Honestly would pay a lot for an amazing theme park where i dont have to wait in line and can use every attraction. This is honestly worth the price, you have no annoying guests and almost have this kingdom to yourself!
Though the high class of dubai are able to easily afford this park, they're not dumb people by any standard. Right next to IMG (literally a kilometer appart) is Dubai's most crowded and visited theme park, Global village. With an initial entry fee 96% cheaper than IMG, you only have to pay an extra fee if you're interested in the rides. IMG still refuses to lower it's prices, and even in rich private schools of Dubai, students activley vote against going to img because of it's prices and if global village doesn't have the rides they want, they go to motiongate.
Honestly it would be a great idea for them to have a discount with a global village ticket that would encourage people nearby to visit. especially with the late night crowds at global village. They can still keep the entry price high while offering discounts to fill the park. This screams mismanagement. At this point even getting people in with per attreaction pricing would be a better idea.
The Chinese decorations in img boulevard was only there for the Chinese new year event. They usually change it based on what event was going on at the time
Even Dubai can have flops. With all of the parks, there's a lot of competition. You're right, though, spending over $100 for an indoor park seems to be far too pricey. I wouldn't go. Magic Mountain costs less!
An amusement park at night is my favorite time. I always loved the neon and fluorescent lighting and the incandescent lights on the rides with chaser patterns. Such special memories. The great thing about indoors is that the mosquitoes would be very minimal if any.
I went there two months back with my two sons and wife. The boys actually enjoyed it but me and my wife found its very weird. The car park had about 20 cars in it, we thought the taxi took us to the wrong place at the start. Anyway, we got on most rides without waiting but this always gave a strange feeling, almost a liminal type feeling as if it wasn't reality. It's a huge structure and looking up at the celling was surreal, its far more enormous inside than out and I found myself looking up most the of the time. One ride we loved, was Spiderman. The videos on here don't do it justice. It's fare more intense then it looks. We go back next year but we wont be returning here.
We are out in the UAE at the moment and weirdly, IMG was heaving when we went last week! Packed full of mostly school groups to the extent we didn’t ride velociraptor. Motiongate, on the other hand, was empty. I agree with the review, we enjoyed our day but it doesn’t compare well to WB World or Sea World.
My guess is because its close to Halloween. Parks all around the world are packed this time of year, its typically where a lot of them pull their highest numbers all season. That is interesting though that when you went to both IMG and Motiongate, the crowds were drastically different. Was one visit on a weekend and the other on a weekday?
@ IMG was a Thursday. We visited Motiongate a couple of times the same week both at the weekend and in the week. The weekend was quiet, weekdays were the quietest I have ever seen a theme park in my life, much like your experience at IMG. Legoland was also dead, even on a Sunday. The Abu Dhabi parks have been relatively busy this week.
The Dubai Parks and Resorts parks are just too far from the city to attract good attendance. I went to IMG on a Saturday in August before school started and it was packed. I think IMG’s attendance swings heavily between feast and famine.
Hey Taylor. Great video as always! It helped inform my visit to the park which I went to yesterday. If you think it was quiet when you went, you'd be shocked at how dead the park was yesterday. You're right - the vibe is just, off. The darkness of Lost Valley is way too dark and I think it hinders creating a joyful atmosphere in the park. I did every attraction in the park including the Ben 10 theatre which was awesome! 15 minutes long with a great storyline and immersive experience. The "Chinatown" section you mentioned is not permanent, but seasonal. That section was themed to the UAE National Day Celebration when I went, which is coming up very soon, so for you they themed it to Chinese New Year. I'm happy I went to the park, but I would not go again. I much prefer all the parks in Abu Dhabi which have a vibrant, friendly and jovial atmosphere. This park felt soulless to me. I wish it well though - it deserves to succeed. Thanks for the informative and beautiful content you create. I always look forward to your videos 🙂
Glad you had a good visit and thank you for your feedback! Interesting to know the main boulevard is themed to UAE national day at the moment- it’d be cool to see how it varies during different times of year.
I've only went to img on a school field trip and it was PACKED , all of the lines were full in marvel and Cartoon Network but the dinosaur area was pretty chill
This is a clear example that the environment created by the people is fundamental, it is the atmosphere that is created, between people shouting, children running, even the anticipation in a queue for a ride can be positive for the experience. Hopefully this aspect can be improved, because it seems that they have the potential to do so. There are many ways to make the park more accessible and populated.
For me, the weirdest aspect of this park is how they have a Cartoon Network area when it should be located at Warner Bros World. I know this park came first, but it still feels weird having Warner Bros content at a park other than nearby Warner Bros World.
@@CoasterStudios Warner Media is still a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T so I don't think it is necessarily out of place at all. There are plenty of subdivisions to spread around.
I went to Img this summer, and I agree with everything you said. Ironically I think I would like this park better if it was busy, because then you don’t get every ride done in 2-3 hours like we did. Nonetheless still a good park, maybe needs another standout coaster.
I can't believe they haven't added a single new coaster since they opened. Next year when I go to the M/E on my way home from EU I am still going to visit though as I haven't been to this park nor Motiongate/SeaWorld/Real Madrid. Speaking of, I really hope that park does something with their custom Mack hyper in storage. If they aren't going to use it, try sell it at least.
