Gav Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I was recently in the UK, and on my flight home I had a 24 hour stop over in Dubai, and what better way to spend it then at one of the worlds best water parks, Wild Wadi. An early flight combined with a fast taxi ride meant I found myself at the park entrance 2 hours before opening time. Already at 8am it was 35 degrees. Finally opening time rolled around, and I got to experience one of the best water parks I have ever set foot in. I won't bother with a play by play trip report since I did everything several times, and the pictures and captions explain it well enough anyway..... And here is my closing shot...Hope you enjoyed it. Did I mention that the landscaping and theming was excellent. Kind of annoying that places this good don't rate a mention in those Golden Tickets. Another random shot of the family slide. The safety signs are wonderfully symmetrical in this park. Helix. Now choose another cliché. Choose your TPR cliché. They had a couple of flowriders, though the other one was having work done on it. This was my first go on one of these...I was sitting nicley in the flow for about 5 seconds, and then for no reason i drifted sidways/backwards and was washed out. Once was enough. They had a big water play structure, but it's no Cowabunga Bay now is it Though I cant help but think they could've toned down the colours a bit to fit in with the rest of the park. The dips have that parabolic shape...The result, awesome air at 80 km/h. Wheeeeearrrgghhblehhhuugghhcoughspluttergah (Well, not really, I have my own method on these slides that avoids the faceful of water) I like speed slides, and 'Jumeira Sceirah' didn't disappoint. And I was crossing my fingers that kid would fall out on the first turn. Eventually you land in a pool at the top, where you drift around to the downhill slide. Damn e stop ruining my photo. Overweight people causing rafts to become stuck is funny the first time, and frustrating the next 5. Its like a big watery conveyor belt. They also have a family raft slide that also uses water jets. The one on the right sucks you up, the one on the left spits you out. This is the last bit of the same slide, it really did go for ages. ...And going up some more. Flood River Flyer, crossing over the action river. There were two main entrances to the network of master blasters. My favourite was 'Flood River Flyer' because it would do the trip in one continuous upward run that lasted around a minute. (The other route, previously pictured has a few pools you'd stop off in on the way) The slides would all eventually dump you back into the lazy river, which you could ride around back to the start points of the master blasters. But what goes up must come down. The master blasters would take you to the upper part of the park, but there were 'normal' slides that would bring you down to ground level. Often, there were multiple routes you could take, so every time you did a run through the master blasters you could try something else. Its a great arrangement. Though as you can see from this pic, E-Stops sometimes happen and that holds up the flow of guests through every slide before it. You can see a bit of the last slide on the right...Anyhow, you land in elevated pool areas, where you just float around to the next slide. And you just keep going up and up, surrounded by Disney standard theming. And then you ride master blasters uphill to the top of the park! No stairs needed. And you do the rest of your queuing in the water (Perfect because it was the middle eastern Summer and 45 degrees Celsius!) So this is how the park works...You do a short bit of queuing and get your raft. ...Which quite frankly rocks. The main entrance...You sort of go in through this high walled canyon with some twists and turns, until you find yourself in the park... The place is next door to the Burj Al Arab. A water park and a world landmark in the one go, bonus! So this is the sight that first greets you...They've even put theming on the -outside- of the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downunder Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Nice report, but what is a wild wadi? Dubai sounds like a good stopover, may have to contemplate that for future trips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi A wadi is basically a dry seasonal creek bed. I guess they become wild when it rains. Apparently, 'Wadi Bashing' is a popular pastime in the Emirates....basically you take your 4x4 for a drive up the creek beds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastinmiller Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Great PTR, looks nice a great waterpark. I'm going to have to visit in a few years after all the work is complete. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosscoe Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Great TR Gav...Looks like a hell of a park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Awesome. I had been waiting to see a good TR of this place. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniMike Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Park looks awesome. Even though rides are scary and stuff, theming is important to give the ride character and possibly more fright. I love the landscaping of the park though. And the fact that their aren't many stairs to walk up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goliath513 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Great photos! I love water parks like these which integrate their slides and other water attractions into the terrain. Here in America, waterparks with a homemade feel like these are a dying breed, and in my opinion are far superior to your typical out-of-the-box mediocre generic toilet bowls, play structures, or tube slides placed on flat concrete ground with no character to them - which seem to be all the rage today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike541x Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Now that's one awesome waterpark. Nice TR Gav. