Day 5 (2017) Abu Dhabi: Motiongate Themepark

10.10.2017

Day 5

Visited highlights: Motiongate Themepark

Same location, same situation: today we are heading back to Dubai to visit the Dubai Parks, specifically the Motiongate Park. We already know the route, we can drive to the same parking lot as two days ago and: today we are alone here at 10:30 am (the Motiongate Park opens at 11 am). Alone again??? How is that possible???

We won't see the little train today, but since we are taking a different path to Motiongate than we did to Legoland, we don't even know if there is a train going there. We are alone at the entrance. We are allowed to enter before 11 am, but the rides are not operating yet. That's okay, we can study the park map and see what's here. Today it's only +36 degrees Celsius. Let's see how much we have to walk outside.

We start with Liongate and take the Aerial Tour. We don't have to wait, we are alone. We go through the "cattle grid" queues. Crazy. After that, I go with my daughter to the "Capitol Bullet Train" roller coaster, where we are also alone.

We sit in the front row. Wow, it's exciting. The roller coaster starts with us, the first ride of the day. If we had come later, we would have seen what awaits us. So now we are surprised - and the surprise is huge!

We go forward, stop, and then we are pushed sideways onto the tracks right in front of a loop. Countdown, then the catapult roller coaster starts and we rush into the loop.

But that's not all. We actually think we are going through the loop, but just as we are about to go over the top, the train suddenly races backwards at full speed - up onto the vertically standing track (I was wondering what it's for), then forward again and this time through the loop. Hurray, what a wild ride!!!

Afterwards, my husband also gets to ride and he is (of course) excited! However, he already knew what would happen, so the AHA effect wasn't as strong 😉 He gets a solo ride (he is the only one in the roller coaster) and sits at the back. It's supposed to be even more intense back there.

We continue to the Green Hornet roller coaster, similar to a "Wild Mouse", and go rafting, where we (unfortunately) don't get wet at all. We try it 3 times, but we never get wet. It would have been a welcome refreshment in almost 40 degrees Celsius.

We chase ghosts in Ghostbusters, get scared in the Hotel Transylvania, my daughter and husband ride the Free Fall Tower, and then we continue to the Smurf Village, where we ride everything, and to the Dreamworks Indoor area, with Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, and How to Train Your Dragon themed sections. I love it here! It's indoors with air conditioning and the "Dragons Glyder" becomes our favorite ride. In Madagascar, we want to ride the "Mad Pursuit" roller coaster. My son is tall enough to ride it, but he is a total scaredy-cat. But since we seem to be in the "children's area" here (carousel and colorful harmless rides), the roller coaster can't be that bad...

Or so we thought...

So, we also walk through the empty queue areas here and sit in the front row of the roller coaster (2 rows with 4 people each per "car"). The safety bars are secure - okay - they just want to be safe - so here we go. We go around the corner, then our car stops, a colored countdown appears - it looks like we are on a launchpad to the moon - and before my son can ask what's coming next, it happens:
Catapult launch into darkness!!! OMG, we scream at the top of our lungs, only after several turns can we see where the track goes in the darkness. There are no loops, but many changes of direction and high speed! Yeah!!

When we reach the end, I don't know if my son is crying or laughing. Luckily, he finds the whole thing "super cool" and laughs "one more time". Phew, okay! I was afraid he would never get on a roller coaster again...

At 5 pm, we treat ourselves to ice cream and watch the "Step up" show at the Hollywood Theatre at 6:30 pm. We leave the Motiongate Park around 8 pm. It's really amazing!!!! It's at the top of our list of favorite amusement parks!

On our way back to Abu Dhabi, we stop at "Last Exit", a food truck "rest stop" with a Mad Max look. At first glance, it also looks like an amusement park. We eat Asian food at the food truck and then explore the entire facility. Very cool, we are excited! What a cool end to the day!