Wonderland in the Desert

Location: Dubai, UAE

Introduction:

We thoroughly enjoyed Dubai. We were there over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays when the weather was comfortable. We knew it was popular amongst adults and we found that it also had lots of things to see and do for kids. We spent a week there and could easily have spent more time. It was expensive but worth it. If you’re looking for an authentic Middle Eastern experience, this is not the place. It’s very modern and westernized. Many attractions are done on a grand scale to be the biggest and most impressive in the world and they are. For example, even though it was built back in 2009, the Burj Khalifa is still the world’s tallest building. The modern architecture of the skyscrapers appeared to be a competition of who could outdo the others with their unique design. Dubai imparted a sense of wonder and amazement. We came away impressed.

Sights Visited:

The Dubai Mall is on a grand scale and has lots to offer beyond just shopping. We shopped, ate and sampled a few of their many offerings. Hamley’s Toy Store was as large as any we’ve ever been in. Of course, we walked away with an overpriced pet chameleon. We had fun skating in the ice rink.

The most amazing experience in the mall was KidZania where kids learn about jobs, money and the real world while having a ball doing it. After 5 non-stop hours of fun, if we hadn’t dragged our daughter away, we might still be there.

We also visited the more modest Nakheel Mall and Adelaide had a blast at Trampo Extreme, probably the best trampoline park we’ve ever been to.

The Green Planet bio-dome was unforgettable and a wonderful place to encounter lots of animals. They have a unique creepy bat cave where we were swarmed by fruit bats that we could feed. The sloth encounter was also wonderful.

The Miracle Gardens were remarkable. We’ve never seen so many beautiful flowers in one place and we found the Smurf section to be particularly entertaining. How they keep everything looking so pristine all year long is astounding.

We made a stop by the OliOli Children’s Museum and it was very engaging. They even had an outdoor area with Gooblek, a mud-pit, water balloons, bubbles and paint-splatters.

We could have visited the Global Village every day we were there and still not have seen it all. It was another awesome attraction with amusement rides, games, shows, ethnic food and shopping. We barely scratched the surface the one evening that we were there (it doesn’t open until 5pm).

In addition to all the other attractions we visited, we thought we’d stop and see some true amusement parks. The Dubai Parks are located in the South Part of the city, so we decided to make the most of it and buy a 2-park pass ticket and visit Legoland and Motiongate. Given the grandeur of everything else, Legoland Dubai was fun but doesn’t compare to the one back home near Orlando. The Motiongate themed amusement park was modest in size compared to a place like Disney’s Hollywood Studios but still packed a punch. We especially liked the Smurf village for its playground, rides, and Smurf sitings.

Accommodations:

We stayed in a one-bedroom apartment at the Sonder Business Bay Hotel. It was spacious with a full kitchen and washer and dryer. We don’t consider ourselves superstitious but after this trip we might. The first apartment we were assigned had an overwhelming smell of curry cooking spices. We had to endure an hour and a half wait before another one became available. It was on the 13^th floor. Buildings back home usually skip assigning the number 13 to a floor. We didn’t think anything of it until our fifth night. We normally turn the extra door lock in our hotels as an additional security precaution. When we went to leave for dinner, we couldn’t unlock the security lock no matter how hard we tried. We called the front desk for help and the maintenance staff tried all sorts of things with no luck. Finally, after being locked in our room for 2 hours, they drilled holes and sawed the lock off. See for yourself below. The Hotel staff were most apologetic. They moved us to a new room, comped our night and delivered a box of decadent donuts the next morning. Luckily for us, Dubai might just be the take-away capital of the world as there are delivery drivers on scooters everywhere. Needless to say, we ordered a take away dinner late that night.

Food and Drink:

You can likely find whatever your heart desires to eat in Dubai. We ate at a couple of French restaurants: Paul and Couqley French Brasserie twice each. We guess it’s because we like French food and they were good and convenient. We tried some Thai take-away and we enjoyed some Asian street food at the Global Village. We brought some wine in from the duty-free shop at Dubai’s airport, which had a good selection and we were able to buy some more wine at a local shop that’s only allowed to sell to tourists, who provide a passport. We understand that they may have loosened these regulations subsequent to our visit.

Transportation:

Our decision to visit Dubai was made easier by the fact that Emirates fly’s non-stop to/from Orlando. Given the 9-hour time difference, we decided to use a couple of destinations on the way to ease the time-change transition but we appreciated the direct flight back home to Florida. We rented a Mazda 6 from Avis and found driving around to be comfortable. Having a car was also quite helpful in that the greater Dubai area is quite sprawling and the attractions were spread out. The convenience of having a car was well worth the cost.

Shout-out:

Cheyenne, one of the receptionists at the Hotel, took a liking to Adelaide and sought her out a few days later to give her something she crafted at home. Adelaide returned the favor the next day by painting a special heart for her. Thanks for touching our lives, Cheyenne.

For Your Amusement:

Thanks to the older boys in our neighborhood, our daughter had become obsessed with Pokémon shortly before our trip. It just so happened that a game of chance at the Global Village offered large stuffed Pikachu characters. Elizabeth and Rich each tried to toss two out of three balls into a basket to win the prize with no luck. A five-year-old girl couldn’t do it, could she? Much to our surprise, she could.

Highlight:

This is a tough call. We had a blast just about everywhere we went. Thus, the title of this post: Wonderland! That said, if we could only bring one place back home to visit more frequently, it would be the Global Village.