Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi reveals lands and concept art

April 25, 2017, 11:22 AM · The development team behind the upcoming Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi project in the United Arab Emirates today released new concept art for the indoor park's five lands.

Slated for a 2018 opening on Yas Island, the 1.65 million-square-foot Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi will offer 29 as-yet-unannounced attractions across five themed lands, all featuring Warner Bros. animated franchises, including DC Comics, Hanna-Barbera, and Looney Tunes.

Metropolis, featuring Superman:

Gotham City, featuring Batman:

Gotham City

Cartoon Junction:

Cartoon Junction

Dynamite Gulch:

Dynamite Gulch

Bedrock, featuring The Flintstones:

Bedrock

From the park's press release:

Guests will be swept away in Hollywood-style when they enter Warner Bros. Plaza, a celebration of all that is the Golden Age of Hollywood. Upon entering the park through the Warner Bros. Shield archway, guests will be transported to Hollywood where Art Deco architecture lines the streets and authentic, Tinseltown details evoke the rich history of Warner Bros.

For the first time in the Middle East, Super Hero fans will be able to stroll the streets of Superman’s Metropolis, a modern-styled city of towering skyscrapers, and prowl the dark alleys of Batman’s Gotham City in this larger-than-life land where heroic exploits and action-packed family fun wait around every corner.

The vibrant Cartoon Junction will bring together Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, and other famous characters under a stylized cartoon sky that will immerse guests in the wonderful world of animation. From the fun and frenetic to the out of this world, Dynamite Gulch will take you to the stars and deep into the canyon. Lastly, guests can explore Bedrock, a prehistoric world powered by birds and dinosaurs, where the modern stone-age family can have a “yabba dabba doo” time like The Flintstones.

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi will join Ferrari World Abu Dhabi in the Yas Island development, which also includes the Yas Waterworld water park, a Formula 1 track, concert area, golf course, beach, and marina. Yas Island also will be the home of SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, which was recently announced for a planned 2022 opening.

Miral is developing the project, in conjunction with Warner Bros. Consumer Products and DC Entertainment, with creative design by a US-based design firm you've probably heard of if you've read this site for any length of time, but that I've not yet been cleared to reveal.

When it opens next year, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi will become the sixth theme park in the United Arab Emirates, following Ferrari World, IMG Worlds of Adventure, Motiongate Dubai, Bollywood Parks Dubai, and Legoland Dubai. Dubai Parks and Resorts, which operates Motiongate, Bollywood Parks and Legoland, has announced Six Flags Dubai for a 2019 opening, and IMG Worlds has announced a second gate for its resort, as well. With SeaWorld planned for 2022, that would give the UAE nine theme parks across three resorts (Yas Island, IMG Worlds, and Dubai Parks and Resorts), in an area about the same as that between Universal Orlando and Legoland Florida.

You Also Might Like:

Replies (19)

April 25, 2017 at 11:30 AM · After visiting the terrible Motion Gate i have little faith in this.
April 25, 2017 at 1:16 PM · The Flintstones? Wow, that's a blast from the past. I feel they're stretching a bit there.
April 25, 2017 at 1:52 PM · I hate to start another political debate but since it directly effects me I feel compel to do so.

Everything there doing looks fun and I would love to visit one day but they need to update their laws in order for me to ever go there. The fact the homosexuality is still banned is disappointing to say the least. I will not visit a country that clearly doesn't want us there and I would urge anyone who agrees with that to avoid the UAE.

April 25, 2017 at 3:11 PM · Having been to the UAE, no one cares who you are, what you believe or what you do... so long as you remain sober in public, don't engage in flagrant PDA (with anyone), openly use drugs or get in a fight. The UAE keeps a bunch of archaic laws on the books in order to make it easy to deport anyone who violates one of the above.

LGBT people are helping design these parks. And a lot of US states have anti-LGBT laws on the books, so glass houses....

