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Photo TR: Robb & Elissa go to Dubai!


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Part One - Ferrari World

Part Two - Credit Whoring in Abu Dhabi

Part Three - Credit Whoring in Sharjah

Part Four - Small parks in Dubai and one of the WORST THEME PARKS IN THE WORLD!!!

Part Five - Burj Khalifa & Sega Republic

Part Six - Ski Dubai & Aquaventure Water Park!

 

Edit! Videos added!

 

V 12 - Inside the Engine - A VERY weird (read, not "good", but weird) boat ride:

 

Speed of Magic - this is supposed to be a "Spider Man" type of dark ride:

 

And Racing Legends - You can how "Old School Epcot" this is trying to be:

 

http://themeparkreview.com/upd_images/1297240041_4.jpg

 

Hey everyone!

 

By now I'm sure most of you know we did another "Where in the World is Robb & Elissa" contest in December when we did our little recon trip to Dubai! Our goal of the trip was to scope out the place for a future TPR Dubai trip...which we ended up liking Dubai and the UAE so much that we already have our plans set to take the TPR group back!

 

I realized I never did a full TR, so I guess it's time for that to happen now! We did quite a bit in a short amount of time, I should have quite a few photos and hopefully a few videos as well. Here goes nothing....

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With our paperwork in hand, where in the world could we be going? Oh, looks like Dubai!

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Two thumbs up for McDonalds! Will we see more of these in the Middle East? Elissa sure hopes so!

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Wave goodbye to Baha Fresh...we most certainly won't be seeing that in the UAE!

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Oh Noes! We are flying right over Baghdad!

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Dubai kind of reminds me of Hong Kong a little bit...

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In that it is home to many pretty looking buildings.

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Oddly enough, Dubai is also home to the most amount of American fast food and cheesy dining locations I have ever seen. I actually think they had more per square mile...than in America! I'm not joking!

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"Welcome to the Middle East...Eat Fresh!"

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You can't escape it! Well, at least it's better than Applebees! I guess....

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Ahh! Our choice eating establishment for the evening! At least this is some damn good quality!

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"Wagamama is Elissa friendly!"

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Christmas? In the Middle East?!?!? Who knew!

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The buildings here were absoultely amazing!

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You know you're off to a great morning when it starts out with coffee and ....

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Drugs!

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They even have the Christmas Blend! It's just like being at home!

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EAT MORE CHIKIN!!!

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Speaking of amazing buildings...we'll get back to you later!

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Hooray! It's the man, the legend, the myth...the man with the biggest penis in the taxi.... ELISSA!!! No, no, just kidding...Dubai Dave!

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We see you really expensive hotel!

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Probably the most screwed up looking building we saw.

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Our first stop was Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, for obvious reasons...

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This is the only picture of Formula Rossa I took because, well, it ended up being closed for the whole week we were in the UAE. A bummer, sure, but this wasn't the only reason why we are in the Middle East anyway....

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The actual entrance to Ferrari World is down that hole.

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Up the escalators we go...from the entrance the place felt like a giant "Epcot Pavilion." This had both good and bad points to it. Good in that the place felt HUGE. Almost larger than life. Bad because it felt very "un-finished", like as though it needed a few more attractions to round it all out...

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The first two "credits" of the day would be this very, VERY bizarre Maurer Söhne racing coaster.

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Fiorano GT Challenge is VERY strange. It almost didn't *feel* like a roller coaster. It sort of seemed as though the ride was meant to be something else, like maybe a heavily themed attraction like Test Track, but then all the theming got removed and it just rode, I dunno, most like Disneyland's old Rocket Rods than anything else! A really, WEIRD ride! (thanks Ledgy for the photo!)

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The loading station was pretty cool...

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The trains looked great...

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They'll make you wear goggles if sand is kicking up outside...

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...and we all got both credits. I'm not sure I can say that I really "liked" the ride, but it sure was "interesting!"

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Next up were a bunch of dark rides that really felt like they wanted to be so much more than they really were. This one attempted to be a "SpiderMan" type of attraction, but it's weak storyline and even weaker ride wasn't even competition for something like DarKastle.

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Apparently the storyline has something to do with this creepy looking character...

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And this kid that doesn't look old enough to drive a Ferrari...getting a Ferrari....

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And then the creepy looking guy coming out of the TV set to steal your Ferrari....or some wacky crap like that....

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Anyway...put on your 3D glasses and get ready for a ride! Or something that resembles one....

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Yup, see...Spider Man cars. This is where any similarities to Spider Man end.

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First we're underwater on a Ferrari Stingray or something like that....

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Then there is lots of fire and lava...

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The creepy dude is all "You ain't getting your car back underage kid!"

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And then it goes all R2D2 being Star Tour or something. It made no sense at all!

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Bell Italia was a cute little kids car ride...

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See! We are cute little kids...

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It was pretty well themed for the first part of the ride.

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And then it kind of went into it's "unfinished" section.

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Here we are in the "cave of fire!!!"

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No, really...that's actually what it was!

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Next up was a boat ride called "V12 - Enter the Engine." The theme is that the water is supposed to be the fluids running through the cars engine, and you're traveling through it. No, really!

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Apparently the ride had some issues in that even though the drops are fairly small, it was getting people completely freaking SOAKED head to toe, so they give everyone yellow rain jackets to wear! (thanks DubaiDave for the picture!)

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As you can see, Elissa looks VERY impressed so far!

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"Our carriage awaits...to take us into the boundless realm of the supernatural...."

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"OMG! I'm entering the engine! Good thing I'm wearing a condom!"

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So THIS is what the inside of a Ferrari looks like...

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Sexy sunglasses? Or muffler exhaust? You decide!