The pricing is so infuriating because IMG is a very popular park in Dubai, it has hype around it and during discounts the park is PACKED, one time I went the Velociraptor's queue was like 3/4th way done this year. They could price it just a bit less and people will start pouring in and they can get so many customers and pay off that huge debt which took to build the place, and maybe even go through with the World of Legends expansion. But the people running the park are idiots on another planet, they just gave up on this park which still has so much potential.
I had no idea there was ZERO natural light in this place. What a nightmare. Even more than I already thought it was. Dark city of the walking dead. There's no way this park turns a profit, right?
I'm convinced its some sort of money-laundering scheme because I've been four times between 2016 and 2024, three pre-pandemic, and its always been empty with all walk-ons. The lack of natural light really isn't a problem though honestly. I have to imagine they get most of their money from school field trips during the school year as that was my first experience going to IMG---parking lot's always empty though.
@@s3_woody I've also been there multiple times, even on a Eid weekend once (ultra busy) and disagree. If you have been to any European and American theme park you will know how empty and oversaturated the UAE theme park market is. If you have ever been to MotionGate, a far more busy theme park, that one still has 4 times less people on average in terms of queues than an average UK theme park on an less busy day. I would not be surprised if Sega Republic (the only busy enough theme park) was the only theme park to ever turn a profit, which ironically rebranded as VR park is easily the single most unsuccessful UAE theme park by a mile.
Very true, I think the possibility of a good indoor park in the USA has never really been explored. For example I always think that a smaller and cheaper park for Orlando would be great. Either for the tourist who would visit between the big Disney and Uni parks or for the local who just wants to have fun with his family on a Sunday. A park like Warner in Abu Dhabi seems ideal to me. Not much else is needed really, there is no need for another Epic Universe, but if it is well curated and themed, an indoor park would have a great market and popularity, especially in the summer. Not to mention that it would bring the Warner brand finally (as a park and not a sad license to SF) not only to Orlando but to the USA, which is ironic since the 3 Warner parks are outside the USA. If that were to happen, wow, Orlando and Central Florida would definitely be complete and would truly be the Theme Park Capital, which it has long been credited with.
It’s normally 115 in Arizona during spring & summer. We were supposed to be getting an indoor Mattel Adventure Park. It should already be open but there’s been delays.
Watching this was like listening to my own opinions on someone else's video 😆 IMG is just the weirdest park EVER. Like, on paper it's really cool, and it's has a good vibe with decent rides, but there was nothing that really stands out, nothing I was desperate to ride over and over. Hulk Epsilon base was my favourite ride too, which must say something about the park if a 3d cinema/simulator is the best ride 😆 I'm surprised you didn't mention anything about the large number of full service/buffet restaurants. There's more of them than guests in the park, and they were all open, with absolutely no one in them at all 😆 I've been in 2017 and 2024, and I only returned this year due to visiting the UAE with friends that hadn't been before. But it is definitely the weakest of the major parks in the country, and the one I'm least likely to ever return to!
It’s my first time on this channel. You did a awesome job. I’ve already seen a few of your videos. I like how you explain everything. You do a really good job at explaining all the details 😂👍 I saw your video on Ferrari world I always wanted to go on that ride, I got to see the whole walk-through because of your video so thanks, that was badass. I live near Boston Massachusetts years ago. I went to a amusement park in New Jersey. All the rides were really cool and very questionable as in safety💥🥴👍 we stood at the resort across the street, which gave us access to the park for the whole week. They had a section across the street with gas powered go karts. I think they did like 40 miles an hour. A lot of people got hurt on those that week we were there😂 😂😂 it was still a really fun place. We all left to bruises and banged elbows and knees, and that was it. It was a great time. Years later, I find out that same park had so many lawsuits from injuries🤕 a few deaths👻😮😮😳😳🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️ once I found all of this out. I realize that was one of the best parks I’ve ever been too 😂😂 there was so many things that we saw that we questioned, but we were young. We just assume the park was safe. The name of the park is.🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤨 ACTION PARK NEW JERSEY just wanted to share that with you don’t know if you ever heard of that park a lot of cool rides. Thank you for your videos👍 About to watch another one🎢🎡🏰
I just read the book about Action Park called "Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park". I highly recommend it, especially since you've been to the park! Such a good read
IMG definitely is FAR too expensive. I will say, when I was younger it was still a really fun day going there; I think I rode the velociraptor about five times. Nowadays I certainly wouldn't pay so much as an adult, but I definitely have nostalgic images of the place with lots of folks there.
So, sounds like the only real negatives was that it was empty and too expensive? Sounds like a problem that is easy to fix-lower the price, or at least do specials, like cheaper on weekdays, or for locals only. Even Disneyland runs deals for anybody who can show a driver's license with a SoCal address.
Geauga Lake in the early 80's during the last hour of the park being open would allow double rides if there was nobody in the queue line at that seat's stall. You could get many rides on the Double Loop in during that time. I remember one year we ended up staying on the bumper cars like the last 20 minutes of the park being open and was able to just stay in our car.
