U.A.E. (Ferrari World) Trip Report

Well i got back from my trip to the U.A.E. about a week and a half ago and I finally decided to stop being lazy and update here. The trip was absolutely amazing, we spent four days in Abu Dhabi and eight days in Dubai. Being set up by a student group at U of M our trip had two focuses to it. One was meeting with various companies and learning about what they do over there (which helped pay for the trip as a lot of them sponsored us to be over there), and the other was focused on tourism and sightseeing. Unless any of you specifically request it I'm just going to focus on the tourism and sightseeing side. I'll post a few of my favorite pictures here but I'll link my Photobucket Album for the rest of them.

I flew out of Chicago on Christmas with a majority of our group and we Arrived in Abu Dhabi on the 26th. The first day in Abu Dhabi, besides a couple of company meetings we visited Masdar City/Institute. Masdar City is going to be a zero carbon footprint city located by Yas Island. The design of the city is really innovative, for example by placing the buildings really close together shade cover 70% of the area within the city. That also creates a decent breeze throughout the city keeping it on average 12 degrees cooler than the actual temperature. We then spent the rest of the day sightseeing with a tour bus driving by the Presidential Palace, The Emirates Palace Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, and finally stopping at a really good Arab restaurant. The second day we visited Saadiyat Island, the future culture center of the U.A.E. By 2030 the island will be complete with a Guggenheim Museum, a Louvre Museum, a Performance Arts center, a National Museum, various hotels and beach villas, and a couple of golf clubs. After that we visited the Emirates Palace Hotel which is very high class (Abu Dhabi's competition to Dubai's Burj Al Arab) and wouldn't let us in without a reservation. So we made a reservation for their cafe and they finally let us in. I've heard of this cafe before because the cafe serves cake and cappuccino laced with gold shavings, and to my great surprise we each got to get a slice of gold laced cake and cappuccino. Later that night we also visited Heritage Village and went to the Marina Mall. The third day of our time in Abu Dhabi we visited the Shiekh Zayed Grand Mosque. An incredibly beautiful Mosque that reminded me of the Taj Mahal and was in fact build out of the same white marble as the Taj. The Mosque was an incredible building and was especially beautiful at night when it was light up with a nice blue/purple glow. After the tour of the Mosque we visited Shangri-La Hotel and Mall for dinner which was again very good. I fell in love with Arab food over there. That was our last full Day in Abu Dhabi and we left for Dubai the next day.

Our first day in Dubai was awesome. We drove straight to our hotel Unloaded our stuff into our rooms and then drove straight to the Address Hotel in the Dubai Mall for our visit with Emaar. (the company that owns the Downtown Dubai complex with the Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa, Address hotels and a lot of other buildings all over the U.A.E.) After our meeting with Emaar they took us up to the At The Top Observation deck on the Burj Khalifa which unfortunately isn't at the very top, more like 2/3's the way up the tower. That building is so tall it just dwarfs everything else I have ever seen. The observation deck was awesome, it even had an outdoor balcony that you could stick your head out of and look straight down some 1500ft and watch the Dubai Fountains from. We then spent the rest of the night in the Dubai Mall. The next day we visited the Dubai Marina and took a boat tour through the marina, around the Palm Jumeirah Island and up to the Burj Al Arab. That night was the 31st so for the New Years celebration most of us got tickets to a celebration called Sandance at the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Island. It was absolutely crazy, there were a bunch of DJ's and house/electronica artists there including Basement Jaxx, Goldfish, Jonathan Ulysses, and Above & Beyond. It was probably the best New Years party I've ever been to. You could see fireworks going off everywhere up and don the coast, the Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, Atlantis Hotel/Sandance, and like three or four other places as well. The third day we had the afternoon off (to recover from the previous night) until that night we visited the Global Village which is like a huge version of Epcot, and as a nice surprise for me they even had a decent sized carnival with a wide variety of Freij rides. There with some fun roller coasters that included a spinning wild mouse, and un-named coaster that was similar to CP's wildcat, and a Freij Flume which I thougt was pretty cool.

