There is no doubt that the Gold Coast is an iconic Australian destination and the theme parks play a huge part in its appeal. Even the kids had heard about Wet n’ Wild and Sea World and they had been on their ‘must do’ list even before we started this trip. Over the last 12 months, we have done our best to seek out the quieter options and try to avoid the crowds wherever possible. The Gold Coast feels like the polar opposite of this plan but the excitement was certainly building as we left the Sunshine Coast behind us and set our sights on the ‘Goldie’! Theme park chaos here we come!!

First on our list was Movie World. To be honest, we were underwhelmed and lasted all of about 45 minutes. Unsurprisingly it was super busy but we were surprised that there didn’t seem to be that much for us to do. The wait times for the rides were insane, in some cases up to 2 hours, and the height limitations on the rides also meant that the kids couldn’t really go on a number of the rides and the things they could go on were either closed or huge wait times. The final straw came when they even wanted to charge $50 to have photos with the movie characters. I guess if you are massive movie fans (and super patient with waiting in line) then perhaps you would find more fun things to do? Anyway… we decided Movie World wasn’t for us, cut our losses and hit the water slides at Wet n’ Wild which was a much better plan!

After three hours of water slide fun we had well and truly gotten over our disappointing start at Movie World and had all enjoyed a super fun afternoon and lots of rides!

We struck gold with our camp site, deciding to avoid the big caravan parks an instead opted for the farm stay at Paradise Country farm which is another of the attractions (perhaps less well known and therefore quieter) located behind Movie World and Wet n’ Wild. Being so close to the main attractions, we figured it would be super busy but we pretty much had the bush camp to ourselves on our first night and only a few other campers on night 2. It was honestly the perfect camp for us to escape for the evening after theme park crazy.

One of the bonuses from staying at the farm stay is that we got to enjoy parts of Paradise Country Farm outside of the usual visiting hours. In the morning they offer the opportunity for farm stay guests to help feed some of the animals…

And collect some eggs…

Morning farm chores done and we set off for Sea World. Such an amazing day filled with wildlife, rides and water play.

The dolphin show was certainly a big highlight for everyone.

We finished day two off with a pit stop at Wet n’ Wild on the way home for a splash to cool down after a big day out – that’s another bonus of staying so close to theme parks and having a multi day pass.

For our final day of Gold Coast fun, we decided we had to pay the animals in the farm one last visit then a final dip at Wet n’ Wild before we hit the road to keep moving south. I can’t say it’s been a relaxing few days but the Gold Coast isn’t meant to be about relaxing. It’s been a fun filled few days but I think we we were all ready to sit down by the time we hopped in the car!

Time for our last border crossing of the lap… NSW here we come!