in. We saw most of the Justice League parade, it was okay - the kids thought more of the bubble machines than anything else. It was pretty cool to see a mass of bubble all up main street. There were way more characters walking around the park than usual - it was the first time I'd seen the Looney Tunes characters in the kids section for a long while. Didn't see the Janoskians - well, I assume I didn't, wouldn't know them if they were right in front of me. Did see plenty of teens and tweens sporting their hoodies, and various signed body parts. We didn't have time to eat beforehand, so had expensive burgers at Gotham Cafe. They were no better or worse than we expected them to be. The animatronic dinosaur promoting Dino Island at SW looked better in person that it did in the pictures. Dinosaur obsessed daughter now keen for another SW visit.

I was hoping to go this weekend, as I didn't get a chance last weekend. What's the deal with these Janoskians? I know they're YouTube people, but have MW actually hired them for an appearance?

I've seen it around a few times, but what are you referring to by Concrete:The Ride? Eureka?

I'm not as much of an expert as most of the people here, but I'll give it a shot. I think you could easily do both parks over a weekend - Dreamworld one day and WWW for a few hours the next, maybe return to DW to go on a couple of favourite rides afterwards. I don't think there's any particularly good reason why it's called Dream World. The Thunderbolt went in 2003 if I recall. I went on it a few months before it closed, it was very rough. As far as I'm aware, Big Brother will be at Dreamworld again/ The mascot was Kenny Koala, I'm not sure if he's there anymore. I'm positive the girl was Belinda.

Are the Dinosaurs there yet? Kind of tossing up between heading down to SW and MW in the morning - 3 year old prefers Movie World because she can do more rides, but she's also a bit dinosaur obsessed. I prefer SW in summer, and can do without getting stuck on Smith Street for an extra hour.

Thanks, that makes sense.

Due to fabulous weather yesterday, we headed back to Movie World - something of a last minute idea, as I was planning on studying, but too nice not to get out and about. Very surprised at the smallish crowd for the day - obviously most mums don't rate theme parks as how they want to be spending mother's day (meanwhile, I couldn't think of anything better). The car park at Dreamworld was pretty quiet on it too. We arrived at around 1pm and stayed til about 4.30. Everything seemed to be moving a bit quicker than last time, we got in 2 rides on the Road Runner Coaster, about 4 other rides in the kid area, one go on Wild West, and my husband got to go on Green Lantern for the first time. Also caught the Scooby Doo show, - not bad for being there less than 4 hours, and we were taking our time getting around. Husband really enjoyed Green Lantern, he only had to line up for about 10 minutes to get on. He's just over 6 foot, and found the restraints quite comfortable. I asked him afterwards what he thought of the audio, and he didn't realise there was any - is it not operating at the moment? He wasn't entirely sure why the ride slowed down at a couple of points - is this supposed to be related to what you're hearing on board when it's working? He thought the ride was quite unique experience to all the other coasters he's been on (hasn't been overseas), and a really decent addition to the park. While he was riding, I noticed they had a Superman sign up for the new Justice League ride (former Batman Ride), I didn't notice that one a couple of weeks ago, so perhaps new? He took the 3 year old on Wild West for the first time (for both of them) and was really impressed with the theming (particularly in relation to newer areas of the park). I'd been on it before, not long after it first opened, and then didn't go back to MW for years - excluding taking the kids in recent years, we only went once in about 10 years, and it was really soon after the fire, and not operating.

Cheers, that's the one.

No, not the sky climb, one of the rides in the kids section (Beach Break Bay? I think it's called now). It seats 2 people on 5 or 6 sides of a tower, the riders pull a rope to go up the tower, and then let go at the top. The ride minimum was 105cm, she's just over 100cm. I totally understand why it is like it is for safety reasons, it was just frustrating to be able to do pretty much all the kids rides at MW, but not SW. We're many, many years off the high rope course, though she was happy to bolt around the Sky Fortress last year. Crazy kid is still complaining about not being tall enough for Green Lantern, I reckon I'll be hearing about it daily for another 5 years or so.

