Rastuso

They left the wrong way from LA to go to Australia. Plus, there is a trip there next year. Why go now? -R

Is the innaugural new Disney Cruise taking off from Peru? -R

The picture was taken in Lima, Peru. They could be there to take a cruise back or something. But that doesn't sound right. -R

I already said that. Although, I was a bit suprised when the photo matched, but it is a chian restaurant. -R

I don't know where they are, but I really doubt they are in Dubai. There is hardly enough there to warrant a personal trip. Unless they REALLY just have to ride FR, but I just don't see it happening. -R

Yeah, the machine guns were in Saudi. I was there purely on business. The UAE is very easy to get around in. Cab drivers spoke English, all the signs were in English. Just bring your money. -RO

That was the story. Nothing else was closed that weekend. I'm still stunned about it. Imagine the day WWOHP was to open, and IOA closed their gates, and acted like they didn't exist, not even putting a Moose out front. -RO

Sadly, this is the rest. I was only in Dubai for about 36 hours. I really wanted to ski, and the Atlantis waterpark looks pretty good too, and of course there is the new artic themed waterpark a bit to the North. I skipped the other two amusement parks. They are both very close to the airport, but they both looked like glorified carnivals. -RO

You are right, many of them at Wild Wadi brought you up about 30 feet to a higher elevation. There were then ones that were more of a combination of blasters and downhill sections. Some of those videos had more water on the lenses, so they aren't as good. That is one issue with filming waterslides. You have no way of cleaning off the lenses once you are in the slide. So at WW, anything after the first few slides was hard to get a good clean video of. I've got some videos from Discovery Cover I still haven't finished with. One problem with my camera is that the speaker holes get filled with water, and then the sound is crappy. Again, not really sure how you can combat that. -RO

Part 2: Downtown Dubai I hit the Dubai Mall next. This is part of the Downtown Dubai complex that includes the Burj Al Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It was about half way back to the airport. I had gone there the night before with my business colleagues. We racked up damn near $500 on alcohol and appetizers at a bar looking over the water fountain area. But, everything closed early that evening, so I didn’t get to do anything. A guy at the customer service desk said I should buy my ticket to “At the top”, the observation deck, so I had asked my hotel concierge, who said don’t bother. Well, I should have, because by the time I got there to buy, the first opening was 8 pm, a bit later than I wanted. However, I had one of the biggest malls in the world to explore. This mall is 4 levels, and each level is the size of a standard “big” mall in the US. It was ginormous. However, most of the shops were very upscale. I mean VERY VERY upscale. Fendi, Luis Vitton, Jean Paul Goutier (he has a store?), and other’s I had never heard of. Most of the stores had shelves that would have one bag and a pair of boots on it, then a clothes rack with 3 garments on it. Very few items. Hell, one store even had a velvet rope and bouncer at the door. One candy store looked more like a jewelry store. There were some standard stores, a toy store with all American stuff in it (very little had arabic on it), some electronics stores. I ended up eating at Outback, which was OK, but not as good as US. The mall was pretty empty for their “Friday Night”. The only area that was kicking was the theater area, which was essentially walled off from the rest of the mall, I guess to keep the crowd noise from echoing through the empty hallways. I bought a toy for my son, and the woman, who had said I looked like Chuck Norris, tried to short change me $5. I got some Krispy Kremes (they had hats, but they were all English). I REALLY wanted to see the movie Shanghai, with Chow Yun Fat. I had never even heard of this movie, and it’s open in Dubai, and is an English movie with John Cusack. It was a THX theater, and would have been a great experience, but I had an elevator ticket already. This area also contained Sega Republic, a smaller version of Japan's Joypolis. The coaster was much better than the torture device in Japan. Spin Gear is themed to Sonic and Dr. Robotnik. The spinning was thankfully minimum, and the layout was decent, with a few special effects. The lockker system was very good too, with individual ones for all riders, for free. I headed to the elevator. There was a waiting area showing just how big the Burj Al Khalifa is. It blows away all other buildings. The observation decks is only the second highest, which really surprised me, but it is the highest outdoors one. The elevator ride (it’s only one single ride) up was very cool. Full of light effects, and so smooth you really couldn’t even tell you were moving except for the ear popping. Amazing that it was so fast and smooth. When the doors opened, it really shocked you that you were that much higher up. I took plenty of pics of the Dubai night time view, and headed back down. The fountain show wasn’t operational. Rumored to be due to the fact that so few people are coming to the mall. The much touted Gold Souk was eerily empty, with tons of vacant stores, and shop keepers running after you, trying to sell you something. I saw the two other Dubai parks from the taxi, but I’ve heard they are both scarily ran, and really not worth the taxi fare and effort for portable credits. Dubai is an amazing city. Hopefully I’ll return some day. Pictures don't do it justice, the Burj Khalifa I'm pretty sure this was all out of my price range. I can only imagine how expensive this stuff was. I really wish I had gone in to ask how much one piece was. McDonalds had Pizza McPuffs! The Gold Souk had hundreds of store fronts. I would guess 70% were empty. A sign of the economic times. Luckily, there wasn't a steep entry fee like in Japan, it was pay as you go. The main attraction. The queue had some story about Robotnik. There was no wait. The only visible part of the coaster. There were some sound and ligh effects along the way. They had the Spin Boarder ride too. ALong with some large scale simulator attractions. The incredible view from At the Top. It was still a long way up to the top. One more incredible view before leaving.

