IMG Worlds "Resort"

[Rose Of Dawn]

In August, IMG Worlds of Adventure opened in Dubai. I went there two weeks after opening, and was thoroughly disappointed in the quality of the attractions - the god-awful Avengers: Battle of Ultron is amongst the worst IP-related rides I've done.

Regardless, the park seems to be somewhat of a success, as they've now announced a second park. The new park features more IPs they've thrown money at, including attractions based on Ubisoft, Viacom and Mattel brands. It'll be known as IMG Worlds of Legends, and will be right next door to WoA:

After opening the 1.5-million-square foot IMG Worlds of Adventures as the world’s biggest indoor theme park in August, the company on Monday revealed plans for its second theme park. IMG Worlds of Legends will be one-third bigger – at 2 million sq ft.

Lennard Otto, the chief executive of IMG Worlds, told The National: "We want to capitalise on 2020, if possible. We don’t want to commit to a date that is not achievable but it would be great to capitalise on the influx of visitors already coming out and be aligned with creating and supporting the 2020 Vision of attracting 20 million visitors. I think our facility will play a key role in supporting that growth."

The new IMG Worlds of Legends will connect to IMG Worlds of Adventures via a sky bridge and Mr Otto said that the parks will be run as separate ventures. There will be a "park hopper" pass so people can visit both.

"But these are two separate day destinations. IMG Worlds has just become a multi-day destination."

The new park will feature nine zones. Seven of these are licensing deals with companies including Viacom, Ubisoft and Mattel that will bring attractions featuring Sponge Bob Square Pants, Dora The Explorer, Power Rangers, Barbie, Pokemon and Dragonball Z to the region.

The other two are IMG Worlds’ own branded zones including a Lost Valley dinosaur zone featuring water rides and Legends of Arabia, which Mr Otto said would be the "first Middle Eastern-themed brand to come to any theme park in the world".

http://www.thenational.ae/business/...pushing-for-2020-opening-of-second-theme-park

I'd be excited for a Pokemon attraction were it not done by these guys. With Ferrari World not too far away, Motiongate Dubai opening shortly and Six Flags finishing in 2018, it'll have some stiff competition. I hope they up their game.

 

[AstroDan]

A second park? Just make it an extension of the 1st!

 

[Rose Of Dawn]

A second park? Just make it an extension of the 1st!

The first park desperately needs more attractions - and it's just opened. Even though it's blatant that it's just a cash grab, im actually quite shocked that they're announcing a new park before any new rides in the park they already have!

I have zero faith in this project. They're worse than Merlin.

 

[Tim]

Dubai is blatenetly trying to be the second Orlando in the same way Merlin is second only to Disney.

 

[Dar]

They've openly said they want foreign tourism to be their economic driver after the oil's run out. They're aiming to be the middle east's Las Vegas/Orlando

 

[AstroDan]

If they are serious, they need public transport.

 

[Rose Of Dawn]

If they are serious, they need public transport.

Most people in Dubai use taxis to get around, which aren't that badly priced, so they don't bother with public transport too much.

 

[owentaylor121]

Can I just clear a few things up.
1. This is not a second park, this is an expansion to the current park.
2. Dubai has a wide range of public transport, such as the metro, water taxi's, buses and a tram system.
3. Dubai isn't trying to be second to anybody, they are trying to be the a the top, like anywhere else.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[D4n]

1. This is not a second park, this is an expansion to the current park.
2. Dubai has a wide range of public transport, such as the metro, water taxi's, buses and a tram system.
3. Dubai isn't trying to be second to anybody, they are trying to be the a the top, like anywhere else.

Your tone seems quite abrupt / rude here?

In any case, the article clearly states (twice) that this is a separate park; do you have some source that suggests otherwise? Would be interested to see as, by the sounds of it, it would make for an abnormally large park if the two were combined.

As far as I can tell, although Dubai has reasonable transportation options, these don't extent to the Resort itself which is situated about 30 minutes drive from the city center. Again, are you better informed on this?

And, if they are trying to be the 'best' in the world then this doesn't appear to be reflected in the quality of their current attractions, which frankly look bang average at best (Blue Fire clone aside).

 

[Tim]

For the record I worded my above statement very carefully. Trying to be "the second" does not mean they want to be second any more than Merlin wants to be second to Disney. Walt Disney World was "the second" Disney Park but it was far more ambitious.

However unless they want Dubai to be a true rival (more along the lines of Universal Studio vs. Disney) they have to add something that can match the quality as well as quantity.

 

[Dar]

Found this image on CF, seems to confirm that it will be an extension to the current park but still treated as a second gate:

The grey building is the current park, with the new stuff in colour

 

[Rose Of Dawn]

Found this image on CF, seems to confirm that it will be an extension to the current park but still treated as a second gate:

The grey building is the current park, with the new stuff in colour

So from the looks of things:

• Lost Valley - the only original IP they have (provided IMG Boulevard doesn't count, which only has a scare-maze anyway) and the current biggest area - is to be massively extended. The coaster shown next to it is presumably Velociraptor (the Blue Fire Clone)
• Cartoon Network is also getting an extension, albeit smaller
• Legends of Arabia (their next original IP) will receive a huge zone
• The Ubisoft and Mattel zones will have coasters that go outside
• Nickelodeon will have a larger zone than Cartoon Network in total. Having these two brands under the same roof would be like having Playstation and Xbox in the same park, its very weird.
• The Pokemon zone will be the first Pokemon theme park attraction that wasn't a temporary fair. Hopefully it'll offer more than that did (which was just a tiny Rayquaza coaster, a carousel and a kids log flume)

Had I not already been to IMG, all those IPs under one roof would be the cause of much excitement - especially Pokemon. Unfortunately the park is nothing more than a cash grab, and pails in comparison to the nearby Ferrari World.

I think Dubai's dreams of taking the theme park crown will rest with Motiongate. I really hope that park doesn't turn out to be cheap as well, as I want IMG to massively up their game.

As far as I can tell, although Dubai has reasonable transportation options, these don't extent to the Resort itself which is situated about 30 minutes drive from the city center. Again, are you better informed on this?

You need to get a taxi to get there. It's technically not far from the centre of Dubai, but you spend half the journey navigating the nearby highways to get around the building.