All photos by Chantelle D’mello
Drivers-by curious about the growing collection of amusement park rides being assembled in the parking lot of the Qatar Sports Club in West Bay may not have to wait much longer to see what the fuss is all about.
According to organizers, the rides are part of an upcoming five-week-long Doha Fun Fair, which is scheduled to open later this month.
The event is a collaboration between local company Dania Events and Alan Crow Amusements, a UK-based company specializing in theme park rides that has previously worked at the Dubai Global Village.
Speaking to Doha News, Bilal Siddiqui, the project’s local operations manager, said:
“We’ve been at this for almost two months. The first shipment of rides started coming in on Feb. 2, and we’ve been building it ever since.”
While this is the first time that Alan Crow Amusements is featuring its rides in Doha, Dania Events, part of the larger Dania Group, has previously organized various shows here, including last year’s Dreams on Ice, which ran as part of Katara’s Eid offerings.
Rides
The fair is open to both adults and kids, though several of the rides are restricted to people over a certain height for safety reasons.
Among the more unique adult-oriented rides for Qatar include a “slingshot,” where riders fastened to seats inside a roll-cage are catapulted several meters into the air.
There’s also going to be a “Sky Flyer,” where riders are swung in almost free-fall circles, attached to a central column by a rope.
For children, there are roller coasters, swinging boat rides, a snow globe attraction and various other rotating and moving contraptions.
According to Siddiqui, the festival aims to open in two weeks, pending government approvals.
“We are still (waiting on) some Civil Defense and security approvals,” he said, adding that some objection had been made to the rides’ proximity to the road.
Once open, the area will run from around 5pm to midnight on most days. Rides will be payable via a card system similar to ones at numerous fun zones around Doha.
Thoughts?
When?
According to Siddiqui, the festival aims to open in two weeks, pending government approvals.
What other rides will there be for adults other than slingshot and sky flyer? Would there be a rollercoaster? Can we pay in cash?
Cheap Chinese parks. We need a permanent amusement park and we desperately need a proper water park unlike Aqua Park.
Totally agreed with the permanent amusement park.
cheap instead of quality = very appreciated here!
Qatar – (1/5/15) According to this report the Mall of Qatar will open by the end of 2015 and will include the first indoor Angry Birds Activity Park experience as part of a partnership between the developers and Rovio. The Mall will also include a Curio Collection hotel by Hilton, bowling and a 19 screen cinema that will feature the largest IMAX screen in the world. Other attractions in the Mall of Qatar include: Juniverse (a themed attraction for small children to experience a variety of themed environments including a space station and dinosaurs) as well as Virtusity (VR games putting guests in control of Formula 1 race cars and Fighter Jets), as well as something called Hint Hut and Clue Quest. The mall will also feature an 8-story tall rotating stage that will be used for a variety of performances.
(3/21/14) Premier Rides has confirmed than they are the company who will build the Dragonfire coaster designed for the indoor Adventure Island theme park in Qatar, part of the Doha Oasis Mall project. A few more details of the project were also released, as Premier Rides calls it a dark ride / coaster project, that will feature magnetic launch technology, cutting-edge track design, high speed switches, multi-directional movement of the vehicles and the backwards launch where riders “are shot up an extremely high vertical twisting spike that rises dramatically above the mall and is fully encapsulated to allow guests to take in the view and to appreciate just how high above the building they are while remaining in a climate-controlled environment.” The project is slated to open in 2017.
(3/20/14) ITPS (International Theme Park Services) has been hired to help design and build a $300 million theme park project in Dohar, Qatar called Adventure Island. The theme park will be crammed into a 7-acre indoor structure and feature a number of state-of-the-art thrill rides.
One in particular they are proud of will be called Dragonfire, a roller coaster that will launch backwards out of the station and up “hundreds of feet” before gravity brings them back down through the mouth of a Dragon and into a series of twists and inversions, including a corkscrew that will break through the roof of the building.
The theme of the park is about a mysterious island once inhabitated by a society that has long since vanished, leaving behind a number of interesting structures (aka: rides) powered by crystals that glow and activate when people are near.
Other attractions include a 4D theater with hanging gondolas as seats, a sky tram around the park, Starchaser (Chance Unicoaster) and Gorilla’s Revenge, a 40 ft tall animatronic Gorilla who picks up a car full of guests which I’m guessing is the rarely seen Huss/Heimo King Kong ride. (See video below) There was no word on a timeline to begin construction or when the park might open however
and in 2017 http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/03/18/exclusive-a-giant-gorilla-and-roller-coaster-that.html?page=all this the Future off my Country and I am Qatari and proud
I can’t bring myself to trust traveling amusement parks. I wonder if this is the same company that set up the Global Village amusement park two years ago when a man died from a metal rod that fell from a ride.
are you referring to the incident in Dubai?
Yes, this article mentions the company previouslly worked in Dubai Global Village.
No, it is not the same company. If you Google the accident you will see who it was. You should trust travelling rides more so than static rides because every part is checked when dismantling and erecting.
5pm to midnight!? Not the best hours for children. How about Friday and Saturday mornings?
happy Easter summer holidays
Why should we wait till reaching the hot season to lunch an outdoor amusement park?
I can’t imagine how crowded it will be, especially in the evening time, where kids are supposed to go bed !
I have a bad feeling about this…unsafe “amusement” combined with Qatar’s maintenance teams=more articles for DN.
panem et circenses…exactly what my brain does not need.
Why don’t you all try something new in your lives and be positive? Everybody complains that there is nothing to do in Qatar, and once they bring you something you start complaining. If you feel unsafe about it then simply don’t attend. There is no need to spread that negative energy.