fun fact : this is my first trip to a water park. not a fan, not too keen, but excited for my boys.
yes, never been to sunway lagoon or lost world tambun (which is near abah’s house!) – I did try the triple looper roller coaster outside of sunway lagoon (yg dah tutup lepas org jatuh mati tu) and I have been inside to watch a gig with innuendo; but never went inside to the water park.
so there I was, experiencing my first water park at ‘dreamland aqua park’ at umm al-quwain together with my boys.
why I enjoyed my first experience at a water park at ‘dreamland aqua park’:
- the boys (including the biggest boy) went nuts swimming and splashing. I enjoyed watching them enjoying themselves. hihi.
- the weather was perfect considering that the hot summer is already here in dubai. it was quite scorching even at 4pm, but was cool and windy towards late afternoon. a really nice day to be out
- the lifeguards are very strict (read : garang!) when it comes to safety (watch your kids! must wear safety jacket! must use float!) which I really appreciate because it means they really put safety as top priority
- toilets are clean, water is clean, the whole place is comfy and well-maintained
- for a weekend, it was surprisingly NOT crowded! this was really a PLUS for me because crowded pool was my pet-peeve about water parks
- oh, khaleef slid down a death-defying 20m-water slide TWICE that will make any mom’s heart skip a beat!
- and i now officially HATE that darn family raft ride. other than that, FUN!
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once in, we stored our belongings in the clean locker room, and I changed my clothes at the clean and spacious changing room.
this is khaleef wearing the ‘dreamland aqua park’ life jacket. life jackets for kids are available at every ride and slide. just take one, put it on, enjoy the slide and then put back when you’re done with that particular slide. safety first!
‘lake ‘o’ wave’ – fun with waves
1. LAKE ‘O’ WAVES
first stop : 'lake o waves' – basically a huge swimming pool with simulated waves! weee~ quite dangerous for small kids for fear of them bobbing towards the deeper side of the pool, moved by the wave. so my boys and I just played at the edge – where the water is shallow, but we can still feel the wave.
it was really fun – experiencing the feel of a wave in a safe, confined space.
there are huge floats and tubes available
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2. TWISTING DRAGONS
next, mr. khairul tried the 'twisting dragons' – sliding down 40m of twisty turning slide that looks like a worm-dragon, and then you come out through its mouth! I can see it would be super fun to do with 3 other friends, go in together at the same time, and see who comes out first and to which side!
mr. khairul slid down with a banging splash!
you’d be hurried out by the lifeguards though, before the next person falls into the pool.
yeap, that’s my mr. khairul splashing down the pool!
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3. BLACK HOLE
next : the 'black hole' – mr. khairul carried this huge yellow float up the stairs, and then went sliding down this really LONG black tube on that rubber raft. all the boys wanted to try the slide, and since mommy is water-phobic (huhu) so mr. khairul had to climb the long stairs THREE times – first with khaleef, then kahfi and finally with kazim. a great work-out at the water park, honey! hihi.
uuUUUuuuu weeeEEEEeeee~ view from the top of the 'black hole'. picture taken from google
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4. KAMIKAZE
the 'kamikaze' – true to its name, is a death-defying fast and furious ride, plunging down in a split second! when we first arrived, mr. khairul tried the orange one; the longer, slightly wavy slide which gives you a few bumps on the way down. looks really dangerous to this water-phobic!
mr. khairul slid down so fast, and once he reached the pool he was still sliding towards us, stopping just a few cm before the edge of the pool! he said the trick is to pull your legs up as you land which will stop the sliding. (watch the clip below).
one of the men I saw sliding down so far out that his friends had to go into the pool and stop his leg from banging against the edge of the pool!
anyway, right before going back, khaleef (I’m still in shock!) faced his fears and actually tried the blue one, with bapak waiting inside the pool of course! yes, my 7 yr old khaleef! batt dah dead masa tu – so very frustrated takde record of that courageous slide! i could never do what he did! oh my khaleef!