This is one of my favourite places to go to, since childhood and even until now. I do understand how the tickets can be quite pricey, hence we always tend to buy them through resellers for three quarter's of the actual selling price online. It can be quite packed during the weekends to the point that you could expect to be waiting as long as 30-40 minutes in the queue for some of the rides (Particulary Velociraptor, Predator, The Haunted Hotel and the Spiderman Doc-Ock's Revenge), quite easily. You were quite lucky to go on a day where it was relatively empty to make the most of your time as I'd definitely prefer that over the former situation!
I've gone to IMG four times. Once as a sophomore for a class field trip in 2016 or 17, twice in 2019 with my little cousins and former stepbrother, and summer 2024. Every time I've gone all the rides have been walk-ons. The most significant wait I've ever had was about fifteen-twenty minutes for Spiderman this summer. Because everything was a walk-on, me and my friend were through with the park in about four or five hours, including lunch (which was awful, but both other times I went it was great, and at different restaurants). One caveat is that I only ever had to pay for entrance in 2019 when I got an annual pass (because I was going twice that year and it was cheaper to get an annual pass than purchase two tickets) because my mom has contacts. While its fun, and a great time, especially when I went with my little cousins, its just too far out of the way from the rest of Dubai. If it was on the metro line or connected to a mall it'd be booming----I'd probably get an annual pass for that and go at least monthly.
10:08 am i seeing it right? Richard's cafe(that is suppose to be a reference to the cartoon the amazing world of gumball) is just chowder's kitchen( from another completely different cartoon) with a new sign add on top? The background isnt repainted or anything
Weather is a major factor. If Dubai's climate were more like that found in southern Europe or Southern Calif, that would help. However, desert heat for decades hasn't stopped Las Vegas. But Sin City is largely in the adult category of gambling, not family-children-type entertainment. The culture & economy of the UAE are also not like what's found in Orlando. If Worlds of Adventure had been built in metro London, it would boom, just as Universal's park in Osaka has. Universal Studios, not surprisingly, is building a park in suburban London.
IMG should separate the package fee (include all ride) but for sight seeing entry fee only. probably a lot of people will come and enjoy sight and eating.
5:37 the parking lot is twice the size of the park!! Shows how space inefficiënt they are and how stupid it is to plan your city only around cars (the US is Guilty of this as well!) Compare that to Universal Studios Japan which only has a train station.
Well residents can get 50% off, but this place is really designed for tourists. I think it’s less about the price and more about the fact that it’s just been left behind and surpassed by other bigger and better attractions.
First of all, I’m not sure where you are getting your information from because to live in the country itself requires a solid salary. The majority of people that live here are families and bachelors with solid incomes, the minority are the labor workers. This country is also one without a taxes. Lastly the theme park was never made for the residents. If you truly understood the way this country is Abe to make profit it all comes down to the money they make from tourism and keep in mind that ALOT of their income is from tourism so it makes sense that this country would make their tourist attractions pricey although it isn’t ideal as it backfired and now the majority of people that visit the theme park is residents as residents will be given special privileges such as huge discounts off the price. I hope this adds to your knowledge.
I'm surprised about your positivity towards the Cartoon Network section. When we visited around the same period, we felt that that area and the rides were not that immersive and cheaply executed. Besides, agreed that this park feels off and it's sad to see so many flaws on something that has so much potential. The Avengers and Lost Territory darkrides are awesome and they show that they can build some great stuff.
I live in Dubai and yes, the IMG is a ghost town most of the year. My family had annual tickets so we visited the park multiple times and it was always empty. The main reason is the price. Too damn high for most of the residents. Tourists do not care for it, when there are free beaches around
My thing about that is from what I understand, even more so than like Disney Looney tunes is the most popular in the United States and this is a problem because right now Looney tunes is mostly run by six flags, which no one cares about and us. It would more make sense to do a Looney tunes theme park in the United States but that's not happening. Said they put it in a place where probably most of the people don't even know what the IP is. Insane!
If the lack of natural light is annoying for the guests, imagine the hell it must be for the employees who gotta live this way every day. Their circadian rhythms must be super screwed…
It’s pretty expensive for the tourists, the residents that know their way around UAE already know how to get around the big prices. I don’t go there often but when i do i never hafta pay more than 41$ compared to the absurd price of 100$
I think Disney should partner with another company and purchase this park or license more of their 20th century content to be utilized in this space. This park is just lacking in things to do and the largest section is the Dinosaur themed area. More IP would help it. I am also fascinated to see what the Marvel contract looked like because it would have been after Disney acquired it so I am shocked to see it here and in the version that it is.
img gets really crowded during march, early april, july, august bc its summer vacation and especially november december bc alot of school hosts field trips around this time
So you mentioned the reason it’s empty, it’s hot in the uae so a lot of people either leave, or do indoor theme parks, but some days are super dead like you said.
I visited this park in May and I agree with your review. The ambiance was strange; there were still Christmas lights in May, which gave the park a "cheap" look. Although the theme was good compared to other parks, it seemed inferior to those in the Emirates.
Weirdly enough this is kinda how it felt when we went to kings dominion not too long ago we go to a lot of parks but have never seen a park that big that I’ve seen with so many people be so empty and the worst part is we bought fast passes (which we never do) the only lines we saw all day were flight of fear dominator and a little twisted timers line everything was walk on
I'm actually thinking of going to Kings Dominion next August. Hopefully the park gets the attendance it needs when Rapterra opens! That ride seems like a no-brainer and a crowd-pleaser, I really hope this works well for them!
