Dubai is often described as a playground for the rich, with five-star hotels, fine dining restaurants and plenty of retail attractions. The emirate will soon, however, enter a new era as a family-friendly destination with the opening of Dubai Parks & Resorts slated for October 1 and the equally exciting IMG Worlds of Adventure ready to open later this month. A significant portion of the Dubai Parks offering will be the dual Lego-branded resorts, Legoland Dubai and Legoland Water Park, which boast a combined 60 rides, shows, slides, experiences – comprising an incredible 60 million Lego blocks in their make up.
Kids aged three and up can score a Legoland Driver's License at the LEGO City Driving School and explore six themed areas; Factory, Lego City, Imagination, Kingdoms, Adventure and Miniland. More than 20 million of the all-familiar coloured blocks will be used in Miniland alone, where Legoland Dubai has recreated scenes and famous landmarks from the UAE, including Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. There's plenty to keep older visitors happy, with rides such as the Dragon Coaster, the park's biggest ride at 16 metres in height, reaching speeds of up to 60km per hour.
The largest LEGO model in the Parks (outside of Miniland) is the Icon Dragon and is made from 395,251 bricks, while the smallest LEGO model is the Minilander made from 20 LEGO bricks. It took an impressive total of 3,900 hours to build the biggest LEGO model in the Park, including 1250 hours for new development and 2,650 hours for gluing and assembly. And despite all the plastic there's plenty of real-life organic attractions, courtesy of the Submarine Adventure area – home to over 2230 inhabitants, made up of nearly 60 different species of fish, sharks and invertebrates. The largest species is the Zebra Shark at 1.5m and the smallest is Reticulated Damsel at 2cm.
Legoland Dubai and Legoland Water Park recently announced the launch of their Annual Pass, offering fun and exciting experiences for guests who want to be the "first to play" at the parks' 60 attractions. The annual two-park combo pass for LEGOLAND Dubai and LEGOLAND Water Park is priced at AED 995, with the annual pass for LEGOLAND Dubai only priced at AED 765, and can be purchased at www.LEGOLAND.ae or at www.dubaiparksandresorts.com.
Visitors can also enjoy Motiongate Dubai – a theme park showcasing some of Hollywood's best-known characters from DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Studios and Lionsgate. The complex will also feature Bollywood Parks Dubai, the first ever theme park based on the sights and sounds of Bollywood. The entire resort complex will be connected by Riverland Dubai – a retail, dining and entertainment walkway where guests can also access the Lapita Hotel, a Polynesian-themed resort that's part of Marriott's Autograph Collection.
