Marvel Adventure Theme Park for Dubai

[BigAl]

Although it was apparently due to open next year, work on the new new park has been put on hold twice and the size of the project has been scaled-back a little too. However, they've been given the go-ahead to start building it already and a little work has already been done to the site where the park will be located.

Basically...

Comic book fans can now start planning their Dubai holidays after developers of the Marvel Adventure entertainment centre announced that it will be opening its doors to the public by the end of 2013. The theme park will feature interactive experiences with popular Marvel comic characters such as Hulk, Iron Man and Spiderman, plus restaurants and shops selling Marvel merchandise.

The developers of the new Marvel Adventure theme park in Dubai have announced that the new attraction will be open to visitors by the end of 2013.

The family entertainment centre will be owned, managed and operated by the Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group (IMG), after it gained a licence agreement with Marvel Entertainment, and comic book fans can now start planning their Dubai holidays for next year.

The new theme park will be located on Emirates Road at the City of Arabia development and will feature rides and interactive entertainment experiences with famous marvel comic book characters including Hulk, Spiderman, Captain America, The Avengers and Iron Man.

“We are thrilled to be working with the IMG Group to bring some of Marvel’s most popular characters to kids and families across Dubai,” stated Simon Phillips, the International President of Marvel Entertainment.

“Whether it’s having fun at one of the entertainment experiences, hanging out with friends and enjoying a meal or collecting the latest Marvel gadgets and action figures, there is truly something for everyone at Marvel Adventure.”

The new indoor complex spans 1.2 million-square-feet and during holidays to Dubai, comic book fans can eat in themed restaurants and buy Marvel merchandise from the onsite shops.

“This will be one part of the region’s largest temperature-controlled entertainment destinations that IMG is developing which is sure to be a strategic landmark in Dubai, appealing to the region as well as other parts of the world,” explained Mustafa Galadari from the IMG Group.

Once open, the park is expected to attract 10,000 visitors every day and this will also boost several Dubai hotels in the area.
As well as encouraging comic book enthusiasts from all over the world to book holidays to Dubai, the theme park is also set to attract local UAE residents of all ages.

The City of Arabia development is a new entertainment, commercial and residential development in Dubai and it will accommodate the world’s largest shopping mall and a dinosaur theme park, as well as many other entertainment centres.

Source.


I'll also add that the development will cost around $5 billion. That's not very much!



Here's some concept art...

Remember that the project has been scaled-back, so I've no idea whether they're planning on building everything in these images, only some, or all but with slightly less epic theming?


So what does everyone make of this?

 

[Nick]

If they build everything in those images, it'll cost a lot, lot more than $5 billion!

I spy 5 coasters (at least two look like B&M), rapids and a whole lot of incredible theming. If it's like this, it has the opportunity to be one of, if not the, best theme park in the world. Other incentives, such as a huge mall, will only add to the appeal of this.

If you say the size of the project has been scaled-back, I'll like to look at the original plans!

 

[BigAl]

Those images are the original plans. I don't really know much about it, other than what's above. It's unlikely that everything in those images is going to be covered in this park (in such incredible detail and scale at least), but even if the park ends up being half as good as these images, it should be pretty good.

 

[Sam]

Oooh! Maybe it'll be as good as all those other theme parks in Dubai that haven't been built!

 

[BigAl]

Oooh! Maybe it'll be as good as all those other theme parks in Dubai that haven't been built!

They're having a chuckle about them over on TPR.

 

[Natalie]

Don't Disney own the rights to Marvel now?

 

[BigAl]

Yeah they do. Don't know if Disney will play any role in helping this park to get off the ground though. I assume that they'd want what's best for the park so that their own image isn't affected.

 

[BigAl]

Construction work has now apparently started on the new Marvel Adventure theme park. The Theme Park Guy have some photos of what's going on at the site here.

 

[BigAl]

According to Screamscape this park is adding a Cartoon Network themed land and the world's largest ferris wheel being dubbed 'The Dubai Eye':

New Theme Parks and Resorts - (3/4/13) Considering that the project area just appears to have started construction not long ago, I’m surprised to read that the IMG Theme Park (the indoor park home to Marvel Adventure Zone) in Dubai is claiming they will open by this December. The same group has also signed a deal to bring a “Cartoon Network Zone” to the site as well that will feature attractions based on “The Amazing World of Gumball”, “Adventure Time”, “LazyTown” and a new 5D ride themed to “Ben 10”.

