Gold Coast Theme Parks – Which one is best for your family?

Now that we’re moving into summer and preparing for Christmas Holidays, many families are in search of a little adventure and fun for their family holiday.

Where can they easily find that in Australia?

The Theme Park Capital of Australia on the Gold Coast. It’s where all the fun family travel memories are made.

But, how do you know which of the Gold Coast theme parks will suit your family’s interests and keep everyone happy?

Here’s a rundown of what you’ll find at each park to help you plan your Gold Coast holiday.

Movie World

a person in costume

Movie World is one of our favourite Gold Coast theme parks.

This park is for the movie lovers in the house, for the kidlets that adore the Looney Tunes characters like Goofy and Tweety bird (my personal favourite), and those who want a little action.

Movie World WB Zone

The day is filled with street parades and performances from your favourite super heroes and movie characters. The WB Fun Zone is the place for smaller children with rides and shows and characters roaming around.

stunt show movie world

The action packed Hollywood Stunt Driver will entertain all family members (although be careful with the little ones, as the loud noises may spook them).

There are plenty of thrill rides, like Green Lantern and Superman Escape, to suit the older children and adults.

Dreamworld

Your teens will love the latest Zombie Evilution – The Battle for Kevil Hill, addition as well as the Big 8 Thrill Rides such as the Giant Drop and the Tower of Terror, my personal favourite.

There are also family favourites such as the Thunder River Rapids and Log Ride. And the younger children will be rapt to visit Wiggles World and Madagascar Madness to meet all their favourite characters and enjoy some rides.

Wiggles World Dream World

Dreamworld also has many animal encounters to enjoy.

Kalyra loved patting her first Koala and feeding kangaroos in the Australian Wildlife Experience, and there is the very popular Tiger Island, where you can see Bengal and Sumatran Tigers play.

For extra costs, you can also have more intimate experiences with the animals at Dreamworld.

Dream World, Gold Coast
Meeting the koalas at Australian Wildlife experience

There is so much to do at Dreamworld and trying to co-ordinate the shows with the different interests of each family member can be a little tricky, so be sure to plan your day.

 If you’re planning on visiting Dreamworld, Whitewater world or the SkyPoint Observation deck, yTravel readers can get a 10% discount by purchasing your tickets via this link. 

Sea World

Sea World Theme park capital Australia
The Imagine dolphin show

Sea World is for the marine animal lovers.

This park offers an educational side to the Theme Park Capital of Australia. The Dolphin Show is spectacular – you’ll walk away even more in love with these intelligent, gentle creatures.

The seal show is also one worth watching and will bring you several laughs.

jet ski show sea world gold coast (1)

The Jet Stunt Extreme show will amaze you with their amazing aerial flips, and gravity defying stunts. I enjoyed this far more than I anticipated.

There are a few rides to enjoy such as Jet Rescue, Sea Viper and Storm Coaster which opens December 2013.

Plus, there are polar bears, sting rays, penguins and close encounters with sharks. For extra costs, you can even swim with the sharks and have dolphin encounters.

sea world gold coast

For the little kids, there are Dora and SpongeBob shows that will keep them entertained.

You can even stay at the Sea World Resort

Wet‘n’Wild

Wet'n'wild gold coast theme parks

As the name suggests, Wet’n’Wild is the place to get your thrills, or relax on the water. It’s one of the most popular parks in the Theme Park Capital of Australia.

There are extreme thrill waterslides and vertical drops, such as Kamikaze and The Black Hole for the older and more daring teenagers and parents.

Family members can race each other down the Super 8 slide or enjoy more gentle water slides such as the River rapids. And there are places to relax in quieter family zones, as well as wave pools, whirlpool springs and simulated, perfect waves to surf.

Wet’n’Wild is the theme park you want to visit on those piping hot Gold Coast summer days.

This park can also be a little difficult if you have a wide aged gap between your children – the older ones will want to be thrilling it up, while the younger ones will want to be swinging like pirates in the more sedate Buccaneer Bay.

WhiteWater World

man on a waterslide

WhiteWater World, is attached to Dreamworld, and is the newest addition to the Theme Park Capital of Australia.

It’s the place to get wedgied, as you plummet five stories down in a thrilling drop slide. WhiteWater World has many racing water slides, adding in that extra competitive fun for your family.

Take in a picnic lunch and relax on the grass while the kids enjoy getting wet under giant buckets at Pipeline Plunge and for the under 5’s there’s the lifeguard supervised Wiggle Bay.

They also have a wave pool, and a first in the Theme Park Capital of Australia – learn to surf schools! It’s a smaller park, which makes it easier for families to manage the supervision, the relaxation, and the adventurous fun.

For more information about each park and to plan your holiday to the Gold Coast visit themeparkcapital.com.au

Which park is your favourite in the Theme Park Capital of Australia?

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10 thoughts on “Gold Coast Theme Parks – Which one is best for your family?”

  1. I love the Tower of terror too!!
    We went to the theme parks a few years ago and going back in less than 2 weeks! Cant wait!!

    My favourite is Movie world – I love all the rides!!! Pete’s favourite is Dreamworld – he likes the tigers… even if they maul trainers 🙂

  2. I remember when the Tower of Terror used to take off forwards. Now it takes off backwards. So the forward free fall down is cool.

    Enjoy Movieworld. Would like to try the new Green Lantern ride there!

  3. Australia really seems to love their “Worlds”! These parks look like a lot of fun, and remind me of some of the biggest theme parks in the US. Would love to go someday!

  4. Hubby and I are Theme Park Whores. Love Movie World but you simply cannot beat Six Flags in the US of A. The coasters are second to none. Living in L.A, we had season passes to every park within reach, it was awesome.
    Keen to do a return trip to the Gold Coast soon though, lots of new rides to check out!

  5. It’s always difficult choosing a theme park to visit, but this post is a great round up giving some useful ideas and information. I’ll be coming back to this one when we head over to the Gold Coast again.

  6. When I went with kids aged 14, 12 and 5, we stayed at Seaworld and I have to say that was great. The little ones and I spent many days in there and perhaps the best thing was the fab water play and climbing area in Seaworld, they loved the ship ride and hosing people and the amazing climbing areas. My kids are really active and they played and played and played there… my fave were the polar bears, amazing to watch underwater.

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