Best theme park for kids Gold Coast by age group

With so much choice on the Gold Coast when it comes to entertaining the family, it can be hard to work out where to spend your days and your money. Our guide to the best theme park for kids Gold Coast brings together the experiences of our family travel experts, so you can take the guesswork out and have a seriously fun day on the Gold Coast with kids.

Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast for kids

Get set to get wet at Wet‘n’Wild Gold Coast, with some of the tallest and fastest waterslides in Australia.

For thrill-seeking teenagers and adults, there’s the Blackhole, where you’ll scream down the slide at 40km/hour in total darkness. On the Kamikaze you’ll plunge down a near-vertical 11-metre drop at a 70° angle, at up to 50 km/hour. If that’s not enough you can get your hearts pounding on the lightning-fast Jetstream body slides.

For the under 10’s, there’s Wet’n’Wild Junior with eight kid-friendly water slides, a multi-level interactive play structure, and a giant tipping bucket.

The whole family can splash together at the Giant Wave Pool, a huge swimming pool with intermittent waves, or enjoy whirlpool springs.

Best for: toddlers to adults

Need to know

• The water on all rides and slides is heated to 25°C year-round.
• Buy your tickets online to avoid the big queues at the front.
• Open hours change depending on the time of year
• Lines for popular slides can be very long during school holidays, especially in summer.
• Get there early and ride on the most popular rides first when the queues are shorter.
• The park is a 25-minute drive from Surfers Paradise

Click here to find the best deals for Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast.

Warner Bros. Movie World Gold Coast for kids

Movie fans will love a day at Warner Bros. Movie World.

Teenage and adult adrenaline seekers will go from zero to 100km/hr in only two seconds on the Superman Escape!, and pull 4.2G’s racing through five stomach-churning inversions on the Batman-themed Arkham Asylum coaster, where riders wear virtual reality goggles to enhance the scare factor.

Only the brave will dare to enter the next dimension in Movie World’s thrill ride, the DC Rivals HyperCoaster. The tallest, longest, fastest and only HyperCoaster in the Southern Hemisphere, reaching speeds of 115 km/hr per hour.

For the littlies, there’s a Junior Driving School where kids (over 90cm) can learn all about driving on their very own driving course. Inside Kids’ WB! Fun Zone, there are rides that travel at kid-speed, and they can meet and play with their favourite Looney Tunes characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, and Porky Pig.

A major highlight for all ages is cheering on their favourite characters in the daily Main Street Parade!

Best for: Tweens, teenagers, and adults will get the best value for money out of this theme park, but kids aged 5+ will have a great time too. If you are considering Movie World for toddlers, there are definitely things to keep them busy for a couple of hours but not for a whole day.

Need to know:

• Buy your tickets online to avoid the big queues at the front.
• Ride queues can get really long, so if you’re short on time and don’t mind the additional price tag, purchase the unlimited fast track pass.
• Get there early and ride on the most popular rides first when the queues are shorter.
• Plan your day so that you don’t miss any shows
• There are height and age restrictions on all rides so please check before you go.
• The park is open daily from 9:30am, with rides operating from 10:00am – 6:00pm
• The park is a 25-minute drive from Surfers Paradise

Click here to find the best deals for Warner Bros. Movie World.

Dreamworld Gold Coast for kids

The next of the big theme parks on the Gold Coast is Dreamworld, a long-time family favourite, with a huge variety of rides and shows to suit all ages. And did you know that Dreamworld is Australia’s biggest theme park and that it has a water park included?

For the little kids, there’s ABC Kids’ World, where they can have fun with their favourite Australian TV characters, with live shows and rides featuring The Wiggles, Giggle and Hoot, and Bananas in Pyjamas.

Bringing Dreamworks movies to life, you’ll get to enjoy the rides and entertainment of Madagascar Madness, Kung Fu Panda Land, and Shrek Faire Faire Away Land. There’s also bumper cars and the Dreamworld Express, a scenic train ride around the park.

The whole family will have a wild time, watching the live tiger presentations on Tiger Island and getting close to Australian native animals and learning about our Indigenous heritage at Corroboree.

For older kids and their adults there’s the adrenaline-inducing Big-9 thrill rides, including the Giant Drop, where riders free-fall 119 metres in 5 seconds, which is the equivalent of falling from a 39-storey building, plus the Tower of Terror blasting backward-facing riders out of a 206-metre tunnel at 161 km/hr, in just seven seconds flat.

For motorsports fans, there’s an entire section of the park devoted to all things cars and bikes, including the Mick Doohan Motocoaster, where riders strap into life-size replicas of 500cc racing bikes to Experience the rush of Moto GP Racing!

When you need to cool off, head to WhiteWater World for a full water park experience. It’s a great way to end the day.

Best for: Toddler to adult

Need to know:

• • Buy your tickets online to avoid big queues.
  • Your entry to WhiteWater World is included in your Dreamworld ticket price

• Dreamworld is open 7 days a week: 10:00am – 5:00pm
• It is a 25-minute drive from Surfers Paradise, or just over an hour from Brisbane.

Click here to find the best deals for Dreamworld.

Seaworld

The last of the big theme parks, SeaWorld is best for toddlers to tween, plus older animal admirers. The theme of most of the attractions are the incredible creatures of the sea. Dolphins are the major drawcard at Sea World, including the Affinity dolphin show. Another show popular with littlies is the Fish Detectives, where the kids can cheer on the hilarious sea lions, Buddy and Clawde, as they save all of the fish in the harbour before it’s too late!

There’s also the Penguin Encounter, where kids will see King Penguins, Gentoo penguins and the seriously gorgeous Fairy Penguins. If creatures from the sea fascinate them, don’t miss a visit to Shark Bay, where several different kinds of sharks can be seen from both above and below the waterline.

SeaWorld also has Nickelodeon Land with kid-size rides, and the chance to meet some their favourite Nickelodeon characters; Dora the Explorer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and SpongeBob SquarePants. There is also a mini rollercoaster and an old-fashioned carousel.

If the day is hot then head to Castaway Bay, Sea World’s interactive adventure playground where the whole family can get soaked having a splashtacular adventure. Jump on one of the 80 water cannons and defend the Sky Fortress, or test your bravery and balancing skills on the Sky Climb.

Thrill seekers are not forgotten with the Storm Coaster and Jet Rescue rides, plus the Jet Stunt Extreme show with edge of your seat group precision ride sequences, aerial stunts and fast action.

Best for: all ages especially toddlers to tweens

Need to know:

• Buy your tickets online to avoid the big queues
• If you are against animals being used in entertainment, this is not the right theme park for you
• Get there early and plan your day so that you don’t miss any shows
• You can’t bring your own food in, however fruit, snacks and bottled water are allowed.
• Open 9.30am – 5.00pm every day except Christmas Day and half of Anzac Day.
• Located on Seaworld Dr, Main Beach which is close to all the beaches

Click here to find the best deals for Seaworld.