Marvel theme park to open in Dubai
An indoor theme park dedicated to Marvel characters will open in Dubai by the end of 2013, according to various news reports.
The 350,000-square-foot Marvel Adventure, located in the City of Arabia, will include retail outlets, dining facilities and a range of interactive entertainment experiences featuring Marvel characters, a report on Emeriates 24/7.
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| Spider-Man could be swinging his way into Dubai. |
The idea of the theme park is not new. The concept dates to 2007 when the park was to contain massive roller coasters and thrill rides like Flying With Spidey, Fantasticar and X-Men: Danger Room. Much of the concept art for that project can be found on the Disney and More website. The project was placed on hold when the world economy tanked and is now being replaced with a smaller version. The new project is about twice the size of a typical SuperTarget store.
“Following the outstanding global and local box office success of Marvel’s The Avengers, and the strong affinity for Marvel in the UAE, we are thrilled to be working with the IMG Group to bring Marvel’s most popular characters to kids and families across Dubai,” Simon Philips, president of Marvel Entertainment International, said.
In March Disney president and CEO Bob Iger told shareholders that Disney was working on plans to bring Marvel and other Disney characters that are popular with boys into its theme parks. Maybe this is what he was talking about.
March was also when Julian Munoz, the director of marketing and sales at Disneyland Paris, talked with officials in the United Arab Emirates about possibly bringing a Disneyland to Dubai. No plans came out of that meeting, but Munoz left it open that anything is possible in the future.
I learned a lot of new things and I’m looking forward to see more like this.