^^ I too was really wondering about the clothing issue. That's why I took my shirt. However, Dubai is not a staunchly Islamic country, like Saudi. We drove by beaches in Saudi, and they women were in their burkas, out in the water. You will see no bikinis in Saudi. The UAE is much less strict. It is still hard to find liquor, and I saw no Playboys, or anything pornographic. Wild Wadi looked like any US waterpark, with only a few women in more conservative dress. I've attached some pics of a couple of more conservative outfits. ONe that goes down over the knees, and another that was all the way to the ankles, but sheer. WW sold what looked like wetsuits, but made of fabric. I saw maybe one person in one of them. Surprisingly, you'll notice both of these women are fair skinned, and likely not Arabic. Of course, these women showed no cleavage. If anything, there were many women with less being covered than in most American parks. ANd some that I wouldn't be surprised if they would have been asked to cover more, if they were at a Disney waterpark. Many had nothing but a string going down between their cheeks. -RO Just as skimpy as the US.

Dude, stating facts isn't being prejudiced. Islamic law allows men to beat women. They have beheaded at least 15 people this year (69 last year). I'm all for capital punishment, and even slow painful ways for truly evil people. But it is pretty archaic. And you are not allowed to be Christian in public, or you very likely will be imprisoned. Women can't drive, or vote, or have many jobs. To compare the Bible belt to radical Islam (and make no mistake, Saudi is controlled by radical Islam) is slandering the majority of people in the US. Please read up on facts before calling people names. Your post simply showed how vastly uniformed you are about the world in general. Turn the channel off MSNBC for a few minutes, and change your homepage away from dailykos.com . You might learn something. -RO

