Overseas Adventures

[better_by_designFull Fledged Donkey Enthusiast!]

^ So did it still do that creepy "Stall out in the loop" thing?

YES! It was very, very disconcerting. It looked "slow" through the loop while waiting in line, but the "thunk" kind of feeling/noise was (in my rollercoaster experience) unprecedented.

Not sure if this is a result of poor maintenance or design, but it makes you much, MUCH more appreciative of the high standards of international manufacturers and maintenance folks!

[better_by_designFull Fledged Donkey Enthusiast!]

OK, so let's wrap up the rest of the Beijing Shjiangshan Amusement Park (which I will lovingly refer to as BSAP) today, and move on to much nicer parks in short order.

First of all, BSAP is split into 2 main sections - the one we just went through, and another, larger portion. It is split by train tracks... and not any cute theme park train, but an honest-to-goodness-actual-train-tracks. To get across this, you go up, and down a lot of stairs.

Going to the (other) wrong side of the tracks.

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A gate to a magical world...

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I'm pretty sure these aren't ADA compliant.

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After entering the "main" part of the park (oddly on the other side of the tracks from the main entrance, STOP ASKING QUESTIONS, NONE OF THIS PARK MAKES ANY SENSE AND MAY KILL YOU!), you are greeted by more high quality thematic elements:

I always had a suspicion China was building a People's Liberation Android Army. Here's proof!

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Nearby are more rides, including "Space Trip" which is vaguely Galaxi-esque. It's became clear (and is worth mentioning) that none of the coasters here are actually good, some are just less crappy than others, and seem to have less chance of killing you.

I love a good Moonliner. Right beside "Space Trip"

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Also nearby is this:

Warrior Turnplate is yet another fantastic ride name.

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A great, GREAT Chinglish name. However, after my recent run-in with Chinese knockoff Death Loop, the chance of me riding Chinese knockoff Starflyer of Doom was zero.

There is absolutely no chance I was riding this.

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I did however sort of enjoy the unadulterated violence of the Crazy Mouse.

Crazy Mouse!

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And there was this:

Chinese local theme parks seem to have a thing for overhead sky trains. More importantly... Airvagility?

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Pretty sure no native English speakers would have approved that name.

The log flume was actually decent looking.

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At various times, it looks like Florida. The feeling doesn't last long.

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On the other side from knockoff Soarin' over Spaceship Earth, is BSAP's castle. The Chinese government actually listened when Disney complained about the castle and walkaround characters being knockoffs... so they were forced to repaint.

I think the bumper boats really add to the majesty of the castle.

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Dumbo! Errr...

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Even the souvenirs are knockoffs.

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My apologies for the over-exposed photos, but I was working with my phone and it was crazy hot and eerily sunny & bright out.

The one coaster in the park that was actually sort of enjoyable was the wonderfully named ATOMIC COASTER. It is a knockoff Arrow loop-screw, and actually did not suck. Given the park it's in, this is a major achievement.

Atomic Coaster

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Atomic Chain

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BSAP's Atomic Coaster Car

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Hardworking BSAP castmember maintaining their world-class theming & landscaping.

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China loves giant wheels.

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Much like Boomerangs in America, Golden Horse Spinning Coasters have spread across China like kudzu.

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Shoot aliens with your balls!

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For tickets to ride the Worm Coaster, please inquire at the Giant Worm Head.

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Also nearby is the infamous "knockoff Vekoma SLC" which I can't seem to find any pictures of. It's highly likely that by this point in my day I was addled by heatstroke, jerky coasters, near death experiences, the lack of Western toilets/toilet paper, or just the sheer WEIRDNESS of BSAP.

It's worth noting that the fake SLC would only be dispatched with a 3/4 full train... possibly because of lazy ride ops, or possibly because they were worrying that it was SO slow that it needed the extra weight to get it through the course.

That said, I'll add pictures of the (comparatively) NICE, NEW part of BSAP soon. It's nicer, it's newer, it's still really, REALLY weird!

Net result though: a bunch of crappy credits. And some good stories.

Does this count as a Jeff Johnson credit?

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[better_by_designFull Fledged Donkey Enthusiast!]

So I came to the realization that I never actually posted the third & final part of my photo report detailing the wonders of BSAP.

Sorry. Here it is.

