Gold Coast holiday help

offroad on 29/04/2024 - 22:22

Hi everyone, we are from NZ coming to GC 30jun-9july with our 6.5yr old daughter and 4mnths old daughter. This trip is basically for my 6.5yr old daughter.

She loves animals and is not too adventurous, scared of thrilling rides. We will go seaworld for sure but I am not sure if we should be doing dreamworld and movieworld? Which theme park has most family/kids friendly rides and the characters/shows?

Here are some of the things on my list to do:
Currumbin wildlife
Lone pine koala sanctuary
Australia zoo
Brisbane garden & South bank parklands Southbank man made beach playgrounds
Burleigh Heads, burleigh heads national park
Tallebudgera creek
Aratvo gold coast

From the above list, am I able to skip currumbin, lone pine koala, or australia zoo? Dont want to spend money on repetitive attractions.

Mount tamborine Glow Worms (how are these compared to Waitomo caves in NZ??)

Shopping:
Harbour Town Premium Outlets
Pacific fair shopping centre

May be following day trips as she loves bush walks and waterfalls:
Oreillys rainforest ?
Natural Bridge Springbrook Park ?

General Discussion

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  • Meridian on 30/04/2024 - 10:11
    +1

    Seems a bit animal overload - there will be a lot of duplication in there, pretty much every place has Kangaroo's and Koalas and the other things, not a lot of variance there.

    One place you left off the list is Paradise Country - which is part of the MovieWorld/SeaWorld pass as is WetnWild which could be ok even for little kids. Given that probably makes sense to get that overall pass. Currumbin is nice, but again same sort of animals - and reasonably expensive for what it is.

    Australia Zoo is not bad but its a good 2hours plus (more in traffic) each way - so a very full on trip from the GC, with much the same sort of stuff.

    I live in GC and Auckland (70:30) so know it pretty well.

    • offroad on 30/04/2024 - 11:27

      I know right, lol because she is a big animal lover but i hear what you are saying. We have spent around $7.5k already on air tickets, accommodation, and rental car. So definitely i want to cut down on some of the attractions as there is no point spending on duplicate stuff.

      So from what you have suggested, I am gathering we should get 3 day or 7day pass of movieworld, seaworld, and wetnwild which will give us access to paradise country as well.

      We have rented kia carnival from sixt (through my workplace discount), so we can travel early morning for Australia zoo (not on friday) if that zoo is worth it?

      Should i then skip both currumbin and lone pine? I have heard a lot of good stuff about currumbin though. What do you reckon please?

      • Meridian on 30/04/2024 - 14:25

        I think the main things are Koalas, Kangaroos - and all the places have them. I would figure out which animals you want to see and then research the best option.

        I havent been to Australia Zoo for a long time so cant really comment on it, apart from its a long way, a lot of driving and a bunch of tolls and petrol - so you should research if its worth it. Once you have patted one Kangaroo then you have seen them all in my view.

        I actually went to Currumbin last week with my sister who was visiting, and its a nice park - but its mainly Australian animals and birds and is a nice place.

        I know you discounted Dreamworld but that has also a wide range of animals including tigers including a tiger show and the standard Koalas and Kangaroos, dingos, crocodiles etc as well as recently got bilbys and things quite a wide range - and it does have kids rides and shows for kids etc - it sort of has a bit of everything so might be worth consideration.

        The simplest solution thou would be the 7 day MW pass then you can try all the different things in the first days and come and go as you please and if you still want more, then go look at Currumbin or Aussie Zoo etc.

    • offroad on 30/04/2024 - 11:28

      Also, what are some options for cheap attraction tickets, few of them i can think of are bookme, klook, costco, experienceoz

    • LupinS on 30/04/2024 - 18:44

      And don't forget the $15+ each way in tolls if you don't want it to take you 3-4 hrs.

      On the bright side it's one of the only places that is a whole day type thing you can actually take food into. (Make sure you get it before leaving the GC - there is nowhere to stop inbetween unless you go via Brisbane)

  • Incognito on 29/04/2024 - 22:38

    Movieworld would be good with the famous characters. They have kid-friendly ride, shows and character parade etc.
    Also checkout Wet N Wild too as that was super fun.

    • offroad on 30/04/2024 - 04:19

      Sounds good, thanks. Will skip the Dreamworld then

      • Incognito on 30/04/2024 - 12:53

        I would also look into getting the priority pass as the rides sometimes take way too long in the queue. Also, download the movie world app as that can give you free priority rides.

      • LupinS on 30/04/2024 - 18:56

        Seaworld is definately better for younger kids. It's not as busy, not as ride focused (and the ones they have are mostly for kids), and broken up into lots of fairly short little shows. IMO much more likely you'll find yourself here for a couple of half days/days.

        Movie world is always massively busy (cause they have less staff on days when there are less people), is mostly ride focused with the big ones all being for adults, , and lines, lines, lines.

        Did I mention the lines?

        Seaworld is also close enough if you are in Surfers that you just popping up there isn't hard.

        Honestly I'd prob skip Australia Zoo too and go to the others. Four plus hours in a car, $30 or so in tolls, a fairly big space to walk around. Especially for a 6 year old who won't know the difference. You'll see everything except the crocodile show elsewhere. And I'm sure you'll find a closer one.

    • Huntakillaz on 30/04/2024 - 12:18

      Movie world and scooby doo ride there for the kid, arkham asylum ride for adults!

  • flembots on 30/04/2024 - 07:57

    Cheapies wise you might be able to book some things through bookme and get the vodafone $20, and also Costco has a gold coast pass. I haven't looked into it as we won't be doing our trip for another few years but they might be worth checking out.

    • offroad on 30/04/2024 - 11:23

      Thanks, my costco membership recently expired, will renew and check the options

  • Sadie on 30/04/2024 - 13:24

    I would aim for a day of downtime in between theme parks, we would do an activity like the beach or shopping, and then a couple of hours at Movieworld on the way home.
    Theme Parks more than a few days in a row can be overwhelming for that age.

    We also flew into Gold Coast Airport, and did Currumbin on the last day on the way out.

    • offroad on 30/04/2024 - 13:31

      Sounds good, i am planning to buy 7 days pass of movieworld, sea world, wetnwild, paradise country. So we can spread it across different days. Will have some shopping and beach days in between. Some bush walk, waterfall viewing in between too.

  • Cheapkiwi on 30/04/2024 - 13:48

    Reducing your 7 day pass to a 3 day might save you some money if you can do these theme parks in those 3 days

    • offroad on 30/04/2024 - 14:14

      Thanks for the suggestion however there isn’t much difference in cost and I am thinking what if kids get exhausted and we might not be able to cover everything in those 3 days

      • nigglej on 30/04/2024 - 19:34

        The 3 day pass can be used over 5 days but doesn't include Paradise Country.

        • offroad on 30/04/2024 - 19:48

          I see, thanks. If we do australia zoo, i dont think we would need paradise country

  • GIANTS on 30/04/2024 - 23:01

    Tropical fruit world was really cool. We did the tour and I thought it was well worth it - got to see and try all sorts of things. It’s a little south of GC near the airport. We flew in on a morning flight and did the tour that morning as we had to wait until early afternoon for hotel check in anyway. Worked great.

    Also the surf clubs are great for dinner with kids. Mermaid Beach Surf club was probably the best one we got to.

    • offroad on 03/05/2024 - 12:40

      Thanks, will surely check out the tropical fruit world 😊

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