Today I’m sharing our Wild Wadi Waterpark review, which we visited as part of our visit to Dubai.
Here’s the thing you need to know about Dubai – you can fit more into a day here than you could fit into a WEEK at home. Seriously, it’s crazy. On our recent trip, hosted by Dubai Tourism, we had a month’s worth of holiday in a little over four days.
On our second day at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, we took a morning walking tour and then headed to the hotel’s own water park, called Wild Wadi.
Dubai with Kids
If you are heading to Dubai with kids and are looking for recommendations of what to do on your holiday, we’ve captured some of our Dubai highlights in this video:
After spending our first day in Dubai exploring the Mall of Dubai and Burj Khalifa, we spent day two on a walking tour of Old Dubai with Arabian Adventures, and checked out one of the city’s best (and oldest) water parks – Wild Wadi Water Park.
It might not sound like the most natural itinerary but that’s the thing about Dubai – it’s like two different cities sharing the same space.
Wild Wadi Waterpark Review
After our morning walking tour, we checked into our second hotel in Dubai – the Madinat Jumeirah – and decided to head straight to the Wild Wadi Waterpark. With temperatures in the mid 30s, Flea was beside herself with excitement at the idea of an on-site water park!
If you’re a guest of the Jumeirah Beach or Madinat hotels, you’ll enjoy free, unlimited access to the Wild Wadi water park, which you can reach using a complimentary buggy from your hotel (unless you’re at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, in which case it’s next door). I imagine it’s a huge draw for families staying at the Jumeirah resorts and hotels in Dubai.
If you want to buy tickets, do buy online for a 20% discount. The price is 270d (around £50) for adults and 220 dirham for children.
Rides at Wild Wadi Waterpark
As water parks go, Wild Wadi is a little more intense than some we’ve visited but if you’re travelling with children, I personally think that’s something of a bonus. Visiting the park with my 10-year-old daughter, she was happy and confident to go on virtually all of the water slides.
The rides, slides and attractions are all within a short walk of each other, and there’s plenty for younger or more timid children to do, along with two or three really good big slides for more daring members of the family.
Flea is an adrenaline junkie and found plenty here to keep her entertained for a long afternoon. The Tantrum Alley waterside is lots of fun for braver little ones, and the Flood River and Juha’s Journey lazy river are perfect for chilling out when it gets too hot. For little kids, there’s loads of activities of the non-slide variety including water guns, splash pools and so on.
Top Tips for a Day at Wild Wadi Waterpark
- Pick your day carefully. We attended on a weekday (the weekend in UAE is Fri/Sat) and the queues were really very short, but I can imagine it gets more crowded on the weekend.
- When you go to the park, it’s well worth getting one of the wristbands loaded with cash. It might seem like a little thing but we’ve been to a LOT of water parks, Flea and I, and it’s always a hassle to know what to put in the locker – there’s nobody to watch our stuff so we usually lock up everything, but then what happens when we want a drink? At Wild Wadi, you are given a wristband which acts as a key for your locker but which you can also load with cash, and then use it at the park’s kiosks to pay for drinks, food and souvenirs. Genius.
- There are six restaurants in the park, mostly serving burgers, shawarmas, fries and other family-friendly food. I liked that there are healthier options though – including a “wrap and roll” cafe serving sandwiches, wraps and salads; and a stand that serves fruit, smoothies and juices.
- There are four shops within the complex, in case you forget sunscreen, swimsuits etc. You can also pay for photos, Disney-style, at the main entrance. Perfect when I needed to pick up a rash vest when I started to get sunburn!
After a long day we walked back to our new hotel along the beach – there are buggies that will ferry you, but in my book, it’s a sin to turn down the opportunity to walk along a beach at sunset.
In one of those perfect moments you can’t ever really plan, we found a hammock on the beach and as the sun set below the Burj al Arab (the world’s only seven star hotel, trivia fans) Flea took the opportunity for a splash in the sea, the whole beach to ourselves.
In a hectic week, I think this day very much counts as one of my favourite memories of Dubai.
We hope you found our Wild Wadi Water Park review helpful, let me know below if you have any questions!
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Your daughter is such a fortunate little girl. I am sure when she’s older she’ll look back and realise what an incredible childhood she had. That water park looks amazing!
It’s true, she has a lot of fun and sees a lot of places – we both do! On the downside, she has me as her primary parent, so you know… swings and roundabouts 😉
Lovely photos, Sally! Looks like you had such a great time with Flea. Old Dubai is definitely the place I would want to see. It looks so authentic, so different from what you normally see (shops?) in people’s holiday photos. Now I’m jealous!
Oh, I’m so happy to have inspired you. Yes, there are definitely parts of the city that still feel very much more gritty and authentic.
Amazing!!!! And that wristband system at the water park truly is genius (hoping they have that at the Atlantis water park too!)
Oh, I hope so! Have a wonderful time!
Your Dubai posts are bringing back a lot of memories – my dad lived there for around 8 years so I spent a lot of time visiting. The Dubai Museum in the old town is a good place for anyone interested in Dubai before tourism – the majority of Dubai is such a modern place, it can be tricky to find much history.
OH that is a top tip, thanks Chloe!