Warner Bros. Movie World, Gold Coast, Australia - 7/22/25

On our way home from Australia, I convinced the family to make a 24 hr. stop in Brisbane so I could hit at least one of the big parks in the Gold Coast. We landed at 8:00am at the Brisbane airport, I helped the rest of the family get an Uber to the hotel and zoo, and then my eldest (they/them) and I grabbed an Uber for the 60 minute drive to Warner Bros. Movie World. We had prepurchased tickets for $120 AUS ($80 US) which is quite a lot, but I remember seeing videos of Superman Escape when it was new and the more recent DC Rivals Hypercoaster and I thought it was worth the expenditure. Also, you can only see so many animals before they all look the same.

As we were driving down there were a few sprinkles of rain and then about 10 minutes away the sky completely opened up. Torrential rain caused some major slowdowns, but luckily it tapered off fairly quickly. We arrived at 9:55 for a 10:00 open, and it was definitely raining as we stood in line for the gates to open, but at this point it was just a drizzle. The park opened but only the S&S space shot and DC Rivals came online immediately, which was only running one train. Thankfully, the park wasn't particularly crowded, but it was still frustrating to have to wait so long between dispatches. We were on the third train of the day for Rivals in the back (well, the backmost forward facing row. The actual back row faces backwards, but is an upcharge). There was a slight mist, but it did not take away from the excellence of this coaster. The twisting drop has great air, the first big hill delivers great airtime, and the non-inverting loop has a surprising amount of whip which actually creates some float as well. By far the best iteration of this element that I've ridden (given that it's pretty boring on the SkyRocket 2's). I've heard some criticism that the middle section is kind of weak, but I like the low, snappy turns and the sensation of speed. There are also a few little hops with airtime thrown if for good measure. And the last set of three hills were really strong ejector moments. We ended up riding row 2, row 10, and row 1 later in the day for a total of 4 laps.

I really, really like this ride. There are parts that are like Fury 325, parts that are like S:RoS SFNE, and unique elements that make it stand out. It was super smooth, the restraints were comfortable, and the layout was excellent. It's in my top 5 steel, maybe only behind the two previously mentioned rides.

The one thing I did find super annoying, is that they would not let me wear my glasses (even with a strap) on the ride. I understand their concern, but it really detracts from the experience for me, personally, which is what really matters.

After Rivals, we made our way over to Superman Escape which was a 20 minute wait. This accelerator coaster bears many similarities to two of my favorites, Storm Runner and Xcelerator. Unfortunately, the ride experience was not in the same league. The dark ride portion was mostly lost on me due to the required removal of glasses, though it didn't appear to be that well done, from what I could tell. The launch lacked the punch of the other hydraulic launchers and the train crawled over the top hat. It felt like you could pull out a basket have a picnic while you were up there. Sadly, this meant that the other hills didn't generate much force. It was a decent ride and I would've liked to try it again, but with single train operations and the glasses policy, I was much more keen to go ride DC Rivals a few more times.

We also got a lap on Flight of the Wicked Witch, a Vekoma family invert, which was quite good. It had some nice theming and some neat flyby moments. We also got on Road Runner Rollercoaster, which was also a decent Vekoma family coaster. Longer than most and the first drop had some surprising thrills.

Flash opened at about 1:00pm, but with an outdoor queue and the rain and the slow operations (and the mediocre ride experience), we didn't want to wait it out. We headed out around 4:00, satisfied with our day.

Overall, the park is beautiful. It is very well themed, the staff is very helpful and friendly, and even on a rainy day, everyone seemed to be having fun. The operations were atrocious: single train on everything, Kansas Twister and Green Lantern (an El Loco) and the log flume were down the entire day and Flash only opened halfway through. But the excellence of DC Rivals Hypercoaster cannot be argued. I wish I could have gotten more rides on it, but "capacity!" It was a great day and since there aren't any major parks on the continent not run by Village Roadshow, I wonder if regular guests know how annoying single train operation is or if "that's just the way rollercoasters are."

Incidentally, there was a kids ride with very slow go-karts where the kids were free to drive around a mock town with intersections, rotaries, and traffic patterns. All the kids obey the traffic laws, were polite, and nobody crashed into each other. It was like if Bluey was real. My kid and I commented that if this were in America, it wouldn't take 5 minutes before they had to add all kinds of warnings, directions, and threats. "This is why we can't have nice things."

Australian operation speeds are without exception dire, with the notable exception of when they're emptying out the queue at the end of each day.

Glad you had a good day.