‘Waste of money’: Holiday crowds at Gold Coast Movie World fuming

Aussie holiday makers have been left fuming after rides were closed and waiting in long queues at the popular theme park. WHAT YOU SAID

Artwork of crowds waiting in long queues for rides at Movie World on the Gold Coast. Picture: Supplied

Aussie holiday makers have been left fuming after some were forced to queue for almost two hours at a popular theme park.

Angry visitors took to social media to air their frustrations at rides being closed at Warner Bros Movie World on the Gold Coast, while others vented that long queues meant they only enjoyed a couple of rides.

Some rides had signs warning patrons of wait times in excess of one hour.

“I’d really think twice before spending a day here (Movie World). For the hundreds of dollars spent to get into the park, we’ve been on one ride and midway through a 2 hour wait for a second and it’s 1pm,” one disgruntled park goer wrote on Facebook.

“Virtual queues are permanently full. Waste of a day and a lot of money. Absolutely the worst theme park experience I’ve had.”

Another wrote: “I really find it quite disappointing that you don’t cap crowd numbers. We came from inter state for a visit today paying in excess of $500 as a family to only manage 5 rides ALLLL (sic) day!”

“Couldn’t get to either the stunt show or street parade because we spent HOURS (sic) queuing for the rides. I get there are busy times but 140 minute + (sic) wait for rides is absurd.”

Crowds wait in long lines for rides at Movie World on the Gold Coast.

A spokesman from Village Show Theme Parks, which oversees Movie World, said only the Justice League 3D and Carousel rides were closed on Wednesday for scheduled maintenance.

“Wild West Falls had a brief temporary closure this morning, but is now operational,” he said.

As for the long queues, he said the crowd numbers had returned to pre-pandemic levels.

“We are experiencing a strong school holidays period with crowd numbers on par with pre-Covid visitation. For the school holidays we have extended our operating hours at Movie World and added an additional parade alongside extra shows and entertainment options throughout the park.

“We understand attraction closures and extended ride queues are not ideal for our guests and strive to provide the best possible guest experience, and we encourage our guests to visit our websites and download the in-park App to help best plan their visit.”

Some wait times for rides stretched to 1.5 hours at Movie World.

Wait times stretching beyond an hour have been commonplace recently, Movie World goers claimed on social media.

One person took to Twitter on Tuesday asking for a refund: “The @MovieWorldAU experience is a high priced cash grab! Absolute ass of a day.”

“Every ride was a minimum 1 hr 30- 2 hr standing in line to be able to ride for 30 – 1:30 of ride time. Do the maths. Cash grab. I think the family enjoyed about a total of 6 mins #notvalue#gibrefund.”

Another upset thrillseeker wrote on Facebook: “Well what a disappointment our visit was today lots of rides out of action not much happening at all really. Shops open and that’s about it. There is nothing for young teens.”

“Twenty years ago you could go on a tour through the movie studio and there was so much more to Movie world!! We will never be back,” they posted last month.

Wait times for some attractions at Movie World were more than one hour.

Another said they found five rides were shut down including Green Lantern and popular Scooby Doo in late September: “Only managed to get on 2 rides all day and one themed car race show … had to queue 2 hours 20 mins for superman escape.”

“Absolutely appalling. Avoid this place like the plague unless given guarantees. 27 v (sic) disappointed school kids and 3 adults.”

It was a similar experience for a family who travelled from Tasmania, who had been planning the trip for months.

“Really disappointing movie world! (sic) … The majority of rides were under maintenance, not open, there were then over 2 hour wait times for the small amount of rides open including the super man (sic) roller coaster and the virtual queues were always full,” the mother of two wrote on Facebook in late September.

“We kept checking on the Scooby Doo and we kept being told it may open soon and they kept telling us we could wait in line, we waited in line several times and it never opened.

“You shouldn’t have been charging full price when more than half your rides were down.”

Originally published as ‘Waste of money’: Holiday crowds at Gold Coast Movie World fuming