Inside Universal Forums

Welcome to the Inside Universal Forums! Register a free account today to become a member. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members and unlock our forums features!

  • Signing up for a Premium Membership is a donation to help Inside Universal maintain costs and offers an ad-free experience on the forum. Learn more about it here.

Dubai Parks and Resorts

^ Yeah, while they did open the parks, not everything is open. (Which is painfully more apparent with Motiongate.) From what I'm reading, the Bollywood park is the breakout hit at the moment.

Video-wise, Robert Niles from TPI gives a nice little tour of Motiongate which shows this is definitely a "studio park", it also shows what's open and all the things currently not.



Also, according to Robert in his review, out of the three dark rides which were open in the park, (Ghostbusters, Hotel Transylvainia, Smurfs Studio Tour) the best one was the Smurfs Studio Tour. Where there's a full video here.



So that's currently the "Best" darkride in the park, mainly due to it had more movement then Hotel Trasylvainia which apparently is mostly static scenes/manniquins. (Which you could clearly see in Robert's tour.) As for Ghostbusters, Robert felt the 3D gameplay was "Been there, done that.", so it paled in comparison to say Buzz Lightyear in Shangai, or even more appropriate, the 3D shooting darkride next door in the Bollywood park.

Dubai sure loves puffing themselves up as the next Orlando, but theme park wise they always seem to forget a crucial detail or two. What's amusing here is they actually went on the cheap. The pricetag for Dubai Parks is a little over 3 Billion which was split between Motiongate, the Bollywood park and Legoland Dubai. So once again it falls under the dilemma I have with Ferrari World and IMG, it felt like the money went more into the IP rights/buildings then the attractions themselves.
 
Ya it looks terrible compared to what they are trying to compare it to, like Universal and Disney. Legoland is the best of the three in my opinion simply because the level of detail is what is expected out of a park that is for elementary aged kids. All the others seem to be lacking. The live shows are what will save Motiongate and Bollywood. I've only heard good reviews about them.
 
Wow.. the static figures in Hotel Transylvania just look straight up awkward. And the 3D in Ghostbusters looks sooo video gamey. Turning my expectations down a notch or three.
 
I'm still waiting on a full POV for that Ghostbusters ride, which I hope Robert posts soon. From that short clip shown, it looks, eh. Apparently it looks better than Iron Reef at Knotts, but Justice League definitely looks better.

There are some nice areas for this park but hot dang did they cut corners on some areas. I can't believe how many black walls and obvious exit doors are in that Smurfs ride.
 
...





When Antarctica looks better than these two attractions, you know something is wrong..

Well Ghostbusters is seemingly using the fairly cheap shooter tech made available for rides like Justice League at SF parks and the various shooters at Ceder Fair parks.

The Hotel Transylvania ride on the other hand is very disappointing, especially given the elaborate facade.
 
^ The tech looks to be more on the level of the Triotech darkrides at Cedar Fair, the Justice League attractions are a step above that.

Robert Niles was right, the "Best" darkride in the park so far is the Smurfs one. An' that has a whole lotta' black walls and visable exit doors etc.

The Ghostbusters ride falls into the same problem as the Gumball ride at IMG, the gameplay is nothing but "Here's a bunch of random stuff to just shoot, entertain yourselves until the next section which is the exact. same. thing. Repeat, repeat, repeat." An' in between each screen, not much so it's heavily relying on those screens. (At least the Gumball ride had targets on the walls to shoot inbetween the screens.) Now compare this with Benno's Great Race at Ferrari World (Which easily tops both Ghostbusters & Gumball), where the gameplay is not only varied, but it helps move the story forward. One screen you're cutting ropes to retrieve tools, the next you're dragging over car parts to assemble a car, it's not the same thing over and over. An' inbetween the screens, you got practical effects/sets to continue the story and set up the next section. It makes for a very nice darkride which is honestly so far one of the best in Dubai. Too bad IMG and Motiongate ain't providing good competition with theirs.

As for Hotel Transylvainia, the last time I got irked watching a video was watching videos of Hollywood's attempt at American Werewolf in London. This is the most detailed of the three, and they're actually taking advantage of the trackless vechicle technology with that big great hall and the cars going in and out of it...which makes it all the more frustrating that this ride is lifeless and boring as all hell. You know it's very telling when a technical difficulty spiel is going on in the ride, and it's more interesting then what you're seeing. (Also, speaking of that spiel. I don't think they designed things too well when those on the ride can hear the spiel made for those in the queue line.)

Once again, those involved with this park love puffing themselves up that they studied parks over the world and are holding themselves to the highest standards...yet Six Flags has a better darkride then any of theirs. (This is by no means a knock on Justice League, since credit where credit is due, Justice League is a damn good darkride. Though considering what Six Flags is seen as, that makes it all the more insulting to the Dubai parks that SF of all companies created the superior darkride over them.)
 
Last edited:
Bit of a double post, but that's because Robert has now been posting videos of the Bollywood Park next door. From various reports (Including Roberts), this seems to be the breakout hit amongst the others, so hopefully the attractions are better then what we've been seeing from Motiongate.

First up is Lagaan: Thrill of Victory. (A motion theater which looks to be similar to Despicable Me.)



Doing a bit of research, "Lagaan" is a sports drama film about a small village having to play a game of Cricket that could help them avoid the high taxes they've been under. This ride however puts us smack dab into what is best described as a demented mechanical theme park coaster revolving around Cricket. Needless to say it's definitely unique and not boring! I think as a simple motion theater attraction, it looks fine.

Next up is Krrish: Hero's Flight. (A flying theater attraction.)



