Dubai’s Thrilling Theme Parks and Water Attractions

Move over Orlando. Not content with boasting the world’s tallest building, an indoor ski slope, and a palm-shaped island, Dubai is now striving to become the theme park capital of the world. With five new fun zones opened since 2016, you can now go ghost-busting, snap a selfie with a dinosaur, plunge into a shark lagoon, and team up with superheroes without ever leaving town.

In fact, an entire amusement park district, called Dubai Parks and Resorts (DPR), has sprung up in the southern suburb of Jebel Ali, complete with a Polynesian-themed hotel and an outdoor shopping and dining strip. Throw a couple of established water parks into the mix, and you’ve got a phenomenal destination for thrill-seekers. Here’s the lowdown on your options.

Best Park for Adrenaline Junkies: IMG Worlds of Adventure

Whack! Pow! Boom! Bing! Like a comic strip bursting to life, the world’s largest indoor theme park is a cacophonous plunge into the realm of superheroes, dinosaurs, and ghouls. The brainchild of Emirati entrepreneurs Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari, the park’s four zones deliver an enticing mix of rides and attractions ranging from mild to wild. Superheroes rule the thrill-packed Marvel zone, where you can become part of a Thor vs Loki showdown on a nail-biting top-spin ride or help Spider-Man save New York on a spiraling roller coaster.

The pre-teen set can engage in action in the Cartoon Network area by fighting an evil robot with the Powerpuff Girls or cheering on Ben 10 in a 5D cinema enhanced by smell and touch. Unique to IMG is the dino-centric Lost Valley, a Jurassic land populated by dozens of intricately detailed animatronic lizards and prowling specimens that you can pose with. Its top ride, the stomach-churning ‘Velociraptor’, shoots you from prehistoric jungle into the blinding Dubai sunlight and back. The park’s most popular attraction, however, is the walk-through ‘Haunted Hotel’, where live ghosts and zombies scare the bejesus out of anyone who dares to check in. It’s the highlight of the central IMG Boulevard, which also attracts visitors with refreshments and souvenirs.

Best Park for Film Buffs: Motiongate Dubai

Dubbed ‘Hollywood in the Desert’, DPR’s Motiongate features over two dozen rides, attractions, and live shows inspired by classic and new blockbuster films, grouped into zones named for the movie studios that created them. Just past the reel entrance gate is the fairly low-key Columbia Pictures area, where you can become a ghostbuster, board the ‘Green Hornet’ rollercoaster, and tour the spooky Hotel Transylvania. The heart of the park is the indoor DreamWorks zone starring beloved characters from Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar, Shrek, and How to Train Your Dragon. This is also where you’ll discover the white-knuckle ‘Madagascar: Hot Pursuit’ rollercoaster, although speed junkies may also gravitate to the even scarier ‘Capital Bullet Train’, located in the Lionsgate zone themed around the Hunger Games franchise. Little ones will drift over to the charming Smurfs Village where diversions include play areas, a live show, and an easygoing rollercoaster.

Best Park for High-Energy Spectacle: Bollywood Parks

It’s perhaps a tad ironic that the world’s only theme park celebrating India’s famous movie industry is in Dubai and not Mumbai. Even if you’ve never watched Dabangg, Sholay, or Krrish, you can still enjoy attractions based on these and other Bollywood blockbusters. Budget about half a day for this family-friendly DPR park with its action-packed 3D and 4D motion rides. Top draws include ‘Don: The Chase’, where you race around Dubai to hunt down a crafty mafia boss, and ‘Sholay: The Hunt for Gabbar Singh’, a dark ride that has you aiming a laser gun at nasty villains. The visuals and special effects are great, but don’t expect too much in terms of plotline. The park excels in live entertainment, featuring an explosive stunt show, flamboyant song and dance performances, and a lavish musical extravaganza presented in the grand Rajmahal Theater (separate tickets required).

Best All-Rounder for Kids: Legoland Dubai

The latest entry in the Legoland empire boasts 40 rides and attractions spread across six themed lands—Factory, Lego City, Imagination, Kingdoms, Adventure, and Miniland—focused on delighting pre-teens. You won’t find any nerve-wracking rides at this DPR park, just gentle favorites like the charming ‘Dragon’ that glides through a medieval castle or the ‘Submarine Adventure’ that delivers close-ups of sharks and coral. There’s also plenty of interactive fun, especially in Lego City where kids can earn their drivers’ license, pilot a plane, and put out a fire. Grown-ups, on the other hand, will be captivated by Miniland, where more than 20 million Lego bricks replicate local landmarks like the Burj Khalifa and regional wonders such as Petra and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. You’ll need at least a full day for the park—and possibly two if you wish to add in a visit to the adjacent water park.

Best Water Park for Kids: Legoland Water Park

The newest addition to Dubai’s aquatic adventure scene, DPR’s Legoland Water Park pairs seamlessly with its dry counterpart and is tailored for families with little ones. With 20 raft, tube, and body slides, a fun wave pool, and a lazy river ride in a Lego raft that you’ve built yourself, it’s smaller and gentler than some of Dubai’s older water parks yet still offers a full day of fun. Among the biggest hits are ‘Twin Chasers’, a side-by-side slide for racing against family members, and the ‘Splash Out’ slide with its thrilling 18-meter drop.

Best Water Park for Adults: Wild Wadi Waterpark

Dubai’s premier aquapark has delighted water enthusiasts since 1999 and packs plenty of excitement into a compact layout. Its 30 rides and attractions are loosely themed around the adventures of Juha, a character from Arabic folklore. Kids can cool off in ‘Juha’s Dhow and Lagoon’, a play structure with over 100 activities, while thrill-seekers can prepare for the aptly named ‘Jumeirah Sceirah’ slide, the ‘Master Blaster’ water rollercoaster, and the ‘Wipeout Flowrider’ surfing wave. Add a beach, a lazy river, and beautiful views of the iconic Burj Al Arab to the mix, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a splashing good time.

Best Park for Thrill-Seekers: Aquaventure Waterpark

The designers of this expansive palm-laden park located on Palm Jumeirah have innovatively calculated how to plunge, zoom, hurtle, churn, catapult, and overpower you in unique ways. Nervous nellies need not apply to take the epic ‘Leap of Faith’ down a near-vertical acrylic tube into a shark-infested lagoon. The slide is the main attraction on the ziggurat-shaped Tower of Neptune, while the nearby Tower of Poseidon serves as the launch pad for the serpentine ‘Aquaconda’, which has you slithering through a dark, twisting tunnel on the world’s largest diameter raft slide. For little kids, there’s a splash zone filled with easy slides, water cannons, and tipping buckets, ensuring hours of joyous squeals. Nonetheless, this park is primarily geared towards teens and adults.

Ticket Purchase Tips

Dubai’s theme parks may not be the most affordable; however, there are ways to ease the cost. Consider purchasing tickets online, checking the park’s website for special promotions, buying multi-day passes, or utilizing seasonal discounts (usually available in summer, though be cautious of the heat!). Some hotels even include park admission in their room rates. For example, checking into the Lapita Hotel grants unlimited access to all four DPR parks, while rates at Atlantis The Palm include entry to Aquaventure. Guests of hotels affiliated with the Jumeirah group (including Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Al Qasr Hotel, and Mina A’Salam) can enjoy unlimited visits to Wild Wadi Waterpark.