Gold Coast disappointment

[Bussy]

I've just got back from 2 weeks holiday north of Brisbane. During my holiday I took a drive down to the Gold Coast to visit some relatives. As I approached that theme park area after my 4 hour drive I was expecting to be blown away by the sight of the rides and the parks from the freeway (it's been over 10 years since I have been to the Gold Coast), I was very disappointed with what I saw. Out of the three parks the only one that made any visual impact was Wet 'n' Wild. Dreamworld's tower looked a lot like Sydney's waterway control tower at the Harbour Bridge end of Darling Harbour. Superman had no visual impact at all, which I was surprised with. I also have to say that Aussie World had more visual impact from the highway than Movieworld or Dreamworld did and that's saying a lot. I guess the parks have to abide by fairly strict planning laws but they really need to improve the visual impact for passing motorists. "The Bus is now leaving for Sight Point, Western Australia"

[nev]

Is it really nessecary? I really can't think of any parks here or abroad that have a fantastic appearance from outside the park with maybe the exception of Blackpool's Pleasure Beach in the UK. If you're on holiday at the Gold Coast, you know which parks you're going to. If you're driving up the highway, you know they're there and will have already made a decision to stop if you want to. WetnWild probably has the most impact because it's the closest to the freeway - MW has its huge carpark, as does DreamWorld. I'd rather have the park spend the money making the place look fantastic inside rather than trying to spice up the sides of a freeway. Just my 2 cents anyway

[Nebuchanezzar]

Indeed, whilst it is nice to see the park from the freeway, and it does add to the aura of the park, the average consumer nor the expert is not going to skip or miss a park because they couldn't see it from the freeway. It would be pointless money wasting to do otherwise that could be spent on improving the overall feel within the park or better yet, on rides.

[DisneyDoll]

I agree...it's what's in the park that matters....Look at Disneyland, all you see is a train station at the front & maybe the tip of the Matterhorn, but once your inside.....:-)

[Nebuchanezzar]

It does look nice to have a few landmarks peeping out of the treeline though. That's what I used to love about Wonderland; when you drove past on the M6 (whatever), it was a nice touch to see the Space Probe from a distance, and then when you got closer, you saw the Bush Beast and Demon. 'Twas nice.

[Adam]

I think it's better if you can't see much from the road. Especially with Disneyland; when you enter through the gates it's like you are being transported to a different world. All these things you couldn't see from the outside (due to the intentional placement of barriers) are now visible. It's really quite spectacular.

[goliath]

I was absolutley amazed at how little of Disneyland you could see from outside it. Basically all you can see is a tiny bit of the Matterhorn mountain. Good job, Walt.

[rappa]

Only park I've really been impressed with from the outside was SFMM, you can't see anything from the actual freeway but once you're in the car park the sea of towering coasters is pretty impressive.