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If given the opportunity, would you go to Six Flags Qiddiya to ride Falcon’s Flight?

If given the opportunity, would you go to Six Flags Qiddiya and ride Falcon’s Flight?

  • Total voters
    69
Matt N

Matt N

TS Member
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Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
Hi guys. 2025 will be a seismic year for the theme park industry in terms of records, as Falcon’s Flight, the world’s tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster, is due to open, along with the entire park of Six Flags Qiddiya. You’d think that there would be huge excitement for such a behemoth of a ride and such a decent size park opening, but the enthusiast response seems somewhat muted. And a large part of that, in my opinion at least, is the ever-controversial fact that the coaster is to be located in Saudi Arabia. Many are making comments to the effect of “I would never go to Saudi Arabia”; whenever a new development happens with the coaster or park, it feels like the conversation quickly circles back to Saudi and how awful people think the country is. With this in mind, I’d be genuinely interested to know; if money was no object and you were given the opportunity to go to Six Flags Qiddiya and ride Falcon’s Flight, would you say yes?

For clarity, I have not made this thread to try and be goady or start any arguments; I’m genuinely interested to know. Whatever your opinion, my view is that it should be entirely up to the individual and their view on whether the politics of Saudi Arabia as a country is a deal breaker for them personally. I personally respect either answer on whether you would go or not; it’s very much down to the individual.

I’ll admit I haven’t given it a huge amount of thought myself, but if I’m being completely honest… I feel slightly guilty saying this given the sheer backlash against SA, and I apologise if I ruffle any feathers, but I’d be tempted to say yes. I caveat this, however, by saying that I do not agree with Saudi Arabia’s laws one bit, and also with the admission that I accept my extraordinarily privileged position in being able to make this kind of statement without pondering personal ramifications for myself, being male and not openly LGBT.

For me, the coaster and the park look absolutely sensational, and would definitely appeal to me from that standpoint if we’re talking exclusively about the parks and coasters. Falcon’s Flight is an epic-looking crown jewel, and the park also looks to have some other brilliant-looking coasters as sideline draws!

From the standpoint of ethics; I’ll be honest and admit that I’ve often wondered something about “ethical tourism” so to speak. That is; where do you draw the line exactly? If you’re going to try and be an ethical tourist, what degree of human rights infractions are you willing to accept? If you rule out any country in the world that commits any kind of human rights infractions or has politics you don’t personally agree with, you’re ruling out a huge number of the world’s countries, including some big names. It’s quite hard to be a truly ethical tourist in this sense, as most countries in the world (heck, even arguably Britain to some extent) have their geopolitical “skeletons in the closet” so to speak. I admit that there are degrees of these things, but I think that question of “where do you draw the line?” does still stand to me when I think about trying to be an ethical tourist.

I also feel that you can visit a country for the pure love of tourism and seeing and experiencing different cultures without necessarily supporting some of its laws. I do not support every law or political aspect in the USA, for example, by a long shot, but I have still been there multiple times and throughly enjoyed it every time.

So if I’m being completely honest, I think I probably would go to SA and ride Falcon’s Flight if given the opportunity, despite vehemently disagreeing with its laws.

As I say, however, this is entirely down to the individual, and I respect either viewpoint. I’m genuinely interested to know.
 
I would go, but just because I go, it does not mean for one moment that I agree with or support the ethics and actions of the country; they are not mutually exclusive. You are supporting the country anyway by driving your car on a daily basis.

The same argument could be made for people who use smartphones, which are manufactured in questionable countries with less than golden human rights of their citizens, with the components that make up the smart phones being manufactured in countries with even more questionable ethics. People seem to subconsciously and consistently forget those facts, though, because their smart phones are so convenient to their daily lives. It's much easier to forget about the issues if you directly benefit from them.
 
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Ethical reasons aside (a big factor for many including myself, but probably not worth repeating what’s already been said) I just can’t see why I’d go to this park.

It’s in a desert, in the arse end of nowhere, next to a “city” that isn’t even built yet, with absolutely nowhere to go except the park(s) and air conditioned rooms.

At least in Florida, California, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore etc there’s far more to do than just the parks. If I was to pay thousands of pounds to take my hypothetical future family on a theme park trip, I’d go wherever the most variety is. (Assuming families are the key demographic here)

Eg even on a trip to Florida, many venture outside of Disney World to Universal, Sea Word, Fun Spot, Tampa and Orlando Itself. Heck many turn it into a “Florida” holiday and do Miami & the Everglades!

And that’s the *least* diverse theme park destination by way of real “culture”. Why not go to Japan or Singapore? I’ve been to the latter myself and it was wonderful! The Universal park & other attractions on Sentosa Island are just one fraction of a huge metropolis/city state with culture galore!

Not only that but the climate’s nice, the beaches are lovely with palm trees, jungle-like areas etc (you don’t get those in a desert!)

By nature of actually being in a respected city and country, it also *feels* inherently safer to book and go to, than a country with to put it mildly dubious treatment of its own population, worker exploitation and endless streams of mega-projects which only get 1/2-built (or 1/71 in the case of Saudi’s “The Line”)

Yes it’s cheaper to fly to the gulf states than the US or South East Asia to see the “Big Ticket Parks,” but you’re getting far better value imo, and you know it’s a safe booking as even if a given park/ride is shut, it’s just one slice of a much larger holiday!

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: Please Saudi for the love of god, stop willy waving and get your house in order first! Then myself and many other tourists you’re relying on will have much more interest in visiting your country as it transitions away from oil!

