sspaz1000 Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 *blushes* I'm a runner up? That was so much fun. And really those pictures do look like you guys are having an absolute blast over there. I will be the first to say, I learned quite a bit about Middle East amusement parks this week, and never really realized that there was that much to do in Dubai. Nicole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
technfxrick Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 Hey everyone! Now that we are wrapping up our Dubai trip, I want to announce the WINNERS of this year's "Where in the World is Robb & Elissa?" 1st place - Chris aka Croniq aka "the world's most creepy internet stalker!" Runner up - sspaz1000 Runner up - BigDipper80 You guys kept the thread going and the most correct guesses out of anyone! If all the winners and runners up can email me their mailing address please! I do want to give some props to tinkerbelle & technfxrick. While they weren't the first to guess our destination, they did "show their work" quite well. Had you guys kept playing, you could have been contenders! And a shout out to DenDen for being the first to correctly guess the region, even though our destination wasn't Abu Dhabi. Thank you everyone for playing!!! We hope you guys had as good of a time with the game as we did! --Robb Damn, if only our internet wasnt down at work on Sunday and Monday So does this mean that there may be a TPR trip here in the future?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 ^ On the plus side - this region of the world as far exceeded any of our expectations and there has been plenty of awesome to keep us occupied, and we have already been talking about a return trip...maybe even doing something a bit more official with a small TPR group! Also... Hey Chris...Is there a reason why Osama Bin laden is in our basement tied up?? Kristin "wondering where the heck my husband has been for the past for days" Connolly Ha! Good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chroniq Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LwpdolUOW8 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastuso Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 Wait!! You mean you guys can now join my illustrious club of "those who go way the hell over to the UAE and DON'T get to ride Formula Rossa"? That's great news. I was so lonely. I'm sure you were like me. Absolutely crushed when you heard the news (gee, thanks Dubai Dave ), but then you realize "what the hell, I'm in Du-freakin-bai, playground for millionaires. There must be something else to do. I do wish you had gone to Wild Wadi and Atlantis, to compare parks. And Ski Dubai was definitely next on my to do list. I'll probably be back next year, both good (Dubai!!), and bad (Saudi). Ferrari World does need a BIG lesson in PR, however. They really don't seem to give a shit about their public image. They have now had 3 people that would have advertised the shit out of their park (I was going to write an ACE article) that have been denied. I don't really buy their story about opening weekend. No other place in the country was closed for the Sheik's death. They had been advertising an opening day for months, and instead they seal off the place and act like there is nothing to see. NOw, their main attraction is down, and they don't seem to give two shits about getting it fixed?? Probably because they figure no one is there anyway. I would say they did huge business race week, and that's about it. I really wonder about this park's future. I REALLY hope they survive, but I'm starting to wonder. The ride looks great, but reviews so far have been mixed. I was really hoping to hear you guys' opinions. Oh, and a word of advice for the trip back. I was luckily in business class, so I didn't have to deal with it, but when they make an announcement about starting to load the plane, even just handicapped folks, EVERYONE will rush to the gate, and crowd up big time. This was especially horrible on the Saudi flights. The trip back to the US will be a bit better, since it will have lots of Americans on it. But the middle-Eastern folks will not follow directions, and if you hesitate for 5 seconds, you will be the last two to get on the plane. -RO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy T. Koepp Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 ^Scariest song ever! That's just wrong. Funny. But wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philphan25 Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 Congrats to the winners! Here is my reward/end of trip video! Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted December 7, 2010 Author Share Posted December 7, 2010 (edited) Wait!! You mean you guys can now join my illustrious club of "those who go way the hell over to the UAE and DON'T get to ride Formula Rossa"? That's great news. I was so lonely. I'm sure you were like me. Absolutely crushed when you heard the news (gee, thanks Dubai Dave ), but then you realize "what the hell, I'm in Du-freakin-bai, playground for millionaires. There must be something else to do. To be honest, we weren't crushed at all. I realize this is very hard for some people to understand, but we just didn't care that much. We shrugged, when "meh, it happens.." and moved on to the next thing. When you travel to about 100 parks and ride 300-400 coasters each year, missing one, even an important one, isn't that big of a deal to us. It's even less of a big deal when it's in a place we've never been before and we have plenty of other things to do to keep busy. It's not like we'd traveled to Cedar Point, a place we've been loads of times before, and missed the one and only coaster we hadn't ridden. I will say though that I do agree, the park did seem to handle this a bit weird, and I didn't really sense that they were rushing to get the ride back open. If they were, you would have thought someone would have been on a plane with a computer part the very next day. Maybe it's not as easy as that, I dunno. But I know I've hand carried master discs for video game projects of mine across the globe, you think a park would want to do the same for their star attraction. The park was very busy during our visit, especially later in the afternoon as we were heading out, tons of people were pouring in, and I'm sure they will have been more disappointed than we were. We already have plans for our return visit. And we're not coming back just for Rossa, and if it was closed during that trip, it wouldn't be that big of a deal either... --Robb "Rossa was not the goal of this trip...visiting the UAE was." Alvey Edited December 7, 2010 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTAH FREAK Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 It kind of reminds me of when I flew across the country to go to SFGAv and KK was closed, but I still had a hell of a time doing everything else and in the end didn't really care that I didn't get to ride it. After this I'd have to say that if I ever do get to go to Dubai I won't be excited because of Ferrari World, surprisingly enough. It would just be a bonus next to all the crazy stuff there is to do there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDipper 80 Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 (edited) *excitedly types robbalvey@themeparkreview.com* email sent... NOW How exciting! I love Bags-o-Crap! Let me just say again how much fun I've had with this thread! The UAE really looks like a fantastic place to visit. Edited December 7, 2010 by BigDipper 80 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 Awesome Game! I was always too late in playing. Finals week really really sucks. I was always a day behind, and by the time I was able to 'play' everyone had already stalked the answers! I can't wait for the next game so I can actually play Glad you guys had fun!