The third and final section of the mighty BSAP is the "new" part of the park, allegedly built to combat the invasion of bigger, newer, costlier, BETTER amusement parks, *Cough* Happy Valley *Cough*. I'll let you judge if they succeed or not.

This is immediately looking more promising. Sort of like Islands of Adventure!

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It really is a separate section of park... with a distinct entrance from the indistinct areas of the main park.

See! More betterer!

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You'll notice several of the attraction names are "inspired by" familiar properties... for a park that has actually been nailed for IP infractions, this was amusing.

Even the signs are more themey! And no less entertaining!

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Did I mention it looked a bit like IOA?

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The rides are WAY better themed. King Kong's Spin is still a Chinese knockoff though. And wasn't operating this day.

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That IS a Hummer on top of the ride. It was placed there by the "Hurricane" obviously.

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If you read the earlier parts of this report, you'll know that several of the rides essentially dare you to take your life in your hands. While not REALLY that daring, it's still notable that the restraints on "Wings of the Sun" were probably seatbacks borrowed from the factory that makes the $29.97 office chairs at Walmart. Including the cheap black plastic accordion stuff covering the metal.

Well themed, knock off Disk-o.

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The showpiece of this section is a large mountain. It contains the double reversing flume ride, an indoor coaster, and also has a rock climbing wall on one face. Pretty well integrated, really.

Ooooh, a mountain! Just like Disney!

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The Jones Expedition loads from an elevated station, themed to look like... an ark? It's OK, you tried really hard.

Everyone get on the ark, two by two!

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The ride itself is fun, not particularly wet, but the reversing makes the first drop cool. I don't think I'd been on a backwards drop before.

The mountain theming is nice, but the interior of the ride looks more Gatlinburg than Disney. Which works for me, in this case. They also hand out disposable ponchos upon boarding!

The more terrifying thing was that the seatbelts are weird... and tight... and basically even with a bunch of "obvious weird foreign tourist" gesticulating, the ride op dispatched our boat with me not actually wearing it. At all. Needless to say, my first ride was a little more thrilling than it normally would be.

Double reversing flume! Squee!

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I was relocated through space & time from Orlando!

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Ever seen a themed skyscraper before? Me neither.

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This (and other) signs imply rather heavily that there is (or was supposed to be) a drop ride inside this Big Ben-esque tower. We may never know for sure.

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The Jurassic Adventure is an indoor coaster... in the dark, with dinosaurs. When I rode, it was insanely sunny out, and the seams in the building ruined the dark part. Still, coaster + dinos = OK in my books.

Entrance to the Jurassic Adventure coaster

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I feel some shame being employed here.

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I'll really finish this off in a day or two... I'm literally about to board an airplane, so bear with me.

[better_by_designFull Fledged Donkey Enthusiast!]

OK, I promise this is the final post from my visit to BSAP. If nothing else, I pray that the completist nature of these posts will act as a deterrent to all but the most credit-crazy from visiting.

Along with the Islands of Adventure "inspired" section next door, BSAP's other new area appears to be "inspired" by DCA of all things.

Welcome to Dream World!

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Most of the rides are reasonably well themed. Most.

Any bets on this being a knockoff Frog Hopper?

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They did return to IOA as the clear basis for their carosel. I mean, are they flying teams of designers over to the US, or just reading TPR Trip Reports?

This is NOT actually the Caro-Seuss-El

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This is NOT actually the entrance to Mermaid Lagoon, just a shaded rest area.

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I'm not sure what Ents have to do with Splash Battling yellow submarines, but the queue started through this:

Hello! I may be a character from a non-litigious franchise!

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The colour of the water in the Splash Battle was very... organic?

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Now back to DCA:

Jumpin' Jellyfish?

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And the apparent need for multiple overhead rail rides at Chinese parks continues with what I dubbed "Fruit & Vegetable Express":

Spongebob Rail

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You cannot pass the Gourd Guards without answering their riddle.

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Pink dolphins are actually a thing in China. Or were. Seriously, go Google it.

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The big ride in this section was a dark tracked shooter, with back-to-back seating, themed to outer-space & familiar anthropomorphic animals.

Star Fox: Farewell, Beloved Falco!

