Wet’n’Wild has been a mainstay in the Gold Coast for a long time now so when one opened in Sydney it was only a matter of time until we visited. That time came on a hot weekend in November and we were lucky to have a perfect, sunny day of about 28 degrees (Celsius).
First Impressions of Wet’n’Wild Sydney
My first impression of the park was that it wasn’t as big as I was expecting. At most theme parks you need a map to find anything and plan your day accordingly. At Wet’n’Wild Sydney this is not the case and although this sounds like a negative, it works in their favour because it is big enough to house plenty of slides and activities to keep you entertained for an entire day, but small enough that you don’t need to make any plan, you just float wherever you feel like going next – sometimes literally.
My second impression was that there were not many people there. This might be because it is pretty early season but I didn’t ask too many questions because I could park right near the gate and I walked straight on to just about every slide I wanted to without queueing. I imagine as school holidays hits in December this will be a completely different story.
Overview of the Park – what is there?
Wet’n’Wild Sydney centres around an enormous man-made beach with the largest sun umbrellas I’ve ever seen. This beach borders an even bigger pool, which creates artificial waves, simulating a real beach.
The park has 4 slide towers with anywhere from 2 to 6 different slides on each. Each tower and slide has a varying level of speed and adrenaline so all levels of thrill-seeker are catered for, from the complete wuss/small child to the adrenaline junkie.
There is a lazy river, part of Dinosaur Lagoon, which is fun and somewhat relaxing to float around in rings. In fact, and I don’t know if you’re allowed to do this, but the lazy river would be great to actually have floating armchairs or blow up animals to float around in.
And just imagine if the park was BYO. Floating around the lazy river with a beer. Now that’s an idea for a theme park.
Um…where was I?
I’m not really sure why the lazy river area is dinosaur themed, but it actually works well as something extra to take your attention. The kids will love pressing the buttons to make the dinosaurs move and it’s pretty cool seeing a life-size (I imagine) Diplodocus overlook the pool.
There is a kids play area called Nickelodeon Beach, with a few appearances by Spongebob, Patrick and Sandy, and a giant bucket that fills with water and crashes down every few minutes.
Lastly, there are also a couple of pay-to-play rides that are not included in the entry ticket. One is what must be the biggest swing in the world (at 75 metres), and another is the Surf Deck, an artificial surfing wave. Both are $25.
For the Kids
As I mentioned there is a fairly large kids area with fountains, larger-than-life-size Spongebob characters, as well as kid-sized tube rides that parents can take their kids on. Probably not enough to entertain young kids all day, but in saying that I don’t think it’s supposed to.
For the Thrill-seekers
I’ll be honest. Before coming to Wet n Wild I was expecting most of the rides to be reasonably tame. Fun, but not adrenaline pumping.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were in fact a number of rides that fed my roller coaster habit.
The 360 Rush was my favourite ride. It was short, but thankfully there was no line so I just walked on. It starts on the same platform at the H2Go Racer slides, they strap a board to your back and you hop in to this clear chute, upright, not dissimilar to something you’d be cryogenically frozen in.
They count you down and the floor drops from beneath you and you free fall and are shot through the tube at phenomenal speed. It’s over before you know it, your heart is racing, and you can’t wait to do it again.
The Bombora is another for the thrill-seekers. On a raft seating 4, it takes you through a few turns before dipping down a steep slide and up an almost vertical wall before finishing. Quick, but your stomach will drop.
There are more but I will keep it at that for now.
The Food Options
I didn’t actually buy any food there – I brought my own because I was expecting theme park prices. I was correct to do so because I did have a wander through the food vendors.
To give you an idea of prices, you can get a small pizza for about $13, and 4 burgers for $50 (didn’t see the individual price). This didn’t include drinks. So yeah, not cheap. Sneak in your own sandwiches, fruit and snacks like I did.
They also have their own cafe with a selection of coffees, wraps, cakes, ice cream and other delights you would find in your local cafe. I didn’t buy anything there buy it was done up well with blackboards and wicker chairs. It would be a good place to sit out of the sun while your kids go off and do rides.
What I loved about Wet’n’Wild Sydney
The park is not huge so you don’t need to do a lot of walking like you might at a typical theme park, and yet there is still plenty of action to keep you entertained for a whole day.
The beach is huge, as is the wave pool. There are sun recliners on the beach but I have a feeling on a busy school holiday weekend these would fill up very fast. The wave pool is very novel, and would be especially cool to play in for those that don’t live near a beach. I do live near the beach and it’s still impressive. It just gives the whole area an authentic beachy vibe.
The rides are genuine, ear-to-ear laughing, fun. Even for those craving thrills like myself, the more tame slides are very enjoyable, and the fast rides are even better. There’s something for everyone here.
What I didn’t love
You can’t take your GoPro on the slides. This was a real bummer, as I was really looking forward to testing out my new gear with some really unique vision. I asked why and they stated vague safety reasons. I can somewhat respect that so I didn’t try to sneak it on later, despite what the voice on my other shoulder was telling me. But…
You can’t even take you GoPro in the lazy river. This I didn’t understand, nor did I respect, nor was I given a reason. So I did get some pretty cool vision floating around the river when the lifeguards weren’t looking.
Parking and lockers were extra. You come to expect this from theme parks but it still sucks. Especially when the car park is a purpose-built for the park and will not be used by anyone other than visitors. Just include it in the price or not at all!
Some rides need a minimum of 2. This is not great if you are in a party of 2, and half your party doesn’t want to do a particular ride. This happened to me on a few of the more hairy rides. By chance there happened to be some other poor sod who was denied because he didn’t have a partner as I was getting on another ride at the top. I mentioned to him that I’m looking for a partnet and would go with him because Kynie wasn’t keen. I raced back up and walked straight on with him.
Best tips for visiting Wet’n’Wild Sydney
Go with a small group. I had great fun with Kynie at the park but with more people there are more chances that you’ll have a partner to do some of those rides with you. I missed out on doing what looked to be some really cool rides so next time I’d go with a bigger crew.
Sneak in your own food. This wasn’t at all difficult. I opened up a single zip of my bag to the one security guard at the door, he took a peek, asked if I had any cans or glass (which I didn’t), and that was it. Probably saved us at least $40 in food, drinks and snacks throughout the day.
Go outside of school holidays. Holidays are peak, peak time and if you ignore this, expect a crowded beach and long queues. I guess this is not dissimilar to other theme parks, and if that’s unavoidable then so be it. But if at all possible go in the early or late season like I did (I went early November).
If you go in low season, I probably wouldn’t bother with the Cabanas. They aren’t huge (well some are bigger than others), and the chairs don’t look as relaxing as the deck chairs on the beach. But, in the high season when the entire park is packed, the cabanas could genuinely provide some much-needed respite as you seek some private shelter away from crowds and the sun.
Overall…
Just go. Wet’n’Wild was fun for me as part of a couple, but I would have had just as much fun in a small group, large group or family. They have catered for all demographics really well and if you pick a day with low crowds, by lunchtime you’ll have worn yourself ragged from all the stairs you’ve climbed, which will be a perfect excuse to laze about on the beach.
Kynie and I were hosted by Wet’n’Wild Sydney, but all opinions and recommendations are 100% my own.
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