Following my overblown review of taking the kids to Movie World a few weeks ago, I'm following up with an equally verbose report on Sea World. So, it took me a couple of weeks to make it to Sea World, but we headed there on Sunday. We arrived at about 11.30am, and parked in the grassed lot behind the car park, so that's an indication of how busy it was. Being a long weekend, this wasn't a surprise. We ate a packed lunch in the car, to save a bit of $$ on lunch. It's been about a year since we went to Sea World last - my daughter was about 2.5 and thought it was the best place on earth. First noticeable different - Sponge Bob paraphernalia out on the water - I thought it looked quite vibrant, though personally don't know a thing about SB. Also movement of the model of the Endeavor to the side where the pirate ship ride used to be. I know it's been gone a while, but I quite miss that one, it was reasonably relevant, and I remember it being quite fun - I didn't do thrill rides as a kid, the pirate ship was about as daring as I got. It look like there was a bit of minor construction work about to begin around the lighthouse, I assume that's where the dinosaurs are going. There's now also signage on Bermuda about a new attraction or something to that effect (don't quote me on exactly what it said, but its presence wasn't completely ignored like last time we were there). Miss 3 wanted to start with the rides, we headed to the Carousel, which was her old favourite. We only had to queue for one ride before ours, which is the only time I could say that for the day. Last time we were there, the theming for everything else was still Sesame Street, now it all seemed to be generic Sea World characters - I didn't mind that change, I'm not necessarily a fan of having everything 'licensed brand' for kids. I'm pretty sure some of the signage around the rest of the park had the same characters. My big gripe for the day is the inconsistencies between ride height requirements at Sea World and Movie World. My daughter was tall enough to go on a number of the Movie World kids rides unaccompanied, however myself or my husband needed to cram ourselves into the Sea Planes etc. She was really enthusiastic about going on the Sea Climb ride with my husband, but she came about 2cm below the height marker, and pitched a tantrum, cause she couldn't see why she could ride the Road Runner Coaster at Movie World, but not be allowed on this considerably less exciting ride. Due to poor time planning on our behalf, we didn't catch any of the shows on the day, but we'd seen them all before, so weren't too concerned. I would have liked to see the parade, but we spent too much time lining up for the other kids rides. I thought the staff were reasonably quick at getting people on and off - probably better than at MW, but the crowd was so big a wait was inevitable. Shark Bay was a favourite, again, packed with people, but they tended to move on fairly quickly. We got a much better look at the penguins than last time we visited - there were few people in there viewing, so perhaps not a hugely popular attraction. We didn't have time to do Castaway Bay properly, but I think it's a nice space, the one thing I would change would be to add in a few more tables at the cafe - spent ages trying to get somewhere to try and sit to feed the baby. Another thing I think they seriously need to improve is the baby change facilities - I could only find two parents room in the entire park, with only 1 change table in each. They had updated the feeding chairs in there, they were very clean and well kept, which was nice, as most public ones are a bit grotty, however they need to empty the nappy bins more frequently, as they reeked. My husband was really peeved last time we visited that they were labeled as 'Mother's Rooms' and felt he couldn't go in to change the baby, however it has now been changed to say 'Parent's Rooms', as it should. Finished the day with my husband taking my daughter on the Viking's Revenge Flume Ride. I'm a bit nostalgic about this one, as it's the first "Big Kids" ride I went on at the grand age of 4, so just a little older than my daughter. I really hope they keep it in good repair, it seems to be a popular attraction still.