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Thanks for the great Photo TR, this place is defintely on my list in the next few years. I noticed one woman in a shirt in the whole update which makes me realize that locals don't really go here huh? Pretty much all tourists? Oh, and of course places like this don't win Golden Tickets...Wild Wadi is not in Ohio!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I would love to see an aerial shot of this place to see the layout of all those slides. It looks amazingly dense and all well themed. I checked google and unfortunately their satellite image shows only a dirt lot. Thanks for the report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 ^I guess due to religious beliefs, few local women actually seemed to be swimming (And they do have ladies nights as a result), I think I saw a few wearing 'burqinis', but yeah I guess it would mostly be tourists. Dubai isn't just a magnet for European tourists though, but the whole region, for a bit I was chatting to an Iranian bloke who was the one ahead of me on the slides....I don't blame locals for not going though, an annual pass works out to be $544 USD ! I checked google and unfortunately their satellite image shows only a dirt lot. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=25.139741,55.188985&spn=0.001712,0.002411&t=h&z=19 It's there. If you were interested, here is how the slides are laid out. Blue are master blasters, red are gravity slides... Layout of Wild Wadi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavs Fan Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Wow, that place is awesome. But of course, it is an Dubai, somewhere I will never go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Em-Z Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Wow that place is amazing! The themeing and landscaping is (are?) great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miniviews Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Great trip report of an awesome water park. I love the use of the master blasters/jets/conveyor belts to swoosh you to a higher grade. Dubai is on my list of to-do and this place appears to be a great place to cool off. Much mahalo (Thank You)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I checked google and unfortunately their satellite image shows only a dirt lot. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=25.139741,55.188985&spn=0.001712,0.002411&t=h&z=19 It's there. If you were interested, here is how the slides are laid out. Blue are master blasters, red are gravity slides... I should have looked for the burj rather than trust that Google would locate the waterpark in the right place. THankyou for both the correct location and the slide layout. The place looks amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubaidave Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Wow, that place is awesome. But of course, it is an Dubai, somewhere I will never go. why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gutterflower Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Awesome TR. Certainly on my list of places to visit asap Especially with the 2 new Tantrum Slides from Proslide going in next year, I wonder if they will be accessed by the Master Blaster system as well. How many slides are not accessed by this system? the speed slide looks like it has stairs up which i guess is to be expected. But are there many others? Cavs Fan wrote:Wow, that place is awesome. But of course, it is an Dubai, somewhere I will never go. why? Indeed why? your young so you never know where your going to go when your older. Even a year ago i never thought I'd goto places like Libya, Senegal and Bulgaria but I've had (and taken) opportunities to goto each with work in the last 6 months. Never say Never. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reon Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 This place is amazing. The lazy river queu reminds me of Schlitterbahn, thought master blaster system is a bit of an upgrade from that. The park itself might be one of the nicest looking waterpark's I've ever seen, and the addition of those fury slides next year looks quite epic. Deffinately a place I'll have to go if I ever get the money/resources to do a Dubai trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRapidsNerd Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Gav, Great job! What a truly awesome and smartly designed water park! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattnmatt Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 This water park is simply stunning! It looks amazing! I like the idea of being able to ride the master blasters to the top, and take "regular" slides back down! You took some great photos! Thanks for sharing! ~Matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor6 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 This park is beautiful! Most of the waterparks in America just plop some brightly colored slide on a flat plot of land. Wild Wadi looks like they really care about the atmosphere of the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinciDAWGS12 Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Wow! Now that is thee best waterpark I've ever seen in my life! Dubai here i come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 How many slides are not accessed by this system? the speed slide looks like it has stairs up which i guess is to be expected. But are there many others? The network diagram I posted shows the connected ones. So the slides where you have to get out are the Speed Slide, the slides in the kids area, and the two Family Blasters (Though the family blasters are paired in their own separate loop) The Tantrum Tornado and Bowling Alley are replacing the Family Blasters, so they won't be directly accessible, and you'll have to climb stairs. According to an article found here: http://www.proslide.com/newsroom.php (Wild Wadi is 10 Years Old and Still a 10) The family blasters can only do around 400pph, but the new Proslides will have much higher capacity, so that's why they are being replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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