Are you thinking about heading the the Brisbane Ekka? Have people told you that you are crazy? Don’t worry, I have come to the conclusion that it’s an Urban myth set upon us by our parents from when they didn’t want to take us. This Myth of “you are crazy to go”. Is something parents say to instill fear into a child to that they will indeed stop asking us to actually go.
This year it was my first year attempting it as a solo adult. We had only 2 days we could attend the weekend or Peoples day. Well folks, I treat it like a band-aid and ripped that sucker off on Wednesday, yes Peoples day. Now I don’t have to worry about it anymore. And We actually survived! We didn’t get crushed to death by people and hopefully none of us caught any bad flu’s though we had a class mate out last week with flu so going to School is more dangerous than attending Ekka. In fact I guarantee it is, because we went through a whole bottle of hand sanitizer at Ekka and my kids don’t use it at School, ever!
There is actually Hand sanitizers setup all over Ekka so you don’t even need to take your own.
We always start our journey by checking the lines at the Showbag stand. Trust me you DO NOT want to head there at home time. Either grab a locker for the day $2 or lug them around with you. Trust me, you don’t want tired whiny kids and adults getting show bags at 6pm.
Budget you ask? Well my children need to pay for their own showbags, so they spend months saving up for what they would like. The older they get the less they buy so that is a good thing. Lots of showbags are just commercial toys, One even had a toy BBQ you in. You don’t want to be lugging that around and I am 99% sure it wouldn’t fit in a locker. If you want toys than go the toy shop. That’s my motto!
Most full size branded bags are around $26 dollars, you can buy multiple candy bags for $10 and bags even $1 So you could easily get out of there with $30 per child.
Food? The Ekka 2017 seems more about food than anything else, lot’s more food options with seating and music. It’s the perfect place to have a progressive lunch or dinner. Is the food expensive? No more than say Eat Street or one of those markets. You can take your own food and you can buy the famous cheese toasties for $2. Of course the Woolworths pavilion is full of food samples, do a few trips around and your tummy is full! Taste a few wines too and the rest of your day will be merrier.
Water – Water bottle refills are available for free at the SEQ stand. Water is our choice of FREE drink.
Rides – Rides are a financial killer, Always have been. We paid $9 each to get wet on the Pirate ride. The kids loved it and at least it wasn’t 10 stories high like some of the rides that freaked me out. Thankfully my children are too small for those yet, but they average $15+ dollars per ride. You can grab deals and coupons from Ekka.com.au.
The kids went on the Euro slide which was 3 rides for $10, they loved it as much as the $9 ride.
Side show alley – I am sorry I have nothing nice to say about it. It’s so expensive! It seams more and more they are doing bulk deals of 5 games for $10 etc. Id like to see things with $1 a shot or something like that. Again my Children use their own pocket money if they want to play as they know I don’t like them. My daughter played a dart game for $10 and got it out of her system. She won a small emoji keychain – She was happy enough.
Activities –
This year was the first year the Royal Flying Doctors attended with their Big plane , which was very popular. The kids enjoyed walking through and getting to sit in the cockpit.
Science is always popular and the Police and Government areas are well worth a visit. Keep in mind these close around 5pm. They give out lots of printables and activity sheets, We even got a frisbee, hat and Fidget spinner from them. You can sit on the Police Bike or take your photo with the Queensland government booth dress ups.
Lets not forget the award wining crafts.
We didn’t make it to the Animals this year, as it was a really hot day and we struggled to get around as much as we had liked. You definitely want to take the younger children to see all the animals though.
Things we didn’t like – Some of the showbags were misrepresented online. When we got them home some things were missing, just candy but according to my 9 year old the important ones. We were also overcharged for a slushy novelty cup that was clearly marked at $6 but we were charged $10 and told it was the wrong one. They also had an extra $2 charge to turn the $5 slushie in to a showbag where online it clearly states its $5 only in total. sorry Rainbow slushy people we distrust you now.
Tickets prices are always going to be complained about but at least they now have a Twilight ticket for evenings but keep in mind the Government stuff we mentioned above finish at 5 make sure to check your timetable.
Would we go again? Yes absolutely!