Monday, Aug 22, 2016

There are plenty of nice things to say about IMG Worlds of Adventure, the theme park opening its doors in Dubai on August 31, but those of you who enjoy theme parks aren’t really looking for nice, are you?

You’re looking for thrills, fear and the kind of head-spinning, stomach-churning feelings of sensory overload that only a gallon of fizzy soda will ease.

Finally, Dubai has a park that can deliver that.

I strapped myself in for a media preview of the indoor theme park on Monday, emerging a few hours later slightly wobbly but impressed by the quality of the rides. The park has four zones — IMG Boulevard, Marvel, Lost Valley and Cartoon Network, and if you can believe it, the first ride that had my head spinning is to be found inside Cartoon Network land.

The Powerpuff Girls — Mojo’s Robot Rampage! may look pretty cute, with its little pink pods waiting for you to board.

Do not be fooled.

This ride is no joke. Within seconds of it starting, you’re slowly rotating upside down, around and around. I have newfound respect for Buttercup, Bubbles and Blossom, the deceptively adorable superheroes of the Cartoon Network show, if this is what it takes to be a superhero. (My experiences were stripped of music and light, the park operator told us, in order for us to be able to film the ride in action without too much ambient noise, so it was at times a surreal and silent experience.)

The ceiling of the park is covered in sound-proofing black arches that will muffle the noise created by all the rides and the screaming guests as they fly through the air; I can imagine with all the rides operating at full tilt, it would otherwise be extremely noisy.

The level of ride insanity cranks up in Lost Valley, where two roller coasters await — on Monday, only Predator was available to test out (all rides and attractions, including the outdoor roller coaster Velociraptor, will be functioning on opening day, the park’s CEO Leonard Otto assured me). Predator is for those with a love of heights, speed and falling off a track at a beyond-vertical angle. Set in the middle of the park, this is a great, if brief (30-second) ride that will have the incredulous and fearful watching from the nearby pretzel station as a car climbs a high vertical track and tips over the edge, carrying its screaming load straight down into loops and turns. It’s really good — if over very quickly.

Theme park technology is moving beyond simply throwing patrons down roller coaster tracks, however; “dark” rides are becoming a must-have. In these indoor attractions, riders board a coaster that still throws the traditional loops and bends, to sickening effect, but you never know what’s coming. Multimedia displays often accompany the ride, giving the feeling of flying through scenarios. At IMG Worlds of Adventure, that’s the Battle of Ultron ride, which again I was not able to test out. (I also watched the Thor Thunder Spin, deemed the park’s most head-spinning ride, in which a gondola of riders is repeatedly flipped back-and-forth, up-and-down.) In the Marvel world, I was able to sample, instead, Spider-Man Doc Ock’s Revenge, a “spinning” coaster in which the ride’s cars rotate independently as you thunder around the track. It’s brilliant, and even drew applause from the hard-bitten journos riding it.

IMG Boulevard is mostly dedicated to shopping and eating (although there’s no lack of that elsewhere in the park, with many rides spilling their woozy patrons straight out into gift shops). Also in the Boulevard area is the Haunted Hotel, and however cheesy and un-scary it initially appears, there are plenty of frights and all-out grossness here. I won’t ruin it by describing the scenes that await as you walk through, but there is one room that wouldn’t be out of place in some of the worst (by that I mean best) horror films made. It’s all brought to life by an amazing cast of actors, and some choice smells.

Let’s say you’re only 10 years old, and have the soul of a theme-park junkie, if not the minimum height. What can you do? You’ll probably enjoy the Ben 10 5D Hero Time and Gumball rides; the first is an immersive cinema experience into the world of the boy hero; the second is a point-scoring laser-shooting game that’s mild fun for the younger set. The child in me would have loved to clamber all over the Lost Valley’s Adventure Fortress, a series of climbing platforms and slides set amongst the park’s dozens of animatronic dinosaurs, and the Avengers Flight of The Quinjets, a more sedate flying ride that will suit families. The really dinky types should head for Lazy Town and the accompanying CN Live stage show — it’s loud, colourful and full of dancing and singing.

Though it’s 1.5 million square feet in size, the circular format means the park isn’t exhaustingly large, and there are plenty of places to stop and rest, and be encouraged to shop for food and merchandise. My tip? Take a sweater: The indoor park is chilly, and there are lockers all over where you can leave your belongings when needed (this is especially important as mobile phones and cameras are not permitted on any of the rides).

By Natalie Long tabloid! Editor

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