To sign off, I’m also reasonably confident Falcon’s Flight won’t even be operating much of the time given all the complex systems required to make the layout work, capacity issues and weather concerns.
 
Really interesting question, this. And, probably an example of the most important philosophical debate of our age.

Where do we draw the distinction between our consumerist goals and tastes, and our ethical belief system? Where do we draw the line?

How do we distinguish between cultural exploration and civic indulgence? Do we judge people who holidayed in China for example differently to those who holiday in SA - despite the former’s ruling party’s genocidal foundations still in living memory? Does China’s perceived cultural richness outweigh ethical concerns? And how long does SA have to build their own richness (through sports, entertainment or general glossiness) to outweigh the ethical concerns?

I realise I’ve asked about 9 questions in a row. And I’m going to offer an answer to none of them. I’ll answer the original Q, tho.

I can’t see myself ever going to SA, personally. But, I won’t think anyone who does is a nob.
 
Saudia Arabia isn't a country that I'm actively looking to travel to but say theoretically if I won a trip there in a competition would I go? Probably. Whilst I acknowledge that their human rights record is poor, that their LGBTQ+ discrimination is something very shocking to us, and that lots of migrant workers will have toiled in poor conditions or even lost their lives in the construction of some of these big megaprojects (of which Qiddiya is one) if someone wanted to pay me to go on a trip there then yes I'd likely take it and get the cred.
 
BSwiss said:
Really interesting question, this. And, probably an example of the most important philosophical debate of our age.

Where do we draw the distinction between our consumerist goals and tastes, and our ethical belief system? Where do we draw the line?
Click to expand...
Nobody seems to mention the clear damage to the planet by taking such a ridiculously long journey to go on a single ride in already burning heat.
Not been on a plane now in over a decade...so no thanks, it is a ridiculous land journey for a five minute ride.
Naa...Stuff the planet for future generations, get me on that coaster now.
 
I don’t think I would. When I was at school, one of the girls’ dad worked for BP and their home was in a compound in Saudi. She would come to school full of stories of how her mum wasn’t allowed to drive, she had to wear an abiyah whenever she left the house even as an 11 year old, and had been chased by the religious police when she went swimming on the wrong day.

Things may have changed a bit but her experience was just so alien to me it really stuck in my mind. I’ve visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi and although they’re more relaxed than Saudi I was still on edge as a woman without a male “keeper”.

It just sounds too restrictive - will I enjoy a holiday if I’m treated as a second class citizen? Probably not.
 
I have no intention of going and I wouldn't go out my way to do so. Saudi Arabia has a terrible human rights record, including towards the LGBT community. So I won't go and I won't support such a country if I can help it.

But I voted yes simply to not be hypocritical. I can't not very well jump in my car to go to work in a minute, to contribute to the UK economy, pay my taxes, and pay my mortgage. It's fuel tank is full of fossil fuel, poisoning the atmosphere, likely sourced from Saudi Arabia. But I need to go to work. I'm also writing this on a phone that likely has components sourced from China, charged from a Nuclear power station built with Chinese money.

It's quite easy to not get in a aircraft and fly off the Saudi. But you know what else is quite easy? Not to buy coffee from Starbucks who don't like paying their UK taxes. Not to buy anything from Amazon, also a tax dodging company with a terrible workers rights record.

Twitter/X or whatever they call that wicked propaganda platform these days will no longer be used to find out what colour the restraints on Alton Towers new topspin are and posted on this forum then? Because we know that Elon Goebbles is a terrible employer, who uses his media power and riches to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories, interfere with democracy in the UK despite not being a citizen here, and bribed millions of US voters with cash to vote for his new Nazi puppet master right? Not using Twitter or buying a Tesla is also an easy thing to do isn't it?

Speaking of his Nazi puppet master, he's just been democratically elected in the USA. He's a rapist, an open racist, a convicted criminal, who supports women dying of birth complications, and a citizens right to own a gun over someone elses right to not be shot.

So it's quite easy to not go to Saudi Arabia or China. Also quite easy to not go to the USA whilst a fascist is in charge for the next 4 years (if it is 4 years, he's already threatened to break that convention), and easy to avoid Twitter.

Avoiding Saudi Arabia is an understandable stand to make. But I'll look out for USA trip reports and Twitter updates every time a queue at Alton Towers is understated by 5 mins compared to the app by people who have chosen to make that stand.
 
You missed the new one Matt.
Tomato puree manufactured by forced labour in Chinese agricultural camps.
Most supermarkets have been selling it, so it is bound to be in a lot of manufactured goods as well.
Every bite of pizza...
 
It's difficult. I generally try to separate the actions of a State and its population because it becomes almost arbitrary where you draw the line. I often have to visit countries for work where i disagree with their politics. Many times i have been to countries with laws against homosexuality whilst attending with homosexual colleagues (who were in no way pressured to go i should add).

I suppose the difference in this situation is with the park being actively funded by said State with political intentions which understandably for most is a line they will draw.

For me it's not a place i have any desire to visit because personally i dislike being in an environment where aspects of my culture are reviled. I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable with my family being there with me. I'm happy to respect a cultures rules of course as i'm there to work or visit as a guest, not make political statements.

There's also a case to be made that projects like this do ultimately lead to progress (if like me you think that a liberal society is the definition of progress) albeit very slowly.

To answer the question, i'd say i'm undecided. If the right circumstances arose (namely a work visit) then i'd consider it but i'm certainly not interested in visiting off my own back purely for one ride. It doesn't even have any theming.
 
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