It’s funny, when you’re a kid you dream of being at a theme park without other people, but you go to Dubai and you realise you absolutely need a few other people or it’s really weird 😂 I’ve had it at Warner Bros, when you can do a full 360 and not see another human - staff or customer - in any direction!
IMG should consider offering free entry with a pay-per-ride system. This would allow people to explore the park and choose what they want to experience. Otherwise, it risks ending up like Dubailand a few years down the line.
To be fair, runing, the up keep of such a park is really expensive. But yes, for the average middle class customer like me the entry cost is far too high (I may visit once or twice but the novelty soon runs out) besides global village is far to much fun.
It’s always full when its the holidays of the weekend , ofc it will be empty going when kids are at school. And tbh it’s better when its empty you have the whole park to yourself
Unfortunately pricing is a big deal. The vast majority of people in that country are poor, or lower middle class, and simply cannot afford $100 a day to do anything, especially when there are options. The richer class----of whom the owners definitely are-----are way out of touch with how much money the average person has. To the rich, $100 is pocket change. But to the poor, that is rent and food for a month. And by the way, unless you checked it out, don't be so sure that the park paid to buy licensing for IP's like the Avengers. Just like China, the Middle East is famous for stealing IP's.
The fact a park this big that is meant for so many people is so empty that it almost feels closed is very wrong. They are definitely doing something wrong whether its the pricing or whatever.
I agree with the fellow who said he would pay the $100.00 to have the park with little ppl. My and I use to go to six flags during the week when open. We go to this water park, and we went when it started raining. We were practically the only ppl there. It was live. I don't think the women over there enjoy going. You know w/there heritage and all?? But 100.00?? Too much. I can imagine how expensive everything else is.
$100 as a start up price just like that is too bad. People just cannot afford that per day per person. Universal and Disney can do it all better with that price.
Damn I went there on a school trip and I feel nostalgic already even though it was just a year ago it was a very special and fun trip with my friends but their last since 2 out of my 4 friends left the country during and after summer vacation every ride was fun in its own way but I think yas island has more to offer because of its ownership of many ips including DC and WB franchises also including better deals than img world.
Shout out to Spiderman for being literally the only coaster where the protective netting is worked into the theming
Ha! Good point, that’s funny
Honestly would pay a lot for an amazing theme park where i dont have to wait in line and can use every attraction. This is honestly worth the price, you have no annoying guests and almost have this kingdom to yourself!
Though the high class of dubai are able to easily afford this park, they're not dumb people by any standard. Right next to IMG (literally a kilometer appart) is Dubai's most crowded and visited theme park, Global village.
With an initial entry fee 96% cheaper than IMG, you only have to pay an extra fee if you're interested in the rides. IMG still refuses to lower it's prices, and even in rich private schools of Dubai, students activley vote against going to img because of it's prices and if global village doesn't have the rides they want, they go to motiongate.
Hey fadbob!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Honestly it would be a great idea for them to have a discount with a global village ticket that would encourage people nearby to visit. especially with the late night crowds at global village. They can still keep the entry price high while offering discounts to fill the park. This screams mismanagement. At this point even getting people in with per attreaction pricing would be a better idea.
Please come back
As a student in Dubai I agree
Fadbob!
The Chinese decorations in img boulevard was only there for the Chinese new year event. They usually change it based on what event was going on at the time
oh really? I did not know that, thats cool!
Even Dubai can have flops. With all of the parks, there's a lot of competition. You're right, though, spending over $100 for an indoor park seems to be far too pricey. I wouldn't go.
Magic Mountain costs less!
Oh Dubai has lots of flops. It arguably has more flops in general than succes stories in most sectors.
As a emirati you should come on weekends it’s always packed on weekends
An amusement park at night is my favorite time. I always loved the neon and fluorescent lighting and the incandescent lights on the rides with chaser patterns. Such special memories. The great thing about indoors is that the mosquitoes would be very minimal if any.
I went there two months back with my two sons and wife. The boys actually enjoyed it but me and my wife found its very weird. The car park had about 20 cars in it, we thought the taxi took us to the wrong place at the start. Anyway, we got on most rides without waiting but this always gave a strange feeling, almost a liminal type feeling as if it wasn't reality. It's a huge structure and looking up at the celling was surreal, its far more enormous inside than out and I found myself looking up most the of the time. One ride we loved, was Spiderman. The videos on here don't do it justice. It's fare more intense then it looks. We go back next year but we wont be returning here.
We are out in the UAE at the moment and weirdly, IMG was heaving when we went last week! Packed full of mostly school groups to the extent we didn’t ride velociraptor. Motiongate, on the other hand, was empty. I agree with the review, we enjoyed our day but it doesn’t compare well to WB World or Sea World.
My guess is because its close to Halloween. Parks all around the world are packed this time of year, its typically where a lot of them pull their highest numbers all season. That is interesting though that when you went to both IMG and Motiongate, the crowds were drastically different. Was one visit on a weekend and the other on a weekday?