Part 1: Saudi and Wild Wadi 10/28/10 My work required me to go to Saudi Arabia for plant checkout. I REALLY didn't want to go. I mean REALLY REALLY didn't want to go. However, Formula Rossa was to open literally the day before I would leave through Dubai. So, that was the light at the end of the tunnel. Saudi is fairly horrible. All the woman are covered, and beaten if they act up. Christians are killed, and they still have public beheadings and other archaic things. I stayed a brand new compound. It was safe, or so I was told. THere were mounted machine guns at multiple locations (sadly, you couldn't fire one for sport). Plus, our villa had a safe room under the stairs complete with light and two bottles of water. Enough to keep you alive long enough for the terrorists to finally kill you. It is a stepford compound. Perfectly manicured, with grass even. Of course, you see damn near nobody walking around, even in great weather. Very creepy, and not for me. The high point of the week for folks staying there is getting the hell out of there. I could get Dominos delivered, with a free Pepsi even, SCORE! THere was little else to do except work. On the way to the airport, DubaiDave texts me with horrendously bad news that Ferrari WOrld would perhaps not even be open on opening day. Things went downhill from there. My plans for going to Ferrari World were crushed. I really don't want to even think about it, so I'll just skip the details. After I got over the shock and disappointment, I decided to go to what was at one point my main reason to want to go to Dubai, Wild Wadi Waterpark. Wild Wadi is basically Schlitterbahn, UAE. They have tons of Master Blaster slides, all connected together. When the park opened, they advertised that you would get in your tube, and just ride all day. Is that really what it's like? Let's see. I got a cab from my airport hotel, which was about 40 Dirham, or about 10 bucks. Not bad at all. Wild Wadi's entrance is directly at the entrance to the Burj Al Arab, the world's only 7 star hotel. There was a large rock facade, and just a few ticket windows. A very small entrance area, really. It took a while, but I got rid of my Saudi Riyals to get into the park. I was unsure of the dress code, so I planned on wearing a t-shirt. I needn't have worried. The park was full of middle aged European males wearing Speedo bikini briefs. And plenty of string bikini clad women. There were a few more conservatively dressed women with Granny Clampett style swimwear too. The park has a great moneyless system. You get a plastic watch that can be used to pay for, and operate your locker, and pay for food and souvenirs. You simply held it up to your locker, and it opened, or locked. Excellent! I got changed and headed into the park. You first get to 2 waveboard areas that had decent lines. I then got to a line for a master blaster. I had no idea where it would take me. The wait was only about 5 minutes, I got a single tube, and I was off, able to see the person on the tube in front of me. They dispatched folks FAST. I tried to control my spinning as I was filming everything with my camera. This slide was mostly uphill sections, and it dispatched you into a pool with three choices to continue with. I had no idea what went where. I chose the left slide which took me all the way down to the start of the other slide, essentially. OK, that was pretty cool. SO, I got out of the lazy river and walked back around to the same line. This time, at the top I took one of the right slides, which led me to another pool with three more choices. I took one of the left ones that was a normal water slide that got pretty crazy at the end, and again dumped me out at the river. I decided to take the lazy river around. The lazy river took you into a tunnel, and under the construction where they were putting in two of the new Proslide slides with multiple funnels and toilet bowls. These were replacing a pair of family sized master blaster slides. The river was fairly long, and full of empty tubes. It took me to the White Water slide entrance, which had a large cattle area, but even 2/3 full was only about 30 minutes. I noticed the cabana signs advertised they included no wait for the White Water slide. Sounded pretty cool. This slide started with a fairly straight series of master blaster sections, but then started zig-zagging up the rockwork. Ultimately there were four separate slides, separated by small tube chute lines. You got to the top of the rockwork, and had a choice of another master blaster around the top area, or a normal slide under the large speed slide. Both of these dropped you into the same pool that the initial master blaster I rode brought you to. SO, the White Water slide actually was the beginning of the entire network of slides at the park, so the cabana perk would be HUGE on a crowded day. Essentially, you got to immediately go to every slide in the park, except the big one, Jumeirah Sceirah, the tallest waterslide outside of America, which was next on my list. A long trek through the rockwork, over a swinging bridge, and up a tower got you to the top of Jumeirah Sceirah, a triple drop speed slide. The views from the top were awesome. Burj Al Arab, Palm, Ski Dubai, even the Burj Al Khalifa, if it's clear enough. The slide was as expected, but no airtime really. There was a large crowd at the bottom. I wonder if they were all hoping for some ta-tas to pop out. Porn is hard to come by in the UAE. Not worthy of punishment like in Saudi, but still hard to get. I went back up the tower for some pictures and video. A hot babe asked me to take her photo, and she did for me. I wondered if she would like to do other things together, but she spoke French, or something. I had lunch at a BBQ place, and ended up getting a hot dog. It was grilled, but not too tasty. No pork. The price was very reasonable though. The kiddie area was fairly standard, and there was a decent wavepool. There were people taking pictures all over the park. I had 4 wristbands, including some for the onride camera on one slide. They were good at taking action shots, and I ended up buying one of me taking off up one of the master blasters. It was quite pricey, at about $20, but that was for an 8x10. The camera guy in the wave pool took my picture with my camera, with the Burj behind it. I also got a strawberry smoothie that took a while to make but was absolutely awesome. I watched a guy cut up fruit for a fruit tray, and he was cutting out only the best parts of the fruit. The quality was noticed. One of the slides going into the lazy river was the tunnel of doom. A very long, totally dark slide full of little jogs left and right to keep you on your toes. A really fun ride. The slides were pretty wild. I flipped out on a few of the finales, and lost my sunglasses. The lifeguard called up and stopped them from sending folks down for a while, and gave me a pair of goggles to search for my glasses. I amazingly found them. Great customer service! I watched the guys on the wave riders for a while. They were quite good, and could splash the onlookers with ease. I also noticed that the precariously placed rock above the entrance would rock and make noise every once in a while. All in all, this park is fabulous. Disney quality theming, European babes, amazing architecture around it, and kick-ass master blasters that just never ended. It didn't make up for FW being closed, but it came close. -RO The Saudi airport smelled like a 70s motel. This looked sorta cool. THere were few good things at Saudi. Great water pressure, Turkish Delight, The Steakhouse, and the grail shaped beacon. Just like in Seoul, this was an amazing sight. Sadly, it went pretty much downhill after leaving the airport. Work was hot and sweaty. And EVERY DAY, it was chicken and rice for lunch. Seriously. I did get to swim in another sea. Persian/Arab Gulf. The Stepford Compound. THe mall. The highpoint of life in Saudi. They have an Applebees!!! And penguins walking all over the place. The scenic portion of Saudi. The way BACK to the airport. YAY! There are camels in this photo too! The last, and of course then best, photo I took in Saudi. Even the clocks are Rolex in the Dubai airport. Glitziest baggage claim EVAR! The tag on my hotel robe. The entrance to Wild Wadi. Their mascots were stereotypical arabs. Park map with a dive motel in the background. Lazy River cave. The queue for White Water Wadi. No standing required. Jumeirah Sceirah speed slide. The Burj Al Arab from the Jumeirah Sceirah tower. Part of Dubai. You can see the ski slope. Lunch was OK priced. THis was about $11. But we are in Dubai. Awesome theming around the slides Cool pic. Master Blasters everywhere. A view from the tower. The landscaping was perfect, and just gorgeous. The trees and the string bikinis. Another view from above. You had no idea you were right near the road. My onride pic. Looks like I took it in a mirror. THis was the standard pose they always asked you to make. I had a fabulous day at Wild Wadi. I would have given anything if my son could have enjoyed it along with me. Me in the wave pool.

