We celebrated our son’s birthday in Dubai. He turned 9, and we wanted to do something unusual on this day. We chose between trips to a water park and amusement parks. This park is themed after Marvel, which helped us decide in its favour, as it best suits the interests of a child of this age.
I think that nowadays, when choosing places to visit, everyone first looks at the official website and then reads the reviews. This way, you can get more accurate information. The website always has beautiful pictures, prices, descriptions, and the reviews give you the real deal. So I’ll skip a lot of unnecessary stuff and say that the review will mostly consist of impressions without descriptions of the attractions, names, and other information that is easier and more convenient to find in official sources.
Tickets
The website lists prices in dirhams, which is about $100 per person when converted to other currencies, but you can estimate the price in pounds at the current exchange rate, which fluctuates. We bought tickets at the hotel from a tour operator representative; we couldn’t find a cheaper option, and the price was the same as at the ticket office. What can I say, it’s a bit expensive.
Even at an exchange rate to the dollar, and if you count at 80, it seems like an abnormal price… In Moscow, our Dream Island park is much more profitable. Well, okay, it is a birthday after all)
and Marvel superheroes, there are plenty of them, plus different areas. It feels like there are more cafes than attractions)))
Moreover, many of them were empty. The prices there are sky-high, even for an amusement park, in my opinion. But this is Dubai, so that’s how it is. To save you from counting, 100 dirhams is about 1,600 roubles. From this sign, for example: Pepsi with French fries – 500 roubles, pizza from 1,150 roubles, pasta from 1,300 roubles, milkshakes or coffee 500 roubles. There were quite a lot of people, as our birthday fell on a weekend. Maybe it’s better on weekdays.
The attractions there are quite traditional, we have been on similar ones before.
I will mention a few unusual attractions, all of which are related to innovative technologies, and they were really unusual and interesting. The first thing we tried was a tour of the world of dinosaurs. It is a small train that takes you and your group into the wilderness. As expected, there were dinosaur sounds and movements, but in the semi-darkness it wasn’t scary and was interesting. Everything inside is in English, of course. This is also worth mentioning. If you don’t know the language well, you won’t have much fun in places like this, as you won’t understand what’s going on. During the trip, there were also interactive 3D scenes, which create a sense of presence, and you feel like you are watching a film and participating in it. This moment was interesting and unusual. I didn’t take any photos inside, only videos, but it was dark and everything was flashing.
In the same vein, but in a different way, there are a number of locations where stories unfold every half hour. This is what we liked most about this park, as there were different variations and Marvel characters were everywhere, and you find yourself in a story together with them. In one place, we rode a small spaceship, it shook, superheroes flew at us, we were rocked and tossed around, all with sounds, all in English. In one of these places, I really felt like I was inside a film. They give you 3D glasses, so everything is three-dimensional and cool.
Somewhere it was like a cinema, and each individual seat rocked and swayed, and there was air blowing like wind and even drops of water.
Another place that I liked more than the others was a large circle with about 200 people sitting in several rows. When the show starts, the circle spins and shakes, and a ‘movie’ with superheroes is projected onto the dome. It was very cool!
You need to arrive 10 minutes before the start of these ‘journeys’ to get in on time, pick up your glasses and take your seat. But I’ll say again that if you don’t know English, you won’t understand the plot, it’ll just be a bunch of movement. I was glad that everything was in English and not Arabic, as we have no problems with English, so I really enjoyed myself there. I didn’t get the same thrill from riding the more ordinary carousels and slides, as they weren’t anything new.
That’s all I can say about this place, because the rest is pretty standard in terms of attractions. We’ve been on many rides before, so it’s not easy to surprise us, but if you’ve never been to a place like this before, then yes, you’ll like it more.
There was also a haunted hotel, but only people over 15 are allowed in, so it’s probably scary if there’s an age restriction like that. We didn’t go because we came to have fun with our child, and it’s too early for him.
On the plus side, there was a lot of different activities in different locations, such as dancing, singing, performances, everything was noisy, lively and fun.
We had planned to spend more than an hour there, but in reality it was probably only an hour and a half. On the one hand, it was a bit disappointing that we came there once in a lifetime and didn’t get to ride, but on the other hand, we didn’t have the energy anymore… The queues seemed even worse, especially towards the end of the wait, as crowds of people started to walk around, those who were on the fast track, i.e. they didn’t have to queue, and there were a lot of them…
It also seemed strange that there was a separate paid area with slot machines.
You already paid a lot for admission, and now you have to pay again…Inside, you had to wear a mask. At least at the entrance to the attractions, they asked you to put one on. Many people pulled them down to their chins. Although masks weren’t really required anywhere else in Dubai, not in shops or anywhere else. But here it was probably because of the children. We were there in August 2022.
I should also mention that the air conditioning was on inside and it was cool in some places, but not freezing, so it’s worth bringing a light jacket just in case.
That’s basically all you need to know about this amusement park. I gave it 5 stars because it’s an interesting place for children, but I definitely wouldn’t go there again.