@ IMG was a Thursday. We visited Motiongate a couple of times the same week both at the weekend and in the week. The weekend was quiet, weekdays were the quietest I have ever seen a theme park in my life, much like your experience at IMG. Legoland was also dead, even on a Sunday. The Abu Dhabi parks have been relatively busy this week.
The Dubai Parks and Resorts parks are just too far from the city to attract good attendance. I went to IMG on a Saturday in August before school started and it was packed. I think IMG’s attendance swings heavily between feast and famine.
I went in February 2016 as apart of my Make-A-Wish trip. All of the rides were walk-ons then. I can only imagine how deserted it is now.
Hey Taylor. Great video as always! It helped inform my visit to the park which I went to yesterday. If you think it was quiet when you went, you'd be shocked at how dead the park was yesterday. You're right - the vibe is just, off. The darkness of Lost Valley is way too dark and I think it hinders creating a joyful atmosphere in the park. I did every attraction in the park including the Ben 10 theatre which was awesome! 15 minutes long with a great storyline and immersive experience. The "Chinatown" section you mentioned is not permanent, but seasonal. That section was themed to the UAE National Day Celebration when I went, which is coming up very soon, so for you they themed it to Chinese New Year. I'm happy I went to the park, but I would not go again. I much prefer all the parks in Abu Dhabi which have a vibrant, friendly and jovial atmosphere. This park felt soulless to me. I wish it well though - it deserves to succeed. Thanks for the informative and beautiful content you create. I always look forward to your videos 🙂
Glad you had a good visit and thank you for your feedback! Interesting to know the main boulevard is themed to UAE national day at the moment- it’d be cool to see how it varies during different times of year.
I've only went to img on a school field trip and it was PACKED , all of the lines were full in marvel and Cartoon Network but the dinosaur area was pretty chill
Very good ,detailed video. Looking forward to more such content from your channel❤
This is a clear example that the environment created by the people is fundamental, it is the atmosphere that is created, between people shouting, children running, even the anticipation in a queue for a ride can be positive for the experience. Hopefully this aspect can be improved, because it seems that they have the potential to do so. There are many ways to make the park more accessible and populated.
For me, the weirdest aspect of this park is how they have a Cartoon Network area when it should be located at Warner Bros World. I know this park came first, but it still feels weird having Warner Bros content at a park other than nearby Warner Bros World.
very true!
@@CoasterStudios Warner Media is still a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T so I don't think it is necessarily out of place at all. There are plenty of subdivisions to spread around.
This park is like making an indoor theme park in Roller Coaster Tycoon
Also the queue line of the Velociraptor coaster is like a maze
I went to Img this summer, and I agree with everything you said. Ironically I think I would like this park better if it was busy, because then you don’t get every ride done in 2-3 hours like we did. Nonetheless still a good park, maybe needs another standout coaster.
I can't believe they haven't added a single new coaster since they opened. Next year when I go to the M/E on my way home from EU I am still going to visit though as I haven't been to this park nor Motiongate/SeaWorld/Real Madrid. Speaking of, I really hope that park does something with their custom Mack hyper in storage. If they aren't going to use it, try sell it at least.
You knocked this review out of the park!....
But it's an indoor park. I guess that means they smashed a window 😬
The pricing is so infuriating because IMG is a very popular park in Dubai, it has hype around it and during discounts the park is PACKED, one time I went the Velociraptor's queue was like 3/4th way done this year. They could price it just a bit less and people will start pouring in and they can get so many customers and pay off that huge debt which took to build the place, and maybe even go through with the World of Legends expansion. But the people running the park are idiots on another planet, they just gave up on this park which still has so much potential.
I had no idea there was ZERO natural light in this place. What a nightmare. Even more than I already thought it was. Dark city of the walking dead. There's no way this park turns a profit, right?
Is it about profit though at this point with all these insane projects over there? 🧐
I'm convinced its some sort of money-laundering scheme because I've been four times between 2016 and 2024, three pre-pandemic, and its always been empty with all walk-ons. The lack of natural light really isn't a problem though honestly. I have to imagine they get most of their money from school field trips during the school year as that was my first experience going to IMG---parking lot's always empty though.
I have been there multiple times and i can tell you there are always long lines of people waiting.
Idk how is he saying this project failed
@@s3_woody I've also been there multiple times, even on a Eid weekend once (ultra busy) and disagree. If you have been to any European and American theme park you will know how empty and oversaturated the UAE theme park market is. If you have ever been to MotionGate, a far more busy theme park, that one still has 4 times less people on average in terms of queues than an average UK theme park on an less busy day. I would not be surprised if Sega Republic (the only busy enough theme park) was the only theme park to ever turn a profit, which ironically rebranded as VR park is easily the single most unsuccessful UAE theme park by a mile.
@ yeah! 100%
Very true, I think the possibility of a good indoor park in the USA has never really been explored. For example I always think that a smaller and cheaper park for Orlando would be great. Either for the tourist who would visit between the big Disney and Uni parks or for the local who just wants to have fun with his family on a Sunday. A park like Warner in Abu Dhabi seems ideal to me. Not much else is needed really, there is no need for another Epic Universe, but if it is well curated and themed, an indoor park would have a great market and popularity, especially in the summer. Not to mention that it would bring the Warner brand finally (as a park and not a sad license to SF) not only to Orlando but to the USA, which is ironic since the 3 Warner parks are outside the USA.
