We found ourselves in a bit of a heatwave during our recent trip to Dubbo, so we were glad to spend a night at a family accommodation holiday park with the best place to cool off in town – plus it’s only 2 minutes from Dubbo Zoo!
The Discovery Parks Big 4 Dubbo Parklands has a lot going for it. Located just around the corner from the Taronga Western Plains Zoo, this immaculate holiday park offers quality accommodation, family fun facilities and all the services you could need on your family holiday or weekend away.
After checking in with the welcoming staff at reception, we were supplied with a map of the park and code to the security entry. We drove in and easily found our cabin – complete with its own parking spot for our car next to it, which made unpacking a breeze.
Our Dubbo Parklands deluxe two-bedroom cabin
Our deluxe two bedroom cabin
Our accommodation for the night was a deluxe two-bedroom cabin with an abundance of space and features for the weary traveller – or happy holiday-making family (of up to four people).
Take a look around our two-bedroom deluxe cabin by pressing play on our YouTube video below…
The cabin had its own spacious front deck with a large outdoor setting of table and chairs. It was the perfect place to eat al-fresco!
The front deck with outdoor setting
Inside the cabin was immaculate, with stylish, modern furniture and fittings throughout.
Open-plan, it boasted a large dining and lounge area, complete with a stylish corner lounge and coffee table. There’s lots of space for the family to spread out and relax. Electronic appliances included a sound-system, flat-screen TV and DVD player.
The lounge and dining room area was spacious
There was a modular kitchen with a full-size fridge, stovetop and microwave, plus all the kitchen utensils, crockery and cutlery you would ever need on holiday. Complimentary tea and coffee sachets and milk were also supplied.
The cabin had a full-size kitchen
A utility cupboard in the hall held an iron and ironing board, plus a broom and dustpan.
The main bedroom was located at the end of the hall, with a King-size bed fitted with elegant Manchester, plus a built-In wardrobe. This suited me perfectly, as there was plenty of hanging space, and the bed turned out to be extremely comfortable to sleep in – bliss!
The main bedroom featured a King size bed
The second bedroom had twin King single beds which the kids immediately claimed for their own – now everyone was happy!
The second bedroom had Twin King single beds
The bathroom was modern chrome and glass, with a large shower featuring a huge shower head with great water flow. There was a nice range of complimentary toiletries supplied too. The bath towels were luxuriously large and fluffy – and who doesn’t love a bit of luxury when travelling!
The bathroom featured chrome and glass fittings
A nice range of complimentary toiletries were provided
Even though we were there during a heatwave, the whole cabin was kept beautifully cool with a powerful reverse-cycle air conditioner – it was a relief to have a cool haven to take refuge in from the 40 degree heat.
Family water-play area and swimming pool
The Dubbo Big 4 Parklands water-play park was lots of fun
Without a doubt, the on-site water park is the summer big-guns of this family accommodation resort. The swimming pool, water slide and water play area were fantastic attractions in the hot summer weather. In the cooler winter months, the pool even becomes a heated swimming pool.
The swimming pool is shaded in summer and heated in winter
The best way to appreciate what the pool area is actually like, is press play on our YouTube video of the Discovery Park Dubbo water-play area below…
A long, covered water slide (that even adults can fit down comfortably – guilty – several times, actually!), automated dumping water buckets, sprinklers, water guns and even toddler water slides make this a wonderfully fun and exciting area for families with children of all ages.
So much fun to be had – the kids loved the water park
For a kids eye-view of how much fun the Dubbo Parklands water-play area is like, here is my 11 year-old’s Go Pro POV (that’s Point-Of-View to you and me) tour below…
It was so fun playing in the pool area that we decided to forfeit our tourist plans and spend the afternoon their instead of venturing back out in the heat. We had such fun keeping cool and relaxing, this was a great decision, and a highlight of our trip to Dubbo.
