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Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

“If Tokyo DisneySea were an indoor theme park, it could look like this”

Greetings from the United Arab Emirates, one of the hottest travel destinations on the planet. Luckily, the tourist paradise of Yas Island offers multiple ways to escape the heat. You could spend an entire day at the air-conditioned Yas Mall, you could have some splashing fun at Yas Waterworld or soak up the Swedish atmosphere at a local Ikea. I really don’t care for shopping, swimming or Scandinavian furniture, but amusement park enthusiasts aren’t forgotten. Yas Island is actually home to two three large-scale parks: Ferrari World, SeaWorld and Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi. All of these parks are (mostly) indoors and the air-conditioning creates an ideal ambient temperature. Warner Bros World opened in the summer of 2018, so it’s relatively new. The exterior facade is still shiny and the entrance gate looks stunning. Thanks to its spacious security check and the many ticket booths, it actually feels like I’m entering an airport. Some may find it a tad too clean, but it has an undeniable grandeur and the impressive film soundtracks fit perfectly. My first impressions are excellent and I’m expecting Warner Bros World to blow my mind a couple of times today.

ROLLER COASTERS

Warner Bros World offers two roller coasters. The first one can be found at Dynamite Gulch, a cartoony take on the classic western village you’ll find at other theme parks. The ride is called Fast and Furry-ous and it’s themed to Roadrunner & Coyote. There’s no doubt that the decoration is beautiful. This Intamin coaster was integrated into a beautiful mountain landscape, as if it were an inverted version of Big Thunder Mountain. Besides, the park added loads of funny details and the train even features onboard audio. I’m also happy to report that the current experience is a lot smoother than it was during my first visit in 2019. Still, you shouldn’t expect major thrills. Fast and Furry-ous is an enjoyable family coaster, but that’s it.

The second coaster is aimed at families as well, but it’s considerably more unique. Even the queue for Tom and Jerry – Swiss Cheese Spin is an attraction on its own. It simulates a shrinking effect similar to Walt Disney Studios’ Ratatouille ride, but Warner Bros has done a remarkably better job. The ride experience is fantastic, too. Swiss Cheese Spin is a spinning coaster that turns (pun intended) out to be more intense than I expected. The layout is surprising and the Tom & Jerry theme provides wonderful nostalgia. This may actually be one of the coolest family roller coaster I’ve ever ridden.

DARK RIDES

Swiss Cheese Spin was fun, but its neighbour is even more surprising. I’m talking about Scooby Doo – The Museum of Mysteries. This is a trackless dark ride through a museum where lots of things seem to go wrong. But hey, wait a minute… doesn’t that sound like the story line of Mystic Manor? Yes, these rides definitely have their similarities. Of course, there’s the Scooby Doo theme and Warner Bros’ animatronics are a lot simpler. Still, I can sense a certain Mystic Manor vibe in this attraction. Just like Hong Kong Disneyland‘s most legendary dark ride, The Museum of Mysteries has a brilliant atmosphere and the finale is nothing short of fabulous. This might be the most re-rideable attraction at Warner Bros World, if you ask me.

Another must visit attraction at Cartoon Junction is Ani-Mayhem. Just like the previous rides, this interactive dark ride is one of the best of its kind. In general, I don’t like laser shooter rides that much, but this one’s different. I’m especially liking the ride’s unique concept. Guests experience Ani-Mayhem as hurried postmen who need to scan as many packages as possible. This is a refreshing and clear story line. Besides, Ani-Mayhem features some unique scenes that even transport you into space. Marvin The Martian’s beloved quote “There is supposed to be a kaboom” is undoubtedly applicable to this attraction, because this ride truly is a blast!

The atmosphere is about to get a whole lot darker at Gotham City, where you’ll find Batman – Knight Flight. This is the main ride in this area and it features a huge queue. Fortunately for us, it’s totally empty today (we can get used to these light crowds) and we’re immediately entering the pre-show. Here, Batman invites us to become his new recruit and oh well… why not? Next, we’re entering a tiny room where a bizarre vehicle is waiting for us. This attraction uses the same ride system as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, but with an alternative boarding procedure. Unfortunately, Knight Flight isn’t the overwhelming experience that The Forbidden Journey is. Although the movements are just as smooth and intense as they are in the Harry Potter ride, the technology and screens are often too visible here. In addition, I experience the screen-based scenes as a little nauseating. Don’t get me wrong… Knight Flight is a unique and powerful ride, but it’s difficult not to compare it to Forbidden Journey.