If that were to happen, wow, Orlando and Central Florida would definitely be complete and would truly be the Theme Park Capital, which it has long been credited with.
It’s normally 115 in Arizona during spring & summer. We were supposed to be getting an indoor Mattel Adventure Park. It should already be open but there’s been delays.
I went opening week in 2016....crazy nothing at all has changed lol
Watching this was like listening to my own opinions on someone else's video 😆
IMG is just the weirdest park EVER. Like, on paper it's really cool, and it's has a good vibe with decent rides, but there was nothing that really stands out, nothing I was desperate to ride over and over. Hulk Epsilon base was my favourite ride too, which must say something about the park if a 3d cinema/simulator is the best ride 😆
I'm surprised you didn't mention anything about the large number of full service/buffet restaurants. There's more of them than guests in the park, and they were all open, with absolutely no one in them at all 😆
I've been in 2017 and 2024, and I only returned this year due to visiting the UAE with friends that hadn't been before. But it is definitely the weakest of the major parks in the country, and the one I'm least likely to ever return to!
It’s my first time on this channel. You did a awesome job. I’ve already seen a few of your videos. I like how you explain everything. You do a really good job at explaining all the details 😂👍
I saw your video on Ferrari world I always wanted to go on that ride, I got to see the whole walk-through because of your video so thanks, that was badass. I live near Boston Massachusetts years ago. I went to a amusement park in New Jersey. All the rides were really cool and very questionable as in safety💥🥴👍 we stood at the resort across the street, which gave us access to the park for the whole week. They had a section across the street with gas powered go karts. I think they did like 40 miles an hour. A lot of people got hurt on those that week we were there😂 😂😂 it was still a really fun place. We all left to bruises and banged elbows and knees, and that was it. It was a great time.
Years later, I find out that same park had so many lawsuits from injuries🤕 a few deaths👻😮😮😳😳🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️ once I found all of this out. I realize that was one of the best parks I’ve ever been too 😂😂 there was so many things that we saw that we questioned, but we were young. We just assume the park was safe. The name of the park is.🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤨 ACTION PARK NEW JERSEY
just wanted to share that with you don’t know if you ever heard of that park a lot of cool rides. Thank you for your videos👍
About to watch another one🎢🎡🏰
I just read the book about Action Park called "Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park". I highly recommend it, especially since you've been to the park! Such a good read
IMG definitely is FAR too expensive. I will say, when I was younger it was still a really fun day going there; I think I rode the velociraptor about five times. Nowadays I certainly wouldn't pay so much as an adult, but I definitely have nostalgic images of the place with lots of folks there.
So, sounds like the only real negatives was that it was empty and too expensive? Sounds like a problem that is easy to fix-lower the price, or at least do specials, like cheaper on weekdays, or for locals only. Even Disneyland runs deals for anybody who can show a driver's license with a SoCal address.
Geauga Lake in the early 80's during the last hour of the park being open would allow double rides if there was nobody in the queue line at that seat's stall. You could get many rides on the Double Loop in during that time. I remember one year we ended up staying on the bumper cars like the last 20 minutes of the park being open and was able to just stay in our car.
When I went to IMG last year it was busy, the rides are kind of dead tho the other parks in the UAE like Ferrari world and motiongate are 10x better
This is one of my favourite places to go to, since childhood and even until now. I do understand how the tickets can be quite pricey, hence we always tend to buy them through resellers for three quarter's of the actual selling price online. It can be quite packed during the weekends to the point that you could expect to be waiting as long as 30-40 minutes in the queue for some of the rides (Particulary Velociraptor, Predator, The Haunted Hotel and the Spiderman Doc-Ock's Revenge), quite easily. You were quite lucky to go on a day where it was relatively empty to make the most of your time as I'd definitely prefer that over the former situation!
very interesting to hear!
We went in January and loved that it was so empty and there was no queues. It was probably the most relaxed we've ever been in a park before!
I've gone to IMG four times. Once as a sophomore for a class field trip in 2016 or 17, twice in 2019 with my little cousins and former stepbrother, and summer 2024. Every time I've gone all the rides have been walk-ons. The most significant wait I've ever had was about fifteen-twenty minutes for Spiderman this summer. Because everything was a walk-on, me and my friend were through with the park in about four or five hours, including lunch (which was awful, but both other times I went it was great, and at different restaurants). One caveat is that I only ever had to pay for entrance in 2019 when I got an annual pass (because I was going twice that year and it was cheaper to get an annual pass than purchase two tickets) because my mom has contacts. While its fun, and a great time, especially when I went with my little cousins, its just too far out of the way from the rest of Dubai. If it was on the metro line or connected to a mall it'd be booming----I'd probably get an annual pass for that and go at least monthly.
Sarah pouring out sand @19:52 made me laugh. She is the best.
