It’s an annual event we’ve held off for the past 3 years. The crowds, the smelly animals, the long lines – none of it made the Sydney Royal Easter Show appealing.
And I figured the twinions were still too young to appreciate any of it.
Okay, okay. I lie. It was always about me. Up until recently, I was a Royal Easter Show party pooper.
But this year, we braved the possible perils and surprisingly had a fabulous day. Here are some unconventional tips that you might (or might not) find useful:
- Don’t go until post Easter Long weekend. There are far less humans to piss you off. Bonus if you go on Kid’s Day (the last day) as entry fee isn’t a complete major rip off.
- Avoid standing in line for hours! Thanks to the assistance of one of the Show volunteers, we bought ours at the train station 100 metres away from the entry gates and where 100’s of disgruntled people were waiting for hours. SCORE
- Go after midday. You miss the highly strung morning crowds and by 5-ish everything is a lot more mellow and everyone has come down from their candy floss sugar high.
- Leave around 7pm when the showbag stands are closing up. Play dumb parent to the ones that aren’t and you’ve saved yourself at least $100 on bags of worthless, plastic items that will break before you get past the exit gates. *Note: No guarantee this strategy will work next year.
- A mini denim skirt is absolutely inappropriate attire for the preschooler’s dodgem cars. Holding the steering wheel with one hand, while trying to hide your hoochie mama from the world’s glare with the other THEN yelling at your 4 year old to keep pressing the foot pedal is no easy multi-tasking feat. Seriously.
- The train roller coaster in the Kids World section is actually age inappropriate and bloody scary. Your children will be fine. You however, will cling onto dear life and crap your daks.
- Watch out for head butting cows! We witnessed one innocent little girl reach out to give a friendly pat only to have her noggin nudged out of its way. Luckily, she wasn’t hurt. I think the cow was in shock, though.
- Coupon bartering is a no-no. If your shamelessly frugal husband tries to negotiate with the Super Slide ticket lady the number of coupons (“12? Really? Can’t we do it for 6??”) for a family of 4, cry ignorance. Dude, it’s the Easter Show. Everything is non-negotiable. Get used to it.
- If your twins want to go to the Dinosaur Adventures exhibition hall 3 times in a row, go along with it. It’s about the only thing at the Show with free entry. Also, the monotony of seeing a mechanical brachiosaurus is far less painful than dealing with the future disappointment when your children find out dinosaurs no longer exist.
- Watching a Mama Pig with at least a dozen suckling piglets will make you subconsciously squirm and fold your arms tightly across your chest in imaginary agony.
That last one isn’t really a parenting survival tip so here’s bonus tip 11:
Must take lots of cheesy family photos, especially ones on the merry-go-round. Make sure it’s before you start suffering from motion sickness.
You’re welcome.
What’re your tips for surviving the Sydney Royal Easter Show? Or any show for that matter.
Joining Essentially Jess for IBOT
Lydia C. Lee says
Best photos in the world are on roller coasters where adults are smiling gleefully and there is one child terrified or bored…I can’t get enough of them!!
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Mumabulous says
The tip about the mini skirt is duly noted! I took my girls to the Family Show at Fox about three years ago. The event was so traumatic for me that I have not dared go back. Perhaps we will do the Homebush thing next year.
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Ai Sakura says
Such a wonderful family outing and yes, you must have cheesy photos on these kinda trips haha. I miss the Perth Royal Show and hope to be able to bring Lil Pumpkin back there one day.
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Deb - An Inspirational Journey says
Always an entertaining read, Grace. Some helpful tips there that could be applied to any crazy busy event!!
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Sam Stone @ A Life on Venus says
Great tips Grace! We didn’t go this year….in fact we have only been once with our little miss who is now 5, and to be honest that was enough to last me another five years. xo
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Kylie Purtell says
Great tips Grace! Friends of ours asked if wanted to take the girls to the show this year but we had to say no. It’s just too damn expensive to justify when the girls are so little. Maybe when they are a little older we’ll take them so they can at least say they’ve been. I’m much more inclined to take them to the Hawkesbury Show, the second biggest after the Royal Easter Show, because it is literally within walking distance of our house! So need to worry about transport or parking. Win! Again, we will wait till next year to take them though, so that they are both big enough to really enjoy it (and when I don’t have to run 4kms in the Mother’s Day classic the next day!
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JodiGibson (@JFGibsonWriter) says
Great tips. Love the pic of that mummy pig and her piglets. She looks so content
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Aroha says
Any parent who takes their kids to this kind of thing deserves a medal in my opinion! Glad you all had a lovely day. My tips would be to pack snacks and water, if you can get away with it/it’s allowed! Try to save SOME money on all that food!
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Bec @ The Plumbette says
Sounds like you had a ball!! 😉 I love going to the Ekka in Brisbane but I think it’s much easier to go to the show when kids are older and they can appreciate the shows and what they see so much more.
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Emily @ Have A Laugh On Me says
What great parents you are!! I’m going to wait til our kid are bigger and take them to the Ekka in Brisbane, never been to a big show over here in OZ! Great tips for me to keep in mind, and adjust for when I’m stupid enough to brave the crowds! x
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EssentiallyJess says
I love the show! The Darwin show, though much less exciting than the Easter show was my absolute fave. I will really miss being able to go to it. 🙁
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Tegan says
You’re a brave woman! I haven’t braved the local show with Mr 4 yet but we did take him to a local carnival a couple of weeks ago. It was $25 for unlimited rides so it was a pretty good deal.
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Lisa@RandomActsOfZen says
We still haven’t taken Bell to the Ekka, instead we usually do Movie World or Seaworld, lots of rides, food and crowds. And I’m with you on the rides Grace, I was terrified going on the junior roller coaster!
Your boys look like they would have slept very well that night, but oh that poor mama pig!
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Jodi says
We went for the first time this year with a 2yo and 3yo. We went prior to Easter, were there when the gates opened at 9am and back in the car by 2pm! The kids LOVED it! Will be returning next year for sure!
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Lauren @ Create bake make says
Love it Grace, fantastic photos! You are very brave taking the boys. I haven’t been to the Ekka (Brisbane show) for 10 years. I thought it was a rip off then and no doubt when I finally cave and take the boys it will be an even BIGGER rip off!
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Alicia says
Awesome show tips Grace! I will have to refer back to them if we ever go near a city show. Meanwhile we will enjoy our sleepy country show again later this year xx Looks like you all had a blast. It’s so hard to find a decent, moneys worth show bag though, there is a lot of plastic crap in them.
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Becky from BeckyandJames.com says
Great tips! We’ve been twice now (didn’t go this year though) and I’m still learning. My biggest tips are take hats and sunscreen, otherwise I end up looking like a beetroot!
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Nami says
Ha, haa! It’s always good to have a plan. And 12 tickets is definitely worth negotiating. That’s outrageous!
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