(2/18/13) Dubai is at it again, this time with a plan to build the Dubai Eye, the world’s biggest Giant Wheel that would stand 688 feet tall. Construction on the Dubai Eye is supposed to start sometime in 2013 if all goes well, so stay tuned. The wheel is part of a larger “Blue Waters” project area and you can see a bunch of pictures of a model they had set up on display here.

An image from Skyscraper City (final link on bottom Screamscape article):

Still not inspiring me to want to visit Dubai.

 

[BigAl]

There's a topic on Theme Park X dedicated to the construction of this theme park here. Scroll through the few pages for some images of the park construction kicking off.

 

[Novas]

Well it's a start, and one more big attraction would probally tip Dubai onto my 'want to visit' list.

 

[LiamC]

I really never thought this, out of all the other "SUPER MASSIVE MEGA PARKS" that have been planned for Dubai, would get off the ground.

The concept art looks fantastic! If it looks even half as good as those I will be massively impressed by it. I hope they pull it off

 

[Natalie]

Disney own the rights to Marvel now so they would be the best bet for a new themepark.

 

[LiamC]

Disney own the rights to Marvel now so they would be the best bet for a new themepark.

I know what you're saying, but an article on the LA Times website reads as though Disney are distancing themselves from the project somewhat:

Disney, for its part, is taking an arms-length approach to the project. The corporate parent of Marvel has gone to great lengths to make clear that the Dubai project is strictly a licensing agreement not involving Disney theme parks or Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative arm of the company. To that end, Marvel issued a statement that read in part: "The Marvel entertainment destination is not a theme park, it is a family entertainment center."

Marvel Adventure was designed by Los Angeles-based Rethink Attractions for Dubai-based IMG Group as part of a larger 27-acre project dubbed IMG Theme Park. Disney CEO Bob Iger said in March that Imagineering artists were working on preliminary designs and attraction concepts involving Marvel characters intended for Disney theme parks "in a few places around the world."

Extracts from here - Disney to introduce Marvel characters in Middle East theme park

 

[Alastair]

An update on this:

IMG Group's Worlds of Adventure theme park in Dubai is set to open in early 2014, a senior executive with the developer has said.

The theme park, which will be located in Dubai’s much-delayed City of Arabia development in Dubailand, will consist of four zones – the Marvel Universe, the Cartoon Network zone, the Lost Valley zone, and the IMG entertainment zone, as well as a 12-screen cinema, and external F&B and retail areas.
According to Alexander Page, vice president – marketing, Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group (IMG), construction is currently on track for the facility, which will consist of roller coasters, themed experiences and other attractions.
“Work is happening on two fronts. The on-site construction works have been moved forward significantly with structural columns and space frames being installed," he told Hotelier Middle East.

"Thereafter the offsite ride manufacturing of various vendor sites is currently being done simultaneously with shipment planned in the later part of this year. So rides, the themes, the attractions and different pieces that make up the park are in different parts of the world being made and finalised,” he said.
The first phase of the theme park will be in excess of 1.5m sq ft, making it the largest indoor entertainment destination in the world. The park is designed to attract in excess of 20,000 visitors per day and ticket prices will be in line with other attractions.

“The pricing structure will be very competitive. We haven’t finalised it yet but we know what other attractions are charging. Our capacity is much higher, much larger, so we are not going to be overpriced whatsoever. We want people to come and enjoy the theme park,” said Page.
“In terms of the scale and size of it, it is very likely that you will need a full day if not much more to be able to try all the rides or the attractions so there will be day passes where people can come back within the same week, there will be annual memberships, VIP entries,” he said.

Earlier this month, plans for a dinosaur theme park were announced by IMG Group which claimed The Lost Valley will be the first of its kind in the theme park industry and will include animatronic dinosaurs and rollercoaster rides.
Spread over 270,000 square feet, the dinosaur attraction was the third to be announced in the 1.5m sq ft IMG Theme Park.
The first two zones will be designed around Marvel Comic and Cartoon Network characters, while the fourth and fifth zones will be announced in due course.

There are also some (tenuous) construction photos over at ThemeParx.

Looks as if this is actually going ahead then, for once!