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SeaWorld Abu Dhabi: 2022

Danny

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SeaWorld have announced their intentions to open a theme park in UAE by 2022, featuring no orcas at all.

SeaWorld Announces Partnership with Miral to Develop SeaWorld Abu Dhabi

SeaWorld is heading to the middle east, in partnership with Miral, to create a next-generation marine life themed park experience, as well as the UAE’s first Marine Life Research, Rescue, Rehabilitation and Return Center by 2022!

We announced our partnership with Miral today to develop SeaWorld Abu Dhabi on Yas Island. And as part of our committement to being the world's largest marine animal rescue organization, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi will also include the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) first dedicated marine life research, rescue, rehabilitation and return center with world-class facilities and resources for the care and conservation of local marine life.



SeaWorld Abu Dhabi will be the first new SeaWorld without orcas, and will integrate up-close animal experiences, mega attractions and a world-class aquarium, bringing the latest technology in visitor engagement.

The partnership brings together Miral’s expertise in developing Yas Island’s portfolio of destinations with SeaWorld’s 50-plus years of theme park, veterinary medicine, marine science and zoological practice and experience.

“Abu Dhabi is becoming a first choice destination for regional and global travelers by combining culture, heritage and unique leisure experiences into one compelling proposition. SeaWorld Abu Dhabi further strengthens Yas Island’s position as the global tourism destination,” said His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of Miral.

“This announcement reflects the emirate’s ambition to create a sustainable, diversified economy, with tourism as one of its core pillars. Abu Dhabi continues to build sustainable partnerships that deliver on its strategic 2030 Vision, to transform and pioneer new destinations that are recognized for world class quality, authenticity and innovation on every level.”

Joel Manby, President and Chief Executive Officer of SeaWorld said: “We are excited to announce our first international expansion and our partnership with Miral as we design a next generation SeaWorld that engages, educates and inspires, a blueprint brought to life in Abu Dhabi. This new park, combined with a dedicated research, rescue, rehabilitation and return facility focused on marine life care and conservation, continues SeaWorld’s legacy of marine life rescue that spans more than 50 years. This project presents an opportunity for collaboration and greater understanding of how species have adapted to the region’s unique marine environment, and to inspire the next generation of visitors, conservationists and animal care experts.”

SeaWorld Abu Dhabi’s research, rescue, rehabilitation and return center on Yas Island will be the first of its kind in the country, providing a state-of-the-art environment for local and global researchers, scientists and marine conservationists to assist them to better understand and learn from the region’s marine life habitats and conditions. Planned to open ahead of the marine life themed park, the facility will provide an important resource for UAE nationals and residents looking to develop or enhance expertise in marine life sciences and will serve as a hub for collaboration with local and international environmental organizations and projects.



Mohamed Al Zaabi, CEO of Miral said: “SeaWorld Abu Dhabi is a unique project for the region which complements our portfolio of attractions and enriches Yas Island as the most exciting destination for our visitors. As Abu Dhabi’s developer of unique and exciting destinations, the opportunity to design a next generation marine life themed park in partnership with SeaWorld is bold and ambitious. Miral will continue to develop and create leading destinations on Yas Island that offer unique, immersive and exciting experiences for everyone.”

The addition of SeaWorld Abu Dhabi expands Miral’s destination portfolio on Yas Island, which is set to double visitor numbers to 48 million by 2022. The growth plans are part of Abu Dhabi’s vision to establish the emirate as a global tourism hub with unique attractions and world-class tourism infrastructure.

SeaWorld Abu Dhabi is set to open by 2022, and will complement Miral’s Yas Island destination portfolio of four themed parks, which includes Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld, and opening in 2018 the recently announced Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi and Clymb. Yas Island also offers a wide range of sporting and entertainment experiences that include Yas Marina Circuit, seven hotels, year round calendar of events, a live performance and concert arena, an 18-hole championship golf course, a marina, a beach and the increasingly popular shopping destination, Yas Mall.

Learn more about SeaWorld Abu Dhabi by clicking here to visit the official website.
 
Very excited for this. I'm a major SeaWorld supporter and geek, makes the years of tackling misinformation seem worth it!
 
I've got a pretty significant update on SeaWorld Abu Dhabi here :)

A friend of mine managed to find a concept image of SeaWorld Abu Dhabi. It is not of the best quality, and is also upside down, but I will run through what it may reveal to us below. Just remember, I have no information on the accuracy of this photo, but it's all we've got :p

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The first thing to say is that there is no evidence of any outdoor rollercoasters at all on the picture. My guess is that Miral (who are funding the SeaWorld Abu Dhabi project) do not want SeaWorld to come into any sort of conflict with Ferrari World which offers large rollercoasters.

