Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi is the most well-known theme park in the United Arab Emirates.
This indoor park is themed to the highly popular, luxurious, Italian sports cars.
The park is most famous for Formula Rossa, the world’s fastest roller coaster, but
it also has a few other notable roller coasters and other areas where the park shines.
In this video, I will review Ferrari World to help you determine if you should plan a
visit to this park.
Ferrari World opened in 2010 as the first major theme park in the UAE.
Before Ferrari World opened, the country was filled with smaller parks.
Ferrari World spurred the UAE’s growth into the Middle East’s premier theme park destination,
as several other big name parks would follow in the same decade.
Ferrari World is located in Abu Dhabi, which is roughly an hour south of Dubai.
If you have a roller coaster trip to Dubai, I strongly recommend hailing a cab or Uber
between the two cities.
Ferrari World is part of the Yas Island complex and it’s not the only amusement park there.
Ferrari World is located in the Yas Mall and on the opposite end of the mall, you have
FunWorks, a small family entertainment center with an odd spinning coaster.
Across the street, you have Warner Brothers World Abu Dhabi, which is one of the best
theme parks in the world thanks to its extensive collection of dark rides, and also Yas Waterworld,
one of the best water parks in the world thanks to its large slide lineup and atmosphere.
Ferrari Land is located at one end of the Yas Mall.
The set-up is similar to Nickelodeon Universe at the American Dream mall in New Jersey.
The park only offers pay-one-price options and it’s isolated from the rest of the mall.
None of the park can be seen from the mall itself.
As you approach the mall, you can see a few of the coasters sprouting out from the building.
The interior of the park is also on the darker side like New Jersey’s Nickelodeon Universe;
however, Ferrari World does not feel like a warehouse.
The park has a sleek, futuristic vibe to it because of the uniquely shaped roof.
The iconic roof undeniably looks better from the outside, but the interior architecture
is mesmerizing much like the Luxor in Las Vegas.
And the rides and ride signs are lit well to compliment that futuristic feel.
Then there are a few areas that contrast with that next-gen feel and are reminiscent of
a quiet Italian street with the architecture and theming.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition that works because of the overarching Ferrari theme,
which combines the history of Italy with cutting edge technology.
This is a direct contrast to the second Ferrari-themed park, Ferrari Land at PortAventura Resort
in Spain.
That Ferrari park is located outdoors and goes all-in on the classic Italian theme as
opposed to blending it with the futuristic aesthetic.
Ferrari World costs upwards of 300 AED, or $80 USD, which is certainly pricey.
But I thought the park was worth it.
Especially since the park does not usually seem to get mobbed.
I visited in late February, but I have never seen the park packed in any trip report.
The longest line I personally encountered was 20-30 minutes for Formula Rossa, Turbo
Track, and the flying theater.
But if lines do get long, the park does offer a FastPass system that should get you on attractions
immediately.
Like many of the thrill rides in the UAE, the major rides at Ferrari World have a strict
no loose article policy.
Everything in your pockets must either go in a complimentary locker or bin- the storage
method depends on the attraction.
The park does allow you to wear glasses with a strap, which makes sense since the park
actually requires all guests to wear protective eyewear on Formula Rossa and Flying Aces.
And they have extra large goggles that slide over prescription glasses.
Ferraris are revered for their speed and elegance, so Formula Rossa is a fitting signature attraction.
This Intamin hydraulic launch coaster accelerates riders from 0 to 149 mph or 240 kph.
This launch has two separate bursts and the power of this launch is mind-blowing.
It’s one of the best elements on any coaster.
The rest of the ride reminds me of Millennium Force in the desert.
You have giant sweeping turns and large camelbacks with floater airtime.
Unlike a lot of launch coasters that are one-trick ponies, Formula Rossa delivers a full and
satisfying ride that really does feel like the mixture of Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium
Force.
I have a separate review that goes into more detail, but this is a top 25 steel coaster
for me.
The park also has two other launch coasters.
Turbo Track is a weird Intamin launch coaster that offers forwards and backwards seating.
The launch doesn’t have the same punch as their other coasters, but you have a fun airtime
hump in the middle of the launch and then a twisted spike that blasts out of the dome.
The view of the park’s colossal dome is breathtaking on spike and you get some nice
weightlessness there as well.
Fiorano GT Challenge is a launched, dueling Maurer Sohne family coaster.
This coaster is a strange ride.
I think Maurer took inspiration from Rocket Rods.
Exhibit A- None of the turns are banked.
Even immediately after a launch.
This results in some strong laterals.
Exhibit B- Shortly after accelerating, you often slow down only to accelerate again.
I think this ride has 4-5 launches.
But the ride consistently races and the odd ride experience makes it enjoyable.
The one adult non-launch coaster is Flying Aces, an Intamin hyper wing coaster.
