Dubai: Top 5 attractions for 2020
A round-up of hotly anticipated tourism attractions you won’t want to miss when they open to the public next year
Billed as ‘The World’s Greatest Show’, Expo 2020 Dubai, which will be staged from October 20, 2020 to 10 April, 2021, promises visitors 173 days of new experiences including 60 live shows daily, cultural events, art installations and museum exhibits, as well as 200 restaurants offering everything from haute cuisine to street food. Eventgoers can expect groundbreaking architecture at every turn, with Al Wasl Plaza and its 65-metre-high steel dome inspired by the Expo’s logo, the exhibition focal point. Showcasing Expo 2020’s theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, Al Wasl Plaza will be filled with fountains, waterfalls, parks and palm-lined courtyards. Capable of accommodating 10,000 visitors, crucial events such as Expo’s opening and closing ceremonies will be staged here. However, the real crowd-pleaser will be the 360-degree projection screen on the dome, which will be visible to visitors inside and outside of the plaza.
The world’s tallest Ferris wheel, ‘Ain Dubai’, will open in time for Expo 2020 Dubai and is expected to attract thousands of visitors each year. Located on the new Bluewaters Island development, just offshore from Jumeirah Beach Residence and The Walk, the observation wheel will give visitors a bird’s eye view of the city from a heady height of 250 metres. More than 9,000 tonnes of steel are being used to construct Ain Dubai, which will surpass the height of global observation wheels of note including the 167-metre High Roller observation wheel in Las Vegas and the 135-metre London Eye. Bluewaters Island is also home to 200 retail and dining concepts, beach clubs and hotels.
The architecturally striking Museum of the Future is a visionary cultural institution currently under construction on Sheikh Zayed Road. As a centre of creativity and hope where visitors can “see, touch and shape” the UAE’s future, the museum will feature exhibits, an immersive theatre and themed attractions, as well as innovation labs nurturing and showcasing inventions. Described as “an integrated environment empowering creative minds to test, fund and market ideas for futuristic prototypes and services”, the museum will act as a showcase of Expo 2020 Dubai’s ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ theme.
Madame Tussauds Dubai
The world-famous waxwork museum Madame Tussauds, which already has venues in London, Sydney, New York and Beijing, to name just four, is to make its Middle East debut next year. Madame Tussauds Dubai will call the Bluewaters Island development home and give visitors the chance to snap selfies with waxwork model doubles of the rich and famous, from singers, actors and sports stars to politicians, historical figures and royalty.
The View at The Palm
Dubai is famous for its attractions with breathtaking views, from the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, to the Dubai Frame structure, revealing old Dubai and the creek on one side and the modern metropolis on the other. For a different viewpoint of the Middle East city that never sleeps, The View at The Palm observation deck at the soon-to-open Nakheel Mall on the Palm Jumeirah, is not to be missed. The new Dubai landmark will stand 240 metres or 52 storeys high and offer panoramic views of the iconic manmade island and beyond.
And there’s more…
Other attractions scheduled to open in 2020 include:
- SkyZone Ibn Battuta Mall – an aerial activity park with 15 attractions including a Wipe Out zone, warrior courses, zip line, climbing wall, dodgeball court, trampoline park, toddler zone and giant warped walls.
- Zombie Apocalypse Park (ZAP) – a giant themed entertainment zone located at The Night Market on Deira Islands, ZAP will feature 12 attractions including a haunted house, axe throwing, archery, haunted corn maze, trampolines, target shooting, zombie apocalypse attack, and more.