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New Theme Parks and Resorts - (6/16/09) The CEO of Union Properties, the company behind the F1-X Theme Park in Dubailand has resigned this week and is being replaced by Khalid al Jarwan, a former executive of Dubai Investments Group and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. No reason was given for his departure but perhaps a little shake-up in the management tree will get the F1-X Theme Park firing on all cylinders.
  (5/11/09) In a new announcement from Dubailand, they report that everything that they have announced will be built (The Universal Studios, Six Flags, DreamWorks, Marvel and Tiger Woods projects), but they will open in their own phases. Most of the projects should be ready by 2015 however. While no exact opening date was available for the Universal Studios park, they did report that the F1-X theme park would be ready for 2010. The dinosaur themed Restless Planet park was also moving ahead as planned, as 250 dinosaurs were reported as being “ready” for the park, in storage somewhere in Japan.
  (4/14/09) While we haven’t heard much lately about the troubles in Dubai, there is an interesting article posted here talks about the dark side of trying to do business over there right now as countless contractors are apparently owed millions right now. The article used on UK crews, but it seems that many have been asked to lower their prices while many more have been waiting months to get paid for jobs done and reaching the point where legal action may need to be taken. It seems getting paid in Dubai may have become very difficult. A great quote is in the last paragraph where an anonymous source brings up the subject of a lawsuit to get paid and was told that if they sue they’ll never work in Dubai again.  
  (3/17/09) According to an interview with Mark Shapiro, Six Flags Dubailand is funded but could see its projected 2012 opening pushed back up to a year. He also mentioned that the park will open with two "world class coasters", one steel and one wood.
  (3/10/09) The F1-Theme Park could be in danger of being canceled entirely if the project can’t get access to financing or government aid very soon.
  (2/27/09) The news has confirmed that the opening of the F1-X Theme Park will be delayed for a year.
  (2/26/09) According to this news article, the latest buzz in the middle east is that the F1-X Theme Park may be delayed because the developers has run out of money. Apparently the plan was to make money to finish the park with the sale of homes, but with the real estate market crash there, this has not been possible. They also mention that local rumors suggest that the Ferrari World theme park will also be delayed for a year.
  (2/11/09) According to this article about just what is going on in Dubailand, the SVP of Dubailand reports that while they are reviewing all of their projects that have not started construction, they are going to finish the projects that are already underway. He goes on to name F1-X at Motor City (aka: F1 Theme Park), Universal Studios are currently “on track”, with Uni still looking to open by late 2010 or 2011 and F1-X to open by the end of 2009. Other projects still under-way include Tiger Woods Dubai and Asia Asia. The Global Village project however is under review right now and the City of Arabia is currently on hold for three months.
  (2/6/09) A great list of some of the projects in the UAE that have either been cancelled or put on-hold can be found here along with their projected value. Aqua Dunya ($900 million) is currently listed here as only being On Hold and the Falcon City Of Wonders that was going to build scale replicas of world famous monuments (Eiffel Tower, Tower of Pissa, Taj Mahal, etc) has been cancelled. Now take a look at this article where they estimate that $263 billion in projects has been delayed or cancelled outright so far. Of note is this quote, “Five projects at the $110 billion Dubailand development, which was billed to be the pinnacle of the Dubai's tourism draw, are on hold or canceled, including the $2.2 billion Universal City development that was destined to be one of the world's largest theme parks.” So I’m confused… first Universal Dubailand is delayed until 2012 and now this article says it’s on hold. It also lists the Great Dubai Wheel project has either being cancelled or on-hold right now.
  (2/5/09) Here is some of the latest news and rumors regarding Dubai projects as more and more projects seem to be getting the axe. An indoor “snow park” concept for Dubailand is now apparently dead. Some say Six Flags Dubailand is alive while the locals tell another story. According to a local source the huge billboard for the Six Flags park that was up next to the Dubailand site has now been taken down, which is not a good sign, as the billboards for other projects that have been canned like the Aqua Dunya waterpark also had their signs removed. On a positive note, the City of Arabia site is still full of active construction and even has a 20 foot T-Rex statue looking over the construction wall, as this is to be the home of the Restless Planet attraction.