I think for most people when they hear "Flying Theater", they think Soarin'. For me I was thinking we're gonna' be sightseeing India with a super hero guiding us. I didn't expect near cable car death, running with a horse and Aliens attacking Mumbai. I'm strangely alright with this, just like Lagaan it's unique and not boring.

Finally we have Sholay: The Hunt for Gabber Singh (A screen based shooting dark ride)



Wow, this is actually a legit better shooting dark ride then Ghostbusters. This ride has big curved screens, the screens also don't reset before the riders move to the next one. While the gameplay is still "Shoot everything" a la' Ghostbusters & Gumball, at least Sholay spices things up by having the scenes very active instead of staying in place. (Moving through a train, several chases...then you got that end scene with that WTF?! "Boss" of sorts.) While it's not as good as Benno's Great Race in Ferrari World, it's definitely a solid second.

Finally, Robert also has a quick tour of the park. Which also shows a snippet of Jaan-e-Jigar (A upcharge 2 hour musical ) as well as a look at the park's stunt show.



Truth be told, I like what I saw here then what I've seen from Motiongate. Who knew a Bollywood Park would outdo a park with a lot more well-known IP's?
 
Truth be told, I like what I saw here then what I've seen from Motiongate. Who knew a Bollywood Park would outdo a park with a lot more well-known IP's?
Further proof that big IPs mean little if you crap all over them with cheap rides. A great IP by itself doesn't make a great ride. You have to actually put some effort and creativity into it.
 
That Solay ride was the most WTC thing I have ever Singh.

Seriously, it was. Interesting concept, but I find it super bizarre where you jump into third person in some scenes and then jump back into first. Then it feels like you're just floating through everything in a House of the Dead-style of gameplay. Not really a fan of it. But yeah, totally better than Ghostbusters.
 
It's been a little while, so here's some more videos which have surfaced from Motiongate. The first one is a video of the queue line for the Zombieland Blast Off attraction.



Well they made a attempt to theme up the queue line, though the actual Zombieland references one would recognize from the film are very sparse. Not to mention why would a supposedly abandoned park be advertising zombies? (Yes I know I'm asking way too much from this park, but it's odd details like that which seperate the contenders they think they are from the pretenders which they truly are.)

An' recently they opened the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs River Expedition.



Let's see, a queue line & station where you can't honestly tell what IP it's about? Check. A bunch of visable speakers, wires and items that better parks would hide from view? Check. A rapids ride which looks like it doesn't get you wet period? (A little spritz doesn't count.) Check.

I'll have to admit this park has become fascinating with how half-baked most of the attractions have been turning out, it's a wreck I can't look away from.
 
It's been a little while, so here's some more videos which have surfaced from Motiongate. The first one is a video of the queue line for the Zombieland Blast Off attraction.



Well they made a attempt to theme up the queue line, though the actual Zombieland references one would recognize from the film are very sparse. Not to mention why would a supposedly abandoned park be advertising zombies? (Yes I know I'm asking way too much from this park, but it's odd details like that which seperate the contenders they think they are from the pretenders which they truly are.)

An' recently they opened the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs River Expedition.



Let's see, a queue line & station where you can't honestly tell what IP it's about? Check. A bunch of visable speakers, wires and items that better parks would hide from view? Check. A rapids ride which looks like it doesn't get you wet period? (A little spritz doesn't count.) Check.

I'll have to admit this park has become fascinating with how half-baked most of the attractions have been turning out, it's a wreck I can't look away from.


I'll reaffirm my statement, in that Motiongate is a cheap joke.

From what it looks like, the only bright spot is DWA (which at this point, I have to think something occured to where DWA was more-or-less in charge with that like how JK had a major influence for Hogsmeade).
 
After watching those videos and seeing pictures from the park, I honestly think this is much closer tocSix Flags than Universal or Disney.

Nice try Motiongate...but you've got a lot of work to do to really compete.
 
Time for a couple more videos, as they've finally opened up both the "Shrek's Merry Fairy Tail Journey" darkride, and the HTTYD "Dragon Gliders" attraction.

Shrek's Merry Fairy Tail Journey



Dragon Gliders



Whaddya' know? These actually look -good-. Compared to the other darkrides in the park, these are easily the better two. They're definitely steps above the Ghostbusters, Hotel Transylvainia and Smurf darkrides. (Granted that's not saying much, but still...)
 
Whaddya' know? These actually look -good-. Compared to the other darkrides in the park, these are easily the better two. They're definitely steps above the Ghostbusters, Hotel Transylvainia and Smurf darkrides. (Granted that's not saying much, but still...)
Dragon looks like the same powered MACK system as Arthur & the Invisibles. Would love to see on in the States!
 
Dragon looks like the same powered MACK system as Arthur & the Invisibles. Would love to see on in the States!

I have been the one petitioner here on IU wanting that ride system for the future park.

Time for a couple more videos, as they've finally opened up both the "Shrek's Merry Fairy Tail Journey" darkride, and the HTTYD "Dragon Gliders" attraction.

Shrek's Merry Fairy Tail Journey



Dragon Gliders



Whaddya' know? These actually look -good-. Compared to the other darkrides in the park, these are easily the better two. They're definitely steps above the Ghostbusters, Hotel Transylvainia and Smurf darkrides. (Granted that's not saying much, but still...)


I will give Dragon's credit, as it looks rather good for Motiongate.
 
The CGI doesn't look fantastic on the HTTYD ride, but otherwise, I'm impressed. When I (hopefully) go to Dubai someday, I might have to stop at Motiongate...
 
Top