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Next door was a mysterious forest! It actually looked a LOT like the folks who make artificial Christmas trees went to town here -

Can hardly see the forest for the trees.

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Ah, the infamous SBNO Spinning Batman!

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Unfortunately this credit was still not operating. Has anyone ridden this in a long time? Given the mechanical quality of the other coasters at BSAP, I'm morbidly curious about what the failings of Spinning Batman could have been to warrant it not running.

Oddly, the queue to the station was open... and there were no barriers of any kind, so I went in and took a couple (bad) pictures. It was exceptionally creepy!

Abandoned Spinning Batman cars

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I like to think this is a test dummy from the failed ride.

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And that is FINALLY it.

Next up: a park that is pretty much the exact opposite of BSAP.

[better_by_designFull Fledged Donkey Enthusiast!]

OK, next stop: Dubai.

My company was sending my team on some business that (fortunately) was being handled out of our regional office in Dubai... meaning I "had to" make stopovers. Yes, my life is hard. And of course, that meant stopping over in some of the most interesting new themed environments in the world.

First came packing...

Our cat wanted to come. She thought Formula Rossa would be fun.

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It was my first time to visit "The Home of the World's Largest _________"

View from my hotel's breakfast.

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After some food, it was time to go check out one of Dubai's famous malls.

Ski Dubai!

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But I was really here to try out this.

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While here, I noticed what may be the world's dumbest (or most brilliant!) video game idea.

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With some leftover credits, I played this (SUPER BONUS WHEEL EDITION!)

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Which, crazily enough, I won.

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With my insane number of tickets (my inner 9 year old was ridiculously pleased), I <of course> traded in for a marble rollercoaster set.

Treasure!

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That taken care of, it was now time to check out one of Dubai's waterparks. Since I only had a few hours, I headed over to Wild Wadi. Although older than the Atlantis one, they were:
a) cheaper
b) had a "sundowner" discount
c) were easier to get to
d) I had never been to a full "transportainment" park anyways, so either would be good.

Wald Wadi!

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The entrance area, check-in, landscaping, and really the whole park was incredibly well themed, first-class in every way. It definitely helped that it was February and a nice 80 degrees out. Which of course, the locals consider "Winter" and the place was empty.

The Burj Al Arab lurking above the waterpark

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The setting was also BEAUTIFUL with one of the world's new iconic buildings overlooking the park, the beach and ocean adjacent, and the sun low on the horizon.

The "new" slides... Tantrum Alley, and "Burj Surge"

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I really enjoyed both of their "new" slides (a Tantrum Alley and Bowling Alley) which each had maybe 3 raft waits. Both were new experiences for me, and I think really fun ones... not the extreme thrill of the giant versions of each, but very dynamic and wet.

It's also important to note how INCREDIBLY nice the staff was... on the Master Blaster slides (which is the bulk of the park's offerings), tubes get stuck on corners while in line between sections, or need shoves by the staff; every time they were SUPER friendly and chill, asking how your day was, where you were from, etcetera. Obviously a very positive contrast from a lot of the US amusement industry. I hope the park is taking as great a care of their people as they are of their guests.

Surf rider... and watch out for the first drop on Jumeriah Scarah!

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The funny thing was that the park had just re-opened from a winter tune-up... lots of cleaning, resurfacing of slides, and so on. They also had removed their big speed slide... though the tower is still there, waiting for a new attraction to be installed.

The park even had a "Rest in Peace, Old Friend" poster up in several places, bemoaning the passing of the slide, and teasing a new ride for summer.

Overall, I had a great time... I spent about 2 hours at the park, and with the light crowds, rode everything as much as I wanted to, even a few go rounds on the Flow Riders.

The "transportainment" concept is fantastic... especially for when the summers come to Dubai and heat up the walkways and the sun beats down. When the crowds are this light, it was kind of a pain, as it took too long to circle the lazy river and re-blast up the slides!

The next day - a trip to Abu Dhabi and the world's fastest coaster!

But that will have to wait a couple days - I'm about to board a flight to LAX though... gotta make it back to the US for the West Coast Bash! Hope to say hi to lots of folks there!

[better_by_designFull Fledged Donkey Enthusiast!]

OK, I've got some free time in the lounge during my layover between Dubai and LAX, so I'll try to get in Ferrari World.

