A few weeks ago, other half and myself stayed in the city for the weekend, and decided to just go and have fun. Do something we wont usually do. And even though Johannesburg has a lot to offer, it is difficult to find something to satisfy other half’s levels of boredom. Shopping is boring. To me anyway. One can shop any day of the week. Food Markets, which I love, does not excite other half. So that was out. Museums? Mostly closed on Saturdays. Why is that? Movies? To boring.
So we decided to visit Gold Reef City Theme Park. We were there many years ago. Maybe 22 years, if not more. Got there well in advance…and good heavens, the queue was a mile long. Excited kids and their long suffering parents all waiting patiently for the gates to open. In retrospect, I should have bought tickets online, as it took forever for us to purchase the tickets at the cash booths. It is really not well organized, as there is no demarcated “entry” and “exit” lines when you buy your tickets. You have to push past people to exit after you have bought the tickets. They can definitely do something about that. You are also not allowed to take any food or drink into the park, so if you are a family, it can become quite expensive. In fact the food, although there is a big variety, is very costly.
So off we went on the fun rides. The fact that I am scared of heights did not help much. I must admit I only did the tame rides, but other half did the scary ones as well. Even the dreaded Anaconda. No thanks. You are hanging upside down meters from the ground? And the kids just love it. I saw them finishing one circuit and running back to the starting line of the queue. And the queues were long. Some even as long as 45 minutes. I can really recommend that one should rather go during the week, if one can. There is a wonderful 4D movie theater which I enjoyed a lot. And then there is an animal farm and also a bird show. Although I am against any form of using any animals for “shows”, I did find the information interesting regarding the birds. I was disappointed though that some of the rides as well as the underground old mine tour were closed, as it would have been of great interest to both of us.
Though, all in all we had a great day. Even though we had a massive hail storm in the late afternoon and all the rides were cancelled after that, for safety reasons. This is definitely a place for you if you have children, or if you enjoy thrill rides. For me…I am not so sure. Take up knitting perhaps?
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