Mr Jetsetting Kids was away for Mothers Day this year. This happens most years and this time his work travels took him to Sri Lanka. I was determined to have an amazing Mothers Day, so I teamed up with my mum and grandmother to take a trip to the Gold Coast for a short break.
Going to the Gold Coast is pretty easy for us. We live in Brisbane and it’s only an hour’s drive down the highway to Surfers Paradise. I enjoy the trip and most times use it as an excuse to put our My Fun passes to work by popping into Movie World, White Water World and Sea World to go on a few rides and visit our favourite attractions. This time round, we visited Movie World on our way home from the Coast.
Getting ready for our trip:
So without Mr JSK around to help, I packed the bags and loaded up the car. I’m pretty used to this, these days and have a good routine. Packing cubes to keep the boys stuff organised and separated help. I also never unpack the toiletries bag, it’s always loaded up and ready to go for when we need it. I restock what we’re out of at the end of every trip, so it’s good to go for the next one.
Where we stayed:
On our Mother’s Day shortbreak we stayed in an amazing apartment overlooking the ocean and Surfers Paradise called Chevron Renaissance, which is run by Mantra Hotels.
We are pretty familiar with most hotels on the Coast, usually opting for the Hilton Residences, Paradise Resort, Peppers Broadbeach, The Marriot, the QT Hotel and Seaworld Nara; but this was our first stay at Mantra. We chose it for it’s great price for a 3 bedder in a great location on what was a really busy weekend for the coast.
I was pretty impressed with the facilities for families and have now added to my list of recommendations for holiday stays with kids. I made note of the following:
- Outdoor lagoon pool with sandy rock pools for the kids to play in.
- An indoor heated lap pool and spa with views over the canals through to the mountains – stunning!
– A playground right next to the lagoon – genius!
- You can also expect: BBQ areas, an abundant amount of outdoor seating, a games room, movie room and a Coles shopping centre right downstairs – handy and saves on eating out all the time which as we know is not always that fun with kids! 🙂
- Our hotel room was well appointed including a full kitchen and laundry. We were on the 23rd floor and had great views of Surfers Paradise which looked amazing both night and day. The lifts to take us up to our room were also super quick.
What we did:
Mantra Chevron Renaissance is conveniently located in the heart of Surfers Paradise.The beach is a 5 minute walk away and you’re only 15 minutes by car to attractions like Sea World. The tram and bus also stop right outside the hotel, taking you up and down the Gold Coast Highway anywhere you want to go.
While we were in town we decided to check out the Infinity Attraction which was located just downstairs from the hotel. Infinity is located in a great little hub of shops with nice restaurants and a gelato place handy.
What is it: Infinity Attraction is like a giant fun house with advanced lighting illusions and sound effects. You work your way through various mazes and challenges to move from world to world.
Note: This attraction’s T&Cs do say that is your child is scared of the dark that it’s not for them and suggests that it’s best suited to those aged 8 and up. I powered on knowing that I have pretty resilient kids and figured I could talk my way through any fall out. My 4 year old absolutely loved it – we had to hold him back; but my 6 year old was a lot more reserved and made his way through each of the spectacular worlds with great, great caution.
My mum and I had fun navigating our family through the attraction which took us about 30 minutes – but you can stay in there as long as you need. The photo below was taken about half way through and sensory overload had well and truly kicked in. What we had experienced so far was something in between Disney’s space mountain and Survivor ? I hope you like and appreciate our white gloves and footwear also.
Each world, offers highly interactive all-sensory experience and will challenge you to think, feel and rely on those around you to get through to the next world. It really does have to be experienced to be believed. We enjoyed it but I would say that unless your little one is adventurous like my youngest, that i’d wait until they hit age 13 (yep older than the recommendation because you really do need some maturity to handle what you are experiencing).
I think teens would think that this was brilliant and it would be so fun to check out as a group. I’d like to go back in again one day to really take it all in and appreciate the detail that has gone into building this unique attraction.
Overall, I had a pretty great Mothers Day. It was made extra special by the little people who love me and by my wonderful husband who’s graciously donated Fathers Day to me as my day also 😉
We always have a fun time on the Gold Coast and are happy to help any families considering a holiday here with recommendations on what to see and do. Comment below, email us or visit us on insta for live chat.
Details:
For more information and ticketing visit: www.infinitygc.com.au
Credits:
We were media guests of Infinity Attraction. All opinions are strictly our own and correct at the time of publication.