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(Ferrari World TR)

On the fourth day we visited the Dubai Pearl which is going to be a mini-city at the base of the Palm Islands in the morning and then that afternoon we went to Ferrari World back in Abu Dhabi. Ferrari World was a lot of fun but besides the roller coasters, and drop tower there aren't a whole lot of thrilling things there. I'm still really glad I went, for only being there for 4-5 hours my ride count was Formula Rossa - 1, Fiorano GT Challenge - 4, G-Force - 1, Speed of Magic - 1, V-12 (log flume) - 1. Unfortunately the Scuderia Challenge racing simulators were all taken (there were no more free time slots when we got there) and then we spent another 30 min or so walking around looking at all the Ferrari's and at a mini RC car raceway. That was a lot of fun because they steering was really touchy and it looked like everyone was drunk driving lol. Formula Rossa was a lot of fun, I was able to leave about 3 inches of space between me and the lapbar and that first hill has some insane ejector air. the rest of the hills were all floater but the ride gives a great sensation of speed. The Fiorano GT Challenge was an unexpected gem. The multiple launch and brake segments combined with the largely unbanked turns really throw you around with some great lateral G's. Also the line was infinitely shorter than Formula Rossa's and was a walk-on ride later at night giving me time to ride it 3 times in a row in the last 20-30 minutes of the day. Besides the coasters and power tower, everything else was kind of disappointing. The Speed of Magic is the same kind of ride as the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman at IOA except they don't utilize the potentials that ride has at all. The V-12 log ride was also supremely disappointing in that it had a big elevator lift that would indicate a decent sized drop but instead of a big drop they have four or five little ones all the while there are just very basic sound and visual effects meant to seem like the inside of a V-12 engine. All in all i'm glad I went but if any of you ever go there don't waste your time an anything other than the thrilling rides listed on the park map. Unless you are really into Ferrari's and want to ride the more educational/historic rides about Ferrari's.

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The fifth day was a free day and was spent mostly at the Emirates Mall and Dubai Marina shops. The sixth day we went to Old Dubai and visited the Dubai Museum as well as a few of the Souk's of local marketplaces there including the Gold Souk. I've never seen so much gold jewelry in all my life in one place. There I was able to pick up a lot of cool souvenirs and stuff for me and my family. You just have to make sure you haggle or you'll end up paying 3 or 4 times the amount it's worth. The seventh day we went on a desert safari somewhere between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. The safari was a lot of fun, they first take you out dune riding in their SUV's before heading back to camp where you can rent ATV's, go camel riding, or go on more dune rides until they have dinner ready which was a Arab BBQ with lamb, chicken, and fish and a lot of other Arab dishes. During dinner there was a belly dancer in the middle of the circle. After dinner there was a large fire and they brought out shisha (hookah) for everyone and we just sat there under the stars around the fire for a couple of hours.
On the eight day, a free day, me and a few others went to Al Ain and drove to the top of Jebel Hafeet Mountain. The mountain road is really cool and kind of scary when the bus driver has never driven it before and takes all the turns a little too fast for my liking. We then visited a camel market and went to a restaurant that served camel meat which was pretty good. We then drove back to Dubai and spent the rest of the day at the Dubai mall doing some last minute shopping before we left the next night. On the last day me and two other guys finally went to Ski Dubai, the indoor ski slope in the Emirates Mall. WE had been wanting to do it for a few days but didn't have time so I was really happy that we got it in on the last day there. That night we all drove back to Abu Dhabi and flew out late that night.

Anyways here are some pictures as promised, the rest you can see here http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad122/MrFeeny/The%20UAE/

Gold laced cake and capppuccino


Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque


The Burj Khalifa


Burj Al Arab


Ferrari World

sounds like you had an amazing time you lucky person

i also love the gold on the cake and capppuccino and that the cake has so much less gold on it but looks so much more WIN than the capppuccino

I'de love to go to Dubai, the level of construction there is immence.
That Burj Khalifa building is absolutely fxcking insane, that has to be the limit as to how high skyscrapers can go, surely?

I hope the launch on Formula Rossa is as awesome as i would think it it is, otherwise the layout looks pretty lame. Never the less you cant expect a more compact and dynmaic layout from a train doing 150mph lol.

I hope you had a good time dude.

they should repaint formula rossa why did they make it white lol.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Because it's in the desert and the UV radiation intensity from reflection off the ground, the lack of clouds, etc, will insta-fade any color they choose to the point where it will look like poop in 2 years.

I'm soooo jealous you got to go to Dubai!

Originally posted by english coaster guy

Never the less you cant expect a more compact and dynmaic layout from a train doing 150mph lol.