April 25, 2017 at 3:50 PM · Remember, American Friends, here in Europe, Dubai is seen somewhat as a party town. Brits and other Europeans like getting work over there, because its highly paid, free of tax, and there's a lot of partying to spend it on.

Robert is absolutely right. Yeah, they're a bit conservative but as long as in public or with strangers you behave as you would around your grandparents, you're probably fine.

April 25, 2017 at 3:58 PM · This concept art looks very nice. But here, here to Robert's comment above mine. I'm pretty sure if you treat others with respect while visiting the UAE, you'll have a wonderful time. As a Westerner, our values are often very different from those of people who live in the Middle East or Asia. Rather than trying to impose our values on them, why not drop the arrogant I'm better than you attitude and learn to respect people of other cultures? Following the "golden rule" pays amazing dividends. Having a negative attitude when visiting another country is the surest way to have a lousy holiday.

- Brian from Florida

April 25, 2017 at 6:39 PM · A man should be able to kiss his boyfriend or husband wherever he wants whenever he wants and vice versa.
April 26, 2017 at 6:08 AM · I was curious to see what it would take to book a trip to the UAE, and was surprised at the cost. Hotels and car rentals are extremely cheap, and airfares are surprisingly affordable if you can find a direct connection on a single UAE carrier (Emirates, Etihad, etc...). It seems even Americans can get a pretty good bang for their buck with "luxury" hotels in the $100/night range and car rentals below $50/day. I hypothetically planned a trip to UAE for a week, and was able to find a nice hotel, car rental, and airfare for an 8-day trip with my family of 3 for less than what it would cost for a trip of the same duration to Orlando if we were to fly and rent a car (we would typically drive from DC). As the region becomes more and more hospitable, and as the 2022 World Cup in Qatar approaches I would expect costs to travel to the region to slightly increase, but it is likely to still be a very affordable international destination, especially when compared to Continental Europe and North Africa.
April 26, 2017 at 7:28 AM · Your half right Robert. I completely agree with you that my husband and I would be perfectly safe in the UAE as long as we kept that part of our lives to ourselves. Even if it were legal we would still do so realizing that the UAE is quite conservative. I have no problems with conservative people or whole countries for that matter. My point is quite simple as a human being why would I want to spend money in a country that outlaws my existence? Based on that fact alone we would never visit a country that outlaws homosexuality. There are plenty of welcoming places around the world for us to visit anyways. I love your articles and this website but we will just have to disagree on this topic.

Regardless of all this I still think some of those attractions look amazing and I can’t wait for someone the write a report on them so we can see them in greater details. Thank you.

April 26, 2017 at 7:29 AM · Your half right Robert. I completely agree with you that my husband and I would be perfectly safe in the UAE as long as we kept that part of our lives to ourselves. Even if it were legal we would still do so realizing that the UAE is quite conservative. I have no problems with conservative people or whole countries for that matter. My point is quite simple as a human being why would I want to spend money in a country that outlaws my existence? Based on that fact alone we would never visit a country that outlaws homosexuality. There are plenty of welcoming places around the world for us to visit anyways. I love your articles and this website but we will just have to disagree on this topic.

Regardless of all this I still think some of those attractions look amazing and I can’t wait for someone the write a report on them so we can see them in greater details. Thank you.

April 26, 2017 at 1:07 PM · Interesting the forces that organized to boycott North Carolina couldn't be bothered to boycott Dubai. Just a different situation, right?
April 26, 2017 at 1:12 PM · Different values and political system Anton. UAE is not a democracy, but they certainly enjoy the influx of cash from tourists visiting from democratic countries.
April 26, 2017 at 2:09 PM · Whose different values? It's the same values that the tourists and the theme park creators enjoy. Just that they given a pass for Dubai and don't think using economic leverage to get their way is of any interest to them unlike what they did to North Carolina. Double Standards.
April 26, 2017 at 11:27 PM · Abu Dhabi doo! Someone had to say it...
April 27, 2017 at 6:08 AM · Again, the UAE is not a democracy, and those choosing to build and visit tourist attractions in the Emirates do so at the privilege of the ruling families. If the Sheikhs decide to enforce Sharia Law at the risk of tourism dollars, that is their choice and right under their political system. Certainly tourists and developers have the right to boycott certain countries, but in the same regard those sovereign nations have the right to uphold their individual beliefs and laws.

