Worlds of Discovery - Dubai
Busch Entertainment Corp.
& Nakheel PJSC
Dubai, UAE - The Palm Jebel Ali
2012 - SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Discovery Cove and Aquatica -
(4/8/08) During an interview with Mark Rose, VP of Design & Engineering at Busch Gardens Africa at the opening of the new Jungala attraction, I asked him if he could clear up a few questions about the massive Worlds of Discovery - Dubai project. The first thing he pointed out was that the design team has really only just been put together for this massive project so they are still in the very early phases of designing it. That said... lots of things are still up in the air and subject to change, so nothing mentioned here is a 100% solid fact at this point.
As far as which parks will open first, he believes that right now they are looking into the possibility of opening the SeaWorld and Aquatica parks by 2012, and following up with the additional two parks in 2014 and 2015, though no exact order was specified. As for what overall theme or focus the Busch Gardens Dubai park may end up with... this is still an issue that has yet to be decided and locked down by the design team. Obviously this will be one of the first things to do have to lock down, but since the plan is to open the SeaWorld park first, it obviously has a priority. He did also mention that the overall theme and choices about what elements to include in SeaWorld Dubai also had to be considered against this as well, because they had to blend in well with whatever mix of attractions and themes picked out for Busch Gardens Dubai.
(3/5/08) A reader came up with a very good question about the Busch Gardens park going into the Worlds of Discovery – Dubai, one that I have no answer for. They asked what the theme of this new Busch Gardens park would be, a copy of the Africa theme used at the Tampa park or would it be a copy of the Europe theme used in Williamsburg.
To be honest, I’ve got a feeling this park may have to come up with a new unique theme of it’s own. Given the desert style location of Dubai and it’s closeness to Africa I just don’t think that a Tampa style park would go over well in Dubai. The extremely hot weather may also make the concept of an outdoor animal park impossible.
On the other extreme, Europe is a key market from which Dubai’s tourists travel from and a fake collection of mini European countries isn’t likely to be a popular draw for them either since they can see all that a lot closer to home. To me, I would think that tourists who travel to Dubai are obviously looking for new experiences, so the Busch Gardens park will likely have to reflect this as well. So my best guess right now is that the park would either have to create themes that are more exotic to the people coming to Dubai, or they could reverse the concept of the Williamburg park and make Busch Gardens Dubai feature a collection of small lands based on locations in the USA, throwing in an animal exhibit or two where they might fit to show off species that are native only to North America.
Unofficially I’ve been told that the first park of the four to open in 2012 will be SeaWorld however, so development on the Busch Gardens park will likely be taking a back-seat to that until the SeaWorld plans are finalized. Anyone else have any thoughts or insight to share?
(2/29/08) I’ve obtained new aerial photography taken this month showing off the current status of The Palm Jebel Ali. You can also see an older satellite image of the island site at Google Maps.
(2/28/08) As rumored, Busch Entertainment Corp. has announced a four park project called Worlds of Discovery - Dubai that will include four parks: Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, Discovery Cove and Aquatica. This is a partnership between Busch and Nakheel PJSC, the major developer in Dubai behind The Palm islands projects. Nakheel will invest the capital to build and operate the parks as BEC will license their brands to Nakheel and operate the parks under a management contract.
What’s surprising is that Worlds of Discovery will occupy ‘the crown’ of The Palm Jebel Ali on a giant island shaped to look like a giant killer whale from the air. The Palm Jebel Ali is the second of the three The Palm islands, a series of fake islands that look like giant palm trees from the air off the coast of Dubai. According to the artwork of the island they’ve set aside 107.5 acres for SeaWorld, 112.4 acres for Busch Gardens and 30 acres apiece for the Discovery Cove and Aquatica parks. They will all be tied together by a 10 acre Shopping, Dining, Entertainment district and the remaining property on the island will be used for a series of high end resort projects.
Dubai is growing rapidly, expected to bring in 7 million tourists in 2008, a number that is expected to rise to 15 million by 2015. Preliminary work is already under way and they expect to open the first phase of Worlds of Discovery by 2012.
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