Discovery Park Dubbo has great-fun water play slides
And don’t worry if you’ve forgotten to bring the beach towels like we did on this trip – you can hire towels from reception.
Play ground and jumping pillow
The kangaroo jumper was really big and really fun!
One thing was for certain – the kids were NOT going to get bored at Discovery Park Dubbo!
In addition to the water play area and swimming pool, the park boasts a shaded general children’s playground, plus a huge kangaroo jumper jumping pillow!
The children’s playground was well-shaded
Everything (including the swimming pool) is shaded from the beating summer sun thanks to large shade sails.
Recreation Lounge
The Recreation Lounge had plenty of space, a kitchenette and table tennis table
There is a huge Recreation Lounge available for guests, with table tennis, lounge areas and a TV with family’ movies playing – for rainy days or some down-time, this is a great family-holiday resource to help keep the whole family happy.
General Park features and Guest facilities
The Dubbo Discovery Park was beautifully maintained
The park itself was obviously very professionally run. A good gate security system kept the park feeling safe and exclusive at all times, and park guidelines were very family-friendly and responsible, with a dedicated quiet time period of 10pm to 7am.
Well-located just two minutes from the Dubbo Zoo, Discovery Park Dubbo even has connecting bike paths to it. The Dubbo city centre is also just a couple of minutes drive away.
Dubbo city centre was just a couple of minutes drive away
There was a dedicated groundsman on-site the entire time we were there – the grounds were beautifully kept, and everything was spotless. You’ll find BBQ areas around the park, and of course a camp kitchen and ablution blocks are on-site for caravans and campers, too.
There is a laundry on site, open into the evening from 8am to 9pm – so you can catch up on the laundry whilst you’re staying, too.
The Big 4 Dubbo Parklands is a great Dubbo family, couples, solo traveller and business accommodation option.
Much more than just a place to lay your head, this park is ideally located near Dubbo Zoo, and is chock-full of family fun features. It offers guests high-quality accommodation options at good-value prices. We really enjoyed our stay at Discovery Parks Big 4 Dubbo Parklands.
Dubbo Discovery Parks Big 4 useful info
We stayed in a two-bedroom deluxe cabin
Price: *$179 per night, per cabin (sleeps 4)(10% discount for Big 4 members)
*All prices are correct as at March 2017
Address: 154 Whylandra Street Dubbo New South Wales 2830 Australia
You’ll find more information and the most up-to-date prices and booking system at the official Discovery Park Dubbo website here
Getting there
To Dubbo from Sydney by road – approximately 400km/5 hours drive. Go to Google Maps for rote options here. To Dubbo from Sydney by train – approximately 7 hours. Go to XPT service for more information. To Dubbo by bus – from Sydney – no direct route available. From Newcastle – 5 hourse Sid Foggs Coachlines (Newcastle). To Dubbo from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle by air – one hour flight to Dubbo City Airport (7kms from town centre) Go to Qantas,REX airlines (Sydney), Jetgo (Melbourne and Brisbane) and FlyPelican (Canberra and Newcastle) for schedules/prices.
The Let’s Go Mum family stayed as invited guests of Discovery Parks Big 4 Dubbo Parklands. As always, all opinions are my own.
Have you ever visited Dubbo on a family holiday? Or perhaps just passed through? What did you enjoy about Dubbo? Tell us in the comments below…
Looks like a great park Barbara. I’ve been to the zoo before kids and would love to take my three one day. This looks like a really good accommodation suggestion for our family, will be looking into it for our trip. Thank you.
Hi, I'm Barbara, mum of the Let's Go Mum blog. We'd love to hear from you! You can contact me anytime with ideas on where you think we should go or what you think we should try...just drop me a line at barbara@letsgomum.com.au!
Looks like a great park Barbara. I’ve been to the zoo before kids and would love to take my three one day. This looks like a really good accommodation suggestion for our family, will be looking into it for our trip. Thank you.
Fantastic, you’ll all love it, thanks Kirsty!