^^ I know it was mentioned 3-D, but then Theme Park Guy shows poeple in the ride car, and no glasses. ^Lame was a word that came to my mind with TPG's review. Sounds like budgets for the wow factor were slashed. And I recall a comment like that from Gutterflower. I could be wrong. If you are into sports cars, I'm sure it would be great. of course they will be busy for a couple of weeks during the race, but they can't make a year's profit. I just wonder if they is meant to be a profit venture, or simply a Ferrari museum of sorts, meant more for PR than profit. Maybe things will turn around, but I honestly don't see how anything tourist related in Dubai is making a profit. -RO

Finally, some pics other than the staged media ones are available at Theme Park Guy: http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/park/ferrari-world/ Sounds like the park is fairly lame beyond FR. One question for DubaiDave: Is there a 3-D Spider-man type ride? The pics show no glasses being worn. And talk about an empty park. Maybe trying to hide their head in the sand for the real opening day didn't set well with the locals. I'm now wondering how long the park with be open. I may return to the area next year, but I don't have a good feeling about the future of a park that is empty on opening day. Of course, everything in UAE was empty. Even Wild Wadi was empty based on teh number of lockers being used. -RO

Cabs will do it, but I estimated the cost to be $70-80 one way. Emirates Airlines has shuttle service between Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports that are free if you fly them. But, you'd still need cab far on each end. I would not recommend renting a car. Arabs drive like total idiots. -RO

ANy updates, Dave? It seems like all media that were there are pretty much under embargo for everything. -RO

Er, Abu Dhabi isn't in Saudi Arabia? Thanks for that, Captain Obvious. I'm well aware of what country it's in. HOwever, my job takes me to Suadi, not UAE. -RO

Well, the damn Sheik prevented me from making it there. DubaiDave said that on opening day, the place was a ghost town. All gates closed, nobody there, didn't even sound like a sign was up. And their website hadn't been updated. Plus, according to Dave, Formula Rossa had a cable sensor problem media night, and only launched about 5 times, which is what I had feared all along. So, even had they opened on opening day, FR may have been SBNO. I sense something else going on here, but who knows. NOthing else was closed in Dubai. Wild Wadi was open to light crowds, and incredible rides (report soon). Sony Republic was open. So something just seemed fishy. Imagine on Dragster's opening day, and Cedar Point just barricaded off the island, with no sign, no person, nothing. I'm really bummed for sure, especially the unbelievable timing. Literally hours before their opening, they decide (or were told) to not open, and just turn everyone away at the gate, except the few media who went the early day that was just announced a few weeks ago. Then the star attraction hardly runs. ROugh start for the park. We'll see how it continues. Even with the not getting to ride, I still don't know if I'd want to do another trip, even if that meant I could go. Saudi Arabia sucks, basically. So, no ACE article from me any time soon. -RO

That's what I figured. Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait! I haven't been this excited since my Japan trip. Whenever I can go to a brand new, major park, that's great. And, since I'm sick and tired of chicken and rice, which is apparently all Saudis eat, I'm extremely excited about the Italian restaurant too. Oh, and alcohol, and seeing women's legs again. -RO

The press release I got had an embargo until midnight last night, Dubai time, which is now passed. Hope this doesn't mean a cable snapped. -RO

Don't worry, between Dave and I, there will be craploads, perhaps even shitloads, of pictures and video after opening day. I'm getting giddy, and constantly praying to the Intamin cable gods. -RO

DubaiDave sent me a message saying that it has been tested with people!!!!! Doesn't sound like he's one of them though. I hope to be riding it with him on Thursday, as long as the cable hold up. -RO

Mine is the Cyclone Slide at Coneyland. -RO

HUGE NEWS!!! Now, if it can only not tear up a cable, and keep running. Since roll-back shouldn't be an issue with this one, cable failure is the only thing I can see happening. Intamin should have learned quite a few things by now, and I doubt the launch is much different, mechanically than KK. I would the launch portion is inside, and the outside part being watered are brakes? Do we know for sure? Perhaps it launches by cable, then a LIM booster? -RO