Explore Dubai With Kids

Dubai is the land of oil, Sheikhs and the rich. The pace at which the development is happening is astonishing, specially knowing that historically it is all reclaimed land. Even today when you visit the city ,in just under an hour you will see the desert. But you won’t think about it at all when you’re in the city which has it all. Be it shopping- Dubai Mall, Emirates Mall, Gold Souk, luxury- you see the world’s best cars here, breathtaking monument like Burj Khalifa, Skyscrapers and even beaches. 

Last few days you have been reading all about my trip to Cape Town. If you have missed it then you can read all about it here; Day 1, Day 2 , Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5.  Now this was a trip we did without our kids. We knew we would feel guilty and so we from here onwards, we booked our trip to Dubai where my parents and my kids would be joining us. This turned out to be a perfect decision, not only did my kids have a blast but my parents too enjoyed themselves. Dubai was a heaven for my kids with all it’s super cars and theme parks. Though I am a bit bored of theme parks and would have loved to experience history, yet seeing my kids happy was worth it. Today’s post is all about things you can see and experience with kids in Dubai and Abu Dhabi;

Dubai Aquarium: Price starts from a good 100 AED pp and you can pay extra for inclusions like boat ride with the sharks, diving with the sharks etc. However, having been to the London aquarium and Hongkong aquarium, this felt less impressive and smaller. Dubai Aquarium has more than 33,000 living animals, representing more than 85 species including over 400 sharks and rays combined.

 Every hour experienced Educators conduct regular presentations with Otters, Water Rats, Piranhas and Penguins.

You can spend unlimited amount of time admiring the underwater zoo and fishes, sharks, penguins, king crocodile etc. We finished visiting the entire aquarium in about 1.5 hours. Read More

Ferrari World: A must go, specially if you have boys. My elder son Eeshan is totally into cars and this was on top of his to-do list. Ferrari World is not exactly in Dubai but in Abu Dhabi, just 1.5 hours drive from Dubai. It is a theme park inspired by the Ferrari car and it’s Italian heritage. The park boasts more than 20 unique rides and attractions for visitors of all ages and interests. It also stages Italian restaurants, unique shopping experiences and a dedicated entertainment. It boasts of the world’s fastest roller coaster ride and homes some of the oldest and latest Ferrari car models.

You can learn all about when it was conceptualised, how it was made, experience the thrill of a ferrari stimulated drive etc. So if you love cars, this is your ultimate heaven.

Only thing for kids under the height of 110, there are just very restricted rides. Though you have to buy a full child ticket  for kids above 100 cms of height, they don’t end up doing most the rides. 

Burj Khailfa– Perched Atop the Dubai Mall is this majestic tower which extends almost a kilometer(828 mtrs) in height. It took about 5 years to complete and put Dubai on the international tourist destination map, as one of the top things to do. There are two kinds of experiences there, you can buy a fast pass(125 AED) and go up to the 124th floor or a VIP fast pass(500 AED) and experience the beautiful landscape of Dubai at 148th Floor. You have to book 3-4 days in advance as most of the times the tickets are sold out and at 500 AED, I won’t recommend it. Evening tickets are mostly available and cheap, but then you would just see the lights from top up, which can be an interesting view. Also make sure you avoid the days when there is a sandstorm warning because then the visibility is really low. What kids will love is the lift which travels 124 floors in less than a minute. Sadly, even though I tried three times in three days to get the passes, I couldn’t manage and this remains on my checklist for my next visit to Dubai. I did admire the view of the highest tower in the world from down below and watched the fountain show that happens every evening there. We were jumping and clapping silly when the first song from Om Shanti Om was played along with the dancing fountains.

Nothing better than a desi feel on an international holiday. Of course, selfies with the Burj were done and sealed.

And yes, this you could do at zero cost. Read More 

Desert Safari: This was one experience we thoroughly enjoyed as a family and will totally recommend it to everyone. We had booked the safari through bookdubaitrip and it was the highpoint of our trip. They picked us up from our hotel in Dubai and the fist stop was a quad bike ride in the dunes, this was paid separately for.

Next they took us to a dune bashing session in the same vehicle. Our hearts  leaped into our throat each time the 4×4 wended its way around the dune. After few such rounds we realised that our driver was very experienced and that’s when we actually started enjoying the ride. Surprisingly my dad, seemed the most comfortable whereas me and my mom were just hanging on the edge each time a sharp turn came. And my kids, much to my horror, kept telling him to go faster. 

Later, they took us to a desert camp with belly dancing, Tanura, heena , camel ride and  buffet dinner with barbecue.

The food was average.  You can also be photographed wearing traditional Arabian garb, and with a falcon on your arm.

These all dulled compared to the adrenaline raising experience we had had before :). Dune bashing, completely ‘paisa wasool'(value for money) at 150 AED pp!

Dubai Mall and Sega World: While experiencing the retail explosion spread across the 1200 odd shops at the Dubai Mall, you should take your kids to the Sega World, which is a gaming and play zone for the kids, and is amazing. Here they have actual cars in which you can sit playing a car race game. They have over 170 games and a coffee shop where you can cool off your heels, which you might have burnt after the retail therapy, while your kids play. Did you know that Dubai Mall, contributes to 5 % of Dubai’s GDP? Wow!

Apart from this there are other things you can do around Dubai with kids which we missed as we didn’t have enough time on our hands. Want to know what we missed which you can do? Read More

Kidzania: A role-play theme based park, which is also located in Dubai Mall, but since it is also based in Mumbai, we decided to skip this one. If  your kid has never been to one, you can just drop him/her there and shop in peace for atleast half a day. It’s pretty safe and kids above 8 can go on their own. If your kid is younger, then you have to accompany but I must warn you it’s only for kids so you might get bored. You can also read my review of Kidzania Mumbai here to understand the concept

SkiWorld: Ski Dubai is an indoor ski resort with 22,500 square meters of indoor ski area. It is a part of the Mall of the Emirates, Dubai. Another place that sounds like a lot of fun, but we couldn’t go there as we didn’t have enough time. They have skiing, ski lifts, ice skating etc.

Yas WaterWorld: Is situated right next to the Ferrari World and you can buy combo tickets for this and Ferrari World. However, I don’t think both can be done in a single day. We took a good 6 hours to do just Ferrari World. Yas Island waterpark spans an area of around 15 football pitches, with 43 rides, slides & attractions . It has world’s first, and largest hydromagnetic-powered, six-person tornado waterslide. For adrenaline seekers there are three-metre high waves on Bubble’s Barrel, which has the world’s largest surfable sheet wave for flowboards and bodyboards. 

Swim with the Dolphins at Atlantis: Atlantis is one of Dubai’s premium hotels . It is also home to 65,000 marine animals. You can stay here and even if you don’t you can book experiences like the  The Lost Chambers Aquarium, get up close and personal with the dolphins at Dolphin Bay, learn to scuba dive and swim with sharks at the Atlantis Dive Centre, or experience Aquaventure Waterpark. They also have rooms like underwater suites, which give you the views of the marine life in Atlantis from your room. Doesn’t it sound awesome? 

What I also discovered in my trip is that they are building a lot many more theme park like the Universal Studio and more. With so many things to do around , this seems to be getting better and better for kids. So many reasons for me to go back to Dubai :)!!