  (1/30/09) More sad news for Dubai this week as one of our sources claims that the F1 Theme Park is not going to make the deadline and open this year after all. Earlier we had heard that the Gerstlauer Eurofighter coaster wasn’t going to be finished until 2010 anyway, but now it seems that the entire park will be delayed as well.
  (1/23/09) According to a Screamscape source there may have been a major shakeup over at Dubailand earlier this week. According to the whispers floating in from the desert sand, Tatweer apparently took an axe (or a nerf bat) to the various Dubailand projects, killing several projects outright and putting most of the rest “on hold” for at least 12 to 24 months. While the delayed opening of the Universal Studios park was already announced earlier this week, some of the other projects may not have been so lucky. Anyone know more?
  (12/8/08) Over the weekend we learned that an plans for Intamin to build a bigger/faster version of Kingda Ka for Dubai are off the table. That doesn’t mean that something big isn’t still in the works, it just wont be another Kinda Ka / Top Thrill Dragster style coaster.
  (12/5/08) During an interview with Mark Shapiro posted at the LA Times, they touched briefly on the Six Flags Dubailand project. While Shapiro didn’t confirm the exact coasters going into that park, he did say that it would receive major coasters on the scale of: Kingda Ka, El Toro, Nitro and X2. This kind of matches up with another rumor we had heard that Intamin had been asked to come up with another Rocket coaster design that would be bigger and faster than Kingda Ka for a park in the Middle East.
  (12/1/08) I have to give credit to CoastersandMore for being the first to uncover a bunch of the Gerstlauer and Premier Rides news we posted last week, though it’s all in German so I’ll have to take their word for it. They also dropped off a bit of extra information about that Premier Rides launched coaster, claiming that not only would it have a gigantic 80 meter tall spike at the end of the run, but that the cars will actually spin 180º while going through this element, turning around half-pipe style to face back down towards the ground.
  (11/28/08) Screamscape sources tell us that the customized Gerstlauer Eurofighter project for the F1 theme park in Dubai wont open until 2010. The coaster will feature custom designed trains, a 30 meter tall vertical lift hill, 97º beyond-vertical first drop and five inversions (zero g roll, two corkscrews and a Cobra Roll) along the 500 meter track. Meanwhile we’ve also heard that Premier Rides is behind three more coasters going into the park. One is said to be very similar to the Italian Job coasters at the former Paramount parks, but will be given an old style race car theme. They are also said to be working on some kind of new junior inverted concept as well as a classic Premier launched coaster project that will stand 70 meters tall.
  Meanwhile I’ve been sent a few more details about Maurer Sohne’s racing/dueling coaster project for the Ferrari park. While it will not feature any inversions each of the two tracks is said to feature four different LSM powered booster sections to add the thrill of acceleration in mid ride as well as likely to allow for each side to take the lead from the other from time to time.
  (11/12/08) Today we’ve got a few more updates about just what’s going on in Dubai… or rather what isn’t going on. First on the list today is the Legends of Araabia Dubailand project as seen here, which was announced back in 2005 and was actually supposed to open it’s first phase in 2008. The Legends project was supposed to blend a theme park with retail and residential areas. You can see what the site looked like back in 2006 here and then take a look at what it looked like in October 2008 over at TheThemeParkGuy.
  Meanwhile lets look at some other projects that have been announced and when they are supposed to open. According to the billboards Marvel Dubailand should open in 2012, Dreamworks Dubailand should open in 2012, Six Flags Dubailand in 2011 and Legoland Dubailand in 2011. So far I don’t believe anything in the way of construction has even begun on any of those high profile projects. According to another trusted Screamscape source, most of the development on the various UAE projects has come to a screeching halt lately, such as the Warner Bros. park in Abu Dhabi which was said to have been put officially on hold just last week. Meanwhile an article has also been posted claiming that Nakheel may be slowing down their work schedule on the Palm Deria project, the largest of the three Palm islands. This is not to be confused with the Palm Jebel Ali however, which is slated to become the site of the Worlds of Discovery parks.
