Travel: Australia - Gold Coast

[CarrotTree]

Travelling on package tour to Gold Coast in Dec 2012. One free day in GC and thinking of trying the Hot Air Balloon. Has anyone any comments if it is good. Its A250 per person and is it worth it. tks

[abitkiasu]

bigfoot:

sleepyqueen:

Opps.. not sure if too late to ask, where you get the 3 parks pass tickets online?

If you have time and intend to visit all three theme parks or even just 2 of the 3, it will be worth it.
Here is the link:

https://themeparks.com.au/box-office/vip-pass/vip-pass.aspx

I only have time to visit one so I bought a day pass to Sea World. If not, this VIP would be ideal.

We came back fm GC 3wks ago, nothing much at Sea World. Movie World is more fun for your kids.
Travelling on public transport is very convenient. You can pay cash for purchase GOcard and it is refundable for any balance value.

[micollh]

abitkiasu, where did u stay ? hotel or apartment ? can share more abt the transportation ? thanks a bunch !!

[osim]

abitkiasu:

We came back fm GC 3wks ago, nothing much at Sea World. Movie World is more fun for your kids.
Travelling on public transport is very convenient. You can pay cash for purchase GOcard and it is refundable for any balance value.

How old are your kids. Is movie world too kiddie for young teens.

[osim]

bebebub:

jacsplace:

Going to Gold Coast on Saturday with my nine and six year old. Bought the three-park pass that covers Movie World, Sea World and Wet n Wild.


Have A$1,000 in cash. Not sure if this is enough for two adults and two children spending seven days in the Gold Coast as FIT.

We have paid for hotel's breakfast only, so all other meals, transport, etc. -- don't know how extensively we can use credit card, or will we have to rely on cash.

We don't drive.

Depends on where u dine and the form of transport u take.

Food ain't cheap in GC, especially the tourist area. Most places with table
service accepts credit card. A meal at food court (eg a kebab +drink) can cost ard A$10 IMHO, food in the theme parks are ridiculously expensive. Can consider buying stuff from super market to make simple sandwiches. If u r staying at surfers paradise, there's MacDonalds.

If u consciously avoid full service restaurants, $100/day for 2 meals should be sufficient la. I'm sure there will be times when you will dine at places that accept credit cards.

I dunno how to estimate your transport costs. Taxi is expensive. Avoid, if possible. Not sure how efficient is the public transport as we always rent a car. HTH

Hi bebehub,

Was driving easy there? I thought of renting a car as there are 3 of us. Got GPS in car?

We rented an apt in surfer's paradise. Thought of cooking dinner to avoid the rip-offs at the restaurants. Kids can fun cooking (hee hee, not my kitchen :evil: )

Can bring food into the theme parks? I thought it's allowed only if you have special diet. Waters allowed though?

Which theme park is good/no good for 12-15 Yr old. I hope to visit some island and do nature walk at some parks too.

Any night market or good shopping place.

Sorry, I have so many questions

[Dnls_mum]

osim:

abitkiasu:

We came back fm GC 3wks ago, nothing much at Sea World. Movie World is more fun for your kids.
Travelling on public transport is very convenient. You can pay cash for purchase GOcard and it is refundable for any balance value.

How old are your kids. Is movie world too kiddie for young teens.

Movie world is ideal for teens. In fact if too young cannot enjoy the more exciting rides.

[osim]

Dnls_mum:

osim:

[quote=\"abitkiasu\"]

We came back fm GC 3wks ago, nothing much at Sea World. Movie World is more fun for your kids.
Travelling on public transport is very convenient. You can pay cash for purchase GOcard and it is refundable for any balance value.

How old are your kids. Is movie world too kiddie for young teens.

Movie world is ideal for teens. In fact if too young cannot enjoy the more exciting rides.[/quote]
How come fewer people mention dreamworld. It looks good on the net. Anyone tried snorkeling, can recommend a place?

[bebebub]

osim:

Hi bebehub,

Was driving easy there? I thought of renting a car as there are 3 of us. Got GPS in car?

We rented an apt in surfer's paradise. Thought of cooking dinner to avoid the rip-offs at the restaurants. Kids can fun cooking (hee hee, not my kitchen :evil: )

Can bring food into the theme parks? I thought it's allowed only if you have special diet. Waters allowed though?

Which theme park is good/no good for 12-15 Yr old. I hope to visit some island and do nature walk at some parks too.

Any night market or good shopping place.

Sorry, I have so many questions

I find driving in GC rather easy.

DreamWorld is fun for older kids. The more exciting rides has a minimum height requirement. So families with young children may not get to enjoy all the rides, n hence prefer to visit movieworld n seaworld. Besides the rides, Dreamworld has a wildlife park. The main attraction is the Tiger Island which houses the white tiger.

We brought home-made sandwiches into the theme parks b4. So far ok leh Was not aware that it is against their 'regulations'. They might hv come after us if we had tarbao from Maccas :oops:

There is a decent Chinese grocery store at HarbourTown if u r looking for Chinese stuff. Else, the local supermarket is stocked with wonderful fresh produce, including ready-marinated meat that u can BBQ straight away. I usually buy their freshly roasted chicken to make sandwich n salad.

For nature walk, I like Mount Tambourine n Mount O'Reilly.

Check out their weekend market at Nerang. I enjoy walking ard the market, browsing through handicraft n food produces. Lots of free tasting.

Depending on your style of travel n available time, GC is more than just surfers paradise n the themed parks. If u hv a car, consider driving towards
Sunshine Coast (to the north) or towards Coolongatta/Byron Bay(south).

Queensland - the sunshine state

[SBKS]

osim:

How come fewer people mention dreamworld. It looks good on the net. Anyone tried snorkeling, can recommend a place?

i dun quite like dreamworld. unless u gt lots of time and like rides then can try dreamworld. otherwise just go for seaworld and movie world.

[Dnls_mum]

SBKS:

osim:

How come fewer people mention dreamworld. It looks good on the net. Anyone tried snorkeling, can recommend a place?

i dun quite like dreamworld. unless u gt lots of time and like rides then can try dreamworld. otherwise just go for seaworld and movie world.

You are going to get diff feedback from diff people
We prefer movie world and dreamworld. Seaworld is mainly about the animals and shows and for us once you have seen a killer whale and dolphin show, u have seen it all. But of the 3, movie world is till the best. If you don't have time to go elsewhere to see kaola, you can do it at dream world.