In March 2023, we found affordable tickets to Abu Dhabi. When we were preparing, there wasn’t enough organized information. Perhaps this report will help someone.
Let me say right away – we liked it, but the enjoyment isn’t cheap.
We stayed on Yas Island, where all the children’s attractions are located. At that time, the Ultra mega festival was happening, so finding hotels wasn’t easy.
We stayed at Staybridge Suites, one of the simpler options. But we liked the large rooms – we had an 80-meter apartment with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The breakfast was decent, and on weekdays, they also provided a complimentary dinner. Plus, for an early departure, they packed us a good meal to go. Overall, not bad.
There are many interesting things on the island. Free shuttles run between many points, including hotels, but they aren’t always available, and they take quite a bit of time. We tried them a couple of times and switched to taxis. There are plenty of taxis, and it’s the cheapest option on the island. On average, 15 shekels per trip. The Abu Dhabi airport is also 15 minutes away, costing 25 AED by taxi.
Restaurants are not cheap. As a way to save, you can download the Entertainer app. It’s accepted in many restaurants (theoretically, also in attractions and hotels, but we didn’t come across any), and you can save up to half the cost of the order. It’s a monthly subscription, and if you’re staying for a while and dining at restaurants, it’s worth it. It paid off for us, but we didn’t benefit a lot from it. So, it’s a mixed bag.
Now to the main reason we went. Yas Island is simply a huge entertainment hub for all ages. The center of it all is an enormous mall, where you can buy anything money can buy and carry away. For kids, there are many attractions open late, which is very convenient:
- Kidzania – a city of professions.
- Air Maniax – inflatable castles and obstacle courses, zip lines, and more.
- Madcap – a gymboree on steroids and a rope park.
- Fun Works – a mini amusement park for toddlers.
Everything is very beautiful, new, clean, and expensive. But these are just the “flowers”; the real highlight is the three themed parks located around the perimeter:
Ferrari World – directly connected to the mall, almost entirely indoors except for the largest roller coasters.
In particular, the world’s highest loop, Flying Aces, with the tallest loop in the world (61m).
And the world’s fastest roller coaster, Formula Rossa, which accelerates to 240 km/h in less than 5 seconds. A dream park…
Warner Bros – the largest indoor theme park in the world. Very interesting, especially for the little ones.
Water world – a water park with an unreal number of slides and attractions. This was the first water park where we couldn’t do everything in one day.
The parks in March were open for 8 hours a day, and in each of them, we stayed almost from opening to closing, hardly doing anything more than once. And that’s with almost no queues, except for Formula Rossa.
Everything is top-notch, excellent service everywhere, with only minor things to nitpick. A 3-day pass to all three parks costs around 600 AED per person, and buying separately is more expensive. Some hotels offer packages that include park access with the room, but based on our calculations, it wasn’t worth it, possibly because of our dates and the Ultra festival.
Now there’s also SeaWorld – a marine-themed park, but we didn’t make it in time for its opening.
Yas Circuit – the Formula 1 track. For a symbolic sum of 2500 AED, you can actually drive an F1 car, or for a lesser amount, a more modest vehicle. There are also three karting tracks for all ages, with very good quality tracks and karts. 15 minutes for four people costs 400 AED.
We attended a Street Racing event, which was really fun.
In addition, the island has the Yas Marina port, where many beautiful yachts are docked, and young people hang out, as well as Yas Beach, where you can enjoy water sports, and the Yas Links golf course.
Nearby, you can visit the Emirates Park Zoo, and for those interested, there are plenty more attractions in Abu Dhabi itself, just a 30-minute drive away, but we’ll get there next time.
More reports and other useful information can be found in the group Tourist Helper.
