Day 4: Movieworld

The crowd had begun to swell although it was only 9:40am when we arrived at the Warner Brothers Movie World this Monday morning. It was a glorious summer day and I was glad to have clothed the children in long-sleeve shirts.

As a theme park, Movieworld achieved international standards. The attractions were well-maintained - everything looked like it just had a fresh coat of paint yesterday, including the synthetic grass. One of the first things that caught our attention was this huge Superman roller-coaster (see below). We had no intention of trying this ride.
Along the main street we also saw the Harry Potter shop with various types of wands and soft toys on sale.
As a family, we went for a few of their signature attractions like the Shrek 4D Adventure and the Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster (left). Shrek was okay but the Spooky Coaster, an indoor roller coaster, scared the wits out of the two younger children. They declared they never wanted to sit on this ride again. In their opinion, it was scarier than the Space Mountain ride in HK Disneyland.

The other signature ride was the Batman adventure simulator ride. We took a picture with the actual Batmobil used in one of the Batman movies (below).

We split up a few times as Son No 1 and I went for the more thrilling rides - I had a higher tolerance for adrenalin than hubby. The thrill rides we went for were the Road Runner Roller Coaster (mild but fun) and the Lethal Weapon (awesome). The Lethal Weapon turned us upside down 5 times, with our feet dangling in the sky, traveling at 85km/hr. We survived.

I would say the children enjoyed the Kids Zone the most. The wide grins on their faces told it all.

Son No 3’s favourite was this Sylvester’s Pounce and Bounce (below). A few months ago, when we were at Genting, Son No 3 tried this ride and was scared out of his wits. This time, he was not afraid at all and rather enjoyed himself. In contrast, Son No 2 seemed bored (far below). He had only deigned to accompany Son No 3 on this ride. He was two years older – been there, done that!

The bumper car ride, Taz Hollywood Cars, was most popular with the three boys. Being boys, their faces lit up behind the wheel. The boys went for this ride several times.

The other kiddy car ride was this Speedy Gonzales’ Tijuana Taxi. This ride was a rendezvous for Son No 1. The last time he was here, when he was 4 years old, this had been his favourite ride. Then, he rode it over and over again until the park closed and we were the last patron to leave this ride.

There was a parade at 3:30pm. Son No 1 did not join us to watch the parade. He went off on his own to take the Scooby Doo ride again.

After the disastrous lunch at Dreamworld, I prepared sardines and tuna sandwiches for a picnic lunch (see below). It was much healthier, economical and time-saving that way. I also packed juice, peaches and plums. We had a picnic at the clean synthetic lawn under the all-weather canopy.

When we left at 5 pm, both Sons No 2 and 3 declared it was the best day ever and made plans to come back again so that they could take the thrill rides. Son No 2 wanted to come back soon - like next year - when he would have mustered up enough courage to take the Road Runner roller coaster. I had to tell him that was unlikely, sorry to dash his hopes. Son No 3 was more realistic – he planned to come back in 5 years’ time, when he was 10 and was as tall as his eldest brother.

Son No 1, who was usually more reticent in expressing his views when compared to his chatty younger brothers, volunteered that he preferred Dreamworld, for the simple reason that it was less crowded. Son No 1 also preferred the rides at Dreamworld.

Today was Day 4 and whatever food and drinks that we stocked up on Day 1 needed to be replenished. We did our normal thing – grocery shopping at Coles and Chinese eatery for dinner – it was beginning to feel like home.

Son No 2 asked wistfully, “Can we stay here forever?”