Qld holiday - lots of questions!

In September im taking my DS, who will be 1 year old by then, to Qld for the weekend to see my dad (Fathers Day weekend!). Rather than using google and spending 7 hours going through 300,000 websites, i thought i'd ask for advice here from those who are in the know! As its a surprise for dad, i cant ask him to suss these things out for me and need to organise it all before we leave...

1. Is it possible to hire a rental car with a car seat or do i need to hire that separately from somewhere? If so, where near Springfield Qld could i hire one?

2. Can i take a port-a-cot as well as a stroller on a plane as luggage, as well as a suitcase? I'll be flying with Virgin and not sure if i can take the cot as well as the stroller?

3. Out of Movieworld, Dreamworld and Seaworld, which would be most enjoyable for a 1 year old? I know that none of them are exactly age appropriate but which out of the 3 would be most entertaining for him? I've been to all 3 but wasn't really looking at them through the eyes of a 1 yr old!!

Thank you for your help ladies! :D

You should be able to take all of that and the car seat aswell if you wanted one.. ( I always pack ours) I would ring and ask a few car rentals to see if they can supply car seat dont see why they wouldnt stupid if they didnt...

As for the Parks I would say Sea World as he would be able to see the animals like the sharks and polar bears and think that might be more entertaining... As all the parks have a small kiddy ride area but he might still be too young for these...

Have a great time very jelous would love to be going to QLD about now....

I thought of taking the car seat but am a bit scared of the way they just throw things around...hence why im buying a cheap stroller to take instead of my pram!

I was thinking Seaworld too for the animal factor!

Hi
we took our little man when he was 18 months.
Yes when you hire a car ask for a car seat, it may be a small fee, but most car places have car seats and it will be fitted for you.

Check with Virgin I know that you can carry a certain amount of baby essentials, like stroller without that being classed as your luggage.
as for the theme pasrks, im not sure which one would be the best. our little man just liked watching everything that was going on.

Yes you can hire cars with car seats just make sure when you book your car you tell them what age your bub is, where you want the seat (behind passenger seat, middle etc) and forward or rear facing. Also you can take the port-a-cot and your bags and your stroller (we always do). We always fly with Qantas as DH is a frequent flyer but I wouldn't think it should matter.
Have a wonderful time, take lots of photos and enjoy the time with your Dad!

Seaworld would be best park to go to as so may animals to look at.
2nd by Dreamworld as they do have all the Australian aninals and tiggers!!!!

Enjoy and have fun

we live in brissy and our little man hasnt arrived yet but i think australia zoo (at beerwah its about an hour and 1/2 drive from springfield) little one will get much more out of it that the other theme parks. if you have any problems you could always buy the stroller when you get here as you said you were going to buy a cheap one here is a shopping centre in springfield. you would have to hire your car from the airport or somewhere that would deliver it to the airport unless you plan to train then bus it to springfield, its a $90 plus taxi fare from the airport otherwise. have fun.

We took Matilda to Dreamworld for her birthday a while ago & it was good. Wiggles world was entertaining & there is a play area there for crawlers & toddlers to hang out it. Also an animal area. So its a good place to go as well. Sea World would be good as well, but I didn't think it was as toddler friendly, ykwim?

You can hire everything if you can, there's a company that does it through resorts etc., but I've done the car seat in the hire car thing & its worked fine :)

You can hire a car seat with your car through any of the bigger companies - they used to be worth about $5/day on top of the listed rental.

I would have picked Seaworld due to the animal component but had forgotten about Wiggles world at Dreamworld - so I would also consider who else is going with you and weigh it up from their.

Virgin used to be that all baby stuff contributed to 5kg of your luggage allowance no matter how much you took or how much it weighed so your portacot, stroller, and if you decided to, your carseat would all only count for 5kg - just check what there total luggage is I can't remember whether its 15 or 20kg and then take off your 5kg of baby stuff to get your suitcase limit. In saying this we have got buy on numerous occasions with excess luggage on Virgin without having to pay (Jetstar on the other hand is a different story). They do have this luggage information easily findable on their website.

Hi!
Due to DH work, I have taken my almost 6 month old on 4 plane trips so far. We have had a car seat with the hire car 3 times and taken ours once (none left).
I have never been charged excess baggage on qantas or jetstar. Last trip I had a suitcase, portacot and pram (the girl mentioned all baby stuff was included).
In Perth we hired the portacot which was great (website found on tourist website)
As a brisbanite I would also suggest seaworld, though they are all good parks!