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WOW RAK ice and water theme park

WOW RAK Theme Park is an ice and water adventure, entertainment, and amusement center, and shopping mall, in Ras Al Khaimah near Al Hamra Village, on the coast road from Dubai. Opening date expected to be in 2010 or 2011 for the Ice Land, and the remainder by 2012. Information, guide, and list of attractions.

• Total area of the WOW RAK theme park and resort destination about 120 acres (or 125 according to 24 Sep 2010 press release).
• Three phases - Phase I is water theme park, Phase II is hotel and shopping mall, Phase III is rest of theme park (unconfirmed)
• Two theme parks - Ice Land Water Park (Phase I), and Planet Earth Theme Park (Phase III?)
• Mall of Ras Al Khaima shopping mall - area 12,000 square metres
• Other facilities include hotel resort, entertainment plaza, and showground (all part of Phase II?)
• Show Ground area of 11 acres on sea front, capacity 7,000 guests.
• According to the Balwant Chawla, the Managing Director of Polo RAK (WOW RAK developers), "It's the complete family destination; it includes one of the biggest waterparks in the Middle East and when it's finished it's going to be one of the top parks in the world." (Arabian Business report 14 October 2008).

WOW RAK news and updates

• Ladies nights on Fridays from 1900-2300 (7-11pm) starting March 2012, with discounts for women and children under 8 years of age. Unclear if men will still be permitted entry (Emirates 24-7 report 17 December 2011).

WOW RAK Opening Date

• 2013 Q3-Q4 for Planet Earth Theme Park (August 2010 information)
• 2012 Q3-Q4 for the theme park Phase III - Planet Earth Theme Park (September 2010 information) with Cosmos, Desert, Jungle, Mountain, and Oceanic themes? Delayed.
• 2011 Q3-Q4 for shopping mall, ice-skating rink, and hotel (Phase II?) (August 2010 information)
• Ice Land Water Park RAK opening date 29 September 2010 (21 September 2010 press release). Opening ceremony on Wednesday 28 September 2010 from 1800 (6pm)?
• 2010 Q3-Q4 for Water Park (August 2010 information)
• 15 September 2010 for Water Park (July 2010 information, not confirmed)
• April 2010 for Water Park (January 2010 information, and March 2010 press release), but delayed.
• January 2010 for Phase I (November 2009 report). Delayed.
• May 2009 - Phase I (October 2008 information). Delayed.
• April 2009 - Phase II and III opening date (22 April 2007 press release). Delayed.
• June 2009 for the Ice Land Water Park (July 2008 information). But delayed.
• May 2008 - Water Park opening date (22 April 2007 press release). Delayed.
• 2008 - 21 August 2006 press release. But delayed.

WOW RAK Ice Land and Water Park

• Park will have a penguin, ice and snow theme with snow-capped mountains (small ones) and streams, all man-made. Theme apparently based on a story that a group of plastic penguins lost their iceberg home in the Arctic due to Global Warming, and found their way to the Jazeera Al Hamra coast where Ice Land Water Park provided them with a new home. Given that penguins don't live in the Arctic in the first place (they mostly live in Antarctica), and plastic penguins can't swim, some visitors might not be fooled by all the penguins at WOW RAK. But they look nice, and don't bite.
• Area of water park about 20-30 acres, or 110,000 sq meters (all figures seen in reports - 31 acres according 21 Aug 2006 press release). Swimming and other pool capacity of 4 million gallons.
• Waterfall at entrance expected to be the largest man-made waterfall in the world.
• Facilities include diving pool at entrance waterfall, wave pool, coral reef, aqua-soccer swimming pool, action river flow ride, rain dance pool.
• Rides include 5 towers with 24, 26, 27 or 35 water slides (all figures seen in reports, 26 slides according to original press release, 24 according to 24 September 2010 press release), up to 110 feet high.
• Visitor capacity 10,000-15,000 people per day (10k visitors according to 24 Sep 2010 press release).
• Water desalination plant capacity of 525,000 gallons per day, 4 MW power generation.
• Car park capcity 2,500 vehicles and 75 buses
• Shaded seating areas for up to 2,000 visitors.
• Tickets, lockers, food court, shopping all controlled by a RFID access control system.
• Construction cost AED 370 million (US$100m) according to KT report 25 Sep 2010 (just for Phase 1?).
• Called Oasis Aqua Park in original August 2006 press release.

Iceland and Water Park ticket prices and opening times (not confirmed, check with WOW RAK)

• Tickets prices for unlimited use of Iceland and Water Park facilities - AED 225 for adults (> 1.2 meters), AED 175 for children (< 1.2 m), free for small children (< 0.80 m), group and school rates on request.
• Children aged under 10 must be accompanied by an adult.
• Opening Times 1000-1900 from September to December.

