WOW RAK Theme Park in Ras Al Khaimah: Ras Al Khaimah will soon have a Dh850 million 120-acre theme park with a host of attractions, including the largest man-made waterfall in the world.
The leisure component within mixed-use resorts is paramount to success, according to director of marketing for RAK properties, Rashed Sultan Al Khatri.
"Leisure facilities and components are very important in any major mixed-use development like Mina Al Arab. With 4500 units ranging from villas to apartments, we expect to have a big population living in the project and it is very important to make sure that we provide them with the leisure facilities that they will need," he explains.
However, leisure facilities are not just about entertaining existing clientele, says Al Khatri, they also, "play a big role in giving a competitive edge when it comes to the sales and marketing of the project".
There are three major leisure attractions within Mina Al Arab. The first is the Mina Al Arab Environmental Preserve, a 4,572,000km² ecological reserve which is home to migrating birds and marine life that will be open for controlled public viewing along with its own specialised environmental information centre.
There is also Oasis Walk, which is a three kilometre stretch of green walkways with water fountains and WOW RAK, the theme-park component.
"WOW RAK is the only theme park in the project and it will be run by Polo RAK group, which is the local arm for the India-based theme park operator [Apollo amusement parks]," says Al Khatri.
WOW RAK is going to be a multipart entertainment venue aimed at attracting locals and international tourists.
The first component is Ice Land Water Park, which will have the world's largest man-made waterfall as an entrance, standing 35 metres tall, 160 metres wide and pumping 100,000 litres of water per minute over the falls.
For those with a sense of adventure, the water fall will feature a diving pool. The water park will be spread over 30 acres featuring a snow theme with water slides emerging from snow-capped rocky mountains and mountain streams.
With five towers and 27 water slides, the park aims to cater to all age groups and visitor profiles and besides standard water park attractions such as the wave pool and action river, Ice Land will feature a coral reef and an aqua soccer pool.
The water park boasts that it will hold the world's largest rain dance pool and interactive play area. Covering 6000m², it will blast pulsating music while showering people.
Construction work on the project has commenced and the Ice Land Water Park is expected to be ready by June 2009 with the capacity to cater to 15,000 guests a day.