We decided to take up the offer, and headed down to Movie World today - it's been around 12 months since we were there last. We can barely take the family to see a couple of movies for that price, and don't have much happening over the next couple of months, so figure we'll fit in a good number of trips between now and the end of June. We have a 3 year old daughter, and a 4 month old baby, who both came with us today, so we pretty much avoided all the thrill rides - luckily we weren't going kid free, as if we were going to try Arkham, it was closed for the day. Husband and I plan to head down kid-free in a few weeks - the last time we went for the coasters, Superman Escape hadn't been constructed yet, so it's been a long while for that kind of visit. There seemed to be a decent crowd today - not over the top, but not dead either. Somewhat disappointing, the first sight walking down main street was the big screen announcing the stunt driver show wouldn't be happening today - though this was amended later in the day, I believe they added a show around 1pm. We spent most of the day in the kids world. Miss 3 patiently cued for the Yosemite Sam train ride - after about a half hour wait, she decided she was over waiting for a ride with dad, and asked if she could go on by herself, to jump the cue a little, so off she went. Somewhat exciting to us, because last time we took her, she needed to get off as she was screaming so much! This time, she had her ride, and got off looking sufficiently underwhelmed. We headed back into the main street area, and watched the live Batman show - this hadn't changed since we saw it last visit. Miss 3 likes, and is comfortable with Batman (dad's influence), but she somewhat concerned about the scarecrow as choice of villain. We got snacks from the food carts at this time, we knew these would be overpriced, but I had to ditch half the popcorn I bought due to being either unpopped or burned - I'd expect better from the exorbitant price of it. Husband enjoyed a dagwood dog, and shows no signs of food poisoning, so that's a plus. Back to the kids world, this time Miss 3 dragged dad onto the tweety cages - she quite enjoyed this ride. Another thumbs up from her for the mini drop down bouncing ride (no idea of the name). Next, and something of a proud parent brag, she decided she wanted to go on the Road Runner Rollercoaster. We took her to the viewing area to watch a few rounds, to make sure she knew what she was in for, and then went to line up. I waited with the baby in the viewing area, and chatted with a nice staff member who was a bit shocked at my daughters enthusiasm. I was almost certain she was going to freak out at the last minute, and ask to get off, but eventually it was her turn, and she had an absolute blast! No tears, just wanting to go again. Amazing, for a kid who wouldn't even go on the carousel last visit. For the record, despite being 3, she's really tall for her age, and only just got in over the height restrictions. We decided to head up to Wild West Falls (staff member thought daughter would enjoy it after being so enthused on the coaster, plus again she was tall enough), and she went through to line up, but after seeing it would be another 40 minutes or so, she decided not to bother - for those that don't have small children, waiting with kids is painful. We'll give it a go next time. I still feel like that whole end of MW is totally underutilized, would love to see attractions other than Intensity to get a few more people up that way. Overall, we had a good family day - I found the whole vibe of MW a lot more positive than I did 12 months ago - the crowd seemed to be happier, staff didn't sound as bored, it was a little busier, and there seemed to be a little more happening all round. I'd really like to see the kids area developed a bit more - the wait times were quite long for kids, and the Loony Tunes River Ride is sorely missed as something the whole family can go on. Will update again when we head down to Sea World next weekend.

If anyone 'likes' Movieworld on Facebook, they probably would have seen this offer this afternoon. Have they sold them at this price at this time of year before? I know there's only about 10 weeks to go until they expire, but it seems ridiculously cheap seeing it covers all 3 parks. Is attendance considerably down, even with the new attractions to make this viable and they're trying to get more numbers through the door spending money on food, drinks, merch, etc?

I quite like the look of the design, hopefully it gives a nicer ride that LW. I feel seriously old hearing the ride is 17 years old, I was in highschool when it opened.

I remember going on that swinging ship when it was in Tops. Memories Was your 4 year old able to enjoy many of the rides? I have a 3.5 year old daughter, would she get much out of a day trip there for the price?

My (now) 3 year old daughter is absolutely obsessed with Sea World, we went very regularly when we had an annual pass. I'd say it was quite age appropriate, we could always find heaps to do. I do agree that it's very excessive charging a child under 4, and we're taking a year off theme parks until she's another year older again.

In the early days of Movie World - waterfall at the end of LTRR didn't stop when it was supposed to - got drenched. TOT - sat on for a number of runs that didn't get very far up the tower. Had to get off the ride for a few more test runs. Disneyland - Splash Mountain came to a stop, not far from the big drop at the end, had to get evacuated.