ItsMe Posted February 2, 2016 Posted February 2, 2016 (edited) My other reports... - Credits in Dubai & Sharjah - The pearl of Abu Dhabi: Yas Waterworld - INCLUDING Flying Aces pull through and construction photos - Ferrari World Wild Wadi Waterpark Dubai I thought it would be nice to share my, well... our, Arabian Adventures on TPR. First things first: English is not my native language. I am not able to provide you with writings on the level of f.e. JK Rowling, neither can I provide you with high quality photos that are usable in the Lonely Planet Guide, as water, movement and darkness aren't any photographer best friend. Unfortunately I didn't bring a whole Harem composed out of hot European woman to the UAE, to make them show (in bikini) how hot it was over there. Well, now that is made clear... what do I've got in store for you? A load of questionable credits, the fastest coaster on this planet, and a lot of wetness. Yes, the UAE it is! If I had to choose an overall theme for my reports, besides the probably not so good use of the English language, it would be luxury. Why? Well, you cannot visit that part of the world without it. Crab yourself a Coke, sit back and enjoy the photos and many, many words I've dedicated to our trip. Before I start writing, I really sincerely hope that this report can please more TPR members, as the last one did not get one single response to it. I have looked into it and will cut back a bit on the text to make it more 'readable'. Any feedback is appreciated as I am trying to improve my reports every time. Oh, one last thing... again, thanks to TPR members giving me a hand by answering my questions before my visit. It is thursday November 5th when we are trying to eat our breakfast as fast as possible, when the nice waiter lets us know that the buffet at the luxury Bab al Shams Resort is about to close for today. Now it is not that it closes early, we just wanted to catch some sleep so we got to the breakfast a bit late. Well, we needed some extra sleep for another fun filled long day in Dubai. Let's go! On our way to Wild Wadi we decided to make a quick stop at Universal Dubailand. A short history class: Universal Dubai supposed to be one of the many theme parks within this huge entertainment district, located on a twenty minute drive from the main city attractions. This idea, launched in 2003, immediately Dubai got the attention and landed on must theme park enthusiasts their wishlist. Unfortunately the financial crisis hit the UAE hard and no longer the sky was the limit. Some plans are completely cancelled, others are taking out of the fidge recently and some are completed now the financial crisis is behind us. They pulled the plug on Universal when only the gate was constructed, creating a weird place with a lot of sand, the beginning of the drop-off point, a completed mall next door and a gate in the middle of nowhere. The mall is our target location for our GPS. After driving for twenty minutes on the smooth six lane highway we arrive and start looking for a place to park the car. Since 2009 there has been no works at all here, so the sand and dirt could take over the road and beginnen of the parking lot. It is really weird to do a bit of off-roading when driving under a Universal Studios gate. Fortunately for us there are enough spots for us After getting out of the car we take a look around. Call it nerdy, call it geeky... but standing here is really weird. The sun burns on my skin while I try to imagine how this could have been. I mean, the gate looks surprisingly good after all these years, the few trees still have a bit of green on them and the weather is great. Guys, let's buy this property and get started When driving towards Wild Wadi, we see another interesting construction site... and this one is busy. Soon IMG Worlds of Adventure will open its doors for guests. Wild Wadi Waterpark wasn''t built on a location with unlimited space and brand new infrastructure. The first guests entered the park about 17 years ago and can be found near the Burj al Arab, as part of the Jumureih Bach Resort. For that reason you should try to avoid the weekends, when the hotel is way more crowded and so is Wild Wadi. The view when arriving by car is already stunning. We take the exit ramp and find the somewhat hidden entrance to the parkingstructure. If you are afraid of driving full-size cars in tight spaces with extremely tight corners; don't drive inside the parkingstructure - f.y.i. I didn't hit anything -. At the ticket booth we get our tickets and our wristband that serves as our wallet and locket key. I love those systems! We get changed in the clean and fresh dressing rooms and start to roam around the park before riding anything. The parks looks great. Waterfalls everywhere, good looking theming and everything is clean. For the moment you actually forget that you are in the city. Wild Wadi = Masterblaster Paradise. There is a whole network of Masterblaster and they are all connected. They even have junctions to create your own route. Seriously awesome, as this also means that you barely have to get out and wait in line to ride all 17 Masterblasters. You can wait while chilling in a tube, in the water. We are both new to this concept. We grab a tube and get in the short line at the bottom of one of the entry points. I have to be honest, I really don't know if we managed to ride every swingle optional route because navigating isn't my cup of tea. I think we spent at least one hour without leaving the water... it is just soooo much fun. Wild Wadi is a treat for the eyes and is jammed with rides. However it only takes you about ten minutes to get from one side to the other the park. Our next stop: Jumeirah Sceirah. These slides are the tallest so called freefall slides outside the US, making you tumble towards earth from a height of 110 ft. at 50 miles per hour. Oh, and it has a double dip. The moment the hatch drops is follwed up by ten seconds of pure adrenaline and fun! My trunks are transformed into a thong, my shirt is a scarf... not a pretty sight, however it is worth it! Ok, time to relax for a moment with the Burj al Arab as backdrop. If you wanna be part of the game you need a flowrider... every decent waterpark had at least one. Wild Wadi has two of them, with one being used to get some current into the adjacent lazy river. Wild Wadi is a bit like Disneyland: roads and building surrounding the park. Edited February 9, 2016 by ItsMe