First off - getting from Dubai to Abu Dhabi seems, in retrospect, ridiculously simple. Dubai isn't THAT big a place, and the main road (Sheikh Zayed Road) in the main artery... and if you keep going west, you leave Dubai, and enter Abu Dhabi. A little further, and you get to Yas Island, with LOTS of signs referring to the Yas Island Marina Circuit, where they host the Formula 1 race annually. This is also where they have an IKEA store... and Ferrari World.

I am excited to be here!

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In the end, I arranged a car service through my hotel - I was freaked out by the whole "driving overseas" thing, and really should have just rented a car and drive myself. Ah well, live and learn. There's also bus services (which are dirt cheap) but seem like a pain - tour companies need to step up on this and start running shuttles back and forth. Also, FWIW, there's a fair amount of promotion of Ferrari World in Dubai.

I feel welcomed at the Welcome Pavilion

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As a warning, there will be a lot of pictures, because I have a tendency to be a completist about documenting stuff.

The glass well holding G-Force acts as a "wienie", being in the middle and orienting yourself in the building. You know, like a castle. But not.

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Soooo... did this thing ever run? And how do you replace it when you literally built the building around it?

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Walking in to Ferrari World feels a LOT like walking into a major new airport... closest is probably the giant new Beijing Terminal built for the Olympics... incredibly HUGE open space, very clean (scarily clean!) but almost antiseptic. Which is impressive, but pretty much the opposite from the gritty, (simulated) real life/fantasy feeling of a Disney or Universal themepark. Also a huge improvement over cracked pavement and dirty concrete, mind you.

Of course, maybe if your theme is "luxury car factory" being insanely clean IS part of the theme.

Clean... very clean. Note the person cleaning... like 30 minutes after opening, in case someone had touched something.

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After passing by the park's mascot (a bipedal camel dressed as a Ferrari driver, sadly I was too pumped to think to get a picture) I followed the advice of the girl selling me my ticket, and headed back to the racing simulators

Yes, this DOES look like a professional flight simulator... for cars.

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They have a bank of 8 <?> simulators that are free with a timed ticket... and were easily the best racing game I've tried. Very sharp motion and more realistic feel than your average arcade. The big attraction were the two upcharge simulators (one pictured above) which looked EXACTLY like a pro-grade flight trainer. I was pressed for time, and declined to pay.

Scuderia Challenge accepted!

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It's easy to find inspiration in Ferrari's history all around you.

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Now it was time to head to the left side of the park and check out the "main event".

The big reason to come here.

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To echo other folks, they stations are remarkably bland... in contrast to the coaster cars, which are easily the most beautiful I have ever seen. I neglected to take pictures of FR in the general adrenaline/fear/preparations of boarding. First off, I barely fit on the thing... I'm a bigger guy and Intamins are always tough, primarily because of my general fatness, but exaggerated by having high floors which push my thighs up and forces a serious squeeze. FR was particularly bad in this regard, and there was much appreciated efforts by the ride ops to get me into the seat belt.

I loved the goggles... and the fact that they made the ride ops give a total pass to wearing glasses on the ride.

The launch is, obviously, completely insane... the acceleration is ridiculous, and lasts far longer than seems possible. The trims on the first hill are completely necessary; I have no idea how anyone would survive going over such a short (190'!) hill at that speed. That said, it would be something if they tuned them down on certain runs or time of day to provide some ejector airtime, instead of the floater that occurs.

The rest of the ride is surprisingly strong - it's an incredibly smooth coaster, and some of the turns seem like you could reach out a hand and touch the ground.

Overall a VERY unique ride, and not likely to be upset anytime soon.

After which, I hiked over to the other side of the park to check out the other ride, Fiorano GT Challenge

Who doesn't like to race?

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Overall, this is a great complimentary ride to FR: family friendly, medium weight thrill, fun, thematically consistent, pretty unique - how many other racing coasters get built, really? And car racing is a pretty good theme for one!

I really liked this ride for what it is - not a huge thrill machine, but it delivers what it's supposed to... and for once, all the braking into turns, then accelerating out of them makes sense thematically!

Hands down the prettiest coaster cars in the world. Just look at the interiors!

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Annnnd... they're off!

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The GT course

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Now onto the many other attractions at Ferrari World -

Speed of.... MAGIC! AKA, "Give Me Back My Keys!"

