My recent visit to all the Gold Coast parks

[pushbutton]

I have just returned from a wonderful trip to the Gold Coast. As always it's the best place in the world and this time I discovered many things I didn't previously know about. I tried zorbing at Ozball, the most awesome experience of my life! I have lots to say about the various parks etc but I'd just like to share a few comments so far about where I can see opportunities for improvement. I don't mean to pick out the negatives to be miserable, but as the parks as so fantastic overall it is a real shame that a few very simple but very important things let them down. To me these are easy things to fix. At Sea World one day last week there was a problem with the chairlifts which meant they had to close for an hour or two. These things happen, but what annoyed me was that the operator did not close the ride queue (rear station) which meant people (including me) kept lining up, only to be told when the operator finally noticed they were there (which took several minutes) that the ride is closed. Well either the operator has absolutely no initiative and common sense, or she does but doe some strange reason she's not allowed to use it. Either way, it needs to be fixed and isn't hard to fix. On another day I was there at closing time and noticed that the chairlift operator DID close the ride (rear station) at exactly 5pm. I saw many people trying to join the queue and finding they couldn't, including one mean on crutches, for whom the walk back to the front of the park would be quite a long one. Again, either she didn't realise that the chairlifts are a means of transport from the back of the park to the front where the exit is, or she did realise but didn't care as she just wanted to get off duty as quick as possible, or she just wasn't allowed to do the sensible thing and keep the ride open. I would say a reasonable thing would be for the front station to close at 5pm and the rear station to let people queue until 5.15pm. Just common sense and common courtesy for the enjoyment and convenience of guests. The monorail does however tend to stay open till about 5.15pm which is good. In wet & wild on hot days some of the pathways (especially near the front of the park) are so hot they literally blister the skin on your feet. Either they need to sell rubber socks of some sort (that are suitable for wearing on the slides) or provide more shade, or replace the paths with some sort of cover that doesn't get so hot. Ideally do all 3 of these. It was wonderful to see that the adventure playground in sea world and the high ropes course are now free, as are the pedalos. I am very pleased to see that village are remaining true to the principle that all rides should be included in the entry price. These new attractions were chargeable last time I visited but I guess now that the initial construction costs have been recovered (or at last partially recovered) they have dropped the charge, which is just as it should be and fantastic to see! Oh, back to wet & wild, there were 2 days it was particularly busy and I faced a queue of about 20 minutes to get on the lazy river, which I had never had to queue for before. Again it's simple to fix and I would have thought common sense would suggest that when it's that busy they should limit access to only one entry point, make sure nobody uses more than 1 tube, make sure nobody takes tubes out of the lazy river, and limit everyone to one full circuit of the lazy river. Obviously it's nice to stay on as long as you want but on very busy days I think the above strategy is definitely needed.

[westical]

Would limiting people to one lap of the lazy river cause an even bigger traffic jam or would people have no choice but to keep moving because of momentum from behind them?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I don't agree with doing that on Calypso - the whole concept of it is that you can just kick back and float around for a while... However - a one-lap-only policy could easily be implemented - you simply place some sort of beam or bar at water level at the lagoon entry exit point. It won't cause a traffic jam as the beam redirects everyone into the lagoon, out of the current, where the next group can take up the tube and carry on. Good luck policing it though.

[alex_1]

If you think the Gold Coast is the best place in the world then you probably haven't been to many places

[pushbutton]

Well I've been to many parts of the world and it's the best I've seen! Sure beats boring Adelaide!

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Adelaide, Perth, Wichita.... these are many parts of the world... of course the gold coast beats them... that just means you haven't been to many GOOD places of the world...

[westical]

It won't cause a traffic jam as the beam redirects everyone into the lagoon, out of the current, where the next group can take up the tube and carry on.

Won't people be trying to delay reaching the end though?

[Reanimated35]

Why don't we just give the life guards blow darts then they can just drag the people out when they're done.

[pushbutton]

Well there may well be places in the world that are even better than the Gold Coast, but in my opinion you'd have to be incredibly hard to please to not find the Gold Coast and amazing and fantasticly fun place to be. I have travelled a lot and seen a lot of great places in the world, but nowhere I've been has come close to the Gold Coast, overall. Some countries offer certain things the Gold Coast doesn't perhaps, but as an overall package the Gold Coast takes a lot of beating from my perspective. It is absolutely amazing!

[alex_1]

Well I guess everyone has their own opinions I suppose living within 2 hours of the Gold Coast I take it somewhat for granted.

[Gazza]

but nowhere I've been has come close to the Gold Coast, overall

Been to Orlando? Granted the place doesn't have any beaches....

[westical]

Blizzard Beach

[pushbutton]

Alex please don't take it for granted. I can assure you that apart from the weather you're experiencing at the moment, you live in one of, and very possibly the best place in the world. Most inhabitants of this planet would give anything to trade places with you. I am hoping to be living there myself soon and certainly won't ever take it for granted.

[rappa]

It's funny, I have found many GC residents that have lived there forever high and complain how awful it is where as those like myself who have made a choice to relocate here see it for how wonderful it is. The GC has problems like everywhere else however it's quite unique with its balance of city benefits but small town relaxed attitudes. There are of course awesome cities in the world to visit but at the end of the day none of them are in Australia which is one of the best places in the world to live. Something I think a lot of us Aussies also take for granted at times. As for Orlando, wow what a shit hole soon as you leave Disney property.

[pushbutton]

I haven't been to Orlando but have been to California, and Disneyland there. I would say much the same as in the last post. Of course, how good you judge a place to be depends very much on what you're looking for. For me, having plenty of exciting and fun things to do (including but not limited to theme parks) is high on my list. As I said I don't know anywhere in the world that could provide that better or more affordably than the Gold Coast.