So many worlds…

From a child’s point of view Dreamworld, Seaworld and Warner Movie world are definitely destinations in themselves. Worlds within worlds where you can visit the Wild West, A Wiggles World, or Polar Bear shores. We haven’t even mentioned what could be considered as the more peripheral world’s orbiting in the trail of the big three such as Currumbin Sanctuary or Whitewater World, one of the newer additions to the Gold Coast. The list goes on, it’s fierce competition for that tourist holiday dollar.

The attraction for many is the family holiday destination, with lots of thrills and activities. Surfers Paradise definitely caters for as many different styles of people as possible from the serious “luxe” market in the refined world of the Palazzo Versace, where the swimming pool has been recreated as a small beach through to the cheap and cheerful with fast food and fast fun being on the menu – McDonalds, KFC etc abound

How to choose?

The first qualifying statement is that being transported to another world from the hours of 10-5 ain’t cheap. For a family for four you are looking at a cost of $64 for an adult and $42 for a child, adding up to $212 for a family of four for a day pass to one theme park whether it be the Warner Group or the Dreamland experience. Of course there are a range of special options ie three park pass from Warner which includes Seaworld and Wet n’ wild for $135 for an adult and $86 for a child or for Dreamworld and Whitewater World a two park pass is $99 for an adult and $66 for a child.

Whilst all the main activities are included, food and the all prevalent merchandise can put a serious dent in your hip pocked. If you can take some snacks this is recommended not just for the savings but also because the food on offer is fairly standard fair of fish and chips, burgers etc. A water bottle is a must if you are traveling in summer.

Budget tip

• If the thought of visiting so many parks is a bit daunting you can also save money by visiting the same park twice. This is something offered by all the parks once you are there. On your way out of the park you can extend your pass by an additional day for a discounted second day rate.
• Organisations such as NRMA, the Entertainment book offer discounted tickets if pre-paid and booked for all the Worlds.
• Deals also can be had through Seaworld Nara Resort which frequently offers special packages that include resort entry, usually offered outside peak season.
• There is also lots of competition in all hotel ranges so it pays to shop around for what can be included with your accommodation ie breakfasts, children’s meals..
• Some deals are also good for lone parents or carers traveling with children – it’s worth shopping around.

Which world for me?

Of course it all comes down to personal taste and age ranges. All the parks offer a few “heart stopping” signature rides from the Big 5 thrill rides at Dreamworld, The Claw, Tower of Terror, Giant Drop, Cyclone, and the Wipeout; at Warners you can find the Batwing Spaceshot and a range of roller coasters from the child friendly Road Runner Rollercoaster then getting faster and more furious with Wild West Falls, Scooby Doo or the Lethal Weapon Ride; at Seaworld you can find the Corkscrew Rollercoaster and the Pirate Ship.

Watch the video

Warner and Dreamworld would probably win the thrill ride vote particularly for teenagers plus. For myself, who is not really a fan of these kind of thrills but as an accompanying parent had to go along for the rides, Seaworld was about my speed. Of course Seaworld is better known for the sea animals from Penguins, dolphins and seals to sharks. A fantastic experience here is the Animal Adventures. A series of more up close and personal encounters with the animals.

My daughter went to the Dolphin adventures and whilst not actually swimming with the dolphins, you definitely get up close and personal. Expect to feed a dolphin, rub their tummy, give them a kiss, souvenir photo included - and you will get wet even though you wear a wetsuit.

Tip.

• These packages are really popular so it pays to do your homework and book in advance.
• The trainer led experiences as well as being a load of fun are educational.

If you want animal experiences, Dreamworld could also be the place for you. Of course there is Tiger Island – (I think this is where they send Big Brother contestants after they get voted out!). Plus there is the Australian Wildlife experience, the Sunset Safari (guided behind the scenes tours) and the Farmyard friends.