  From what I’ve been led to understand, the only fully funded projects that are moving ahead right now and actually being worked on are Universal Studios Dubailand, the F1 Theme Park and the Ferrari park project. In the meantime, pop on over to TheThemeParkGuy to see some of the latest status updates on these and many more of the projects that have been announced for the area.
  (11/10/08) Things are not looking so bright and cheerful in Dubia as the financial impact of the massive projects planned there are starting to crash. The real estate boom is coming to an end and the credit crunch is causing the developers to look into delaying or even canceling some of their projects. With construction already started on Univesal Studios Dubailand, it seems a good bet that the project will be finished, but the same can not be said for some of the other projects that have yet to make the leap from the drawing board.
  Our first example of this may be the massive Aqua Dunya waterpark resort project which actually broke ground back in May 2007 with the goal of opening in January 2010. Now take look at the following two picture links posted by TheThemeParkGuy showing off the future home of Aqua Dunya (marked by a giant billboard) as seen in December 2007 and then take a look at the same site as of October 2008. Not only as the billboard graphic been removed, but there seems to have been zero construction progress on the site and the park’s official website has also been taken offline.
  (9/23/08) It seems a little bit of a scandal has popped into the news for one Dubailand project. DIB (Dubai Islamic Bank) has sized the land assets of developer Plantation Holdings who was building some kind of equestrian themed resort project in Dubailand. The project itself is the Plantation Equestrian & Polo Club, a mix of a hotel, 100 villas for sale, as well as a polo and equestrian academy. The British owners of Plantation Holdings along with a few others are being questioned by police for suspected financial embezzlement of project funds. I believe you can find the project’s official website here.
  (9/12/08) Today I’ve got a a few updates to share for the various projects going on in Dubai thanks to TheThemeParkGuy.com. First take a look at the amazing looking new Atlantis The Palm resort at the outer edge of The Palm island. According to the official website (AtlantisThePalm.com) the resort will open on September 24th. From here we’ll take a general look at the Dubailand site itself and according to the site, there just hasn’t been a lot of progress on much at this point. He pretty much goes down the list of all the major projects announced so far for 2008, 2009, 2010 and beyond and says that the only project that is clearly under construction right now is Universal Studios Dubailand. Everything else is just desert, roads, maybe a showroom or a few billboards, but nothing you would really call progress as these projects get further and further behind. I just hope this wasn’t all just a bunch of talk… as so far all we have seen is an endless stream of big announcements.
  (8/14/08) As if Dubai didn’t already have enough high profile theme park projects in the works, the existing Wonderland park will be given an infusion of Dh615 ($167.4 million) to upgrade the park and build all new attractions, hotels, restaurants, shops and more with the goal of making it a more Disney style park. The work will begin within the next few weeks and be finished before the end of 2010.
  (6/12/08) Some new details about the Restless Planet park and attractions can be found here, where they mention that even more details should be released later today.
  (5/16/08) Six Flags Dubailand has announced that they have completed the basic master plan for the new park. The first phase will break ground in 2009, is set to open in 2011, will feature 30 rides and expected to have over 3 million visitors a year.
  (5/15/08) Dubailand has announced the finalization of the master plan for the Marvel Superhero theme park project. The 4.5 million square foot project will consist of three themed areas: City Centrum, The HUB and The Marvel Academy. The article goes on to mention three of the park’s rides by name: Flying with Spidey, Fantasticar, and X-men: Danger Room, all of which are currently undergoing “offsite trial runs”. In total the park will offer 17 different rides and attractions. The groundbreaking is expected to take place in early 2009 and the park should be ready to open by December 31st, 2012.
