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It happened. This Aussie finally did a New Year’s Eve in Sydney. The city’s fireworks are Australia’s version of New York City’s Ball Drop, so it’s a pretty big deal. My friend and I decided if we were going to do a celebration in Sydney, it would be best to buy tickets to one of the many events around Sydney Harbour. We had the “if we only do this once, we want it to be good” mentality. There were many to choose from, that range from free to ridiculously expensive. Taronga Zoo, the Sydney Opera House and the Botanical Gardens all host events. After looking at prices and what was on offer, we chose to spend our New Year’s Eve at Luna Park Sydney.
NYE at Luna Park Sydney
Luna Park is located very close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and you can look diagonally across the harbour to the Opera House. We chose Luna Park for its under $150 price tag, plus the fact we could actually spend our night going on rides and enjoying ourselves, instead of simply sitting in a park waiting for the fireworks. Here is what my friend and I thought of New Year’s Eve in Luna Park: the good, the bad and the ugly (there was just a teensy, little bit of ugly).
The good
♥ Luna Park is a fun venue and the perfect place to welcome in a New Year. I had never been before but there were plenty of rides to keep us entertained until midnight. The best thing we did was go on most of the rides before the 9 pm fireworks. We didn’t have to wait long at the beginning of the night. We also timed our Ferris Wheel moment to coincide with just after the sunset, so the views were spectacular. There was also a couple of indoor venues with DJs playing throughout the night, but the guy outside was doing a stellar job with his setlist. If you want a fun New Year’s Eve, you can’t go wrong with Luna Park Sydney.
♥ My friend, a born-and-bred Sydneysider thought the event was super organised, which she described as “very un-Sydney like.” We thought the crowd was a good size without being so packed we couldn’t move. I don’t know how many tickets they sold, but it was a spot-on number. There were also plenty of bars and food outlets. As the time inched closer to midnight, the lines did get longer, but we only waited about 15 minutes for a drink, so it wasn’t too painful.

When an entertainer takes control of your phone
The bad
• I have to mention the fact we waited 75 minutes for one ride. Yes it was fun when we finally got on and the Backstreet Boys were playing as we moved, but the time it took to get people on the ride was an arduous process. In the end, it passed the time between fireworks, but I was a tad exacerbated by the end. The ride was the Tango Train if you wanted to know — hit that bad boy first, guys.
• Unfortunately, the penultimate event. You see, growing up watching these fireworks on TV every year, you know they are an amazing spectacle. So you think being there would be an even crazier spectacle, right? The fireworks were good, don’t get me wrong. They just, unfortunately, underwhelmed me. Kate and I definitely think being on the Opera House side of the Harbour Bridge gives you a much better view, as the Bridge fireworks are only on that side. We did get a great view of the barge fireworks, but the Bridge was a letdown.
There were a bunch of guys behind us who thought the Bridge was having technical difficulties because it wasn’t constantly exploding. We thought the same thing. What we did see was awesome, but I think our expectations might have been too high. Or we were on the wrong side of the action. During the 9pm fireworks, a girl sitting at our table actually cried. It seemed to be because she didn’t realise the fireworks would be so loud. Or she was just overwhelmed by their beauty?
The ugly
… The epic failure that was the attempted crowd management. Instead of staying a little later, we decided to leave Luna Park Sydney at 12:30 am. But when we did, there were signs telling us that the Milsons Point Train Station, a mere five-minute walk from Luna Park, was closed due to overcrowding. So everyone was told to walk about 15 minutes up the road to North Sydney Station. Can you guess what happened next? Thousands of people stuck on the street trying to get into North Sydney Station. Standing in the middle of a sea of people with literally no way out is not good for the easily anxious, let me tell you. There were actual stampede images going through my head.
The annoying thing was, when we were stuck in the mass we were told Milsons Point was open again. Ah, hello, how do you expect us to get back there? DO YOU SEE THIS CROWD? That is what I call an epic fail, guys. I knew it wasn’t going to be a pleasant journey home, but that was something else entirely. The stuff of nightmares, I tell you.
Luna Park Sydney – the verdict
If you want a fun way to bring in the New Year in Sydney, choose Luna Park. If you want an epic view of the fireworks, look at the Opera House side of Sydney Harbour. And if you want to keep your sanity in the first few hours of the New Year, wait an hour to attempt to get the train. You heard it hear first.
Check out my list of other fun things to do in Sydney
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hi there, I was just wandering how expensive food + drink is at Luna Park on New Years Eve? me and my partner are debating whether its worth paying $499 for the deck VIP or just to go with general admission or diamond VIP. The only thing persuading us to go deck VIP is the all inclusive drinks, but is it worth it? We are not big drinkers at all, and are happy with any food, so the fancy canapés isn’t really a bonus to us. so as long as the drinks aren’t overly priced we should benefit from staying with general admission tickets. what’s your view?
I found the food and drink wasn’t any more expensive than I expected. I am also not a big drinker but I had a couple of drinks for $10 each, which was the average price. There were different food choices, but you could get something for under $15 easily. From your comment, I don’t think it would be worth paying the extra price, but that’s just my thoughts. Best of luck!
I have lived in Sydney almost all my life and while I saw the fireworks many times in the early years I have avoided them for a long time because of the crowds. It is a real shame that once something becomes that popular it loses so much of what made it great in the first place. There are just so many people who attend the New Year’s Eve Fireworks in Sydney that it would be impossible not to have trouble getting home. I think the smartest thing to do is just stay put for at least an hour afterwards and then try to get home. I like the idea of going to Luna Park though at least you wouldn’t just be sitting there all night waiting for the show.
Yes I definitely agree about staying afterwards. At least Luna Park keeps the party going until 3am ;)
Wow that looks like a fun way to experience NYE in Sydney! Apart from the transport issues and lines… I feel like those are always going to be the big problems at popular times like that. But overall, how cool! #TravelTuesday
Yeah I agree, Jessi, it comes with the NYE territory. Thanks for reading.
that looks like a fun event! & we were recently in Orlando and I kinda got used to those super long lines, but we tried to avoid them.
Oh I can just imagine the crazy lines in Orlando. I guess the wait is always worth it though.
Despite the unfortunate overcrowding and delayed transportation, it sounds like you still enjoyed your time in Luna Park. It’s great you got to be so close to Sydney’s sites and enjoy the New Year!
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Overall, it was still a fun night. Sydney Harbour is pretty spectacular.
I’ve read about another Sydney NYE party which has gone wrong and it’s the one where Shangri-La is hosting the dinner. I forgot what it’s called but it was all over my Facebook feed for sometime as I had a lot of friends in Sydney who went there.
Glad there were some good things about the Luna Park party though, it actually seems like fun to me. :)
#TravelTuesday
Yeah I heard about that: ridiculously expensive tickets and apparently the food/drinks/entertainment provided was horrible. Guess I did alright then, hey? ;)