Warner Bros. World has revealed its next set of attractions, as the indoor theme park prepares for its grand opening this summer in Abu Dhabi.
The park previously announced the ride line-up for its Metropolis and Cartoon Junction lands, and this week revealed what's coming into its Batman-themed Gotham City land.
The highlight of the land appears to be Batman: Knight Flight, where visitors will "climb aboard a one-of-a-kind robotically controlled flying Batwing vehicle" to help Batman fight crime in the city.
Theme parks rarely talk about the ride systems for their new attractions (unless they are roller coasters), but the concept art for Knight Flight suggests something akin to a Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey-like experience, with four-person "flying bench"-style ride vehicles. The tech here looks more like a flying theater than a robot arm, as on Forbidden Journey, but Warner Bros. World promises "drops, climbs, spins, and rolls" on a "a high-tech flight simulator with immersive scenery and state-of-the-art special effects."
Other rides in Gotham City include The Riddler Revolution, which the park advertises as a "spinning rollercoaster," but the concept art suggests a Zamperla Disk'O. (Is a Disk'O a roller coaster or a flat ride spinner? Debate in the comments.)
You can see in the background of that concept art The Joker's Funhouse, a walk-through featuring a hall of mirrors, a shrinking corridor, a labyrinth, a hallucination hallway and moving carpets, according to the park's press release. Rounding out the attractions in Gotham City is Scarecrow Scare Raid, a "diabolical interactive" "flight experience" that features "dramatic aerobatics and whirlwind barrel rolls." (Take your guess in the comments as to what kind of ride that will be.)
Restaurants in the land will include the police-themed Gotham City's Finest and the villain-themed Hall of Doom.
Warner Bros. World opens on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi sometime this summer.
TweetTypically, in the US and Europe, you've had high-budget parks such as Disney and now Universal that emphasize dark rides, and lower-budgeted parks, such as Six Flags and Tussaud's, that focus on coasters and carnival rides.
But the UAE parks are creating the somewhat rare combination of showing us what a lower-budgeted park that focuses on dark rides would look like. Motiongate, Bollywood, IMG and now Warner Bros. World all seem to be aiming for that spot, though Warner Bros. looks to be aiming higher than the others. It's a fascinating model, and one that people in America and Europe should be noting.
That said, this begs the question of what a high-budget coaster park might look like. No one's really tried that yet, which makes sense because I suspect the market for luxury intense thrill rides is pretty darned small. But I think there's a huge market for IP- and narrative-driven family dark ride attractions that don't come at Disney prices and with Disney wait times.
It looks promising, but not hugely different from what we can already get in North America.
Sounds like a plotline similar to Batman: THe Ride as it existed in WB Movie World Australia, which was a motion simulator.
The artwork isn't very clear in what for ride this Batman attraction is going to be. I won't dismiss it but the track record isn't just great in that region. Unlike Efteling that shows with Fata Morgana, Droomvlucht, Vliegende Hollander and the recently opened Symbolica there can be a lot done on a tight budget but you shouldn't feel the need to copy.
Examples of mid-market parks are Lego-land, SeaWorld, and Knott's in Southern California. The constant conflict is they don't know if they really want to maintain the dark rides. Knott's appears to allow it's fairly new Iron Reef to suffer from constant breakdowns and neglect, but it has renovated it's older Calico Mine Train and Log Rides. SeaWorld's dark ride approach has been mis-managed and underfunded. Lego-land is the only one doing it right, but the rides skew younger.
We just have to see if they're willing to keep maintaining their dark rides and it isn't just a phase like when DarKastle went away and when Knott's removed it's Dinosaur ride and they didn't replace it for 20 years for Iron Reef.
I'd love to go but I rather spend that money on a trip to Japan or Europe or sumntin'
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I suppose if you're the type to visit Dubai and you're already there... then maybe this would be worth checking out. But seriously. There is nothing here that would make me want to visit Dubai, or even travel out of state for that matter.