Another Dubailand Update

December 23, 2009, 4:38 PM · Well I'm sure you've all heard the recent media reports about Dubai's current financial problems and how it's going to effect development plans for the city in the near future.

With Dubailand being such a huge project I'd imagine building would have all but stopped but on my visit yesterday lots of development was still going on.

F1-X, the indoor theme park based around popular racing franchise Formula 1, is progressing well, with the outside of the building nearly complete. Will it meet its target to open someime in 2010? Who knows, but at least it's getting built.

Whilst there seems to be lots of buildings popping up in the Dubailand area there's nothing else to mention in the way of theme parks but with Motor City, one section of the project, shooting up fast I'm sure we'll see continued development of the area, even if it is slower than expected.

In other Middle-Eastern news Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi looks set to open in the first part of 2010, boasting over 20 attractions in an indoor setting including the world's fastest roller-caster believed to be an Intamin Launch coaster.

I'll post more updates if and when I get them over the next two weeks whilst I'm here. But for the moment my evaluation is to keep your eye on what's happening in Abu Dhabi as progress in Dubai seems to be pretty slow.

Replies (5)

December 23, 2009 at 8:09 PM · How tall is the coaster if it is taller then the king da ka the building must be huge I want to see photos.
December 23, 2009 at 11:50 PM · Sorry for the spelling mistakes in the text, I've been writing on my iPod touch and still haven't got used to it!

As for the coaster I'm not too sure it's going to be as tall as Kingda Ka, think more along the lines of Rita: Queen of Speed at Alton Towers in the UK.

December 24, 2009 at 8:54 AM · As cool as the idea of a huge area of entertainment and theme parks is, I have no desire to support Dubai. I don't wanna get too deep into it, but Dubai stands for everything that I can't stand... being materialistic, wasting energy and space in excessive amounts, and not truly having a fair society.

That said, there have been some bizarre, yet fascinating creations in Dubai such as the indoor Snowboard/ Ski Park.

December 24, 2009 at 9:18 PM · I don't know if I have the same reasons as the person's comment above me, but I don't really have any desire to visit Dubai. They would have to put something really really awesome there for me to want to fly 25 hours or however long it is to get there. It is really not a city that is high on my list of places I'd like to go.... and if I am leaving the country I think I'd want to see the city or area and the amusement park if I were visiting an overseas amusement park. I think that the Universal Studios in Singapore is really interesting looking (The BattleStar Galacta Coaster footage I have seen is pretty neat looking and I am curious how the Jurassic Park rapids and Madagascar / Shrek areas will be), but I have not seen anything from Dubailand that I would say has peaked that level of interest from me yet.
December 25, 2009 at 1:57 PM · Gotta disagree with the above posters, but I also do not want to get into politics.

I think Dubai looks fantastic. I have a friend living there who regularly posts videos and pictures that make Vegas look like a Chuck E. Cheese.

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