Next up is a Flying Theater, a.k.a. the Soarin’ system. Yet, it’s strange that we automatically associate such rides with a relaxing flight over famous landmarks. Why wouldn’t we create a more intense thrill ride with it? Some engineers apparently thought the same thing while designing Green Lantern – Galactic Odyssey. This Flying Theater simulates a flight to space and that involves some turbulence. And since the bad guys are trying to ruin our flight, this ride features quite a lot of action as well. Fortunately, superheroes are there to save the day, after which we can safely land. This attraction combines a Voletarium kind of ride with a Star Tours-like experience and that works amazingly well. The 3D glasses feel unnecessary to me, but the overall ride is pretty good.

Justice League – Warworld Attacks at the Metropolis area is not based on one, but seven superheroes. The accompanying story is predictable: bad guys threaten to destroy the planet, after which the Justice League takes action. I’m witnessing this battle from a motion-base vehicle, quite similar to the ride system of Transformers and Spider-Man at Universal theme parks. The ride feels the same here in Abu Dhabi. Transitions between real scenes and screens are performed smoothly, while loads of light and smoke effects were added. In short, this is a world-class attraction. It even has one of the most stunning entrances I’ve ever seen for a dark ride.

Some rides blow my mind, other rides are downright disappointing. After the brutal power of Justice League, the next superhero attraction turns out to be tame. Superman 360 – Battle for Metropolis may sound cool, but the actual experience is simple. Consider it as a contemporary version of Disneyland Paris’ Visionarium with yet another superhero saves the day story. The ride features a cool transformation effect that Universal enthusiasts will surely recognise from Poseidon’s Fury and the images are razor-sharp. But still, Superman 360 lacks some suspense.

WATER RIDES

The contrast between the left and the right half of the park is enormous. I consider that as a positive thing. If you’ve had enough of the dark and aggressive atmosphere on the left side, you can easily cross over to the cartoon world on the other side. And after witnessing all those superhero stories, it sure is a relief to enter Bedrock. This colourful zone was based on The Flintstones. The atmosphere is therefore prehistoric and refreshing. Both of these adjectives also apply to the main ride in this area: Bedrock River Adventure. With this flume ride, Warner Bros World has tried to imitate Splash Mountain and they actually did a great job. I admit that this Flintstones version is much smaller and it could use an extra drop, but the dark ride section looks perfect. Excellent family attraction, if you ask me.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

Let’s talk about the Disk’o Coaster. You may know this attraction type from Plopsaland or Parc Astérix. It’s a nice ride, but nothing too special. The designers of Warner Bros World, however, turned this simple flat ride into a visual masterpiece. I’m serious: I could watch The Riddler Revolution all day long if I had the time. Just add some smoke effects and let a light engineer do his job… That’s literally all you need to transform a simple Disk’o Coaster into a stunning eye-catcher.

There are ways to distinguish the very best theme parks from the mediocre ones. It’s simple: just take a look at the infill attractions. Lots of parks don’t add decoration to these rides, but world-class parks usually try to make them part of the total experience. That Disk’o Coaster is a good example, but the nearby Joker’s Funhouse is actually just as amazing. This is much more than a traditional fun house: there’s a creepy pre-show, they added a mirror maze and staff members do their best to add some scare moments. This obviously isn’t the attraction that convinces me to travel all the way to Abu Dhabi. But it does make my day more complete, that’s for sure.

WORTH A VISIT?

The people that designed Warner Bros World are geniuses, as they created a world-class theme park. The main attractions are all grand, unique and elaborately decorated. Besides, these rides can be found in themed lands that wouldn’t feel out of place at a Disney or Universal theme park. Of course, that’s mainly due to the advantage of such a darkened space: thanks to artificial lighting, designers are able to create the perfect atmosphere at any given time of the day. That dangerous suburb of Gotham City would look a lot less convincing under a bright sun. And how would it feel to walk around Metropolis in the middle of an Arabian sandstorm? Not sure about that.

Is this the world’s most beautiful indoor theme park? What kind of ride would you add to Warner Bros World’s current lineup? And do you also experience some kind of jet lag after visiting an indoor theme park? Share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

This article reflects my personal experience at Warner Bros World during a visit in February 2025.