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoCo Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 (edited) First, another congrats to the winners, and a lot of the other players. Really, the keen eyes and dedication to sleuthing on display here make my brain hurt. Second, that "game" video about four replies up is gutbusting!!! Thanks for that! (Note that there's some NSFW language in it.) Edited December 7, 2010 by RoCo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkerbelle Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 I do want to give some props to tinkerbelle & technfxrick. While they weren't the first to guess our destination, they did "show their work" quite well. Had you guys kept playing, you could have been contenders! Aww I absolutely loved playing the "Where in the World" game but had to travel overseas for four days with next to no internet access the whole time so was bummed that I couldn't play along anymore! Even more annoying as having been to the UAE many times (and even stayed at the Hyatt overlooking Wonderland for most of that time), I recognised so many places! Can't wait for your next "Where in the World" thread - they're such fun to play so please keep doing them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkerbelle Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 If anyone is interested, I just wanted to add that I found a photo of Wonderland that I took from the Hyatt: View of Wonderland from the Grand Hyatt Dubai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noxegon Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 I missed it too, though in my case it was based on a gamble (made in January) that the park would be open at the start of October. It was (and is) no big deal; I'll get back there soon enough I'm sure. The UAE is well worth it as a destination even without the coasters. Anyone going there should definitely day trip Bahrain for Chakazoolu BTW; the coaster there is the best I've done in the middle east by a huge margin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rastuso Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 Yeah, I sure wish I'd done Bahrain. But, my boss was making us stay in a whore-tel, and I didn't want to, so I stayed at the compound. Then I read your review of the coaster. Oh well, that is another one to definitely hit on the next trip. But, doing it as a "day trip" from UAE is going to be a long and expensive day to fly there for a small, even if it is really good, coaster -RO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noxegon Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 Not really. It's only an hour flight from DXB, and there are plenty of flights every day operated by a few different airlines. I believe I paid about $200 for the round trip airfare. Having done Bahrain already, I'd pay twice that to do Chakazoolu again; it really is that good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 $200 or $400 in airfare to ride to ride a coaster. Foolish in my book, unless there are many happy endings involved. NFW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george greenway Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 It is not foolish to spend any amount of money you want to get what makes you happy, you have one road in this life. I'm a fully paid up member of the "It was closed when I got there" club, my record is fujiyama; missed 3 times, jungle jacjs twice, then tower of terror (south africa), battlestar galactica this year and formula rossa by 2 weeks as it opened after i flew through Dubai, by the way Ferrari World is in Abu Dhabi. The furthest Ive flown is to melbourne to find the wood coaster closed. thats 23 hours of flying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 It is not foolish to spend any amount of money you want to get what makes you happy For me it is, but to each his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Starr Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 Hope you guys had fun in Dubai! And congrats to all of the winners for your awesome stalking skills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 $200 or $400 in airfare to ride to ride a coaster. Foolish in my book, unless there are many happy endings involved. NFW! I agree, but the coaster happens to be in another cool middle-Eastern place I'd like to visit, and one might as well do it while already over there! I wouldn't have been surprised to see Bahrain or Kuwait in this report, but I suppose that will wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noxegon Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 $200 or $400 in airfare to ride to ride a coaster.Foolish in my book, unless there are many happy endings involved. As you correctly point out, it's to each their own. Only observation I would add, though, is that all these figures need to be taken as a percentage of a total holiday. If you're spending (say) $4000 to spend a fortnight in the United Arab Emirates, then spending 10% of that amount on one day of the trip (while above average) is IMHO easily justified if you need it to ride a top notch coaster in a location well off the beaten track. There are some coasters that you simply can't get to for any less unless you live/work in the country, and while many are not worth it, Jungle Storm most definitely is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowboard83 Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 Curious, I keep on hearing of all these trips to Bahrain, and there is a direct link with Saudi Arabia and a small cluster of parks just across the bridge between the two countries. If I did go to Bahrain, does anyone know if it hard to get over to/into Saudi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noxegon Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 There is a road bridge. However, to enter Saudi you need a visa, and getting a tourist visa is difficult at best. The following is from the US State Department: Visas are issued for business and work, to visit close relatives, and for transit and religious visits by Muslims. Visas for tourism are issued only for approved tour groups following organized itineraries. Airport and seaport visas are not available. All visas require a sponsor, can take several months to process, and must be obtained prior to arrival. Effective May 2008, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs agreed to issue 5-year multiple-entry visas to American visitors and students. All Saudi Embassies have the authority to issue the 5-year visas, but only the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. appears to be doing so at this time. In the past, American citizens have reported being refused a Saudi visa because their passports reflected travel to Israel or indicated that they were born in Israel, although this has not happened recently. Women visitors and residents are required to be met by their sponsor upon arrival. Women who are traveling alone and are not met by sponsors have experienced delays before being allowed to enter the country or to continue on other flights. Bahrain also requires a visa, but you can apply for a tourist visa electronically and no itinerary is required. http://www.evisa.gov.bh/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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