The train only does 150 m.p.h. during the launch. Upon that first incline, the speed is trimmed substantially. So much so that the speed during the actual layout probably maxes out somewhere between 90 and 100 m.p.h. I can't even imagine there being any airtime other than on the first crest.

Exhibit A:

Like I said, besides the first hill that has some great ejector, the rest of the layout is kinda bland and is meant to give a sense of speed more than anything else. It was fun though, especially once you leave a decent amount of room between you and the lapbar.

Pretty sure that's an early video. The newer ones show that it isn't trimmed as much.

[Coasterkidmwm]

One data point is best.

[gouldy]

Originally posted by english coaster guy


That Burj Khalifa building is absolutely fxcking insane, that has to be the limit as to how high skyscrapers can go, surely?

Dubai is an insanse place; search google for "al burj", and you'll get a plethora of buildings that are set to be taller when their construction is complete. Most notably, the one you will find the most results for, is set to be almost TWICE the height of Burj Khalifa. I would think a lot that is just to promote excitement about Dubai and a lot won't go ahead, but at the same time, a lot of those projects actually do have planning permission and are at the funding stage. (also, search for Nakheel Tower, Kingdom Tower and Mile Tower - these are all in the middle of being designed, but not all from Dubai)

Looks like you had an epic trip. Dubai is pretty high up there on the list of places I'd like to go.

May I ask which U of M you are referring to? I ask because I'm a student at the University of Michigan.

Originally posted by gouldy

Originally posted by english coaster guy


That Burj Khalifa building is absolutely fxcking insane, that has to be the limit as to how high skyscrapers can go, surely?

Dubai is an insanse place; search google for "al burj", and you'll get a plethora of buildings that are set to be taller when their construction is complete. Most notably, the one you will find the most results for, is set to be almost TWICE the height of Burj Khalifa. I would think a lot that is just to promote excitement about Dubai and a lot won't go ahead, but at the same time, a lot of those projects actually do have planning permission and are at the funding stage. (also, search for Nakheel Tower, Kingdom Tower and Mile Tower - these are all in the middle of being designed, but not all from Dubai)

I was talking with a few other civil engineers that went with the group and I said, "I can't wait until one day the average height of skyscrapers will be the height of the Burj Khalifa. A city filled with those buildings would be spectacular to see.

Also @ raptor, Yes, I am talking about the University of Michigan. Cool to see another fellow student online.

Twice the size? thats nearly a mile, although it would be amazing to see i think we still have a while until something like that is built

[Coasterkidmwm]

Dubai is going to fail catastrophically in the future lol.

[gouldy]

Originally posted by CKidd

Twice the size? thats nearly a mile, although it would be amazing to see i think we still have a while until something like that is built

Yup, it's called "Mile Tower" and it was actually being planned in Saudi Arabia, rather than Dubai. Although I think it was that which has become Kingdom tower, which is a pitiful 1 kilometer tall, instead of 1 mile

Originally posted by CKMWM

Dubai is going to fail catastrophically in the future lol.

Yup, although everything is awesome right now, the only reason that they're doing all this is because they're shifting from oil export to tourism as fast as they possibly can before all their oil runs out. But once the oil has run out, that'll be it for the immense cash flow. Then the novelty of the place will wear off once they stop building/expanding and people start to take more notice of all the Islamic laws that are still in place there, etc... Then, they'll be left with massively expensive to run buildings and half built projects, and people will have steadily stopped going and the whole economic structure will collapse. Or something like that

[Coasterkidmwm]

They've already raped their water table

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

Dubai is going to fail catastrophically in the future lol.

Actually a lot of the companies we met with were pretty well off and had big plans ahead of them including some big time expansion into foreign markets. Namely the Dubai Pearl, Emaar, and the DIFC. They obviously had some trouble back in 08-09 but with the bail out they got from Abu Dhabi, Dubai was able to completely restructure their financial district. They have since set up a much better system that will be much less likely to fail and are looking at becoming the regions primary financial center.

@ Gouldy, Dubai was never getting much of their money from oil, they never had very much oil to begin with. If your looking for the place with oil, Abu Dhabi is where it's all at. Something to the effect of 200 more years worth of oil still there as opposed to Dubai's 8-10 years.

No doubt that Abu-Dhabi and Dubai is hub in Asia for the tourist point of view because all the business man there to run his business its very attractive place for me specially many huge towers and buildings there,shopping mall and i read all your report much comfortable..

[TTD03]

I want to ride Formula Rossa so bad!