  (5/8/08) An article posted to ArabianBusiness.com says that Dubailand is on track to meet its deadline to open Phase One by December 2010, which is supposed to include the new Universal Studios Dubailand opening on December 10th, 2010. It goes on to say that of the 24 major projects in development, all of them should have started construction before the end of this year with six of them already well under way. The estimated total development cost for all of Dubailand is said to be a jaw-dropping $63.9 billion!
  (5/7/08) The large Lego Miniland model of the The Burj Dubai seen in yesterday’s press release is currently on display already at the Arabian Travel Market as seen in these pictures (see below) sent in by a reader.
  (5/6/08) Merlin Entertaiment has announced the creation of Legoland Dubailand this morning and sent out pictures of the first model created at Legoland California for the new park, a Lego version of The Burj Dubai, which upon completion will be the world’s tallest building. The model is made of nearly 140,000 LEGO bricks and took a team of model builders 1,342 hours to research, design and build. This model is the first of many of Dubai’s amazing landmarks LEGOLAND California’s Model Team is building for Miniland Dubai. Legoland Dubailand is scheduled to open by the end of 2011 and will be a 3 million square-foot theme park that features 40 interactive rides, shows and attractions. Merlin Entertainment and Tatweer are also looking at building a number of other possible developments including Legoland themed hotels and other Merlin Entertainment venues.
  (5/2/08) Another new theme park concept has been announced for Dubailand called Freej Dubailand, a 4-million square-foot family entertainment area themed around the characters of Freej, the Middle-East’s most popular 3D animated series. From the description, the “four elderly ladies in Freej” will serve as ambassadors to four distinct lands within the park: Window on UAE, Golden Age of Discovery, Myths & Legends and Land of the Freej, a replica of the neighborhood seen on the series. I believe this is the official website for the show and you can find a short video preview of the series as well.
  (4/21/08) According to this news report, Marvel Entertainment and Tatweer have finalize the design of the new Marvel superhero theme park going into Dubailand. The project will feature characters like Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk and Spider-Man and open by 2012. The deal was originally announced as a partnership between Marvel and Al Ahli Group but Tatweer has stepped in to oversee and develop the project. Al Ahli Group also had previously signed a deal with Nickelodeon, but it’s unclear if that deal has also gone over to Tatweer as well.
  (3/17/08) According to this progress update the Formula 1 Theme Park is on track to open in the third quarter of 2009. It also says that “the following year will see the launch of the first water theme park, Universal Studios and the City of Arabia.” In addition a golf course, Global Village, Dubai Outlet City, Plantation World and the Al Sahara Desert Resort are also expected to open in 2010.
  (3/7/08) Today we’ve got a quick note as to why Six Flags Dubailand will not feature any of the Time Warner characters as well as why Thomas was left out of the mix. First off Thomas is technically part of HIT Entertainment, who just signed their own deal with Dubailand on 2/22/08. Meanwhile Time Warner’s characters (which includes not only the various Warner Bros. properties, but also Looney Tunes and DC Comic characters) are all locked up by another pre-existing deal to build a Warner Bros. theme park in nearby Abu Dhabi.
  (3/5/08) I’ve got a couple of new tidbids on Six Flags Dubailand. According to Screamscape sources the park is looking to open in 2012 right now, though this could easily be pushed back a year depending on how quickly construction can begin. I was also told a surprising fact, that the deal would not include any rights to use Time Warner or DC Comic characters. So this means no Bugs Bunny, no Looney Tunes, no Batman: The Ride, no Superman coasters or drop towers… no Justice League. NADA!
  So this is why the press release only mentioned the newer properties Six Flags has acquired like The Wiggles and Tony Hawk. Funny though… Thomas was not mentioned either. It’s hard enough to imagine a Six Flags parks before Batman was introduced anymore, going back to when the first Batman: The Ride was first introduced back in 1992. But even before that Six Flags was always about Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Looney Tunes, so it’s hard to visualize just what Six Flags Dubailand will look like or even have in the way of Costume Characters at this point.
