Heading to the 3 'VIP' parks over summer

[MARK28]

Hey guys, Me and the family are heading up to the gold coast for 2 weeks after Christmas (from the 28th) and plan to go to the 3 Village Roadshow parks on the VIP pass. I know that it's a really busy time to go, but I was just wondering if there are any days of the week that are better to go on than others... Any other advice would be great as well! Thanks.

[Linus1995]

It's school holidays at the moment so it will be more busy than usual, but I'm thinking your best bet is still any day from Monday to Friday. Weekends are usually the worst, but I'm sure someone who goes there much more regularly than me will be able to tell you more. And obviously WnW will be least busy on an overcast or rainy day...

[joz]

Check back tomorrow and I'll fill you on the best days to go crowd wise. Sadly I'm a bit too busy to reply in depth now.

[Hendo]

When you go to Movie World get there as early as you can and do all the rides first. That way the line up for the rises will be a little less. After that you can check the rest of the park out. Wet n Wild is great to go to when it's raining. The crowds stay away and you are going to get wet anyway.

[aussienetman]

It will help to if you let us know the ages in your group and what you most want to so at the parks. Are you after thrills? Shows? Relaxingfamily time? Ages / heights of any small children would also be handy to help decide which rides they can go on. Nate

[GoGoBoy]

Interesting that people are still choosing the VIP pass even though the DW/WWW pass is now $30 cheaper for the same amount of time (6 months)

[westical]

Interesting that people are still choosing the VIP pass even though the DW/WWW pass is now $30 cheaper for the same amount of time (6 months)

3 parks versus 2, personal preference etc.

[ads086]

I'm not a fan of spinning rides, and Dreamworld has a lot of them, which is why I didn't get my dreamworld pass until November, but got my VIP pass in June

[MARK28]

We're an older family... youngest is 20, no little kids. Looking for fun and thrills. We want to go to the 3 Vip parks because we went to Dreamworld 5 years ago, and nothing has changed substantially enough for it to be worthwhile for us to go again... except for Whitewater World, but Wet n' Wild looks bigger and better in my opinion. We haven't been to Movieworld or Seaworld in over 10 years, so a lot more has changed for us to see! Although even if we had seen it all, we'd probably still choose the Village Roadshow Parks.

[Linus1995]

I'm going to MW this Monday so I'll let you know how the crowds are

[Linus1995]

I'm going to MW this Monday so I'll let you know how the crowds are

[Original]

Plus VRTP have more at them which new... SW Castaway Bay and Penguins and new Jet Ski show, WnW Aqua Loop, Zipline, flowrider, sky coaster and Dive'n'Movies back against the Wedegie and MW has White Christmas and Journey to the Center of the Earth, while DW has TOTII and 10 new shows.... for me I saw more value with VRTP because they had 3 parks and many new additions to try when I bought mine over the competition.

[joz]

So in answer to the original question here is a rundown of the holiday crowds: The busiest 3 days of the year are the Monday Tuesday and Wednesday after Boxing Day, which this year are the 27th, 28th, and 29th. After that it will be steadily less busy through to the end of the holidays, with weekends being noticeably quieter, and early in the week being busiest. The above is assuming the weather is good. If there are rainy days then all bets are off A few basic tips for each park, I'll try to be brief: Sea World: * Get there early. The morning shows are busier than the afternoon shows, so do rides in the morning and shows and animal attractions in the afternoon. * Since your youngest is of drinking age, Dockside Tavern is a great place for lunch, and is on the second floor next to the Sesame Street beach. There's something very nice to be said for a beer on a veranda over-looking a dolphin pool. Movie World * Again, get there early. And Unless you're first to get to it in the morning, skip Superman for later. It's busiest first thing in the morning, while at the same time the rest of the park is relatively empty. Scooby Doo is a good place to start since it gets busy and stays busy. * Get to Hollywood Stunt Driver shows 30mins early, they get full early Wet 'n' Wild * During your visit, WnW is open late for Dive in Movies. Take advantage of that, it's not overly important to get there early, and many slides stay open during the movie with minimal queues. You can quite happily arrive mid to late afternoon and still have a full day. Mammoth Falls, Tornado Aqualoop and Aquaracer's queues move rather fast, and are perfect rides for during the day when the park is busy, along with Calypso Beach and the Wave Pool. Anything else you do will most likely have a bit of a long queue until late in the day. If there's anything else you want to know, feel free to ask. Be sure to let us know how you get on. Have fun

[Original]

^ I always thought boxing day and New Years Day were their busiest... there you go learn something new!!! And I always thought weekends would be busier!

