If you’re heading to the Gold Coast Theme Parks, you’ll want to know which theme parks you should visit and why, which rides are the best and how you can get the best deals on theme park passes. In this post, we provide you with all this information and more about the best Gold Coast Theme Parks.
1. Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast
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Great for: Families with kids, people looking to cool down on a hot summer day
Avoid if: You don’t like water-based activities
Best time to visit: 2pm to 4pm
Opening hours: 10am to 5pm Feb-Apr & Sep-Dec, to 4pm May-Aug, to 9pm 27 Dec -25 Jan
Ticket price: $50 for adults, $34 for kids (aged 4 to 13)
Address: Pacific Highway Oxenford
Contact: www.wetnwild.com.au
If the beach is too sedate, this long-established colossal water-sports park offers plenty of creative ways to get wet. You can launch from a 15m-high platform in a tube and blast down a 40m tunnel, or swirl through the Black Hole, or zoom down Mammoth Falls in a big rubber ring. If all that sounds too energetic, catch a movie in a tube at the Dive’n’Movies.
The water is heated from May to September, there are lifeguards on duty, you can rent towels and lockers, and you can use showers.
Wet ’n’ Wild offers an “afternoon rate” of A$25 adults and A$17 children after 2 or 3pm for the final 2 hours of operation each day, or after 5pm on Dive-In Movie nights. Free parking is available here.
Read more about Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast.
2. Warner Bros Movie World Gold Coast
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Great for: Families with kids, Hollywood movie buffs
Avoid if: You don’t like movie-themed rides
Best time to visit: Anytime
Opening hours: 10am to 5pm, daily (except Christmas Day and until 1:30pm on Anzac Day)
Ticket price: $70 for adults, $46 for kids (aged 3 to 13)
Address: Pacific Highway, Oxenford
Contact: www.movieworld.com.au
Australia’s answer to Universal Studios just about matches its U.S. counterpart for thrills and spills, and is also based around working studios. If you already know how Superman flies over skyscrapers, and you’ve heard a Foley sound studio in action, the train ride around the sets might not interest you, but it’s a great introduction to cinema tricks for first-timers. Popular attractions are the hair-raising, stomach-turning rides such as the Superman Escape roller coaster, the indoor Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster roller coaster, the Lethal Weapon roller coaster, and the simulated high-speed chase of Batman: The Ride. Young kids can take rides and see stage shows by Yosemite Sam and Porky Pig in the Looney Tunes Village, and there’s a Looney Tunes Parade through the streets each day. Most parades and shows take place between 11am and 4pm. Free parking is available here.
Read more about Movie World Gold Coast.
3. WhiteWater World
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Great for: Families with kids, people looking to cool down on a hot summer day
Avoid if: You don’t like water-based activities
Best time to visit: Summer months (Dec-Feb)
Opening hours: 10am to 5pm, daily (except Christmas Day & until 1:30pm on Anzac Day)
Ticket price: $50 for adults, $34 for kids (aged 4 to 13)
Address: Pacific Highway, Coomera
Contact: www.whitewaterworld.com.au
Opened in late 2006 next door to Dreamworld, WhiteWater World is an aquatic theme park themed around Australian surf culture. This is the place to take kids on a hot summer day who will love the terrifying turns and waves. The Super Tubes HydroCoaster is a “roller coaster on water” and is one of only two in the world; there’s also Nickelodeon’s Pipeline Plunge, a playground for kids ages 5 to 12, and the Green Room, where you’ll spin in a tube through a tunnel then drop 15m down a green water funnel. Get caught in the Rip or splash around in the surging swells in the Cave of Waves.
The water is heated May to September, there are lifeguards on duty, you can rent towels and lockers, and you can use showers. Free parking is available here.
4. Sea World Gold Coast
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Great for: Families with kids, anyone who likes sea creatures
Avoid if: You’re not an animal lover
Best time to visit: Anytime
Opening hours: 10am to 5pm, daily (except Christmas Day & until 1:30pm on Anzac Day)
Ticket price: $70 for adults, $46 for kids (aged 3 to 13)
Address: Sea World Drive, Main Beach
Contact: www.seaworld.com.au
See Australia’s only polar bears in this aquatic park, along with dugongs, sharks and performing seals and dolphins. There are dizzying rides, of course, but for a unique hands-on experience book an Animal Adventure with a marine-mammal trainer.
