I've got two kids, 5 and 8.
They want to goto the Gold Coast in January 2012.
I figure we'll go for a week and ideally I'd like to use one of those unlimited entry passes because they tend to tire after about 3pm (9am start) so we'll probably go back to the hotel then each day.
It looks like Sea World/White Water World/Movie World are on one pass, and Dreamworld + others are on another
Which is best for kids this age??
The River Ride closed last year.
NOOOOO!!! Damn them, damn them all to hell! :(
If their isn't a specific ride you want to go on then the my short answer is go the VIP pass to Sea World, Movie World and Wet n Wild. Kids usually like meeting the characters at Movie World, seeing the animals at Sea World and Wet n Wild to have more laid back rides as well as the big slides.
Sea World, Movie World and Wet n Wild are on one pass.
White Water World and Dream World are managed by a different company and are available on another pass.
Woudl agree with above.
Dreamworld is good though and combines pretty much everything the other 3 parks have except in terms of wild life it does animals, not marine life. tigers, kangaroos up close to touch, koals, crocs etc. pretty extreme rides. if you dont want to queue, walk around the park etc.
so they both serve different purposes. i live in surfers and most time when friends of family visit we take them to dreamworld first as it covers many things in one trip.
but i think sea world is fantastic if you like marine life, up really close to the dolphins, sea lions, few rides, good marine area with sharks, rays, star fish kids can touch, penguins etc. and again you can pretty much sea most things without too much queues except rides.
movie world has good rides but seems quite small when you walk around it, and can be very long waits when its busy. jan would be a busy time. as in one time we went and waited 45mins to get on scooby doo. another time in quiet season we walked right up and got on. waiting 45mins with two young kids wouldnt be fun im sure haha. but again you can take them to the kids zone and generally play around like a normal playground with a few good features and not too much waiting around.
I am pretty sure I saw somewhere you can pay an extra $20 per person or something and goto the front of the queues for most rides?
Like a special VIP line or something. Can you combine that with these yearly passes?
yes that is correct, although I never had it available when I last had visitors haha.
I'm not sure if you can combine it, but I think what happens is you pay extra and you create a rides itinery so you can jump the queue.
would definitely be worth it, just remember the cost is quite high, plus the cost of food and spot checks on eskys etc when trying to take them in haha.
ahh i love living in a high price tourist destination!!
where can you pay a extra 20 per person?
what comes with the VIP pass every cheaper tickets for the second person or something like that?
Movie World & Sea World are both must-see IMHO; I've never been to WWW coz the weather has just happened to turn nasty at the times we've been ready to go, so I'll have to defer to the pro's on that one! Sea World often has good play/stay packages for families too IIRC, that might be worth investigating as well.
Oh, here's a MW tip…don't spend all your time just waiting on the big name rides & miss some of the other stuff at Movie World; the Loony Tunes River Ride is bloody great for all kids aged 3-93, and there's rarely a line at all! :)