Theme Parks on Australia's Gold Coast

Dreamworld, Sea World, Movie World and Water Parks Offer Family Fun

Jan 31, 2009

For Australian theme park fans, there is just one destination: Queensland's Gold Coast, a sand and surf paradise and home to Dreamworld, Sea World, Movie World and more.

As if surf, sand and abundant rain forests aren’t enough to draw travelers to Australia’s Gold Coast, the Queensland vacation destination also hosts five major theme parks including two water parks filled with slides and pools.

Some of the theme parks are close enough to walk between, and travelers who want to see them all can save money with multi-day, multi-park passes. Dreamworld and its sister park Whitewater World offer package deals, as do the three parks owned by Aussie film studio Village Roadshow: Sea World, Movie World and Wet 'n' Wild Waterworld. Here's a look at what to expect from each of them:

Dreamworld and Whitewater World

Dreamworld is the oldest of the parks, and it has the biggest variety of attractions, with thrill rides, wildlife areas, kiddie attractions, and the TV studio where Australia’s version of Big Brother was filmed. It’s a rather sprawling park, and it seems as if with every new ride or attraction the park designers also felt the need to add a themed “land,” giving the place a slightly disjointed, patched-together feel. The good news is that there is plenty to do, with lots of variety.

Just a skip away from Dreamworld is Whitewater World. In addition to pools and play areas, the park currently has eight twisting, multicolored slides, with a major expansion of four new slides and a meandering river is expected to open in mid-2009. Visitors to Dreamworld can visit Whitewater World after 4 p.m. for just $15 by purchasing a ticket at the park, or purchase a two day flex pass to both parks.

Sea World, Movie World and Wet ‘n’ Wild Waterworld

Sea World in Queensland is all about marine life, though it's unaffiliated with the SeaWorld parks in the United States. Dolphins, sharks, polar bears, penguins and seals can all be seek at various shows and exhibits around this compact, smartly designed park. Animal lovers will find the most to enjoy here, but there is also a handful of family-friendly rides and other attractions, plus a modest water park. Located on the harbor, Sea World is farther away from the other parks, although not by much.

Further inland is Warner Brothers Movie World, which originally opened with a focus on going behind the scenes of movie-making, to the extent that employees were encouraged to speak with Hollywood accents. Today, everyone sounds like an Aussie, and the focus is more on rides and roller coasters themed around various Warner Brothers characters and films, like Superman and Batman thrill rides for adults and tamer Looney Tunes attractions for tots.

Right next door to Movie World is Wet ‘n’ Wild Waterworld, the largest water park in Australia. It features a wide variety of water slides, from relatively gentle tube slides to more extreme rides with vertical drops and gut-wrenching turns. There are pools to swim and splash around it, and more than enough to fill a day. Especially in the summer, expect lines with lots of tattooed folks in shorts and bikinis.

Fun Pass – One single day-ticket for each park to be used over five days: $149 adults, $95 children

Escape Pass – Two single-day tickets to any two of the three parks to be used over three days: $115 adults, $75 children

The copyright of the article Theme Parks on Australia's Gold Coast in Australia Travel is owned by Aaron Humphrey. Permission to republish Theme Parks on Australia's Gold Coast in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.