Gold Coast. Any good for families?

Many of us in SE Qld will give a dim view,because there's only so many times you can go to the good bits and then you start to feel like it's a bit of a Tourist Trap compared to other places with good beaches and attractions for kids.

IMHO, assuming that "Melbourne" means somewhere in the metro area, you'll do OK for the kids. Mine don't consider any trip not involving daily sea bathing to be a "holiday." worth the name. The water, esp at this time of year, couldn't be better temp. There are lots of attractions, as mentioned, and the hinterland is great for a drive (and has interesting stuff like glow worm cave, volcanic "thunder egg" digging etc.)

All the parks etc add up - expect to pay about $120-$150 per day for your family. Plenty of things to do at the GC (and elsewhere, of course) for a lot less than that.

Another option might be to spend most time in Northern Rivers area of NSW - getting more developed but interesting scenery, good beaches etc, and then drive an hour or so to Sea World etc. When visiting the Gold Coast from Toowoomba we usually stay at home - 4 hour round trip, but have camped (at a caravan park) and moteled. We're cheapskates with motels, but when I just asked what was the best feature of the Gold Coast, my 8 year old replied "the accommodation." I think it was the pool he was really referring to!

mate the GC is a top place for a hol ....theam parks are great but as Mrs Ho Har said there prob to small for them as yet .....I would leave it till there a bit older ....but as suggested the currumbin wildlife sanctuary is a top spot for that age and a top spot for a hol is Hastings Point ...just to get away from it

cheers

I dont think anyone hates holidaying on the Gold Coast. It is 50km long so where do you want to go? Surfers Paradise? Many make the "mistake" of going there in Dec-Jan when it rains a lot and are expecting "beautiful one day, perfect the next"...we are in the tropics....it rains at that time. October or March are best weather months. Go to the Qld Tourist info Bureau and grab a heap of pamphlets on accommodation and entertainment. There are thousands of places to stay and hundreds of things to. Most major attractions offer free transport from almost anywhere along the gold coast and of course take away food is available everywhere, and then you have some of Australias most awarded restaurants scattered along the strip. I've been around the world and there is no place like it. Some places have some of it but only the gold coast has all of it. You dont need to be wealthy to have a first class holiday there.

Ok some input from someone who has or currently has young children....all the theme parks would be fine for a 7 and 4 yr old. Dreamworld also has White Water World and has plenty for kids of that age...we have a 13,11,6 and 20mth old. All have a great time. Seaworld..same and ditto for Movie world. For sure there are some rides the 4 yr old cant go on but my 6 yr old has been on just about all of them. There are also shows and other things of interest for the kids. We have an annual pass to Dreamworld/ White Water World....plus had passes to Movie World and Sea World in the previous year......kids have always had fun.....and so has mum and dad.

Tacky etc....what a load of crap......GC has it all.....any city has its "questionable" area's....for the GC for families ,as mentioned the theme parks, beaches...many enclosed with kid specific area's, hinterland...Mt Tamborine, Lamington NP, Binna Burra. HTH,

Regards

Stevo

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stevo68

Ok some input from someone who has or currently has young children....all the theme parks would be fine for a 7 and 4 yr old. Dreamworld also has White Water World and has plenty for kids of that age...we have a 13,11,6 and 20mth old. All have a great time. Seaworld..same and ditto for Movie world. For sure there are some rides the 4 yr old cant go on but my 6 yr old has been on just about all of them. There are also shows and other things of interest for the kids. We have an annual pass to Dreamworld/ White Water World....plus had passes to Movie World and Sea World in the previous year......kids have always had fun.....and so has mum and dad.

Tacky etc....what a load of crap......GC has it all.....any city has its "questionable" area's....for the GC for families ,as mentioned the theme parks, beaches...many enclosed with kid specific area's, hinterland...Mt Tamborine, Lamington NP, Binna Burra. HTH,

Regards

Stevo

---

well said stevo :D........but i do have kids as well ;)

cheers tho ......The GC is still home to me .:D

What Qld. people think of the Gold Coast is dependant on their age. I am 68 and my age group remember the beautiful Town of South Coast before the beaches and dunes were ruined by mining in the 40's-60's and the levelled waste land then built over with high rise units and motels. Corruption was rampant and the white shoe "developers" (translated as real estate criminals) had a decades long period of raping the coast for all they could get. We regard the coast as a tacky, overbuilt, overpopulated tourist trap, and rarely go there.

Surfer's Paradise won the publicity game and reigns supreme in spite of then and now having the worst beach on the coast. As young fellows we wouldn't swim there. Only reason to go to SP was the Victorian snow bunnies in the beer garden. We surfed at Big Burleigh, Kirra, and Greenmount, then the best beaches on the coast.

Anything a couple of hundred metres west of the Gold Coast Highway, then the Pacific Highway, was regarded as not on the coast. To most Brisbane people looking for holiday accomodation, if you had to cross the highway to go to the beach you were too far away.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cucinadio

well said stevo :D........but i do have kids as well ;)

cheers tho ......The GC is still home to me .:D

---

Huh? Never said you didn't have kids...was just making a statement that I do have young kids etc etc so could comment from experience...thats all :),

Regards

Stevo

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stevo68

Huh? Never said you didn't have kids...was just making a statement that I do have young kids etc etc so could comment from experience...thats all :),

Regards

Stevo

---

yhea mate its all good soz....[thumbsupbig]

Well thanks all looks like we're set for a GC trip at some stage. No Land Rovers at SeaLife I assume but never mind orcas are pretty cool as well.

We arent talking of questionable area's like the western burbs of most cities, in my opinion the whole of the gold coast is tacky, overbuilt, glitzy and just plain ugly. I remember when we used to go as children to visit my grandparents back in the late 70's early 80's and it was ok then- now its just a poor mans Miami. I avoid big cities like the plague and i find Sydney is no better just another place to take a wide berth around.