Warner Brothers Movie World

It was an early start for all of us - we didn't want to miss a thing at Movie World.  The excitement was electric as the day the boys (and us!) had been waiting for, for so long, had finally arrived.

Even the discovery that I had lost the diamond out of my engagement ring couldn't dampen my spirits.  (Well, that's not exactly true, but with the boys bursting with excitement, I was determined not to let it spoil our day!)

 

We had our photos taken for our annual passes on the way in and then it was straight to the Roxy Theatre for a 4D movie, Rio.   This is one of those theatres where in addition to the 3D image launching out from the screen the seats move, water is sprayed on you and air is shot past your ears when the characters zoom by.

The boys were suitably impressed and Fletcher later declared this as his favourite 'ride' of the day.

Next it was off to the Scooby Doo Super Coaster, which had been highly recommended by Jack's best mate Ben.  Jack and Jarrah were not disappointed with this indoor rollercoaster, complete with ghouls and gargoyles jumping out at you while it sends you 17 metres into the air at speeds of up to 45 kph!  ZOINKS!

Fletch, however, was to be disappointed for the first of many times today as the ride restrictions on this ride included a minimum height requirement of 110 cms.  So I took him to the Scooby Store while we waited to do the 'parent swap' on the spooky coaster.  This is a really cool system where parents don't need to line up twice for rides if they have a young child ineligible to ride.  It didn't actually matter today as there was rarely a need to line up, but I imagine on a busy day this system must be a Godsend.

 

Next it was off to the Superman Escape ride, which was top on Jack and Jarrah's bucket list.  Unfortunately, the ride restrictions on this one eliminated all the kids from riding.  So it was that Bruce and I fell on our swords and volunteered to ride on it just so we could let them know what it was like!

The scenario is that you're taking a nice ride through the Metropolis rollercoaster subway. Then bang! Rumble! Earthquake! Before you know it LOOK UP IN THE SKY, IT'S SUPERMAN!- propelling your carriage skyward at 100kph! This coaster goes from zero to 100kph in only two seconds, and gives you 760 metres of vertical climbs, weightless drops, head spinning twists and giant G-force turns.  Holy Cow Batman!  That's all I have to say!

Next it was off to the Batwing Spaceshot, where you're shot 60 metres into the sky with 4.5Gs, followed by a drop into a breathtaking negative descent.  The ride restrictions on this one allowed Jarrah to just scrape in at 123 cms.  He was one happy (scared) boy!

By this stage Fletch was getting a bit fed up with doing nothing but walking and waiting, so we found a ride that he could ride.  The Justice League 3D Ride is an interactive ride where earth is under alien attack.  We got to climb aboard a laser pod, grab a laser blaster and join Superman, Batman and an army of Super Heroes in a 3D battle against the evil villain Starro the Conqueror and millions of his alien spores.

Travelling through the devastated cities of Metropolis and Gotham we blasted the aliens and fought side-by-side with the Justice League to save the citizens of Earth.  Fletch loved it so much he dragged us back later in the day for another go!

After all this spinning and spiralling and speeding and shooting it was time to slow things down a bit and watch a couple of shows.  First we checked out the Kids Dance Party where the boys got to have fun and play games with all the Looney Tunes Characters.  Then we checked out the Hollywood Stunt Driver 2 show.  It wasn't nearly as good as the Policy Academy Show that they used to perform, but the kids seemed to enjoy it.

Next we headed to the Kids WB Fun Zone where Fletch was eligible to go on ALMOST all the rides.  He had his heart set on going on the Road Runner Rollercoaster but with a minimum height of 100 cm and Johnston genes he didn't have a hope.  Watching Jack and Jarrah climb aboard was too much for him and he sat on the ground and just sobbed and sobbed.  My heart broke.  Even Bugs felt sorry for him and the hug he got went a fair way to cheering him (and me) up.

He loved driving the cars in the Junior Driving School (which we did several times) and driving the Tijuana Taxis (where in a radical and highly illegal manoeuvre he actually overtook Jack!).  He rode the Looney Tunes Carousel and the mini Spaceshot.

After a quick bite to eat it was off to Main Street for the Star Parade. 

Of course the Looney Tunes characters were a favourite.
 

And Cat Woman was pretty hot.

 

But I think that the Batmobile was the hands-down winner for my bunch of boys!

Soon enough the parade was over and we were racing the clock to ride as many rides as possible before closing time.  The Spooky Scooby Coaster was a bit of a favourite with Jack and Jarrah riding over and over again.  We made our way to the Wild West Falls Adventure Ride where we travelled  past Indian reservations, ghost towns, geysers and wagon trains and reached speeds of up to 70 kph.  It ended with a 20 metre drop with a good dose of water action!

 

This one Fletcher was allowed to ride but after two goes which included a couple of solid drenchings he'd had enough.  So the bigger boys had another couple of goes on their own.

 

Bruce and I managed to squeeze in an 'adults only' ride on the Arkham Asylum rollercoaster.  With this one we rocketed through Arkham Asylum at speeds of up to 85km, pulling 4.2Gs and facing five stomach-churning inversions.   Arghhhh!!

 

 

Jarrah declared that his favourite ride of the day was the Batwing Spaceshot, so we headed back there for another go.  Despite having been tall enough this morning, they wouldn't let him ride this afternoon.  More sobbing.  More broken hearts.  Interestingly, it is quite common for kids to be a cm or two shorter in the afternoon than they were in the morning.

 

Fletch waited patiently while Jarrah went with Bruce to Guests Services to get his height double checked.

 

But alas, he still didn't quite make the height requirement.  We vowed to visit again before we leave the Gold Coast and get him on this ride first thing in the morning!  We had a very brief look in the Gift Shops and before we knew it, it was after 5.30pm.  What a day!

 

We headed home to Mermaid Waters, where we shared our stories with Yvonne and Cobbs.  Cobbs had been busy cooking up a storm while we were away, and we all enjoyed a beautiful roast lamb dinner.

 

Despite the busy day, Yvonne and I found that we had some more catching up to do.  This catching up went way into the wee small hours and by 2am we seemed to have made quite a decent dent in the contents of her liqueur cupboard.  Oops.