For those of you who either like to touch the animals or are traveling with children, the good thing about these experiences are that you can pat the kangaroos and if you so desire have your photo taken cuddling a koala (obviously this is also an attractive option for a lot of adults as well). For those of us who live down South where koala touching is usually a no, no this is a great experience. Same applies to the farmyard creatures that you can pet and help with their feeding.

As for what is best for the toddler plus age group, once again, all the parks cater for this group and have special dedicated activities and rides.

Continuing with Dreamworld there is the Wiggles World. One would have to say that Wiggledom is practically a rite of passage now for Australian children. So this gives you an opportunity to do the Big Red Car ride, dance with Dorothy and visit Captain Feathersword’s ship.

If you want more than all that wiggling, there is also the Nickleodeon Central rides area and the Dreamworld people have conveniently listed family rides as a category to help with your theme park visit planning. That’s a big plus for me.

Warner World has the Looney Tunes village for the younger age group. Seaworld has Cartoon Beach. There are also rides such as the Bermuda Triangle and The Flume Ride which are moderate.

Tip

• Generally there children’s rides are fairly mild, for those with children a little older who want more adventure, there are height restrictions on some of the rides, but no age restrictions. Check the websites for more details.

Time

There is such a multitude of activities within just these three flagship parks, it would be easy to do nothing except theme parks. However, its worth remembering that there is much much more on offer in the surrounding areas from mini golf to the Water theme parks to Currumbin for wildlife, themed meals such as Dracula’s or an outback adventure. Plus for those who do want to chill out, day spas also seem to have a strong presence. Suffice to say you can cram a hell of a lot of activity into one holiday.

Warners has a lot of action rides and seems to specialize in the roller coaster experience starting with the gentler Road Runner ride and working up to Lethal weapon and Scooby Doo, an indoor disco kind of roller coaster – don’t let the cute cartoon name fool you, this is a full on ride.

All of the parks have shows and other entertainment. Plus both the Warners and the Dreamworld Group have water parks. Warners have Wet’n’Wild and Dreamworld have launched the newest themepark, Whitewater world. Seaworld has a smaller Waterpark inside the theme park.

It can get hot in Surfers so these are good ways to keep cool and for when the weather drops to a chilly 20 degree average in winter, Whitewater world has heated water!

For the average person each park offers a full day’s entertainment plus. In my personal opinion I think that Dreamworld has a tiny edge in respect of offering something for everyone, but those Animal adventures at Seaworld also rate very highly with me.

Accommodation options

If you are the kind of person who likes a bit of down time it is possible to book hotels with kids clubs and child minding and spas. If your hotel doesn’t have a spa, don’t fret as there are various spas in town and a couple of legitimate businesses where the masseuse visits the hotel.

Obvious choices with kids clubs are Sea World Nara Resort and the Paradise Resort. I have to admit that the Paradise Resort was looking a tad tired when I visited, though conceptually it is very children focused.

If you do a comparison of these two resorts the difference for me is that Paradise Resort feels more like an activity based resort with Karaoke, Polynesian Dance spectacular and Bingo nights. Seaworld is a touch more upmarket without the range of activities but it does have a small day spa. When I was there I overheard a long and heated complaint about some of the rooms at Nara, so I suspect that some rooms are better than others. Definitely don’t go expecting the same kind of finishing touches as you would find at the Palazzo Versace or the Sheraton.

It is worth checking out websites such as Trip Advisor for independent opinions from fellow holiday makers. To compare the hotel glitz against real life experiences.

If you only have a few days my recommendation is not to cram too much into the time as the world’s can be exhausting. Hanging out at the resort pool can be nearly as much fun as the high voltage excitement of a theme park.

Just as an aside there were no freebies involved in any of this research, but there was definitely a very satisfied 7 year old.

http://www.dreamworld.com.au

http://www.seaworld.com.au

http://www.movieworld.com.au

http://www.currumbin-sanctuary.org.au

http://www.whitewaterworld.com.au

http://www.wetnwild.com.au

Accommodation

http://www.seaworldresort.com.au

http://www.paradiseresort.com.au

http://www.tripadvisor.com

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Contemporary Dance

A week of contemporary dance at Carriageworks this week.

