Another jewel in the crown

Over the years, the opulent city of Dubai has evolved into one of the most popular tourist attractions and ‘must visit’ destinations around the globe.

After all, it does feature Burj Khalifa the world’s tallest skyscraper, as well as Dubai Mall, the largest shopping complex, and Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, the only 7-star hotel. The glamorous city, which is also known for attracting stars to its shores, has now launched the region’s largest multi-themed leisure and entertainment park.

The AED 13.2 billion Dubai Parks and Resorts (DPR) development, which features three theme parks, is spread across 30.6 million square feet of land located on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai opposite the Palm Jebel Ali in between the Dubai and Abu Dhabi International Airports. 

GulfWeekly’s Jalal Muradi was one of the 1,500 media representatives to attend the inauguration ceremony which was commemorated by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VicePresident and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

More than 200 children from the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation and the Make a Wish Foundation were invited to the event as well as dignitaries and celebrities. During the festivities, Jalal took a private tour of the development’s state-of-the-art facilities and is already looking forward to bringing his family in the future to enjoy the array of entertainment.

Jalal’s thoughts: The two-day launch was eventful from the beginning to the end, kicking off with a conference and tour followed by a fantastic finale.

The resort is comprised of three theme parks including MOTIONGATE Dubai, BOLLYWOOD Parks Dubai, LEGOLAND Dubai and LEGOLAND Water Park. The movie-inspired theme park showcased some of Hollywood’s most popular characters from DreamWorks Animation, Columbia Pictures and Lionsgate.

As for the Bollywood Park it’s filled with rides and attractions. The interactive LEGOLAND Dubai brings Lego bricks to life in a playful learning environment and LEGOLAND Water Park is catering to families with children aged between two and 12.

Six Flags Dubai is expected to open in late 2019 which will be the destination’s fourth theme park. The development is connected by Riverland Dubai, a special retail and dining stop located at the heart of the resort.

The press conference was held in BOLLYWOOD Park Dubai’s flagship offering, an 850-seat Rajmahal Theatre. The Rajmahal Theatre was beautiful. It mimicked the Taj Mahal and is home to a Broadway-style, Bollywood themed musical. That park alone features up to 20 live shows performed on seven stages called Rock On!!, Crossroads, Mumbai Express, Rangmanch, Stars on Steps, Cinema Circle and Rajmahal Theatre.

I also got to tour the movie sets as well as Bollywood Boulevard, Mumbai Chowk, Rustic Ravine, Royal Plaza and Bollywood Film Studios featuring the Hall of Heroes. My favourite was the old classic ‘Sholay’ because it was packed full of action and had some really great actors. It also offered six restaurants that capture India’s mouthwatering culinary offerings and eight retail outlets stocking quintessential filmy fare.

My favourite part of the park was LEGOLAND Dubai because it featured more than 40 interactive rides and I was able to try out a few to boot. This proved to be a much-needed adrenaline rush after the long walk through the sites.

There were shows, attractions and 15,000 Lego model structures made from more than 60 million bricks. The Lego park also boasted six areas including Lego City, Kingdoms, Imagination, Adventure, Miniland and Factory.

A special mention goes to the massive giraffe that towered over the crowd as well as the Lego made Dubai skyline that included iconic landmarks from the Middle East and various other international sites. The Burj Khalifa was by far the best because it was the tallest Lego model at the park and I am thrilled to have seen it.

Unfortunately, the LEGOLAND Water Park was not open during our visit so we couldn’t enjoy the ride. It has more than 20 water slides and attractions, each offering a different and fun-soaked experience.

Moreover, the water park is set to offer an array of amenities, including dining and retail outlets, changing rooms, cabanas, guest services, first aid and prayer rooms. Our final stop was MOTIONGATE Dubai which is the place for Hollywood inspired adventure in the Middle East.

It is spread across five zones with 27 key rides and attractions including roller coasters, multi-media dark rides, interactive play labs, media-based theatre shows, plus a full programme of roaming entertainment and live dance performances.

Inspired by 13 of Hollywood’s live action and animated films, visitors are transported into movies that my children would love like Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Hotel Transylvania, Ghostbusters and The Smurfs. The Hunger Games would be way too adult for them but it was my favourite.

There are also nine family friendly restaurants, 15 retail outlets and a 1000-seat multipurpose theatre. Afterwards we stopped off at River land Dubai which has four themed zones that offer a glimpse into some of the greatest eras of the past including 1950s America at The Boardwalk, medieval France at The French Village, colonial India at India Gate and the 19th century-themed Peninsula

The Lapita Hotel, located inside the park is a Polynesian-inspired family hotel with 501-rooms and three villas. This place is perfect for families only wanting to experience the resort. It has adventure playgrounds, swimming pools for adults and children, child friendly food and beverage outlets and family spas.

After my fun-filled tour was over I made my way back to the Intercontinental Dubai Marina for some rest and relaxation. The next day the inauguration was held in a specially built arena over the river at Riverland Dubai.

It showcased each of the parks in a stunning show format involving dancers and actors from DPR’s entertainment team.    The show was spectacular and included a performance of the resorts official theme-song entitled All the Wonders of the Universe.

It was composed by academy award winner Alan Menken who wrote the scores for many of the world’s most famous animated movies.  What really impressed me was the finale. Colours of blue, green, yellow and white dotted lights danced across the dark sky and were projected on giant screens for everyone in the park to see as well as people in parts of Dubai.

It looked like an invisible string of lights dangled from the heavens. I have no idea how they did it but it was pretty cool.  I can’t wait to bring my wife and children to this entertainment hot spot.

With only a short flight from Bahrain to Dubai this will give us something special to do over the holidays. This is only phase one for DPR as it is expected to be fully built by 2019.

For more information, go to: https://www. dubaiparksandresorts.com