Planning on melbourne to DW WBMW trip over xmas

[Flip The Man]

*Hi, It may be possible for a trip to the Gold Coast in a month or so....for just a few days (I mainly wanna ride Superman Escaspe!) that's if I can convince my mates to go. I am really wanting everyone's advice here on flying up from Melb to Gold Coast (best times to book and all that stuff). I have no idea of how to get around to the parks, or the best ways of getting there from Airports and such........ (public transport/hire car?). We will be doing this trip on the cheap, but need ok places to stay etc... I haven't done this kind of short notice trip before.. and I hate holidays which end up in a total mess from not planning everything properly. I have checked the "flight centre" website and found some deals and such. I just thought I should ask here before any more plans are made. We would like to go to WBMW, maybe DW as well. Any suggestions or recommendations on traveling there from Melbourne would be great. Hope some people here can help .. Flip. *sorry if I posted in the wrong forum.. I know it's not really just about DW.

Edited November 25, 2005 by Flip The Man

[Superman escape]

I live in Canberra but the gold coast is practically my second home with most of my family living there. Fly to either Collangatta (South gold coast) or Brisbane, sometimes one will be cheapier then the other. You may need to stop over in sydney to make a transfer to get a cheep flight. Stay in Surfers Paradise (Gold Coast CBD) its realy vibrant and fun. You can pre-arange a rental car or a shuttle to get from the airport to your accomadation. There is usally some cheap accomadation but be VERY CAREFUL!! THIS TIME OF YEAR ALL MOST ALL HOTELS/MOTELS ARE SOLD OUT!!!!! The best way to get to the parks is up the highway, not sure which one it is but it goes straight up to brisbane (road maps are VERY handy) the parks a well signposted on the higway. You can also arange a shuttle/taxi. If you drive your self and cant find highway follow signs to Helensvale (MW) and coomera(DW) Tell me if i missed something. Have fun, Kieran

[dreamworld_rulz]

first of all when are you leaving Melb and the Gold Coast as flights will depend on dep and arr dates. 2nd.If you fly to Brisbane then you can get the airtrain to Sufers which will drop you off at Nerang Station then a limo will take you to your hotel.the cost of the airtrain is $75.00 per person return. There are busses that goes to all the Theme Parks. This is the express Bus services http://www.transinfo.qld.gov.au/qt/TransLi...eRoute-1A-X.pdf As for looking for accomodation try www.ratestogo.com.au or needitnow.com.au or standbyrates.com.au (If au don't work just try.com) I forgot the Surfside Ezy Bus Passes http://www.surfside.com.au/surfside/cards/ Hope this helps.

Edited November 25, 2005 by dreamworld_rulz

[Slick]

I've found that for most people it's easiest just to catch the plane into Brisbane Domestic, and then catch the air train (Robina express, also known as "the gold coast train") to coomera for about 5-10 bucks depending if you're a student or whatever. If you're looking for cheap, easy, and close to theme parks (but that's it) acommodation then the Coomera-in is your best bet. It's easiest just go catch a Maxi Taxi or the shuttle bus from the station (about four bucks) to the motel. It's about 600 metres from the Dreamworld main entrance, and from memory will set you pack around 50-90 a night. From there you can easily catch the train up to helensvale station, which is less than five or so minutes and costs about 2 bucks a train fair, and if you're purely there for WNW, MW and DW, you've got the most cheapest trip available at the moment. Oh, and it's bloody simple. Seriously, if you wanting to do ONLY theme parks, and i'll say this again, only theme parks, then this is one of the best ways to do things. Stay local, travel local and you'll be set.

[Gazza]

If you want to save money, its actualyy cheaper to book from the airlines direct online, not from flight centre. Also, use RACV as they can save you a fair bit on tickets. Also you probably wont be able to get booked in anywhere till after new years so keep that in mind.

[surfdog]

ok i did this exact thing 2 weeks ago.... i caught a plane from melbourne to gold coast airport ($240 return), and a shuttle bus (i think it was con-X-ion) ($60 return) from gold coast airport to the gold coast holiday park which is in walking distance to wet n wild and movie world. from memory the holiday park was about $70 a night, its not luxury but it did the job. We stayed for 3 days and did wet n wild, movie world and dreamworld, you can catch a bus from movie world to dreamworld for about 2 bucks. the whole trip cost us around $450-$500 each. hope this helps.

[Gazza]

Thats where I will be staying, how was it?

[surfdog]

well, its okay... i mean its far from luxury but its still pretty good. You can walk about 3 minutes up the road to mcdonalds, subway, kfc etc. lol i stood outside subway for 10 mins just staring at superman towering over the trees.Movieworld is about a 5 minute walk from the park and well yea thats about all there is to say, oh it has a swimming pool, tennis courts, a crappy games room with advertising still up from when the claw opened and it has this cool jumping pillow thing which is great fun at night. i stayed in a cabin, but you can choose from camping, studios, cabins and family cabins etc... when are you going?

[Flip The Man]

Hey, thanks everyone for all your replies and help! Yeah Gazza, I thought about the whole 'being booked out' thing over new years..we have thought about changing our plans to sometime other than new years. We don't know yet, it all depends of a number of variables I guess.

[Gazza]

well, its okay... i mean its far from luxury but its still pretty good. You can walk about 3 minutes up the road to mcdonalds, subway, kfc etc. lol i stood outside subway for 10 mins just staring at superman towering over the trees.Movieworld is about a 5 minute walk from the park and well yea thats about all there is to say, oh it has a swimming pool, tennis courts, a crappy games room with advertising still up from when the claw opened and it has this cool jumping pillow thing which is great fun at night. i stayed in a cabin, but you can choose from camping, studios, cabins and family cabins etc... when are you going?

Ill be going in early January, it should be good staying there but i thought $100 a night was a bit much when its only 3 stars with no linen. I should be good because I would be able to walk to wnw at night and see a movie, have a free run on the slides. Just a question though, is there a supermarket in walking distance>

[surfdog]

yep... its a little shopping complex thing with all the take away shops, video shops, supermarket etc. oh you may get find it tricky getting to mw and wnw lol i got a little lost, its like a maze of bridges, footpaths and dead ends.

[Zagan]

If your looking to stay at the hotel at Dreamworld. From Brisbane take the Air-train to the Coomera Train station or Dreamworld station, If you hit the Dreamworld bus at the right time (8am till 10:30am) for $2-4 for 1 way to Dreamworld then you could enter Dreamworld first, or you'll go past the Hotel. If you don't want to pay for the Dreamworld Bus then you can walk it to the hotel. It's not a long walk it'd be about a 20min walk, I've walked from the train station to Dreamworld (a 40min walk) as the bus wasn't running at the time. To walk to the hotel you'd walk down the the intersection then walk up to the right you'll walk for a little bit then you'll see a round-a-bout then go left or first left exit walk down there and you will be able to see a bunch of trees the hotels is behind those trees. If you keep walking past the trees you'll see the Dreamworld buildings. So that's up to you. If your coming from the gold coast then you can take a taxi (be dear) a limo (a more relaxing drive) or book a Con-x-ion bus on their website to take you from the hotel to almost any hotel on the gold coast, this can also be used from Brisbane as well. You can get areturn ticket for the con-x-ion bus.