  (3/4/08) Six Flags has announced a deal with Tatweer (a member of Dubai Holding) to build new Six Flags Theme Parks in the Arab world, starting with Six Flags DUBAILAND. Groundbreaking is set for 2009 and the park is expected to feature attractions themed to The Wiggles, Tony Hawk and original shows and concepts. The deal will also seek to open other new Six Flags branded concepts across the region such as Six Flags branded hotels, restaurants, retail outlets as well as other theme and water parks.
  Tatweer’s other Dubai projects in development include Tiger Woods Dubai, Universal Studios Dubailand, the Dreamworks Animation park, the Hit Entertainment park and the Global Village project.
  It’s interesting to note that the press release keeps calling Six Flags Dubailand “the first Six Flags theme park outside of North America,” since they have apparently forgotten all about the previous managements wild but short run in Europe with parks like Six Flags Belgium and Six Flags Holland. And before everyone gets upset about Six Flags debt levels, keep in mind that Six Flags is likely not paying for any of these parks and instead will likely be paid very well for the rights to use the Six Flags brand names as well as their services in the creation of these new attractions. This can deal can only help Six Flags pay off their debts.
  (2/25/08) A good update on the various Dubiland projects can be found here. It mentions that the focus point of “Phase One” will be the Universal Studios park, Ernie Els Golf Course, Global Village, Dubai Outlet City, Plantation World, the Al Sahara Desert Resort and the Foruma One Theme Park. I believe the idea is to finish most of these by 2010.
  There is also the City of Arabia mall project that is said to be so large it may take your average shopper 20 hours just to walk through it all, which will also include the Restless Planet dinosaur theme park. All said the done City of Arabia will be the largest mall in the world for a short time as it seems there is a bigger project in the works elsewhere.
  They also mention the massive Aqua Dunya waterpark and resort that will include a full scale ship on it’s lake called the Desert Pearl that will be bigger than the QE2. The ship itself will contain a 400 room five-star hotel, a theater and a number of indoor attractions for the theme park. The Desert Pearl is actually the focus of the entire story behind the park, said to be a steam ship built by a boy who grew up fascinated with the sea, traveled the world and then returns to dock the ship in the Oasis where it was covered up by a stand-storm until the Aqua Dynya team discovered it in the desert.
  From the sound of it Dubailand may be divided into various themed “City” areas as it refers to Dubai Sport City which will have several stadiums, a Motor City area where the F1 Theme Park will be located and Dubai Outlets City. Other attractions and areas mentioned include: the Dubai Wheel (giant wheel), Dubai Lifestyle City (residential area), Beauty Land (for the ladies), Golf City (5 courses and villas, one of which I believe will be the Tiger Woods Dubai project), Falcon City of Wonders (more villas with plans to build a bigger version of the Eiffel Tower), a “health farm” and Education City. It seems this may be why the Universal Studios theme park is often referred to as Universal City Dubailand.
  All this is just the start too as countless other projects and expansions are in the works for Phase Two, all of which they want finished by 2020.
  (2/22/08) A deal has been signed with Hit Entertainment to bring a Little Big Club themed park project to Dubailand based on characters like Bob The Builder, Barney and Pingu.
  (1/21/08) According to this article, Tatweer (A Dubia owned real estate company) has signed a deal with Dreamworks Animation to create a Dreamworks branded theme park in Dubailand. Tatweer is main developer of the Dubialand project and is also connect to the previously announced Universal Studios Dubai project as well.
  (12/19/07) According to this article Restless Planet, one of Dubai’s new theme park projects, is set to open in late 2008. This dinosaur themed park attraction will cost $1 billion and use 109 different animatronic dinosaurs. Some of these next-gen dinosaur figures have been designed to be interactive. For example, they mention a a T-Rex with a sensor in it that will allow the beast to target and track guests wearing red as if they were prey.
  (5/4/07) Nickelodeon has signed a licensing deal with Al Ahli Group (AAG) that will allow the use of SpongeBob SquarePants and other Nick characters into a new Dubai park project. This should be the same park that (AAG) just signed a deal with in March to use the Marvel Super Hero characters in. I’ve got to admit I’m a little confused if this park is one of the many “parks” to be included inside the great Dubailand development or if this is an entirely separate project. There’s just so much happening all at once in Dubai these days.