Good to see the venue buzzing with life. As usual the opening night of a Performance Space dance event is well attended and as we all slowly move into the venue for the start we realise that there isn't really anywhere to sit - oops, should have paid more attention and gone in earlier.

Rosalind Crisp - Danse #1 - is a solo work with video and that newish genre of "live typing" which accompanies her as she moves around the space. So probably the bench we end up sitting on was a good choice as it was hard to tell where the action is going to take place.

It takes place on walls, on stages and on the audience floor to the backing track of her breathing, heels of audience members walking across the room, some ambient hum of the computers. Near the end there is a moment of music which is quite a relief, as the dance in silence for the majority of the work is an exercise in monotonality.

In contrast Settlement - Hans Van den Broek, a residency project is filled with dancers, props and noise. If this is a work in progress it could be quite interesting to see the next phase.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Circus Oz

So, a week late in posting but last week's night out on the Town (in between flu) was Circus Oz. The best thing was the look on my little girls face - 7 years old, absolutely gob smacked at various stages.

The show was fast paced, particularly in the first half and managed to engage the old and young. I've seen slicker performances, but this works as a total entertainment package.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

Excelsior

So not having much of a chance to see anything except stuff related to work.

A great young band, Medium Brown and 20th Century Dog, seriously good players.

It is great to be attracting consistently good audiences to see the latest in what is happening in improvised jazz. If you get a chance, it is really worth a visit if you love jazz, though it comes with a not too comfortable, but a great atmosphere with musicians, music lovers mingling warning.
www.jazzgroove.com

www.ceressolutions.com.au

All work and no play

A busy week, exciting to be working on a concept to produce a concert series of jazz/world music next year at the Factory in Enmore.

Its been a good thing, meeting up with artists, discussing the project, putting together the business plan.

As well as the arts, things are moving along for my financial women's website - womenandwealth. So its busy, busy tying all the bits and pieces together.

www.ceressolutions.com.au

Music @ The Factory

Ok, so I have this idea that there is an incredible amount of talent in Sydney at the moment. The most fantastic musicians, who deserve a wider audience.

I also see huge audiences for jazz music at Festival events, or for international guest artists. In my mind I am wondering why there seems to be such a huge gap from people who enjoy this genre and people who are experiencing local musicians. Certainly, the talent of the Australian musicians is world class and I guess the proof is in how well they are doing overseas.

So through a series of events, I find myself in the process of producing a concert series - the theme is great music in friendly, lush surroundings. A common underlying factor for the performances is a jazz influence, but not to the extent where it overtakes the incredible diversity and range of what music is today.

In the best traditions I am going through the motions, researching, lots of talking to people, sourcing funding, finding interesting combinations of artists. Can I turn this idea into reality? I think I can - here's to 2008 and Places and Spaces.

Suggestions or comments as to what would make this work are welcome.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au

From war to technology futures

This week's touch of culture was Stories in the Dark, by Deborah Oswald, performed by ATYP - Australian Theatre for Young People. A mixture of folk tales and the grim reality of life in a war torn city.

For some reason as I was watching it I was thinking Sarajevo. I visited Sarajevo when Yugoslavia existed. It was a beautiful city. On the surface it certainly seemed to be working as a melting pot.

One wonders what happened to the people we met, how can one think of a future when faced with such a bleak reality? When you scratch the surface of a civilisation how quickly it can unravel.

The script is good, I found the first half a bit rambling, but it certainly came together by the end. Worth seeing it is on at Riverside, Parramatta.

As a contrast I went to CEBIT this week, the future of technology, or so they say. I love my technology, but you know I also love the feel of putting pen to paper and the endless possibilities that are before you when you start a new book. Beautiful white pages, perhaps the appeal is that it is finite, not like a computer screen which has the possibility to go on for what seems forever.

Joanne Kee
www.ceressolutions.com.au