Luna Park Melbourne with kids review

Luna Park is a theme park in Melbourne, Australia. It is actually the oldest theme park in Australia, first opening in 1912. Our seven year old chose to spend a family day out at Luna Park for his birthday present. The previous year he spent it at Legoland Malaysia so, we have a theme happening. This is our Luna Park Melbourne with kids review. We visited on a beautiful sunny day in May.

Where is Luna Park?

Luna Park is located at 18 Lower Esplanade, St Kilda, Melbourne. A beachside suburb not too far from Melbourne’s CBD.

How to get to Luna Park Melbourne

Tram: Stop 138 Luna Park/The Esplanade is located right in front of Luna Park’s entrance. Take numbers 16 or 96. 3a runs on weekends only.  

Parking: There are plenty of parking areas around Luna Park. We parked in a space off Shakespeare Grove and paid $13 with a credit card for all day parking.

Luna Park ticket options

Entrance only: $5 can only be bought on the day. Free for 3 years and under.

Unlimited rides pass: 0-3 yrs $17.50, 4-12 yrs $39.95, 13+ yrs or adult $49.95, family $149.95
Can be purchased online.

Single ride: 0-3 yrs $4.95, 4-12 yrs $9.95, 13+ or adult $10.95

We paid entrance only and walked around to make sure the kids would go on enough rides before paying for unlimited passes. We then bought the kids an unlimited pass each and one adult single rider as our 7-year-old wanted to go on one ride that required an adult with a ticket. The $5 entrance fee is deducted from the price.

You can purchase tickets to Luna Park Melbourne on the Klook website. 

Luna Park Melbourne rides for kids

We were at Luna Park for our son’s birthday gift so our day was all about the kiddie rides. Signs in front of each ride clearly state height restrictions. They also say whether adults are needed to accompany and if they are free to ride. There are a number of rides to suit all ages.

Speedy Beetle

The ride that made our son decide on Luna Park was the new Speedy Beetle. It’s like a roller coaster but you ride in a beetle that spins as it moves along the track.

Carousel

The carousel in St.Kilda’s Luna Park was manufactured in 1913 and is now heritage listed. It also houses an organ made in 1909 in its centre. The carousel is beautifully decorated and each horse is unique.

Arabian Merry

Sit onboard a flying elephant and go around, up and down. The website says adults need a ticket however the sign in front states adults for kids under 110cm ride for free. I went on with the boys and we got some good views over the park.

Moon Ballons

Fletcher declared he was riding this one on his own. It’s a small Ferris wheel and honestly felt like the slowest ride in history. The lady kept stopping it to let people off and new people on. I think it only actually did a complete circle twice. Fletcher was on it for such a long time without it moving.

Betty Choo Choo

A little train that drives around the park. It’s bright, colourful and our three-year-old loved it.

Road Runner

Set back behind a bigger ride, we almost missed this one. It’s a car that swings forward, back and side to side. We had to wait in line as a seatbelt was unusable which restricted rider numbers. Our seven-year-old “drove” and declared it his favourite of the day.

The Great Scenic Railway

This is Luna Park’s star feature. From the outside, you can see the rollercoaster track running around the park. Unfortunately, it was closed for maintenance during our visit. If I had checked the website I would have known as it states it is closed during the quiet season. We were given return single ride tickets with the unlimited passes.

Other rides at Luna Park Melbourne

There are other rides we didn’t go on. Some were suitable for our seven-year-old, others were for a taller height. There is also a games room and a carnival area.

Our overall thoughts on Luna Park Melbourne with kids

The fact that you can’t buy single ride tickets from within the park, near the rides is a bit inconvenient. The kids’ unlimited passes paid off and if you were to spend the whole day at Luna Park it would be excellent value. Fletcher could have gone on more rides and they could choose to ride something more than once. For our visit, an adult unlimited ride pass wouldn’t have paid off. It was great that we were able to go on some rides with the kids for free.

Luna Park Melbourne is a great theme park for young kids. Our kids were 7 and 3 years old and they were able to go on a number of rides and could have gone on more. Older kids might have two or three rides of interest. We had a fun family day out and our seven-year-old was happy with his birthday choice.

Check the Luna Park St Kilda website for updated prices, ride closures and opening hours.

Where to eat near Luna Park St Kilda

St.Kilda is full of fantastic food places. Acland Street is close to Luna Park and is lined with cafes and restaurants. It is also well known for traditional European style cake shops. Their windows will make you drool. We ate a delicious lunch at Rococo, I was even jealous of the kids’ meals. The kids wanted gelato once we had finished at Luna Park. We had passed 7applesgelato earlier.

Where to stay near Luna Park St Kilda

If you want to stay close by, there are a number of hotels and apartments within a short distance to Luna Park in St Kilda. If you are in Melbourne over winter, here is where we went for a snow play day.