[themeparkgc]

Interesting that people are still choosing the VIP pass even though the DW/WWW pass is now $30 cheaper for the same amount of time (6 months)

The VIP pass is now discounted to $79.99 making it even more worthwhile. WVTP: $26.66/park vs. Ardent: $34.50/park. I feel Ardent may have a bit of an advantage over WVTP for interstate travellers who aren't that interested in the theme parks but want something to do, don't have too much money to spend (every dollar counts), and only here for a short stay (length of validity is pointless) but WVTP sweeps up everyone else though. As for joz's post I wouldn't have thought that the weekends would be less busy than the weekdays. I do definitely agree about what joz said about doing the rides first though.

[joz]

It is most definitely quieter on the weekend. I suspect what is going on is a significant number of people think "I'm not going on the weekend it'll be busy!" so hold off on their visits till the Monday or Tuesday.

^ I always thought boxing day and New Years Day were their busiest... there you go learn something new!!! And I always thought weekends would be busier!

Boxing Day is busy, but for some reason not as busy as later in the week. I think it's a combination of people thinking it will be busy and avoiding the parks, and tourists spending Christmas at home and not getting to the Gold Coast till after Boxing Day. New Years Day is normally comparatively quiet, and I think it's a good guess that people being hung over is the cause.

[Linus1995]

joz whats the least busiest day of the year?

[Gazza]

^It'd probably just be some rainy school day in the middle of winter, most likely.

[Original]

I've found Christmas Eve to be pretty dead.

[themeparkgc]

29th of February.

[MARK28]

Wow guys, this is fantastic information... I didn't expect such a thorough reply! Thanks to Joz especially, that information is invaluable. I was going to avoid weekends like the plague, but it seems they are the best days to go on. So glad I asked!

[Gazza]

Just on Wet n Wild...It will most likely be the busiest park of the bunch. Turning up early (Eg 30 mins before opening) could be good if you get your locker sorted quicky and do a mad run to get stuff done before the masses. Either that or wait a couple of hours after opening, and do as Joz suggested. Turning up say 30 mins after opening is probably a recipe for disaster since thats about when crowds heading into the park swelled. Do the River Rapids slides, Kamikaze and Surfrider, and perhaps Black Hole first up since they probably have the slowest moving queues. As Joz said, Super 8 Aquaracer and Mammoth Falls can be done later on, at times when everything else seems busy. Even if these rides appear to have a massive line, it will move quickly due to the number of people these slides can churn through. Ad be aware, you will feel shattered after a long day at Wet n Wild, so if you are planning on having a rest day, put it after your wet n wild day, because you'll still be feeling it in the morning.

[ads086]

Also on Wet n Wild, head to the Photo Shop before you go to lockers and get a wrist band. You can use EFTPOS that way rather than scrounging around for change first thing. You can then load money onto the band at the same time or later on to use Splash Cash. It's just inside the gates to the right.

[aussienetman]

Re - quietest day of the year? I've always found new years day a great time a the park. Hardly any teenagers,'mostly families with small children so lines for big rides and small. Don't know about most quiet day, but is definitely more enjoyable than usual

[Gazza]

^Either that or have $9 worth of coins, head to the right once inside the gates, and then go to the bay of lockers farthest from the gates. Another small tip...The Dominos is probably the place with the fastest service when you're looking to eat...It also has perhaps the best value food item in the park, a full sized garlic bread for $4.95, which is ok considering their standard price is usually about that mark anyway.