ItsMe Posted February 2, 2016 Author Posted February 2, 2016 Yes, we see you there Ski Dubai. Now, let’s take a look around and enjoy the view from the top of the Jumeirah Sceirah. Over the recent years Wild Wadi has been expanding, adding another tower with two major slides. The first one is like a small tornado slide on steroids: it not has one tornado element, no… it has three of them. Because they are not huge you really get up the walls pretty high – because it has enough speed for that -. Oh, and no need to carry the rafts up those stairs. Makes me happy. That is not all. Wild Wadi also houses the well-known ‘bowl’ slide. Again it is not what you call your standard version. This slide contains two of those bowl elements. Double the fun! Time flies when you are having fun. It is just passed five, the temperature drops to 84 Fahrenheit and the beauty of the park at night starts to unfold. The sun does it share part, however the lightning in the park just makes it a bit like Fata Morgana in de Efteling. Wish this park was open at night, however the main clock is ticking and is telling us we only have limited time left. One last ride on Jumeirah Sceirah and the Wild Wadi part of the day is over. I tried to cut back on the words and I really did compared to my last report. However I really love Wild Wadi so it is hard not to be too enthusiastic about it. We still need to eat, so I drive us to the Marina Mall. For about 5 USD we get our rental cleaned – see the video how it got so dirty you couldn’t even hold the door normally – and headed for dinner at the top floor of Pier 7 (and it was great). We walked and drove around the Marina District after that before heading back to the hotel. Another great day! Last, but hopefully not least, our day captured on tape. Thanks for reading
CoasterFEV Posted February 2, 2016 Posted February 2, 2016 Since 2009 there has been no works at all here, so the sand and dirt could take over the road and beginnen of the parking lot. It is really weird to do a bit of off-roading when driving under a Universal Studios gate. Great reports! Keep it up! Interesting note is that the Universal Studios Dubailand (USD) arches that are visible just off route E66 are actually about a kilometer and a half from where the main entrance of the park was designed. In fact, it's not even near where the parking was (that old parking lot you stopped in was, actually, for the old USD site offices which were removed just over a year ago) I believe the existing USD arches were erected more for marketing purposes during construction more than anything else. The actual location of the Universal Studios Dubailand theme park is still very much visible on Google Maps. Click the link below and you can still spot the show lagoon and berms that were to surround the park. https://www.google.com/maps/place/25%C2%B003'35.8%22N+55%C2%B023'12.2%22E/@25.0599358,55.384516,781m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0
ItsMe Posted February 2, 2016 Author Posted February 2, 2016 Since 2009 there has been no works at all here, so the sand and dirt could take over the road and beginnen of the parking lot. It is really weird to do a bit of off-roading when driving under a Universal Studios gate. Great reports! Keep it up! Interesting note is that the Universal Studios Dubailand (USD) arches that are visible just off route E66 are actually about a kilometer and a half from where the main entrance of the park was designed. In fact, it's not even near where the parking was (that old parking lot you stopped in was, actually, for the old USD site offices which were removed just over a year ago) I believe the existing USD arches were erected more for marketing purposes during construction more than anything else. The actual location of the Universal Studios Dubailand theme park is still very much visible on Google Maps. Click the link below and you can still spot the show lagoon and berms that were to surround the park. https://www.google.com/maps/place/25%C2%B003'35.8%22N+55%C2%B023'12.2%22E/@25.0599358,55.384516,781m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0 Didn't know, learning somenthing new every week. Thanks See photo below, that was our location. Where did de entrance road, main parking lot and real entrance gate suppose to go? (I see the berms indeed)
ItsMe Posted February 3, 2016 Author Posted February 3, 2016 Not sure to edit or make it a new post... Found this after you made me curious. So they built two arches? The marketing one and the office one (gone now)? However I should have seen the berms far out, in front of me. You can actually drive up there I think now. Well, the photo I have is good enough.
CoasterFEV Posted February 3, 2016 Posted February 3, 2016 Not sure to edit or make it a new post... Found this after you made me curious. So they built two arches? The marketing one and the office one (gone now)? However I should have seen the berms far out, in front of me. You can actually drive up there I think now. Well, the photo I have is good enough. The perspective in the photo may make it a bit difficult to tell - but the smaller (MUCH smaller) second "archway" was the former entrance of the single-story site office which, in the bottom of the your linked page, was being demolished at the time the photos were taken. For perspective, that's a standard doorway at the base of that smaller arch which was demolished shortly after those photos were taken.
n1ch0las Posted February 3, 2016 Posted February 3, 2016 Haven't mentioned it on the others, but I've really been enjoying these Trip Reports. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to put them together.
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