The second thing to notice is the blue area to the left hand side of the park. This looks almost certainly like some sort of Dolphin interaction area. There look to be 5 to 6 main pools to the complex, which would fit exactly in line with the new Discovery Point facility at SeaWorld San Antonio. If this photo is anything to go by, we can expect this area to have a very tropical feel to it.

Lastly, the main building does look more than large enough to contain dark rides and/or indoor rollercoasters. The large scale of the aquatic support areas shown also suggest that large animals will be housed in the facility.

That's my initial analysis of what I can see, I am somewhat surprised not to see outdoor coasters however this is understandable given Miral's involvement. I am also very pleased to see a Dolphin interaction area included.

EDIT: I will try my best to get the image working!
 
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Very surprised that they aren't featuring coasters, what with SeaWorld's new focus on rides in their American parks.
 
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Found picture.

I must say the looks mostly outdoors and vaguely in the shape of some sort of whale or something. No major coasters here apart from Formula Rossa.
 
ThemeParX has updated their website with more information about this new park which will be owned by Miral (owners of Ferrari World) under a license from SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.

According to their website....

-The park is on schedule to open in 2022 with a non-profit animal rescue & rehabilitation centre opening a year earlier in 2021.

-This property will be unique in Miral's portfolio as it will be managed by SeaWorld themselves despite it not being under their legal ownership.

-Ride Manufacturers are Mack Rides, Whitewater and Attraktion who specialise in various multimedia indoor rides.

-Design consultants have included SeaWorld's Deep Blue Creative branch and PGAV Destinations (responsible for theme work design on Manta, Turtle Trek & Antarctica at SeaWorld Orlando and other projects like Discovery Cove).

-The cost of the project is $1.55B
 
Will there be any roller coasters at all, or will the rides be more animal-focused dark rides and water rides?

Interestingly, they seem to have gone for many similar suppliers to the ones used in the Dubai Parks & Resorts parks; is Dubai Parks & Resorts affiliated with Miral at all? Only saying because Motiongate has 2 Mack Rides roller coasters, and I know that quite a few of the Dubai Parks & Resorts water rides were manufactured by WhiteWater.
 
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I have no idea at all to be honest, just as in the dark as anyone else. All I've been able to learn that hasn't been publically released is that there are plans for a massive penguin habitat double the size of Antarctica's habitat at SeaWorld Orlando.
 
Penguin's in the desert is quite funny I must say. I know their enclosures will be a lot cooler than the outdoor temp but still funny all the same.

I, too, have no issues with Sea World. I have never agreed with what they did with the whales but at least that's come to an end now (sort of) so no gripes from me anymore. Don't see keeping seals and dolphins etc as any worse than Zoos keeping land mammals etc.

I still have absolutely zero interest in visiting Abu Dhabi though. None whatsoever.
 
Penguin's in the desert is quite funny I must say. I know their enclosures will be a lot cooler than the outdoor temp but still funny all the same.
Funny you should say that; there are actually certain species of penguin that live in the desert, apparently, so maybe the species they're putting into the Abu Dhabi park will be more along those lines!
 
This feels unreal to say but SeaWorld Abu Dhabi opens tomorrow.

The park features 8 themed areas, or realms as they are calling them, with an all-indoor hub and spoke design.

One Ocean acts as the park's central hub from which all other realms can be accessed. The area features no rides however does feature shopping, dining, and the world's largest LED screen supplied by Holovis, as well as access to one exhibit in the form of the Animal Care & Rescue Center.

Endless Ocean features the world's largest single aquarium containing sharks, rays, and more, with depths of 20m and breathtaking theming. The area is stylized as an underwater research base.

Tropical Ocean contains an Intamin multi-LSM launch coaster called Manta, a Bottlenose Dolphin exhibit and presentation, and a rainforest themed mini-area with assorted animals.

The Arctic is home to Hypersphere 360, which I believe to be an Intamin "Dome Ride Theater" dark ride attraction. Additionally, the area is home to exhibits including Walruses, Puffins, Otters, and smaller coldwater species.

Antarctica, of course, is home to penguins. The animal habitat is accompanied by a themed kids play area.

Abu Dhabi Ocean features animals local to the area, most notably including dugongs (sea cows) and turtles. Live show entertainment also features in this area.

Micro Ocean is the park's dedicated kids area. The park's second roller coaster named Eel Racer is here, which is supplied by Zamperla. There are several flat rides, play structures, shows, shops, and restaurants to round out the realm.

The final realm is Rocky Point, which is immaculately themed to the pacific northwest coast and houses Sea Lions, in the form of an exhibit as well as an amphitheater presentation. Harbor seals, Pelicans, and Otters can also be found here.

Overall, the park looks stunning, The theming and animal facilities look world-class, and the park has already been humane certified by American Humane which is an impressive achievement for the team that not many facilities are able to pull off prior to opening. I would have liked to see more rides, however what they do have looks well put together and it does make sense to differentiate this park with other ride-based parks right next door. I know there are company insiders pushing SEAS corporate to look at what has been achieved in Abu Dhabi and apply some of the same concepts to the US SeaWorld parks, so personally I wouldn't be surprised to see some exhibits or attractions duplicated in the US, particularly in Orlando.
 
The existing parks in Dubai and Abu Dhabi aren't making money. Has to be a huge concern for them.

We loved our visit over there but my the looks of things the locals just aren't interested which is a real shame.
 
Just reading back through this thread. Genuine question - what changed your mind about visiting?

We didn't go to Abu Dhabi sorry if that wasn't clear. We Just did Dubai. I know they aren't doing great just by reading up on them really. The parks are often completely dead and their peak days are like some off peak days in European parks.

I enjoyed what we did though. In Europe Motiongate would get a solid 4-5million attendance I'm confident.
 
Out of interest, how can we make the assumption that the UAE parks are making no money? Even though people from the West do go to them, I'd imagine that not enough go to gauge a proper idea of crowd levels throughout the year.

And surely if the parks were making no money, they wouldn't still be open and they wouldn't be adding new attractions? Ferrari World has been open for 13 years and very recently opened a new coaster (albeit one that's been under construction for 8 years; the last coaster built within a regular timescale was in 2020, I believe), and Motiongate also recently added a duo of new coasters. I'm aware that Bollywood is closing, but it's only being rethemed to a different IP, from what I can tell.

Parks don't just continue operating if they're not making money. Case studies such as Hard Rock Park prove that a park will not just open and make huge losses for years and years, let alone expand when it's making huge losses.

With that in mind, I'd imagine that the UAE parks make enough money to at very least keep them viable businesses and allow for expansion.
 
It is my understanding that Abu Dhabi has seen more success than Dubai. After all, Miral had years of attendance data from Ferrari World and Yas Waterworld before green lighting the SeaWorld project.
 
Out of interest, how can we make the assumption that the UAE parks are making no money? Even though people from the West do go to them, I'd imagine that not enough go to gauge a proper idea of crowd levels throughout the year.

And surely if the parks were making no money, they wouldn't still be open and they wouldn't be adding new attractions? Ferrari World has been open for 13 years and very recently opened a new coaster (albeit one that's been under construction for 8 years; the last coaster built within a regular timescale was in 2020, I believe), and Motiongate also recently added a duo of new coasters. I'm aware that Bollywood is closing, but it's only being rethemed to a different IP, from what I can tell.

Parks don't just continue operating if they're not making money. Case studies such as Hard Rock Park prove that a park will not just open and make huge losses for years and years, let alone expand when it's making huge losses.

With that in mind, I'd imagine that the UAE parks make enough money to at very least keep them viable businesses and allow for expansion.

This is where you're wrong I'm afraid. Big companies in the UAE lose money all the time.

Etihad, the main airline of Abu Dhabi, for example have ran at huge losses in almost every year of their existence.

They are heavily subsidised by the state / Royal family.
 
It Dubai the state doesn't exactly care if some things aren't making a profit as long as it's good image wise, they'll pay to keep these parks going because they make the state look better. The UAE has a very odd governmental system where all the different Emirates have there own royals, that then link the main royal family. So whether it's the local state or the government one or the other will subsidise.
 
When I went in 2017 the yas island parks (Ferrari and Yas water world) were considerably busier than motion-gate and IMC. While not anywhere near as busy as parks elsewhere in the world and queue is still short -compared to motiongate and IMC where there was hardly anyone about, to the point on many rides we would be the only people on them, coaster trains to ourselves etc.

The water parks in Dubai seem to attract people though, Atlantis was fairly busy the day we went and typical numbers of people that I see at other water parks around the world.

I agree what has been said and Motiongate and if elsewhere in the world would be getting great guest numbers. it is a great park and while a couple of dud attractions and prob could do with a real standout thrill coaster, but otherwise has a great mix of rides.
 
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