  (4/25/07) Theme Park Fusion has added a whole section of construction photos showing the outside of the construction wall for Dubailand. Not much to look at in the way of vertical construction yet (mostly ground work it seems) but they have installed some interesting items along the wall.
  (4/2/07) A reader has pointed out a few new websites showing off new aspects of the massive Dubailand project. Our first stop is the Mall of Arabia, which is expected to be one of the largest malls in the world and contain Restless Planet, a new dinosaur theme park project.
  (3/21/07) The United Arab Emirate based Al Ahli Group (AAG) and Marvel Entertainment announced yesterday a partnership that will bring the entire catalog of Marvel comic characters into play for a new theme park project budgeted at $1 billion from AAG for the Dubai area that will open in 2011.
  (12/29/06) If the Dubailand project was announced anywhere else in the world, I might have doubts about exactly how it will turn out, but this is Dubai we’re talking about. Rich with oil money, the country decided years ago that they wanted to be a giant tourist attraction as their next industry after the oil runs out, and they’ve been building all kinds of huge crazy projects ever since, such as The Palms... a huge fake island in the shape of a palm tree. That wasn’t enough, so they’re building more in addition to huge hotels, skyscrapers, malls and of course the Dubailand grand entertainment and theme park complex. You can catch a rather long video showcasing all the varous projects in Dubai at Google (or download higher rez versions here). You’ll have to jump ahead to around 12:30 beore you get to see anything about Dubailand and then keep watching for the next several minutes... especially to see the Jurassic Park style Dinosaur Park they want to build. Then into Pharao’s Theme Park for some coasters, including a copy of Superman: The Escape with a huge Pharao headpiece mounted to the top. The Snow Dome certainly looks interesting as well. I’m not sure I get the point of Sports City however... three huge stadiums plunked down next to each other. Then you’ve got the Autodrome, which I believe has since been renamed into the F1 Theme Park. Every time you think the video’s done showing off theme park style additions, it seems like every major retail and hotel area will have rides and attractions. Giant fake volcanos, a Legoland, a Wild West hotel with buffalo rides, indoor coasters, outdoor coasters, you name it. Just zip around the video or watch the whole thing if you’ve got time (it’s 70 minutes long).
  (11/10/06) There are so many unknowns about Dubailand that I’m not entirely sure if this is a segment of the overall Dubailand project or not, but the Formula One website has announced that the first F1 Theme Park in the world will open in Dubai in 2009. It seems to be more than just a racetrack as you can see a coaster and a few other rides in the background in the artwork.
  (1/2/06) Over the last few years, there’s been talk about a little project down in Dubai called DubaiLand, a giant retail / entertainment and theme park complex focused on being a top level tourist destination. Of course, the same could be said for Dubai itself, a country rapidly in the process of transforming and marketing itself as a top tourist destination that hopes to draw in over 15 million tourists a year over the next decade. Why the rush? Because Dubai knows that their bread and butter industry, namely OIL, will come to an end in the near future and they are taking steps while they have the funds to create a new national industry.
  If you haven’t heard anything about Dubai, then perhaps you’ve heard about The Palm, a huge fake island that is nearly complete and has already caused work to start on two more Palm projects that are even larger than the first. Add into this a huge Waterfront development project and The World... a series of small private islands being put up for sale that will look like a map of the earth from the air.
  Back to DubaiLand itself, I’m not sure when the theme park aspects will be ready to open, but I believe some of the first phase projects could be ready to open starting in 2008. You can read more about the massive project at TEN and another fan site that is following the construction.
  Bottom line... there is just too much to describe here and I really don’t know how literally to take the nearly half-hour DubaiLand promotional video, but if you’ve got the time take a look for yourself. It shows off a bit of everything, including the thmee park, water park, sports complex, dinosaur museum, film studio, race car world, and much more.