But this ride has one of the fastest lift hills in the world, so it sort of feels like
a launch.
The ride looks similar to Skyrush and the first drop delivers some powerful ejector
airtime, but the rest of the ride isn’t really about airtime.
You have an ejector airtime filled speed hill and a few camelbacks with floater airtime,
but where this coaster really excels are in the lateral department.
The laterals on the side-to-side transitions are downright violent on the wing seats.
The coaster feels like it’s trying to slam you into the sand.
It’s like Skyrush’s Stengel Dive over-and-over again.
This coaster also has an incredibly well-themed queue line too.
This is another ride I have a separate review on if you want to learn more.
The park also has two coasters that weren’t operational during my visit.
First, is Formula Rossa Junior, a kiddie coaster.
This ride rounds out a small, but solid children’s area.
Second, is Mission Ferrari, a Dynamic Attractions SFX coaster.
This ride is a mystery.
This ride has been listed as “Coming Soon” as far back as 2016.
Most of the ride takes place in a box, but you can see a corkscrew adjacent to the midway.
We know the SFX coaster is capable of a lot of unique elements such as drop tracks, tilt
tracks, and sliding tracks, so I’m really interested to see what this coaster includes
and how well it’s themed.
In terms of flat rides, the park is extremely deficient.
Today, the park only has a tea cup ride.
When the park opened, the park had a drop tower called G-Force, but it was an extremely
slow drop tower that raised out of the dome.
The ride was plagued with mechanical issues and was replaced by Turbo Track.
The park compensates for the lack of flat rides with a bevy of dark rides.
Speed of Magic is a 4D motion simulator dark ride with the same ride system as Universal’s
Spiderman.
The ride has one of the craziest stories of any theme park ride- A kid loses a video game.
To cheer him up, his dad gives him the keys to a Ferrari.
The video game character then escapes from the TV, steals the keys, and challenges the
kid to race in a magical portal for the car.
The movement is well-executed, but the 3D effects and physical sets were just there
as opposed to adding to the experience.
Benno’s Great Race is a neat variant on a shooting dark ride.
Riders are given magical wrenches that complete a series of mini-games.
These mini-games added a lot of variety to the ride, but I wish the mechanics of each
mini game were provided at the beginning of each section.
The lack of these instructions caused the ride to have a learning curve, but it was
really cool once I figured it out after a few rerides.
Made in Maranello is an educational tour how to make a Ferrari.
It felt sort of like an infomercial, but if you’re a car fan, you’ll love this ride.
And then you have Viaggio in Italia, a flying theater, and Driving with the Champion, a
motion simulator.
Both these rides are ok, but their visuals pale in comparison to other versions of the
same ride system.
The park also used to have V12 Enter the Engine, a log flume dark ride, but it was removed
like G-Force due to technical issues.
The park currently doesn’t have any water rides, which is fine since almost the entire
park is indoors and air-conditioned.
The only time you’re outside in the heat is when you’re on one of the four major
roller coasters.
The park also has a few driving attractions.
You have the Bell’Italia antique car ride through an adorable miniature town.
You have the Karting Experience go-karts with a windy track.
You have the Scuderia Challenge, a very difficult and realistic racing simulator that I kept
crashing.
And then you have the Ferrari Experience.
For almost 800 AED or $215 USD, you can drive an actual Ferrari down the streets of Yas
Island.
This would be cool if it were on a racetrack and you could test the full power of the engine,
but this only allows you to drive a sports car slowly down some side roads.
Because this park is open year-round, something will likely be closed for refurbishment during
your trip.
The park has a ride status page on their website, but they seem to only list closures a month
out.
Just keep that in mind if you’re planning a trip specifically for Formula Rossa or Flying
Aces.
But outside of the tea cups that were closed for refurb during my visit, almost everything
operated without any downtime.
And that included the trio of Intamin coasters- even Formula Rossa.
Although, the latter does not cycle as many trains as a ride like Top Thrill Dragster
or even Kingda Ka, which probably helps keep its uptime higher.
For food, I absolutely loved the pizza at Mamma Rossella.
It was one of the best food items I’ve had at any theme park and the quality was just
below Via Napoli at Epcot.
Of the parks in the UAE, I think Ferrari World is easily the best option for thrills.
The trio of Intamin coasters blasting outside the dome guarantee that.
But the park also has an underrated collection of dark rides to compliment the coasters.
I do prefer Warner Bros.
World Abu Dhabi because of the Disney-quality dark rides and immersive atmosphere, but Ferrari
World is my second favorite park in the country and a great park overall.
This park should be on the bucket list for any roller coaster enthusiast and should be
included on any visit to the UAE.
So those are my thoughts on Ferrari World, one of the best indoor parks in the world.
Have you been to this park?
Or is it on your bucket list?
I would love to hear your thoughts about the park down in the comments.
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