WOW RAK Water Park list of attractions and rides

• Aqua Games?
• Aqua Soccer
• Arctic Wave Pool
• Coral Isle/Coral Reef - snorkelling on manmade coral reefs with real fish
• Eddy Pond
• Kids Cove / Kiddie Water Park - miniature water park rides
• Lazy River - 600 metres long
• Penguin Bay - rain dance pool with music and showering rain over a 6,000 m² area (or 30,000 sq m), capacity 2,000 people, with discos and dance areas, and something called a "Rock Hoppers Den".
• Penguin Falls - large manmade waterfall 35m high (or 14m?) and 160m wide, flow rate 100,000 litres per minute - probably not 100,000 gallons per minute as seen in some sources. Or maybe it is - Arabian Business reported Balwant Chawla, the Polo RAK boss, as saying "We are making the biggest man-made waterfall in the world; it is 160 metres long and 14 metres high, and people can go inside the waterfall at different heights - it's not just a showpiece. Half a million litres of water will come down every minute,"
• Rocky Polar Mountains water slides
• Tundra Baths
• Water Slides - 26 (or a few more) of them, highest about 30 meters high
• Wave Pool - area 3,600 sq meters?

WOW RAK Water Park list of restaurants and other facilities

• Food Court - with 650 person seating capacity
• Old Castle Restaurant - view of the Arabian Gulf
• The Platter Restaurant
• Kabana Resort - 70 luxury beach front shelters for day and overnight use

Planet Earth Theme Park

• Area 24 acres, comfort measures to include mist machines and airconditioning.
• 5 Earth element based theme zones - Desert, Cosmos, Jungle (or Amazon), Mountain, Oceanic
• Each zone to have an anchor attraction plus 3-4 family thrill ride, and 3-4 children's rides
• Other facilities to include a restaurant/cafe and shop in each zone
• Opening date not until 2012 at least (delayed).
• Mountain Zone - roller coaster ride through the mountains, and Snow House with wintery activities.
• Oceanic Zone - with water chute through an aquarium.
• Desert Zone - with wooden roller coaster (700m long?), environment will have sand, and desert animals and plants.

WOW RAK shopping mall

• Mall of Ras Al Khaimah shopping mall with 85 stores, area 12,000 sq m (130,000 sq feet) with 85 or 120 stores (both figures reported)
• Other facilities to include 4D theatre, bowling alley, cinema multiplex, entertainment plaza, food courts, ice skating rink, indoor golf course, video game arcade (21 Augu 2006 press release)
• Opening date maybe 2011 or 2012 as part of Phase II of WOW RAK (delayed from 2008).

WOW RAK hotel resort

• Seaside resort hotel with 180 rooms, chalet style on the beach? Might open late 2011.

WOW RAK timeline, history, construction schedule

• August 2006 - foundation stone for WOW RAK laid by Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah (press release 21 August 2006)

WOW RAK operation, management, and construction

• Construction cost about AED 850 million for entire project (August 2006 press release).
• Operator will be Polo RAK group (or Polo RAK Amusements LLC), the UAE joint venture of Polo Amusement Parks in India (also seen referred to as Apollo Amusement Parks), RAK Investment Authority, and RAK Properties.
• Polo Amusements (India) operates under the name Fun N Food Village in New Delhi and Nagpur and are also the developers of the Boshoi/Bolshoi Water Park in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

WOW RAK personnel

• Balwant Singh Chawla - Managing Director of Polo RAK Amusement
• Santokh Singh Chawla - Joint Managing Director of Polo RAK Amusements

WOW RAK location and contact details

• WOW RAK located in the Khor Qurm area of Ras Al Khaimah (near Al Hamra Village, Marjan Islands, and Mina Al Arab)
• Postal address: Polo RAK Amusement LLC, PO Box 6581, Al Jazirah, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
• Tel toll-free in UAE: 800-WOWRAK (969725), mobile: +971-50-4321327, fax: +971-7-2447699, email info@wowrak.org or ceo@wowrak.org.
• Managing Director and CEO of Polo RAK Amusement JV is Balwant Singh/Balwant Chawla

Iceland Water Theme Park Abu Dhabi

• A second water theme park is planned for Abu Dhabi according to a report in Emirates 24-7 on 17 December 2011, quoting an unnamed source as saying "We are planning the next Water Theme Park in Abu Dhabi. Serious discussions have been going on and we are about to finalise a deal." No further details about attractions or opening date supplied.

Last update Thursday 05-Jan-2012. Page development 3D 4L 5C.

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