Today I was supposed to be in Abu Dhabi, bringing you news about the upcoming major theme parks in the Middle East.
The first IAAPA Middle East show was due to take place this week in Abu Dhabi. But the IAAPA canceled this year’s event after the US and Israel attacked Iran, and Iran responded, raining missiles and drone strikes across the region. With airlines canceling flights and governments advising against travel, there was no way for IAAPA and its organizers to hold an event.
So instead of reporting on the official announcements from the developers, I will tell you what I expected to write about this week, and how I see these projects changing.
The story above that I was hoping to bring you would have detailed plans for two new attractions for Warner Bros. World on Yas Island: a new DC Comics-themed roller coaster for the park’s Metropolis land, as well as a new Harry Potter-themed land for the indoor park.
Miral announced years ago that it would produce the Harry Potter franchise for Warner Bros. World, so that, itself, not news. Ms. Miral posted signs at the WBW site teasing the new DC machine. The park has closed its Superman 360 amusement park to make way for a new ride.
That is not a loss I will mourn. As I wrote in my recent trip report from the park, “there were significant problems with the synchronization and 3D projection in this, which makes it uncomfortable to watch.” Closing Superman 360 is an addition by removing, although inside sources tease that its Daily Planet face and column will be used for the new ship.
DC Coaster will be the third in the park, after Intamin stopped by the Fast and Furry-ous family and Tom and Jerry Swiss Cheese Spin. Miral has two coasters on Yas Island that ranked in the Theme Park Insider top 50: Flying Aces at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Manta at SeaWorld Abu Dhabi. Both are inventions of Intamin. Another Intamin in that capacity will provide a welcome addition to Warner Bros. World.
The ice hasn’t cleared yet, but Miral has begun clearing the area in the old parking lot outside the park’s entrance. After that, the ground work continues on the new Harry Potter land.
This land will bring the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to life in a park for the first time outside of a Universal park. However, Warner Bros. works on the islands of Harry Potter studio tours in the United Kingdom and Japan, and the creative team TAIT, which Thinkwell developed those attractions together with Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi park, operates in this new country.
In addition to Warner Bros. World promotions, Miral executives said the company is planning a new, record-breaking roller coaster ride at Ferrari World. The park’s Formula Rossa lost its world speed crown three months ago to the new Falcons Flight at Six Flags Qiddiya City.
This week would have brought official word on the Hogwarts attractions that the new Harry Potter land will offer, as well as timelines and concept art for the new coasters. However, all that news will have to wait until all parties involved are comfortable that people are ready to hear such announcements, given the current situation.
Yas Island will be the site of Disney’s next theme park, which Disney and Miral executives announced last May. But Miral and its government sponsors in the UAE have learned from the experience of others in promoting major attractions. If you don’t offer any new attractions yet, fans will wait to visit until the Big New Thing opens.
The new coasters and Harry Potter land were intended to attract more fans to visit Yas Island while Disney was being designed and built. However, it is not the lure of Disney park years in the future that is preventing visitors to the Emirate for now.
With missile alerts now ubiquitous in the UAE, flight schedules disrupted and airfares soaring around the world, no one is planning a trip to Abu Dhabi just yet. So there’s no sense in wasting a PR opportunity by announcing anything this week, or maybe for a while.
However, I hear no doubts from sources in the area that these plans will not continue for some time. As long as Abu Dhabi has the financial resources to fund this attraction, Miral’s IP and development partners have no incentive to back down. Only a threat to the Emirates would make the leadership abandon its commitment to building its tourism economy.
So for now, it’s time for something that has so far been unheard of in Abu Dhabi – a rain check. Plans for recreational parks mean nothing when attacks injure and kill people across the region. Only when that stops and people are ready to think about such entertainment again will we get the news we were supposed to report this week.
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