The New Dubai-Themed Disneyland Ride Is Actually Just Dubai
Disneyland recently turned heads by announcing a new, immersive, Dubai-themed attraction that has been touted as their most ambitious project to date. Newly revealed details confirm the truly massive scope of the attraction, which, in lieu of a traditional theme park ride, will actually fly park visitors to Dubai for a quick tour on the city tram before flying them back to Los Angeles, all without breaking the illusion that they are not in an actual middle eastern city but rather a high-quality plastic replica.
Asked why Dubai was chosen for this ride, a Disney representative responded that “The city has always aligned with our core values of providing a dreamlike escape from reality with the polish and production values of a Hollywood blockbuster. All with the assurance that none of it is real enough to actually worry anyone. We wound’t want people thinking they are actually in the middle-east as this might cause some anxiety with certain guests. That’s why Dubai felt like the right fit.”
It’s hard to deny that Madinat Souk’s “traditional boat tours” bare a striking resemblance to Disney’s Jungle Cruise. And Burj Khalifa is nothing if not a much slower Tower Of Terror. But time will tell if the latest Dubai-Disney collaboration pays off.
When pressed for more information our clearly strung out Disney contact continued, “Look, they’ve already done all of the leg work, ok? Why create an entire Arabian-themed city in LA when there’s a perfectly good Arabian-themed city in UAE? It’s a no brainer.”
Yes bringing guests from Los Angeles to Dubai by the hundreds will be time consuming, but the hours spent waiting to get into most Disneyland attractions are usually comparable with a transatlantic flight, and the park has done a great job of outfitting planes with winding stanchions surrounded by animatronic characters and desert noises in order to create the illusion of progress through a themed queue while the group is actually being flown over the ocean.
It’s a big gamble for Disney but the sky’s the limit if the Dubai Ride (currently titled “3 Arabian Nights” for how long it takes to complete) is a success. Disneyland already has eyes on a Southeast Asian themed ride that will take place in actual Singapore.
