Luna Park, one of Melbourne’s most iconic landmarks, has a carnival atmosphere all year round.

Originally published July 2012

When: Open weekends and school holidays from 11am, check timetable as times depend on season and date, click here.

Where: 18 Lower Esplanade, St Kilda.  Click here for a map and information on how to get there.

What: Melbourne’s original theme park, opened in 1912 and modeled on international parks such as Coney Island’s Luna Park.

Cost: If you choose not to enjoy the rides then entry into Luna Park is $5, otherwise ticket prices start from $4.95, click here for day passes, family tickets and other information

We dropped into Luna Park on a rainy June Saturday in the late afternoon for a quick visit on our way to dinner.

While the weather was a bit gloomy, the upside to visiting in winter meant that Luna Park was fairly deserted.  Charlie (4) and I had a turn on the dragon/serpent roller coaster (suitable for little ones) and we were the only ones on the ride.  You’d have to pay me money to go on it again however (so that I can afford the physio) as it was seriously jerky in spots and I am not a fan of fast rides… I was surprised after seven laps (yes I was counting!!) I didn’t sustain minor whiplash.  For the first two laps Charlie whimpered that he wanted to get off.. but perhaps that was due to my grip being just a tad too tight – by the end he had a big grin plastered on his face and declared he wanted more.

Imogen (possibly takes after me) decided that the Carousel was for her – and it’s a magnificent carousel too.

Before we decided on our rides we walked around and contemplated all our options.  And for little ones there are a few options to choose from.  Luna Park isn’t huge so this makes it much less overwhelming than, say, something like the Melbourne Show (where I spend the entire walk through the rides section paranoid I am going to get hit in the head by a loose shoe).

Edit/
We revisted Luna Park in 2017 and made this video.