The river that runs through Dubai Parks
dubai — Visitors to the Dubai Parks and Resorts (DPR) which is set to open on October 31 will be welcomed at the entrance by a 1kmlong, 50m-wide and 6m-deep body of water called Riverland.
Reporters were given a preview of Riverland on Wednesday and saw workers applying finishing touches to its various retail, dining and entertainment outlets.
“Riverland Dubai will connect the three theme parks and water park (Motiongate, Bollywood Parks and Legoland) at Dubai Parks and Resorts, and will be open to everyone with or without a ticket to the adjoining parks,” said Riverland Dubai general manager Marcel Hendriks. “After three years in the making, we are delighted to open Riverland Dubai to the public for the first time on Monday.”
“The main attractions (at DPR), of course, are the parks,” he told Khaleej Times. “But Riverland is at the heart of DPR so anytime you want to go to any of the theme parks, you have to come to the Riverland, free of charge.”
“It will feature a wide range of restaurants and retail shops, coupled with planned street entertainment, making it the perfect place for families and friends to come together, relax and recharge,” added the Dutch expat. Covering a total area of 234,000 square feet, Riverland is divided into four zones:
French Village, a recreation of a 1600 French town, featuring European medieval architecture; Boardwalk, a throwback to the 1950s in the US; Indian Gate, showcasing the best of 1930s India; and Peninsula, featuring Europe in the 19th century, where visitors can sit by the meandering river and enjoy dining options as well as live concerts and festivals.
“Every detail has been considered in the creation of the themed zones — from the cobblestoned streets to the crooked walls,” Hendriks explained. “We flew our artists to France to visit two villages and they took pictures of the imperfections of the buildings and tried to replicate some of them to decorate our buildings and make them look old. The crooked walls look like they’re falling apart but they’re not.”
According to Hendriks, Riverland holds around 18,000 cubic metre of water, which is self-contained like a gigantic pool. Asked how water is maintained clean, he said: “Pumps clean the water and there is a maintenance pond to keep the water circling.”
Riverland is also set to expand with the opening of Six Flags Dubai, the fourth theme park at the DPR, in 2019, he added.