Sea World Canadian polar bear orphan cubs Hudson and Nelson, along with their bigger friend Lia, are the star attractions at this marine park, and crowds flock to see them frolic, dive, and hunt for fish in a large pool. Sea World may not be as sophisticated as similar parks in the United States, but it has its own charm, plus all the things you’d expect to see – performing dolphins and sea lions, ski shows, an aquarium, shark feeding, and an array of rides. The newest attraction is a state of the art Fairy Penguin exhibit, home to 11 of the cute little birds. At Shark Bay, you can see some of the larger and more dangerous species, such as tiger sharks. You can also snorkel with the sharks for A$60 per person (if you are 10 or over) or dive with them if you are a certified diver for A$90. Adults (14 and over) can snorkel with seals or dolphins for A$165 or A$225, including a souvenir photo. There are lots of other interactive options and behind-the-scenes tours. A monorail gets you around the park, and there’s a free water-slide playground. Watersports are available for an extra fee.
Admission includes everything except animal experiences, helicopter rides, and powered water sports. Free parking is available here.
Read more about Sea World Gold Coast.
5. Dream World Gold Coast
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Great for: Families with kids, people who enjoy action rides
Avoid if: You have motion sickness or afraid of heights
Best time to visit: Anytime
Opening hours: 10am to 5pm, daily (except Christmas Day & until 1:30pm on Anzac Day)
Ticket price: $75 for adults, $49 for kids (aged 3 to 13)
Address: Pacific Highway, Coomera
Contact: www.dreamworld.com.au
Dreamworld Adrenaline-crazed thrill-seekers will love the action rides, such as the aptly named Giant Drop, in which you free-fall 39 stories in 5 seconds, and the Tower of Terror, which propels you forward and upward at 4.5Gs before you fall backward 38 stories in 7 seconds. They’ll also get a kick out of the hair-raising Cyclone roller coaster, with its 360-degree loop, and the Wipeout, which spins, twists, and tumbles you upside down in a random sequence (but only exerts a sissy 2.5Gs of pressure). These high-octane offerings make the park’s other attractions look tame. Skip breakfast if you plan on tackling the Big 6 Thrill Rides.
Dreamworld is a family fun park, Disney-style, except that here giant koalas called Kenny and Belinda roam the streets instead of Mickey Mouse. Kids will love Nickelodeon Central, the only Nickelodeon cartoon attraction outside the U.S.
It’s not all rides, though – other activities include an IMAX theater, a wildlife park where you can cuddle a koala and hand-feed kangaroos, river cruises livened up by a bushranger shootout, and a carousel and other rides for young kids. A big highlight is to watch trainers swim, wrestle, and play with Bengal tigers on Tiger Island. Souvenir stores, restaurants, cafes, and ice-cream shops abound.
Admission includes everything except skill games, souvenir photos, and helicopter rides. A two-day world pass lets you jump between Dream World and WhiteWater World as often as you like.
Main St., Plaza Restaurant, and Koala Country open at 9am. Extended hours during Easter and Dec–Jan. Free parking is available for 1,600 cars.
Money-saving Gold Coast Theme Park Tickets
- Sea World, Warner Bros. Movie World, and Wet ’n’ Wild sell a Fun Pass that gives you 1 day’s entry to each park over a 5-day period. It costs A$150 for adults and A$96 for kids aged 3 to 13
- A Super Pass gives unlimited entry to all three for 14 days and costs A$190 for adults and A$130 for kids
- Sea World and Warner Bros. Movie World sell a return pass for A$35 extra for adults or A$23 for children, but you must use the second day within 14 days of your first visit
- Wet ’n’ Wild’s second-day pass is A$25 for adults and A$17 for children
- Dreamworld and WhiteWater World have 2-day passes to both for A$109 for adults or A$79 for kids ages 3 to 13
You can buy passes at the parks, online, from a travel agency, or at most Gold Coast hotels, apartments, and tour desks.
Tell us what you think. Which Gold Coast theme park are you looking forward to visiting? If you’ve already been before, which theme park and rides did you enjoy the most?
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