Warner Bros opens $1.4b theme park in Abu Dhabi

DC Comics characters on stage during the official opening of the Warner Bros World theme park on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The complex (above left), which opened to the public on Wednesday, boasts 29 rides and six themed areas - including the fictiona
DC Comics characters on stage during the official opening of the Warner Bros World theme park on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The complex, which opened to the public on Wednesday, boasts 29 rides and six themed areas - including the fictional Gotham City made famous by Batman. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
DC Comics characters on stage during the official opening of the Warner Bros World theme park on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The complex (above left), which opened to the public on Wednesday, boasts 29 rides and six themed areas - including the fictiona
DC Comics characters on stage during the official opening of the Warner Bros World theme park on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The complex (above), which opened to the public on Wednesday, boasts 29 rides and six themed areas - including the fictional Gotham City made famous by Batman. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

ABU DHABI • The fantasy worlds inhabited by Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have merged with glitzy reality in the UAE, as Warner Bros opened a sprawling indoor theme park in Abu Dhabi.

The US$1 billion (S$1.36 billion) facility boasts 29 rides and six themed areas - including a cartoon junction and the fictional Gotham City made famous by Batman.

A golden Bugs Bunny statue, holding a golden carrot, welcomes visitors to the complex which opened on Wednesday, 11 years after it was first conceived.

Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi, the entertainment giant's first indoor theme park in the region, is located on the outskirts of the capital, on Yas Island.

Yas is already home to several major attractions including Ferrari World, a Formula One Grand Prix circuit and Yas Water World.

The Warner Bros complex is built across 153,000 sq m and is pitched at UAE citizens and foreign tourists. Abu Dhabi's sister city Dubai is a major tourist destination, attracting 15 million visitors last year.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 27, 2018, with the headline Warner Bros opens $1.4b theme park in Abu Dhabi. Subscribe