10:08 am i seeing it right? Richard's cafe(that is suppose to be a reference to the cartoon the amazing world of gumball) is just chowder's kitchen( from another completely different cartoon) with a new sign add on top? The background isnt repainted or anything
Weather is a major factor. If Dubai's climate were more like that found in southern Europe or Southern Calif, that would help. However, desert heat for decades hasn't stopped Las Vegas. But Sin City is largely in the adult category of gambling, not family-children-type entertainment. The culture & economy of the UAE are also not like what's found in Orlando. If Worlds of Adventure had been built in metro London, it would boom, just as Universal's park in Osaka has. Universal Studios, not surprisingly, is building a park in suburban London.
Isn’t the park they’re opening in Bedford? 50 miles away and in a different county, hardly London is it?
Bruh I loved this place when I visited it… it was amazing tbh
IMG should separate the package fee (include all ride) but for sight seeing entry fee only. probably a lot of people will come and enjoy sight and eating.
5:37 the parking lot is twice the size of the park!! Shows how space inefficiënt they are and how stupid it is to plan your city only around cars (the US is Guilty of this as well!)
Compare that to Universal Studios Japan which only has a train station.
100 dollar ticket in a country where 20% of the population earns less than 20 dollars a day= ghost town
Well residents can get 50% off, but this place is really designed for tourists. I think it’s less about the price and more about the fact that it’s just been left behind and surpassed by other bigger and better attractions.
First of all, I’m not sure where you are getting your information from because to live in the country itself requires a solid salary. The majority of people that live here are families and bachelors with solid incomes, the minority are the labor workers. This country is also one without a taxes. Lastly the theme park was never made for the residents. If you truly understood the way this country is Abe to make profit it all comes down to the money they make from tourism and keep in mind that ALOT of their income is from tourism so it makes sense that this country would make their tourist attractions pricey although it isn’t ideal as it backfired and now the majority of people that visit the theme park is residents as residents will be given special privileges such as huge discounts off the price. I hope this adds to your knowledge.
It’s full, I went last week
I'm surprised about your positivity towards the Cartoon Network section. When we visited around the same period, we felt that that area and the rides were not that immersive and cheaply executed.
Besides, agreed that this park feels off and it's sad to see so many flaws on something that has so much potential. The Avengers and Lost Territory darkrides are awesome and they show that they can build some great stuff.
I live in Dubai and yes, the IMG is a ghost town most of the year. My family had annual tickets so we visited the park multiple times and it was always empty. The main reason is the price. Too damn high for most of the residents. Tourists do not care for it, when there are free beaches around
A cartoon network/looney tunes theme park has so much potential imagine that with actual ambition it could be so amazing
My thing about that is from what I understand, even more so than like Disney Looney tunes is the most popular in the United States and this is a problem because right now Looney tunes is mostly run by six flags, which no one cares about and us. It would more make sense to do a Looney tunes theme park in the United States but that's not happening. Said they put it in a place where probably most of the people don't even know what the IP is. Insane!
Like all of Dubai, a lot of money has been pumped in but it’s ultimately empty and soulless.
search up global village lil bro
tell me you never been to Dubai without telling me
As if the theme parks in the us or Europe have a soul!!😂😂😂
as with anything anti-Christ.
Yep i can tell you have never been here, Why judge places when you haven’t even gone there 🤦♂️
The westerns hatred 😬
If the lack of natural light is annoying for the guests, imagine the hell it must be for the employees who gotta live this way every day.
Their circadian rhythms must be super screwed…
It’s pretty expensive for the tourists, the residents that know their way around UAE already know how to get around the big prices. I don’t go there often but when i do i never hafta pay more than 41$ compared to the absurd price of 100$
I think Disney should partner with another company and purchase this park or license more of their 20th century content to be utilized in this space. This park is just lacking in things to do and the largest section is the Dinosaur themed area. More IP would help it. I am also fascinated to see what the Marvel contract looked like because it would have been after Disney acquired it so I am shocked to see it here and in the version that it is.
I love coaster studios
And to think that they announced a 2nd gate, IMG Worlds of Legends, shortly after they originally opened….
img gets really crowded during march, early april, july, august bc its summer vacation and especially november december bc alot of school hosts field trips around this time
This would do great in Glendale Arizona!
"The next time we are in Dubai...." oh boy lol...must be nice lol
So you mentioned the reason it’s empty, it’s hot in the uae so a lot of people either leave, or do indoor theme parks, but some days are super dead like you said.
Formula rossa is opening in december
They are working on it. I live across the street....Balcony overlooks Sea World and Ferrari World....
@@msharp138must be a wonderful view
@@msharp138 dam ur lucky
I visited this park in May and I agree with your review. The ambiance was strange; there were still Christmas lights in May, which gave the park a "cheap" look. Although the theme was good compared to other parks, it seemed inferior to those in the Emirates.
Weirdly enough this is kinda how it felt when we went to kings dominion not too long ago we go to a lot of parks but have never seen a park that big that I’ve seen with so many people be so empty and the worst part is we bought fast passes (which we never do) the only lines we saw all day were flight of fear dominator and a little twisted timers line everything was walk on
I'm actually thinking of going to Kings Dominion next August. Hopefully the park gets the attendance it needs when Rapterra opens! That ride seems like a no-brainer and a crowd-pleaser, I really hope this works well for them!
It didn’t use to be that way. Kings Dominion got hit pretty hard after Covid. It never really recovered.
