TheThemeParkGuy

Crunch, munch, snuffle! Feeding kangaroos is my overriding memory of this friendly, green, Australian theme park classic close to Brisbane. Dreamworld's ride highlights include a scream-inducing launch roller coaster called 'Tower of Terror', a huge drop tower, a wild-west-themed flume ride and a state-of-the-art motorcycle coaster - it's a solid theme park!However, given that there are 6 billion people on Earth and only 20 million get to hang out with kangaroos regularly,...

I will be dodging cream pies and flying shoes from loyal fans of nearby Dreamworld, but I have to confess that Warner Bros Movie World is my favorite Australian theme park. While I love the kangaroos in homegrown Dreamworld, I would always prefer Warner for its top-notch thrill rides spread across an atmospheric film-studio landscape. The 'Superman Escape' roller coaster is an adrenaline rush, the 'Wild West Falls' flume ride approximates Disney quality (but where did the...

Australia's biggest and best water park has everything one could wish for: state-of-the-art thrill water slides, lots of space and friendly people in a luscious nature setting including horses next door grazing and gazing up to the slides. Highlights are the 'Tornado' funnel slide, a serious scream-inducer even for the eternally cool, the dry U-shaped 'Surfrider' roller coaster and another wet U-shaped slide experience called 'Kamikaze'.
Complemented by dozens of...

Australia's Sea World shouldn't be confused with the American SeaWorld chain and its branches in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego: it's a completely different enterprise! No black-and-white orca killer whales jumping to the music here! Instead: close-up dolphin experiences, underwater shark encounters, the brand-new jetski roller coaster 'Jet Rescue' and a well-done dark flume ride called 'Bermuda Triangle', themed around aliens abducting ships and their unsuspecting...

As recently as 2001, tourists and residents of Sydney had two theme parks to visit: First there was 'Fox Backlot Studios', 20th Century Fox's only foray into the theme park industry to date, featuring a Simpsons attraction and a Titanic ride (which I heard was more of an exhibition/show), among others. Alternatively, 'Wonderland Sydney' - once the biggest theme park in the Southern Hemisphere - was equipped with a wooden roller coaster, a Flintstones-themed flume ride and...

Dreamworld's water park looks like someone built a few slides over a parking lot (that might even be what actually happened here)! The absence of space, greenery or theming makes for a pretty perfunctory experience but the slides - all brand-new and of good quality - compensate for this. The "hydrocoaster" and the huge funnel slide located after the entry on the right hand side are the park's main highlights.If you arrive on a Tuesday or Wednesday and it has rained in the...

What a great name for a theme park located at the end of the world! Beautiful New Zealand's only theme park 'Rainbow's End', located close to Auckland's airport, certainly isn't the most extravagantly funded venture. However, given its limited budget, I was quite impressed by the attention to detail inside the Mine Car ride and the 'Enchanted' flume ride. These are exactly the (albeit non-existent) coaster and water rides that I could imagine Michael Jackson having built at...

Crocosaurus Cove is a small but charming crocodile park in the center of Darwin in northern Australia. It's not strictly a theme park, but the 'Cage of Death' – in which fearless guests are submerged in a salt water crocodile pool – is a thrill that can compete with the world's wildest rides. Add numerous animal exhibits, educational shows, attractive rockwork, and really cheerful staff, and you've got yourself a role model of how attraction businesses...

Visited 2015. I didn't expect much from an 80-year-old Luna Park – most of the Luna Park-named funfairs out there are in a desolate state – but this one is a remarkable exception. Extremely well-maintained, peppered with attention to detail and proud to relive its glorious past, you feel like back in the days when men wore hats, Chaplin movies were running in glamorous cinemas, and couples dressed up for riding rattling wooden coasters. There's a lot of love that...

Visited 2015. Groomed, organized, extensive garden, a 30-minute drive from capital Port Moresby. Contains a sizeable lake, a Ferris wheel, a kangaroo- and crocodile-powered zoo and a couple of water slides. Entrance is free (including the zoo), some attractions are ticketed. A great deal for the locals!...

Visited 2015. Small, suburban water park with a couple of slides that perfectly serves the local community, but can safely be skipped by international visitors to Cairns and the stunning Great Barrier Reef...

Visited 2015. Small crocodile zoo and exhibit on a tropical island off Cairns. Family ownership is evident in the attention to detail. Sports the allegedly biggest crocodile in captivity...

Visited 2016. The $10-ticketed Palau Aquarium is not really worth the detour given the abundance of spectacular coral reefs and stunning nature defining the small island state...

Visited 2017. I wasn't impressed by the city of Hamilton, but this collection of themed gardens is an absolute masterpiece. Accurately depicting various Asian, European and Polynesian garden styles in a never-ending labyrinth of greenery, this special place is a hundred times more inspiring than many theme parks, despite its lack of rides. Why not turn it into a global franchise?...

Visited 2017. Gated playground-cum-waterpark in a remarkably unspectacular neighborhood. Would have no chance of survival elsewhere in the world...