Dubai Desi Reviews: All Things Good That Bollywood Has To Offer @ Bollywood Park Dubai

Written & Photographed By: Hamza Shafique

Bollywood park is one of its kind attraction in Dubai. Part of Dubai Parks and Resorts, this facility caters to desi families just like mine. Dubai Parks and Resorts is an area developed on the outskirts of Dubai and contains multiple parks and resorts, you can find more details about other attractions on their official website. I have only visited their Bollywood Park and for now I will try to pen down my fun experience there.

If you love Bollywood films, fan of live performances and enjoy indoor activities then this is the perfect place for you. I remember I took my mom to Ferrari World and where we young lot enjoyed most of the thrilling rides my mom could only enjoy one or two simulation rides available at that time.
Don’t take me wrong Ferrari World is a fun place but when it comes to the demographic I am talking about which is older Desi people (I am part of that too now), Bollywood park works wonder. Bollywood parks concept of amusement excludes screams/puking, hence complete absence of huge steel structured roller coaster rides. What we get instead is a very vibrant imitation of Bollywood world that we see in movies, packed with attractions in from simulator rides that every age group can enjoy.

You know you are in India when Karak chai stalls are everywhere

There was a flash sale going on before Ramadan so we decided to give it a try. We checked the timing before going there and were initially disappointed knowing that it only operates from 2:00PM to 10:00PM. Based on my experience at IMG world (where we started at 10:00 AM and were still done by the time it closed at 10:00 PM), I initially thought this time would not be enough. But to my surprise It’s a small park with only 7 attractions and timings couldn’t be less perfect considering the summer season and the fact that it is for the most part is an out-door attraction.

It took us approx. 1 and a half hour to drive from Ajman to Dubai Parks and Resorts complex, which is located right after Jabal Ali (there is enough signage to guide and pin also available on google maps, so getting there is easy). At the Park entrance, we paid additional (to the online voucher) parking fee which was 20 dirhams per car.

Entrance to Don ride, Loved this huge poster of Madhuri though

From parking, you need to take tram to get to River Island which is the area having many food outlets and entrance to all the parks. Tram stops in front of Motiongate park and from there you must walk for 5 to 10 mins to get to Bollywood park. So, it is recommended that you wear running or very comfortable shoes and wear very light clothing as walking at 2:00pm in summer without any shaded walkway could be challenging.
As soon as you will reach Bollywood park, four giant henna covered hands statue will welcome you and at the distance you will be able to see Mughal architecture inspired very colorful structures. The entrance has a giant peacock gate, which is very esthetically done and perfect place for a picture. In fact, this park has so many perfect picture points like, Jay Veerus bike at Sholay themed activity, cycle riksha at Lagaan themed activity etc.

Peacock gate

The whole place feels like mini India with color full structures, small streets, a railway station, iconic movie posters all over the place, elephants and a giant Taj Mahal like structure as backdrop to all of this. All of it is beautifully designed and instantly transfer you to different world. I will summarize the lay out plan and the area design by saying that, its authentic display of all things good that Bollywood has to offer.

Gift Shop

One thing I always struggle at amusement parks is how to go about the place, to enjoy the facility to its maximum. During weekends, park can get crowded and thus I would suggest you all to follow the following order to maximize your experience and at least go through all the best attractions. All the attractions are themed around famous Bollywood films.

Dance performance at the end of Dabang stunt show

Dabang stunt show arena

First thing you should do is to check timings for “Dabang” stunt show and “Zindagi na Milay gee Dobara” behind the scene experience and place them in the below list accordingly. These both attractions are simply amazing and offer unique experiences.

Very energetic host of behind the scenes tour of 'Zindagi na milegi dobara'

Attractions:

Krish: Based on the blockbuster super hero film from India, this is by far the best simulation ride I have been to, in any amusement park. This should be first on your list.

Lagaan: Based on the India’s only successful Cricket based movie. This ride will make you experience how a ball would feel when hit by multiple bats across the field. Lagaan enclosure has a merry go round and a Ferris wheel for kids too.

Lagaan enclosure

Sholay: Based on India’s Iconic hit from 70’s. In this ride, you will ride a jeep through main scenes of the movie shooting Gabar and his gang with laser guns.

Don: Based on Shahrukh’s version of movie Don, this is a very innovative tunnel 3d ride. In this ride, you will chase Don on Shaikh Zayed Road.

Ra One: We found this ride to be quite ordinary. It’s just a simple 4d experience of fight between Ra One and G One.

Street dance performers

There are many street dance performances also happening throughout the park, so don’t forget to enjoy few while going from one ride to other. The whole place is also full of food stalls offering authentic desi food like Pani Puri, Aloo Tiki etc. and proper dine in places as well. I will recommend lemonade from stall at the entrance and Aloo Tiki from the stall next to Dabang attraction. As this park is mostly out door so, in order to curb the summer heat impact there were huge fans and water dispensers placed throughout the park. There are also multiple souvenir and gift shops offering authentic stuff like movie merchandizes, ricksha models etc.at very affordable prices. I bought whisky flask shaped water flasks, which made me quite famous at work.

Believe its a water flask

Apart from the park attractions there is Raj Mahal theater which is not inclusive in the park ticket and only has performances over the weekends. I haven’t been to it so can’t say much about it. But if you plan to go for it then check the timings in advance to adjust the above suggested plan accordingly.

There are two negatives from my perspective, one is the absence of shaded walkway from the tram point to Bollywood park and second is the absence of parent pass. A parent pass is a pass given to parents of toddlers usually who cannot go on rides and because of that one parent has to stay back. So how it works is that one parent go through the usual queue and other parent then can enjoy the fast track lines without any additional costs. And not having this facility, wasted a lot of time in just waiting to get to rides. This facility was there in IMG world and which helped us a lot.

Rajmahal at night

Dance performance in front of Raj Mahal

The regular price is 195 dirhams per person per visit inclusive of all rides except Raj Mahal Theater show, which when compared to other amusement parks and their attractions in the region, seems slightly expensive. We paid only 75 dirhams during flash sale and believe is the right price for Bollywood Park.

Overall a very different and one of its kind experience offered in UAE, that grand parents can also equally enjoy and is highly recommended especially for the Desi families. Regardless of the entry ticket, this park deserves at least one visit.

some more pictures: