Dubai Parks and Resorts

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Dubai Parks and Resorts

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Dubai Parks and Resorts (DPR, DPAR) is the name of a company in Dubai which owns and operates theme parks and other entertainment venues including Motiongate (Hollywood theme), Bollywood, Legoland, Legoland Water Park, Riverland (European themed tourist village), and Lapita hotel resort.

Dubai Parks and Resorts theme parks, hotel, and restaurant village are all (so far) located in one area south of Jebel Ali, close to the border with Abu Dhabi emirate.

As of 2017 there is no public transport except for taxis (expensive from anywhere in Dubai), however there is a free bus service operated by DPR, and also a free bus service to the nearby Village Outlet Mall which is a short walk from Riverland.

There are six areas to the entire resort, including 3 theme or adventure parks, 1 water park, 1 hotel, and 1 restaurant and shopping village.

Riverland French Village (free entry): restaurants and cafes, alcohol in some, some closed until end of Aug 2017.
Lapita Hotel Resort: resort hotel with Pacific Islands theme.
Motiongate: Hollywood theme park.
Bollywood theme park.
Legoland: children's theme park, indoor area with Lego buidings and objects, Dubai and Middle East theme.
Legoland Water Park: get wet.
Village Outlet Mall: not part of the DPR theme park area but close enough to consider visiting if you want more restaurants or shopping. Riverland is mostly restaurants, very few retail shops.

DPR transport, access and car parking

The main car park was AED 50 when DPR first opened, reduced to AED 20 sometime after that (still AED 20 in 2016 ... 2017 ...). It's a long walk to the individual theme parks but there is a free tram (road not rail) to several stops in the theme park area. There is no A/C in tram but you'll live, it's not too far.
[Check] The VIP car park is more expensive (AED 100?), with a pedestrian entrance into the area in the middle of all the theme parks.
The Outlet Village Mall car park is free and from there you can walk (10 min to Riverland, 30 min to Motiongate).

List of Dubai Parks and Resorts theme parks

Phase I (Bollywood, Lapita Resort, Legoland, Legoland Water Park, Motiongate, Riverland) officially opened 18 Dec 2016. Development cost AED 13 billion.
Phase II (Six Flags Dubai): planned completion date 2019, project cost estimated at AED 2.6 billion. Park will have 27 rides and attractions in six zones.

Motiongate theme park

Motiongate has activities, rides, food, and souvenir shops based on films from three different Hollywood studios: Sony Pictures Studios, DreamWorks Animation, and Lionsgate.

Best rides in Motiongate (our opinion)

Kung Fu Panda: Unstoppable Awesomeness. 4D film sitting in a boat.
Madagascar Mad Pursuit! In DreamWorks zone. A fun indoor roller coaster ride.
[Not tried] Capitol Bullet Train. Should be a decent enough roller coaster but just to look at, the Ferrari World and IMG roller coasters look more impressive.

Five zones of Motiongate

Outdoor areas are pleasant to warm in winter, and very hot in summer. We visited once in August and we were surprised that it was not quite as unbearable as we expected. Perhaps those outdoor misting fans really do work. It's still too hot to stay outside for very long though.

List of Motiongate rides (5 zones, not 6 zones as in some reports):

Studio Central (outdoors): main street when entering Motiongate. Shops and restaurants, no rides.
Columbia Pictures (a division of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group) (outdoors) rides:
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - River Expedition (open early 2017?). Fairly tame river rapid ride in a round thing with seats. You'll get splashed a bit. Watch the bumps if you're taking photos or video with your not very waterproof smartphone.
- Flint's Imagination Lab: Indoor playground for kids.
- Ghostbusters: Battle for New York. Sit in a moving trolley and shoot at ghost pictures with a laser gun.
- Hotel Transylvania. A scenic ride through the castle, not interactive but a pleasant display of scenes from the film.
- The Green Hornet: High Speed Chase. Short roller coaster ride, not exciting enough to do a second time.
- Underworld 4D. A 3D film with rocking seats, water spray, and wind effects. Enjoyable if you like that sort of thing but not worth the wait if there's a long queue.
- Zombieland Blast Off. Go up and down a big pole, enjoy the desert view. Thrill ride not advisable just after eating or drinking. You'll either love it or vow never to do it again.
Smurfs Village (outdoors) rides:
- Smurfberry Factory. Kids can throw soft foam balls around.
- Smurfs Studios Tour. Sit in a moving trolley and see how Smurfs make a movie. Fun for small kids.
- Smurf Village Express. Small roller coaster ride for young kids.
- Smurfs Village Playhouse. Fun Smurf show for young kids.
- Woodland Play Park. Outside playground for young kids to climb around.
DreamWorks (entire area indoors, airconditioned, the big blue building)
- The Fountain of Dreams. Main entrance to DreamWorks, a decorative water feature good for selfies.
- Kung Fu Panda
  - Kung Fu Panda Academy. Kung Fu show.
  - [Best ride] Kung Fu Panda: Unstoppable Awesomeness. 4D boat ride effect. Cool.
  - Mr. Ping's Noodle Fling. Spinning tea cups. Get dizzy.
- How to Train Your Dragon (open Apr 2017)
  - Dragon Gliders. More of trolley in the air tour than a roller coaster. One sort of thrilling section but mostly slow.
  - Camp Viking. Playground for kids with water guns to splash each other with.
  - The Swinging Viking. Boat swinging back and forth.
- Madagascar
  - [Best ride] Madagascar Mad Pursuit! Indoor roller coaster ride. Moderately exciting, worth doing a repeat ride if queues not too long.
  - Melman-Go-Round. Merry-go-round.
  - Penguin Air. Whirly thing for young kids.
- Shrek
  - Swamp Celebration. A spinning boat. Mildly interesting. More thrilling for kids.
  - Shrek's Merry Fairy Tale Journey. Moving trolley ride through Shrek Land.
Lionsgate (Lions Gate Entertainment) (outdoors):
- Hunger Games: is part of Phase 2 opening at Motiongate, might open near end of 2017 ... or early 2018.
  - [Not yet] Capitol Bullet Train. Roller coaster with vertical section and 360 degrees loop. Should be good.
  - [Not yet] Panem Aerial Tour. Indoor (?) aerial tour of Panem Land.
- Step Up Dubai, All In! (indoor theatre) Get all Step Up movies at once in a live dance show.

Dubai Parks and Resorts summer 2017 special offer

Summer 2017 special offer food and drink all you can eat, valid until 31 Aug 2017.

Online ticket purchase website might not work depending on which browser you use. Chrome ok, Opera not ok.
Tickets at the gate are extra AED 35 or more from online prices given below:
- Summer special deal ticket price (without food) AED 85 for Bollywood, AED 125 for Motiongate or Legoland, AED 145 for Legoland Waterpark, AED 195 for one day two theme parks.
- Add on price is AED 40 for Bollywood; AED 50 for Motiongate, Legoland, or Legoland Waterpark; AED 70 for 2 parks one day ticket.
Beverage selection limited to only soft drinks and water; not for coffee, tea, hot drinks, slurpees, milkshakes, etc.
Get a souvenir cup at first drink stop, carry it around with you.
Eat at any restaurant except the Candy Apple in Shrek Land. Not valid for kiosks.
Food selection somewhat limited. No desserts, ice cream, cakes, sweet goods of any sort. Appears to be limited range at Mr Ping's in Kung Fu Panda Land, special menu, no dim dum or dumplings included.
After 3 or 4 helpings you'll probably have had enough. Best food is sandwiches at first stop, burgers at Hotel Beastro, freshly cooked pasta at Meatballs, freshly cooked Chinese at Mr Ping's.

Headings

Motiongate
Bollywood
Legoland and Legoland Water Park (or separate headings)
Riverland
Lapita hotel resort
DPR ownership
DPR IPO
DPR jobs, careers, vacancies
DPR summer offer 2017 (Ramadan offer)
DPR timings, map, location, access, public transport, special offers
DPR tickets, annual pass
DPR hotel is the Lapita Hotel, a luxury resort with a Polynesian theme located in the same area as the theme park collection. Yes you can walk to any of the theme parks from the hotel (hot in summer though, take the shuttle tram instead).

Last update Sunday 14-Jan-2018. Page development 1H 2T 3D 4L 5C.

Ferrari World - similar thing in Abu Dhabi but almost all indoors.
IMG World - a large indoor theme park in Dubai.
Theme parks and resorts in Dubai - a list of other places to get a few thrills.
Pages under development

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Dubai Parks and Resorts