The Wild Wadi Park is Dubai’s premiere water theme park located in Jumeirah.  It lies along the Jumeirah Beach Road, where it sits between the Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel.  The park is operated by the Dubai-based hotelier, Jumeirah International, and can be accessed within 20 minutes from the city center.  Designed like an Arabian Wadi, or an oasis, the wild Wadi Park utilizes underlying themes from the Arabian folklores of Juha and Sinbad. 

It covers an area of 12 acres, where in it comprises of 30 adrenaline-pumping, state-of-the-art rides and attractions.  Some of its featured facilities include a heated-cooled wave pool, two surfing simulators, various water slides, the tallest and longest water slide outside of North America, and an 18 meter waterfall that sets off every 10 minutes.  It also features two gift shops, three restaurants, and two food stands.  The park strives to ensure the safety of its guests by setting ninety lifeguards on duty.

The rides in Wild Wadi Park can be categorized into three groups and other major attractions.  These rides are as follows:

Master Blaster Slides

These rides are best described as an up-hill roller coaster.  Riders are seated on either single or double rings, which are then propelled by high-powered water jets.  There are eight Master Blaster Slides in Wild Wadi Park, namely:

• White Water Wadi
• Flood River Flyer
•  Wadi Leap
•  Wadi Twister
• Jebel Lookout
• Falaj Fury
• Hos 'N Hurler
• Wadi Basher

Ring Rides

These rides are traditional downhill gravity rides.  Just like the former, riders may be seated in single or double rings and use it to slide downwards in accelerating speeds.  There are seven Rings Rides all in all, a few of which are:

• Tumble Falls
• Thunder Rapids
• Rushing Rapids
• Falcon Fury
• Tunnel of Doom

Family Ride

The Family Ride is a usually fluctuating ride, which consists of two portions, namely Summit Surge and Rushdown Ravine.  The first portion blasts the riders uphill to a pool area, with the second portion taking the riders on a 170 meter adrenaline-pumping downhill slide.

Flow Rider Rides

These rides primarily create a realistic wave effect that is ideal for surfing, knee boarding, or body boarding.  It is composed of two rides, namely Wipeout and Riptide, which replicates a breaking wave through simulators that shoot out more than 7 tons of water in a thin sheet across molded foam structures.

Jumeirah Sceirah

It is the tallest and fastest freefall water slide that is ever built outside North America.  The whole structure rises up to a height of 33 meters, and thrusts its riders down in speeds of up to 80 kms.  This ride is ideal and excellent for thrill seekers.

Breakers Bay

Breakers Bay is the largest wave pool in the Middle East.  This featured attraction produces parallel and crossing 1.5 meter waves in five different directions.

Flood River

Flood River recreates two-meter high waves and sudden river rapids by releasing unannounced surges of 100,000 liters of water unto the floor riders.

Juha's Journey

Juha's Journey is primarily a lazy river ride on a 350 meter stretch of calm winding waterways.  This ride affords a peaceful and leisure float around the Wild Wadi Park.

Juha’s Dhow and Lagoon

This area is an especially dedicated play area for young children, wherein it features over 100 water games and slides.

Wadi Wash

Wadi Wash is a choreographed sound, light, and water show that guests can enjoy on the hour throughout the day.  It uses the rockwork themed facade at the front of the park as a backdrop, where in it regularly fills up with 60,000 liters of water to create a flash flood.

Much like the Burj Al Arab and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, the Wild Wadi Park has become one of the city’s landmarks and attractions, wherein it attracts over 8 million guests yearly.  This figure is anticipated to shoot up to 15 million in 2010.  The park has certainly exceeded expectations far more than what had been originally anticipated.  When it was opened in August 1999, the park was originally intended as an additional attraction for the Jumeirah Beach hotel and the Burj Al Arab.  It now functions at a much greater capacity, with over half of its guest comprising of tourists and the remaining half comprising of locals and residents.

Reflecting the city’s cosmopolitan population, the facility is run and managed by an international team that consists of staff members and workers from 45 countries.  It is headed by the American Glenn Davidson who boasts of a degree in Park and Recreation Administration from the Mississippi State University.  He has an extensive experience in managing theme and water parks, which he had gained from heading some of the United State’s most prominent water parks.  These include the Rapids on the Reservoir in Jackson, Mississippi; Raging Waters in San Jose, California; White Water Canyon, now Knott’s Soak City, in Chula Vista, California; and Newport Aquarium in Northern Kentucky.

The Wild Wadi Park opens daily at 11am, but has different closing hours throughout the year, depending on the season.  During the winter months of November, December, January, and February, the park closes at 6pm.  Meanwhile, during the months of March, April, May, September, and October, the facility closes at 7pm.  During the summer months of June, July, and August, the park’s closing time is at 9pm.  The Wild Wadi Park has made their Thursday’s as a day wholly dedicated for the fairer sex, wherein the park’s facilities are opened exclusively just for women.

During the writing of this article, the Wild Wadi Park has the following ticket rates:

• Entrance fee:  DHS 250 (US$ 68)
• Rental fees for locker and towel: DHS 20 (US$5.50)
• Pick-up and drop-off is provided free of charge, with a minimum of two guests requirement for an ordering.
• Access to the Wild Wadi Park is free for all guests staying at the Burj Al Arab and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.