I’ve watched many theme park videos from around the world over the years and one place that seems very underrepresented is Fairy Park in Anakie, Victoria Australia. Yet, having visited this, it reminded me of some I’ve seen in Europe, particularly Germany.
About Fairy Park Anakie – Australia’s Oldest Theme Park
Fairy Park Anakie Photos
Below is a collection of photos from my recent visit to Fairy Park in Anakie near Geelong. This doesn’t cover all of the attractions, so consider this but a taste of what you can expect to see there.
The Hungry Knight Eatery
The food at Fairy Park was quite basic, but everything was well-priced. Much cheaper than at bigger tourist attractions. I guess being a family-owned location means lower overheads.
Castle Toilets
This is the first photo I took at Fairy Park. I was so impressed with how well-themed the toilet block was, I knew I was in for something special.
Snow White and the 7 Dwarves
One of the first displays is for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. These animatronics are similar to what you might expect to see at the Myer Christmas windows in Melbourne.
The Frog Prince
The Frog Prince display had some little taps for the kids to play with. They seemed to squirt water but I’m not quite sure what the objective was or where the water was meant to go. My son found it interesting all the same.
Onward!
My son was very excited to be here. Whilst there was so much to explore, he kind of couldn’t get enough of finding new things and didn’t quite get to appreciate each display long enough to hear the full stories.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Many of the displays are in little houses or cottages with the animatronics inside behind glass windows. A little button activates them. My son kept knocking on doors and trying to go in side.
The displays were all very charming in a royalty-free fairytale kind of way.
Thumbelina
The Thumbelina outdoor display was a good example of an outdoor display, having a mix of animatronic displays inside the little houses and some static outdoor displays gives a good variety of attractions and photo opportunities, as the animatronics are hard to photographic with a person due to the reflections on the glass.
The Three Little Pigs
The Magic Carpet
I didn’t realise that The Magic Carpet was a separate story to Aladdin, so I guess it’s interesting to see all of these displays and get an understanding of the original non-Disney version of these fairytales.
Jack & The Beanstalk
This display was so big I couldn’t get a full photo of it (I prefer landscape photos in my blog).
The Giant?
I’m pretty sure that this is meant to be the giant from Jack & The Beanstalk. I like the way incorporate the castle above into this scene. It reminds me of some of the forced prospective work done at Disney parks. But the eyes on this thing are a bit too buggy for me.
The Fairy Park Apes
As these were made in 1977, I’m pretty certain that they were inspired by 1971’s Escape from Planet of the Apes or another film in that franchise. Possibly the first film as well where I think they had some gorillas getting a group photo around their kills.
Some Wildlife
Fairy Park is not really a place to go to see wildlife, but here’s a cute little bee that I saw.
Puff The Magic Dragon is one of the best photo opportunities and has a great background of the main castle.
Here’s a photo of my son and me in front of Puff The Magic Dragon. He was pretty unsure about him at first but we eventually got an acceptable photo. I’ve read some comments online pointing out that it’s unusual for a dragon or reptile to be depicted with froward facing eyes. I guess this is what makes Puff special.
Views From The Top of Fairy Park
From higher up you can see the lower areas such as the Frog Prince, the initial fairy tale houses you first encounter and then the food place. I think you can also see the gift shop that I forgot to look at.
The Top of the Mountain
My son at the top of the mountain experiencing high winds.
Fairy Park Band
This band of mostly Australian animals plays music.
The Snow Queen
There were a few scenes representing The Snow Queen story, which is the story that Frozen is loosely based on. Very loosely based on. This was news to me.
On the way back down,
Camelot Playground
I did not get enough photos of the Camelot Playground at Fairy Park as it was crawling with children and I do my best to avoid putting photos of random kids online without their parents’ permission. But I assure you, this playground is unreal. It’s all very concrete-based rather than the typical plastic and wooden playgrounds you see at your local parks. Every surface is themed.
The area above is the entrance to Camelot. The left area is a big ramp up to the towers at the front. Below the ramp is a series of tunnels and holes that kids can poke their faces out of for photos. This was a hard concept for my son to understand so I didn’t get any photos of him in those, but I held him up behind some of the adult-sized photo opportunities.
Princess Photo Op
There is also a prince next to it. This is in the Camelot Playground.
Big Slide in Camelot Playground
View From Top of Slide
Another View
Whilst not really showing the whole playground it gives a bit of scope to how far out this playground stretches
Fairy Park Review Summary
I’m honestly shocked that I’ve not come here more given it’s not that far from me. Fairy Park has an amazing German theme park vibe that you won’t find anywhere else this far away from Germany. The attractions are engaging, even if a little dated. The Camelot playground is amazing even if the layout could be better. I wish I came here more as a kid because this place is awseome.