North Carolina is different because it is a sovereign State under the United States, a Democratic Republic. They had every right to pass and enforce HB2 under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, and under the same Constitution, people and organizations had the right to boycott and protest what is believed to be a usurpation of civil rights in order to leverage North Carolina to amend their state law until a Federal Court rules the law is unconstitutional. However, in other countries, the US Constitution does not apply, and the law of the land is established by that country's rulers. Sheikhs in the UAE tend to look the other way in terms of enforcing written and established laws of those sovereign nations, because they see the benefit of an inclusive and free society over a religious caliphate established in neighboring Kingdoms. However, that doesn't mean they cannot be influenced or pressured by religious leaders to enforce established rules and laws that would negatively impact tourism.

Foreigners should enjoy and be grateful the current UAE leaders see the value of tourism, but that should not be taken for granted and certainly should not be assumed as acceptance of what locals and many leaders in those nations and nearby Kingdoms would consider abhorrent. If you find these countries' views and unenforced laws on certain social issues repugnant, you don't have to visit. Flaunting such social "freedoms" we find normal in Western Nations is like poking the bear, and could disrupt the current laissez faire attitude towards homosexuality and women's rights in the UAE. However, I don't think boycotting or protesting these extreme religious views is going to change the attitudes many in the region have for these issues. Many people living in the Emirates hold extreme views on many social issues and have the right to live and work in a country that is comfortable to them, and we as visitors in their country should respect that.

April 27, 2017 at 7:43 PM · I wonder how they are going to simulate night (for Gotham) and day (for the other lands) with transitions between the different lands. I guess Gotham will have a separate portal to access its land. The other indoor parks in the UAE are either all dark, such as IMG, or lit with natural sunlight such as Ferrari World. Concept art looks interesting, we'll see how it's executed...
April 28, 2017 at 9:55 AM · As an indoor park, I would expect them to use similar lighting to what designers did in many of the Las Vegas casinos like Caesar's Palace and the Venitian. Those indoor spaces have lighting that can actually transition from full-daylight to twilight in a matter of minutes.

Similar interior lighting is used in Antarctica at Sea World Orlando, where the penguin habitat lighting is designed to mimic conditions on the frozen continent. Since Antarctica is in the southern hemisphere, guests will notice that there is very little time during park operating hours in the summer where the lights are at full daylight settings to simulate the nearly endless nights penguins would experience at their home. Conversely, guests visiting in the winter months would see lights constantly in their daylight setting to simulate the long days experienced in the Antarctic summer.

I think it would be pretty easy for designers to appropriately simulate the look and feel of these different themed areas along with transition zones.

April 28, 2017 at 12:57 PM · Warner Bros have really let their "kids" IP fade into obsolescence. In the "Dynamite Gulch" image I see Marvin the Martian and Yosemite Sam signs, but kids these days would not know who they are, such is the neglect of the Looney Tunes properties. Cartoon Junction has an "ACME" building so I guess they're leveraging Looney Tunes there, too. And don't even get me started on The Flintstones or any of the other Hannah-Barbera properties. If I took my children here I'd spend half the day explaining who all the all characters are!
April 30, 2017 at 2:08 AM · I'm straight and I wouldn't spend a dime in Dubai/abu dhabi as well...Along with what was stated here I simply have a huge problem with thier laws involving women as well...Until they set these things straight this spot is a no go for me not to mention it's halfway around the world and in the desert but yeah it looks pretty good and good luck to them...I wish this park the best.

This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.

Vacation deals

Park tickets

Subscribe by email

Subscribe by RSS

New attraction reviews

News archive