When my son asked if he could have his 8th birthday at Dreamworld, I was super excited! I had been there a few times when I was a child, but we had never been as a family before. Both of our kids were now at an age (5 & 8) where they are big enough to enjoy the rides and old enough to remember the fun they had.
Dreamworld were super accommodating in helping us plan the perfect day for our son. We had a special Tiger Experience, Ride Express passes (so we didn’t have to wait ONCE for a ride), a lavish Cabana for White Water World and the list goes on!
On arrival we were treated like VIP’s. Lukey got a special birthday bag (filled with lollies and lots of other fun trinkets) including a Birthday Boy Badge. Whenever we went on a ride or were walking through the park, any staff member who saw his badge, yelled “Happy Birthday Luke”, it bought an adorable smile to his face every single time and added to the excitement of his day.
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Our first stop (of course) was our Tiger experience. Can I just say, OH…MY…GOSH! One of the best experiences we’ve had as a family! They are the most beautiful creature you can every lay eyes on. They were still babies at this stage and were in ‘nap mode’ so we were able to get up close and personal with them. We all got to pat them, lift up their very heavy tails and just dote on them in general.
I did a LIVE Facebook Video from the Tiger enclosure and our Fun Mum community were able to get up close and personal with the beautiful white Tigers. The public are not allowed to socialise with them, so we were very lucky to have Dan the Tiger Trainer to give you some amazing footage! You can check it out here.
He spoke about the Dreamworld Wildlife Foundation and how they have donated over $2 million toward tiger conservation through their animal experiences including Tiger Walks experiences where guests can join a tiger & their handler for a morning walk through the park and surrounding bushland, a Tiger Feed or a Tiger Photo. You can even adopt a Tiger! The proceeds of this goes to preserving Tigers habitats in the wild and toward anti-poaching measures. So not only is this one of the best experiences you can have, you are also helping a very worthy cause.
My son freaked me out when it came to the rides…he wanted to go on every single one..and he just about did! He rode the Giant Drop, the Claw, the Tower of Terror, the Wipeout and the list goes on! I’m not that much of a dare devil when it comes to rides so the task of taking the birthday boy on the rides went to my husband…I think he added a few grey hairs to his head that day! Luke on the other hand, free as a bird! Lukey did actually talk me into going on the ‘Sidewinder’ and whilst we were sitting there strapped in waiting to go, he literally turned to me and said “Mum, don’t worry, you’re safe, I’m here and what’s the worst that can happen”. Gosh I love that little kid!
My daughter on the other hand, just wanted to take photos. There were plenty of photo ops too, we had fun in the ‘little kids areas‘ whilst the ‘big boys’ went on the big rides.
Our next stop was Whitewater World! We were so lucky to have one of the hottest days in July in something like 10 years (I call that birthday luck). We were all able to relax in our fabulous Cabana (that had a fridge, fan, a flat screen TV and even an iPhone charging station!), get dressed, then hit the park!
The waterpark had so many facilities, there was a wave pool, mini water parks for the kids, dare devil watersides and some great slides for all the family to enjoy. Our favourite was the Super Tubes Hydrocoaster. I screamed louder than my 5 year old though lol.
We were all completely exhausted after our amazing day and were so lucky to be able to drive 15 minutes down the road to stay in the lovely Mercure Gold Coast Resort! This was a lovely way to end our day.
The staff were beyond friendly and helpful. We checked in and got a Golf Buggy ride to our door (which of course the kids thought was fantastic). We then showered and headed downstairs for dinner.
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I can safely say that I had the BEST steak I’ve ever had. I want to go back just for that meal. Again, the staff were so lovely. They knew that is was my son’s birthday and went out of their way to make it super special for him. They even took the time to make him a Dessert platter that was HAND DELIVERED from the Chef himself. It’s those magical touches that make for a memorable stay.
The next morning we took the kids for a stroll around the beautiful grounds.
We honestly had such an amazing weekend and can’t wait to do it all over again one day. I can’t recommend Dreamworld and the Mercure Gold Coast Resort enough, we truly had a great time! If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below 🙂
Jenni x
