Day 18 (2023) Atlantis Aquaventure Water Park Dubai

22.4.2023

Day 18

Visited highlights: Aquaventure Water Park Dubai

This morning we have to get up early because we want to go to the Aquaventure Water Park in Dubai. It's our first visit there WITHOUT staying overnight at Atlantis 😥

Until now, we always combined our visit with an overnight stay at Atlantis, as it allowed us to visit the water park on the day of arrival and departure.

Since our "youngster" is no longer classified as a child at 14 years old, we would have to book 2 rooms. And for some reason - no matter on which booking site I looked, whether directly at Atlantis or on the well-known German booking sites - our former category "Ocean Room" or "Palm Room" is not available. Only "Imperial Room" is available, which was already more expensive back then...

Even with the "Ramadan Sale" directly at Atlantis, we end up with room prices of at least 1600 € for 2 rooms for ONE night. 😱  Nope - unfortunately, that won't work...

We start at 8:15 am towards Dubai. Since the Sugar Festival has begun and many expats have been "off" since Thursday, plus it is currently Easter vacation in Hesse, we are afraid that the water park will be packed. The Aquaventure has always been crowded before (and we have always been there on weekdays). Well, we can't change it, so we have to arrive early and hopefully not have to queue for an hour in the first hour...

We reach the parking lot of the water park around 9 am, which is located directly behind the tunnel on the Palm to the right, just before Atlantis. The parking lot is still very empty, and we continue by shuttle bus to Atlantis, where we enter the water park through one of the side entrances near Starbucks, through the Atlantis corridors, past the shops and (still closed bars). We have never been here before, as we always went from Atlantis to the park by golf buggy.

Our first glance falls on the price board. OMG! I have booked a city pass where I got the 5 parks much cheaper (43 € per person / park). On site, a day ticket costs a whopping 90 €, and online, you can buy it in advance for around 80 €. Lockers cost extra (small 11€, large 18€), and we had already suspected the thing with the towels. Just like in Yas Waterworld, there are no free towels anymore - here, they cost about 10 € per towel. Pffffffffffffffffff.

BUT: Novelty - there are now free water shoes! And they really make sense because I still remember the burning feet on the footpaths from one slide tower to another when the stones were burning hot.

We find a sun lounger near the Poseidon Tower and walk directly to the Trident Tower - which is new, we haven't seen it before. So far, it's completely empty (but we are also early), so we can thoroughly test all the new slides.

Our highlight is the double tube "race" slide Medusa's Lair. Two double tubes start parallel on the same lanes and race each other. I always win with my son. Hihi.

The Shockwave, a slide for 5 people, is very mild and almost "boring". There are no surprises, except that it feels like you're sliding more "uphill" than "downhill". There are extremely many conveyor belts that shoot the tubes "upwards" again - including a shower.

The Odyssey of Terror is more fun. It's also a slide for 5 people, which winds through 2 funnels and shakes you up. It's the eye-catcher of the tower, you can already see the brightly orange lanes of the slide from a distance. We slide it multiple times until running up the tower (there's still no line at this point) becomes too exhausting 😅

We are surprised by the Vortex slide. It looks quite boring - from above - but the "evil" surprise comes as soon as you come out of the slide at the end: you fall about 2 meters deep into the water. That comes as a surprising for some slide fans. We watch the clueless slider for a while and find it very amusing 😄

The Immortal Falls are also new, it's basically a jump from the 3m platform, but here it's from a "rock" into a "pool". We skip this one...

The Raging Rapids are also not very exciting - a "round channel" with a current, where you have to wear a life vest and can float in shallow water..

While it's not crowded yet, we head to the Poseidon Tower to slide the well-known tube slides "Aquaconda“ and “Zoomerango”. The kids slide with my husband a few more times, and I take a break on the sun lounger.

Afterwards, we go rafting in the River Rapids - one of the coolest things for us in the park. Today, the entire course is actually open again, which was missing the last few years. That was really annoying.

We have lunch at the restaurant at the Poseidon Tower around noon, and from then on, the park gets really crowded. We go for another round in the Rapids, as the Poseidon Tower is now packed. We take a detour to the "Wave", but here too, there are only tubes in the water - that's no fun....🙄

So we continue rafting, as that's the best way to spread out. We slide 2 tube slides, the Falls (see video, very funny) and the Stinger - quite entertaining. in the Neptune Tower, we skip the tube slide through the aquarium - waiting time +40 minutes.

We spend the afternoon in the rapids. Since it's not really hot today ("only" +28 degrees with wind), it can get a bit chilly in the water after a while. We warm up on the sun lounger, and my husband and daughter decide to slide the "Leap of Faith". When they join the queue at 5 pm, the waiting time is supposedly +25 minutes. But the reality is different...

I'm standing on the bridge, ready with the camera, and waiting... and waiting.... And waiting. In between, I take a detour to the nearby aquarium - in the shade.

After nearly an hour, they finally slide. That was the highlight of the day in the water park - it's 6 pm - the park closes.

All in all, but again a fantastic day here! It's just a shame that soooo many people are allowed in here. You have to accept queuing for over an hour and people piling up in the water. Really a pity - but probably everything is calculated with these dimensions.

We leave the park around 6:30. The new challenge is now to get a seat on the shuttle bus because we are not the only ones waiting for a bus.

We are lucky with the 3rd bus and drive back to the parking lot.

On the way to Abu Dhabi, we stop at "Last Exit MAD X", the food trucks on the highway in "Mad Max style", and have dinner. It has never been crowded here, but today it's bustling! It must be because of the Sugar Festival...

We have known this Last Exit for several years and, by the way, find it much better and 'cooler' than the Last Exit on the other side of the highway, in front of the Dubai Parks, where we stopped on the first day.

We arrive in Abu Dhabi around 9 pm. My little godchildren (1st and 2nd grade) stayed up late to say goodbye to us 🥰 because our flight back home departs at 2:05 tonight.

We pack our things and sit with the family until 11:30, then we head to the airport. It's going to be a short night....😴😴😴