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Speed of Magic is well produced - but lacking in physical effects. Plus, the story, though well told, is weird. It seemed desparate to use the Spiderman tech, without a real reason why.

Learn where baby Ferrari's come from!

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The Ferrari Factory tour is the ride where it looks like budget cuts got made... it turned into a lame EPCOT pavillion ride real fast... ironic considering it's supposed to sell you on the fine craftsmanship of insanely expensive cars.

If I remember my French, this means "Italian Mushrooms"

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The Bella Italia driving course is very pretty, and a good centerpiece to the park. It also had the longest line of the day by a wide margin!

The course resembles a model train landscape more than anything

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Supposedly Soarin' Over Italy is coming soon?

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The other Omnimover type ride goes through the history of Ferrari racing greatness... and is still very EPCOT-esque, but with widescreen footage of racing, is actually decent.

A LOT better than "Made in Maranello"

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Did I mention the building is HUGE?

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Park map, you know, for the park map people.

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A Schumacher championship car (from 2000), back when my employer sponsored F1 instead of NASCAR. Ahh, the good old days.

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The attractions really do round out the park pretty well... The Pit Wall is again, very EPCOT multimedia quiz show; large screen movie of Italy, etcetera. Didn't see the theatre show, but it got good applause.

The pleasant surprise was the actual motion simulator, where the ride film was actually funny, original, and had GREAT in car film footage. Pretty impressive for a low expectations attraction.

V12: Inside the Engine may be the weirdest ride I've been on. First of all, indoor log flume. Second, in the dark. Third, it's supposed to take you through a car engine? Huh. Again, it looks like they could have spent some more money finishing this one up. Plus, since it's indoors, the attraction building is crazy humid and chlorine stanky.

The roundup of kids attractions and general Ferrari stuff in the park finishes things off nicely. The food selection is themepark pricey, but actually decent and fresh.

All in all, I spent 4.5 hours there, rode the coasters 5-6 times each, and saw most (but not all) of the attractions - with almost no lines. It may not be a 12 hour day park, but you can definitely fill up a day.

Next door, this is going on to compliment the indoor park:

Grainy shot of construction next door.

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So, this is supposed to be a waterpark opening at the end of 2012? So, what's up with the inverted coaster?

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Goodbye Ferrari World!

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And how great is it that you can see the Ferrari logo from the F1 racetrack?

Afterwards, I went to pop into Abu Dhabi's Grand Mosque. Think what you will about Islam, but holy cow, the craftsmanship on this building:

Exterior - shiny white and huge

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Courtyard

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Every pattern is hand-inlaid stonework.

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Handwoven Persian carpet - about 2 football fields worth

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This captures a bit of the scale of the chandelier

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The place is a definite "must see" if you're going to Ferrari World, maybe 20 minutes away by car.

OK, that's it for Abu Dhabi - a bit more from Dubai next time.

Next stop - LA and the West Coast Bash!

[dubaidaveI just swallowed a whole donkey!]

It's always great to see others opinions of places I know very well. Thanks for sharing.
If you are ever back this way drop me a pm and I could give you a tour if some of the more ghetto park!

[better_by_designFull Fledged Donkey Enthusiast!]

It's always great to see others opinions of places I know very well. Thanks for sharing.
If you are ever back this way drop me a pm and I could give you a tour if some of the more ghetto park!

I hope to get back over to Dubai at some point, but probably not this year - would love to see some of the wackier stuff and will definitely take you up on your offer!

[better_by_designFull Fledged Donkey Enthusiast!]

As mentioned in my previous update (from several months ago!) I had business in Kenya, with some meetings in my companies regional office in Dubai... which was exciting as I had never been to Dubai before.

As my prior post shows, I took some time to enjoy Wild Wadi & Ferrari World before heading to Kenya. In Kenya, it was almost all work... though we did take a Saturday morning to do some touristic stuff, including visiting baby elephants.

If you've been to your local science center lately, one of the popular nature documentaries out right now is "Born to be Wild", narrated (like everything) by Morgan Freeman. The movie focuses on people who are taking care of orphan animals and raising them to be released back into the wild.

