Australia's best theme parks

While there are also various other locations around the country that have a smattering of parks of smaller scales, the core theme park area is centred around Queensland's Gold Coast. The most popular parks located within this region of the country are listed below.

Dreamworld stands on its own as the Gold Coast theme park with the highest quantity and largest diversity of rides out of any of the other parks. With less of a focus on shows and exhibitions and an almost-pure concentration on providing rides that offer both thrills and more leisurely experiences, Dreamworld is the park of choice if you want to focus solely on squeezing the biggest number of ride experiences into a single day. Dreamworld is located slightly further to the north than Wet n Wild and MovieWorld and is situated along the Pacific Motorway in the suburb of Coomera. Separated into a number of different "worlds", Dreamworld is home to a cavalcade of rides that are suitable for both children and adults.

With the "Big 8" thrill rides on offer including such adrenaline-pumpers as the Cyclone Rollercoaster, Wipeout, Tower of Terror, Giant Drop, The Claw, the Mick Doohan Motocoaster and the newest of all, the Buzzsaw, even the most hardened thrill seeker will be able to get their scream on with a day at Dreamworld. Families with kids will also be at home with the Kids World that features a large number of children's rides and themed areas such as the highly popular Wiggles World. With the tallest and fastest thrill rides, live interactive shows and unique animal attractions, there is truly something at Dream World for people of all ages and strengths of stomach. You can book discount tickets to Dreamworld with ExperienceOz and let the fun begin.

As the Coast's oldest theme park having been started in 1958 at Carrara and later relocated in 1971 to Sea World Drive, Sea World has a long tradition of entertaining and delighting visitors with its wide variety of marine shows, performances, rides and animal exhibits. Its waterski show has long been a must-see for theme park junkies, with water skiers forming acrobatic positions and performing amazing jumps, while its show featuring its range of highly-trained dolphins in which they perform synchronised jumps and many other incredible feats to the delight of onlookers. Sea World also has a series of different rides of varying intensity, including (but not limited to) its Corkscrew roller coaster, viking boat ride, pirate ship and Sea World monorail. With new and continually developing attractions appearing all the time, Sea World remains a Gold Coast theme park favourite both nation and world wide. You can book discount tickets for entry to Sea World on the Gold Coast at special prices by clicking here.

The effort to create a version of "Hollywood on the Gold Coast" has been a great success over the years at Warner Bros. Movie World. If you are intrigued by movies, have kids interested in movie characters, want to witness entertaining movie shows and see how movies are made, MovieWorld is an ideal place to visit on your next trip to Queensland. Wander the around the main thoroughfares of Main Street and have your picture taken with the likes of Batman, Wonder Woman, Marilyn Monroe and many other characters from movie history and fiction. Movie-related rides are an integral part of the MovieWorld experience, with brand new attractions like the high-flying Batwing Spaceshot alongside staples such as the Lethal Weapon roller coaster, Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster, Wild West Falls, Superman Escape and many, many more. With its' huge range of shows, rides, attractions and stores, MovieWorld is suited to adults and children of all ages.

The home of water-based entertainment in Australia, Wet 'n' Wild is located in close proximity to Warner Bros Movie World and is one of the top venues for tourists seeking aquatic thrills, especially in the Summer months. Australia's largest water theme park, it remains open all year with all of the pools and slides within heated during the cooler periods to ensure maximum comfort and enjoyment. With a large number of slides, tubes, bays and loops, the park contains rides for all age groups and levels of thrill-seekers. Checkout the Extreme H20 Zone featuring the new Aqualoop that contains not one, not two, but FOUR looping transparent slides - after the trap door is released, riders plunge into a massive free-fall drop and hit speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour! Sound a bit too stressful for you? Never fear, as there are also plenty of chilled rides for the laid back or the family, including the Aqua Racer, Mammoth Falls, or glide by in the relaxed style of Calypso Beach. You can also watch the latest "Dive-In" movies on a huge screen while floating in the calm wave pool at nights during the Summer months (from November to February.)

Whitewater World is adjoined to Dreamworld while the two are often combined with various passes and packages to form a great day out of both wet and dry fun, the park also stands alone as a great day out of aquatic fun. Whitewater World aims to combine adrenaline-pumping thrill slides with family-style fun in a themed Aussie beach paradise. With a range of slides on offer that attempt to differ themselves from those at Wet n Wild, Whitewater World can provide a nice alternative for those who may have been to Wet n Wild before or who are looking to make the short walk over from Dreamworld instead of packing up and driving. With such rides and slides on offer as The Wedgie (Australia's first drop and loop waterside), The Bro (which lets you race head-first into a maze of twists and turns), The Green Room (a huge tunnel of fun) and other catchy names and themes including The Rip, The Little Rippers and the Temple of Huey, Whitewater World has everything all of adults, families and children need for a day of watery fun. You can buy a standalone pass to Whitewater World or upgrade to passes that provide access to Dreamworld as well by visiting our Whitewater World tickets page here.