It’s funny, when you’re a kid you dream of being at a theme park without other people, but you go to Dubai and you realise you absolutely need a few other people or it’s really weird 😂 I’ve had it at Warner Bros, when you can do a full 360 and not see another human - staff or customer - in any direction!
the park gets really crowded during school trips though... i remember having to stand for 30 mins for each ride
IMG should consider offering free entry with a pay-per-ride system. This would allow people to explore the park and choose what they want to experience. Otherwise, it risks ending up like Dubailand a few years down the line.
Quite funny at 8:19 it's interesting how Adventuredome and IMG Worlds kind of have the same shape from above! IMG Worlds is about 3x bigger though.
Price is outrageous unless you have oil money
Parts of this video remind me of those 'urban exploring' videos of abandoned Disney attractions and areas
I was 2023 there it was empty at beginning but later it was completely full with. 30-60 min queues
Do you think it’s worth a visit with a toddler?!
It is also on entertainer which is 2for1
Yeah there are a lot of rides for kids
I’ve been 6 times. Always super empty, never queued for anything
I think it has to do with pricing and if they make it reasonable to get in then the park would prosper
Too hot to ride coasters? Six Flags Over Texas visitors say hold my beer.
To be fair, runing, the up keep of such a park is really expensive. But yes, for the average middle class customer like me the entry cost is far too high (I may visit once or twice but the novelty soon runs out) besides global village is far to much fun.
It’s always full when its the holidays of the weekend , ofc it will be empty going when kids are at school.
And tbh it’s better when its empty you have the whole park to yourself
It sits right next to Global Village, which itself is a theme park!
It isn’t, but the rides are not a lot
Unfortunately pricing is a big deal. The vast majority of people in that country are poor, or lower middle class, and simply cannot afford $100 a day to do anything, especially when there are options. The richer class----of whom the owners definitely are-----are way out of touch with how much money the average person has. To the rich, $100 is pocket change. But to the poor, that is rent and food for a month. And by the way, unless you checked it out, don't be so sure that the park paid to buy licensing for IP's like the Avengers. Just like China, the Middle East is famous for stealing IP's.
Man, when the world inevitably moves away from oil, this is going to be a crazy ghost town.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi has superior theme parks like Warner Bros. World and Ferrari World.
The fact a park this big that is meant for so many people is so empty that it almost feels closed is very wrong. They are definitely doing something wrong whether its the pricing or whatever.
Any weird parks like this in Asia in terms of prices
I agree with the fellow who said he would pay the $100.00 to have the park with little ppl. My and I use to go to six flags during the week when open. We go to this water park, and we went when it started raining. We were practically the only ppl there. It was live. I don't think the women over there enjoy going. You know w/there heritage and all?? But 100.00?? Too much. I can imagine how expensive everything else is.
They don’t learn from there mistakes, need more day light there.
I had recently gone to Dubai it was awesome I had also gone to Img it was really cool
i went once when they did discounts on the ticket i think it was 200 aed off and i got in for 150 aed
Why are people ratio'ing this video? Why, cause the guy is being honest? So many more down votes than likes. Not cool.
not sure what you're seeing, cause on my end the video is at a 98.6% like ratio lol
@@CoasterStudios Ok the show youtube dislike extension must be wrong. It shows 262 down and 228 up.
@@CoasterStudios btw sorry about that.
@@teddym2808 Oh yeah same IDK whats happening there.
@@drdewott9154 It only counts dislikes from those who use said extension, they can't actually read TH-cam data.
I've always wanted to get to one of these indoor parks but to far and expensive.
I had the same feeling. Been there before its a lonely theme park
No idea what this video is on about it’s one of the most happening places year round
when i went to img it was a work day and it took me 2 hours in one of the queues to a ride that was not even that good
The parks in Dubai are plenty but they are NOT good. The only park that is good is Atlantis Aquaventure, it's superb. Wild Wadi is pretty good also.
Very expensive for a lot of people specially residents with small salaries
The problem with Dubai is all smoke and mirrors. Nothing has substance or depth which shows in all the buildings and parks.
Fun Fact: Intamin bought ETF.
I did not know that, that's interesting!
Me n my friends went one day I was stealing snacks and drinks it’s so empty they don’t expect it 😭
i only went once, in may of 2018 and it was reasonably filled with people haha
$100 as a start up price just like that is too bad. People just cannot afford that per day per person. Universal and Disney can do it all better with that price.
I went a lot there and still go it’s so good
The Warner bros land Abu Dhabi is truly how a theme park should be made
FRR
This is what I assumed was happening at most of the Dubai parks.
Sadly, it's one of the better Dubai parks. Not one of the best, but definitely better than much of the competition. MotionGate Dubai is a joke.
Damn I went there on a school trip and I feel nostalgic already even though it was just a year ago it was a very special and fun trip with my friends but their last since 2 out of my 4 friends left the country during and after summer vacation every ride was fun in its own way but I think yas island has more to offer because of its ownership of many ips including DC and WB franchises also including better deals than img world.
Guys it’s $23 w a fazaa card also i went 4 months ago n it was packed lol
It’s a good place and very impressed I haves go there it’s so amazing
Honestly think Abu Dhabi (where I live) is better
Formula rossa is opening in December ( Ferrari world emailed me)