In Nairobi, Kenya, one of these organizations is the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which (among it's many worthy conservation programs) famously takes in orphan elephants and rhinos. These are babies whose parents have typically been killed by poachers... in other words, this is where "Little Red" would be going if he wasn't bolted to the floor of that truck in Orlando!

Here's some cute pictures before heading back to Dubai:

Out for a jog.

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Putting on sunscreen

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Breakfast time!

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Just pour 'er in

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Say hi Maxwell!

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After our Kenya visit, we went back to Dubai for a couple days. Our hotel was The Address (a local Dubai hotel company... swanky! And a decent price) at the Dubai Mall. I arrived late, the hotel was overbooked, so to honor my reservation, they upgraded me to a 3 bedroom apartment with this view:

Sort of gets you going early in the morning, I suppose

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Right over there is the World's Largest Mall, alongside World's Largest Fountain Show, yadda, yadda...

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Since I had a hotel attached to the world's largest mall, it was time to go exploring!

Fancy waterfall at the Dubai Mall

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In case you forgot we were still in the middle of the desert - camel burger for lunch? Anyone?

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Maybe this is more your speed

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Because the Dubai Mall is so ridiculously big, they smartly chunked it out into different zones... some looking like a (nice) normal mall, a section that is all high fashion brands, a zone with restaurants overlooking the lagoon, and a section with family entertainment stuff... a movie theater, ice skating rink, food court, and, of course, Sega Republic.

I had only ever seen "arcades" like this in Japan... and honestly, this was on the same scale as the big ones I had seen in Tokyo. BIG! Like puts Sega World in Las Vegas to shame big. Also, nice and open (high ceilings), and unique attractions.

I went as soon as they opened for a couple hours, but an unlimited wristband, and went back after dinner with some coworkers.

The major attraction is, or course, Sonic, which does NOT suck... in fact, for what it is (an indoor coaster at a fancy FEC) is actually quite good! Decent theming, comfy cars, smooth ride, and, if you're lucky enough to unbalance the car enough, a fun ride!

Onwards to Sega Republic & SpinGear!

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I'm pretty sure "dark" is part of the theming.

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Obligatory car shot.

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They also have two simulator attractions - one "air tour" and one "jeep tour" which, again, for what they are, do NOT suck! That said, not re-rideable, like most simulators.

Other attractions included in the wristband are:
- Crazy bobsled game/ride; lapbar & harness required, because when you drive it into powerups, your ride vehicle rolls 360 or 720!
- "Real" car simulators... you hop in an actual car body on a motion base with a screen in front of you and drive
- Sonic mini-drop tower - cute for kids (and impressive they fit this indoors) but cable driven, no real air time
- Shooting "simulator" where you pull out guns, shoot screens covered in bugs, with the twist that your seats spin 180 to face another screen at times
- The crazy skateboarding halfpipe simulator! I did this at least a dozen times - without a doubt the most interesting and FUN attraction - airtime, under your control (sort of) and just a great whooshing feeling. If you put this in the right places, people would line up to pay for this.. and the fact that you & a partner (if you have one) are competing against another team makes it even better

Of course, they have other attractions in Sega Republic

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Some are interesting...

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Some are disturbing...

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Some are really fun!

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Overall, totally worth visiting if you're in Dubai!

The rest of Dubai Mall also includes the Dubai Aquarium, and of course, crazy views of the Burj Dubai - not to mention the entrance for "The Top" world's highest observation deck.

The Dubai Mall also contains other wonders/records

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SHARK!! SHARK!! SHARK!!

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You can walk on water! The Dubai Mall is amazing!

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Countdown to Extinction debunked: It wasn't asteroids, it was penguins that ended the dinosaurs! All hail the penguin emperor!

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I'm pretty sure this restaurant has a different name in America. I guess "sensitivity" knows no borders

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I didn't take the opportunity to stock up on gold.

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Finally, some water/tower side dining!

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And, of course, the super amazing Dubai Fountain show!

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After finishing up a couple days of meetings, it was time to head back to the US... but I traveled eastwards instead of west.

Why? Two reasons:

First: To try out Korean's new A380 (my first flight on the superjumbo)

My ride home!

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Second: Because I was stopping in LA for my first West Coast Bash!

[giscoStarbucks Enthusiast]

Nice report. Not sure how I misssed this. Brings back a lot of good memories from past TPR trips!