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And ***SPLASH*** ... as you ride off into the sunset. F**KING WEIRD RIDE!!!

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Of course being "Ferrari World" there were all kinds of Epcot-like displays and exhibits about the cars.

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You could use that crank to move the car frames on the wall.... Oooooh....

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Lots of cars on display....

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"This is what happens when you eat too much Wagamamas!"

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A nice little kids play area...

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Cute!

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And of course there is a car museum...

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It's slightly nicer than the one at Uncle Bernies...

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BeemerBoy would probably die in here...

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This is like the "poor mans" car in Dubai!

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Time to check out another one of the dark rides...

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This one started with a pre-show about the history of Ferrari...

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Lots of stock footage of racing cars....

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The ride itself uses the Spider Man vehicles, but these versions don't really move that much. It's more like an Omnimover type of attraction.

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The ride was just mostly movies...

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"Hey, how is their worlds fastest coaster doing? Heh, about as good as Formula Rossa is doing today!" ;)

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More movies...

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Yawn....this ride was actually quite boring.

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The entire building itself was VERY impressive looking. The drop tower in the middle would have normally given you great views of the top, but it was having problems and only going about 3/4 of the way up today. Like I said, the park still seemed to have quite a few kinks to work out.

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Well, we've done all the attractions that interested us. There was also a simulator ride, but we aren't really into those. The park had a "Soarin'" type ride that wasn't open yet. And of course with Formula Rossa down, we ended up leaving a bit early. The park seems to have a lot of potential and I really do hope they can get all the issues worked out, and this place succeeds!

 

Next up....a bit of credit whoring through Abu Dhabi!

Edited by robbalvey
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Wow.

 

Hate to be negative but even through the photos I understand the "not finished" feeling you're talking about at Ferrari World. Looks like they had a lot of great ideas that started up, then lost funding or interest and just completely stopped! Its kinda sad to be honest with a project scope as large as this.

 

You didn't sound too bummed to miss Formula Rosa. I don't really blame you!

 

Thanks for the PTR though, it's nice to see how things are going there!

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Oh Noes! We are flying right over Baghdad!

Same thought

 

Great TR, I´m looking forward to the rest of your Trip!

 

When did you visit Ferrari World, Thursday? I was confused because Formula Rossa was closed on your visit; seems it was just opened that week on my visit day then. But I shouldn´t be surprised, since they had so much problems to get it started that day I really love the amazing launch!

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When did you visit Ferrari World, Thursday? I was confused because Formula Rossa was closed on your visit; seems it was just opened that week on my visit day then.

 

dit you read the first post in this topic????

By now I'm sure most of you know we did another "Where in the World is Robb & Elissa" contest in December when we did our little recon trip to Dubai! Our goal of the trip was to scope out the place for a future TPR Dubai trip...which we ended up liking Dubai and the UAE so much that we already have our plans set to take the TPR group back!

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^Hanno,

 

yes, I read it. I asked for the exact date or day. I remember I was there in the same week and followed the "Where in the World..."-Topic and Robbs FB-page, while I was at Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

 

Because of that I was a little bit confused to hear, that Formula Rossa was closed while they visited the park. But it can´t be a big distance between our visit. I was there on Wednesday in the first week of December and Formula Rossa was opened but they had problems. It seems that was this was the only day it was opened and on the next days the attraction has closed. Just curious about that.

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Our goal of the trip was to scope out the place for a future TPR Dubai trip...which we ended up liking Dubai and the UAE so much that we already have our plans set to take the TPR group back!

 

I hope you're holding back, because this trip report says otherwise.

 

Next up....a bit of credit whoring through Abu Dhabi!

 

Anxiously awaiting, and hoping for strange oddities seen nowhere else. Thanks guys!

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the place felt like a giant "Epcot Pavilion."

Interesting comparison. Never thought of it that way, but the more I see of it, the more it really does seem like that.

 

BeemerBoy would probably die in here....

This is true.

 

 

I can't get enough of this place! Thanks for the report.

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For all of you who keep asking or wondering about V12. Robb and Dave went back to ride again, I chose to sit on a bench. My sitting was WAY better than that ride.

 

I agree with Robb, the park just felt really odd. Almost like a museum trying to make learning fun through 'Edutainment' but in reality failing at both education and entertainment.

 

^^Believe it or not, this park was probably on the low end of what we liked in Dubai and the UAE. Just wait for the rest of the report! When Ferrari World is on the end of the list of reasons to head over, you know it's a pretty cool country!

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Awesome report; really psyched for what's coming next.

 

As "unfinished" or as "sub-EPCOT" as Ferrari World may be, it still looks about 20 times cooler than Six Flags Autoworld.

 

It's just one of those places that I'm going to have to visit at least once, if for nothing else than that incredible building. And Formula Rossa.

 

Also loved learning that a Testarossa is a "poor man's car" in Dubai. My kind of town!

 

[bTW, for those who aren't aware, "Testarossa" is Italian for "red head," which makes it twice as badass.)

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Not wanting to be too picky but, Fiorano GT is actually a Maurer Sohne creation rather than a Premier Rides coaster. This is a photo of a section of the track for it waiting to be painted at the Maurer factory. I was invited to their factory as part of their 10th anniversary celebrations.

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Fiorano GT Challenge track waiting to be painted at the Maurer Sohne factory.

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Very interesting look at Ferrari World- and I'm now not so sad I missed it on my last trip to Dubai...

 

"Our carriage awaits...to take us into the boundless realm of the supernatural...."

Viewed 1365 times

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Amazing... The park isn't even three months old, and it's losing it's letters... Or is this the Chinese knock-off of Ferrari?\

 

Amazing TR, though- and good to finally put a face on Dubai Dave-

 

R.D.

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