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5. OBSTACLE COURSE
after the heart-pumping slides (watching them pun dah dup dap dup dap!) khaleef tried the more relaxing and fun 'obstacle course' made for kids – it's simply a huge float where you can climb, go over, go under bla bla bla till you reach the end.
the pool is deep, but there are ropes connecting the obstacle course float to the edge of the pool.
khaleef was pretending to be on the show 'survivor'. go khaleef go!
* * *
6. DEAD SEA
we didn’t try this one, and it seemed to be closed, but it’s worth mentioning because of the interesting fact – it’s made to look like the 'dead sea' in jordan where you can never sink! it’s a high salinity pool where you can actually float, just like when you swim in the dead sea, jordan. mr. khairul has been to the real thing, so he was very curious about how this plays out!
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7. AQUA PLAY
obviously, this was the boys' favorite spot – the 'aqua play' – a playground in a shallow pool. mandi sampai kecut. see, not crowded. nice!
kazim enjoyed this the most since the water is just knee-high. he can just walk around and not worried about falling down deep in the water. I can even sit on the side and just watch him wobbling in the water from afar. no worries!
one of the things the boys enjoyed the most is this huge bucket on top that gathers water and then-----
---SPLASH!!! every few minutes. kids or adults – all enjoyed standing below the splash. wonderful fun!
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8. DREAM STREAM
yeap ‘dream stream’ is perfect alright – perfect for a nap in the water park! haha that was how SLOW it was haha. hop on a float and literally float dengan sangat lembabnya along a stream. really slow and pure relaxation, perfect for slowing down after a hectic ride and slide, or just spend some cosy time with your other half. also, if you want to get a tan. haha.
can be really boring though because after a few minutes I was already like, "bila nak abis ni" huhu.
* * *
9. FAMILY RAFT RIDE
I absolutely HATE this one! argghhhh super scary ride for this water-phobic mom!!!
walk up the stairs. go left for scary-fun 'family raft ride', and go right to try the only-for-swimmers 'twister' ride.
basically there’s this huge raft which can fit about 5 people at any one time. you hold on to the ropes at the sides and then it goes super-scary-fast along this spacious tube.
HOLD ON TIGHT!!!! because it's super bumpy and i was so afraid that i might get thrown off the raft!!! I kept telling mr. khairul to hold on tight to kazim as I was so afraid he could get thrown off as well! I was closing my eyes, I was screaming even louder than my kids, and really was praying for my life, I kid you not! dead-scared!
ready to SCREAM! picture from google
but guess what - khaleef kahfi kazim went on THREE times with bapak. mak tunggu kat bawah after the 2nd ride. haha. chicken! khaleef enjoyed it so much that at one point during of the rides he went, he purposely let go of the rope and let himself be bumped left and ride! crazy!
to me it was like an evil rollercoaster without harness, on water! major suicide!
haha. my personal phobia aside, it really is a thrilling fun for the whole family to enjoy together at the same time (rather, SCREAMING at the same time) but it really is not for me – me who has fear of rollercoaster, fear of speed, fear of water!
* * *
10. TWISTER
the last thing that we tried (or rather, mr. khairul tried and we watched) was the 'twister' – there was already a warning up on a board, ‘strictly for swimmers’. so mr. khairul je went and try. seriously this ride is like getting flushed down the toilet haha.
go up the stairs, slide down----
----and weeeeeEEeeee khairul went round this 'bowl' twice before came splashing down---
go down the slide, and around inside this bowl before coming splashing down the deep pool underneath. picture from google.
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the friendly lifeguards in yellow having a chat with my boys. like I mentioned earlier, the lifeguards here are extremely strict on safety, always on the alert and ready to blow their whistle at the slightest suspicion of danger. a really commendable point at a water park.
they’re no-fuss when it comes to safety and they’re very blunt at telling someone off when they see something done wrong (no floats or kids left unattended, or kids stand too close to a deep pool) which I really understand as there are no tolerance when it comes to safety in the water. good job!
but at the same time these lifeguards are very friendly with the visitors and especially kids.
* * *
we had fun! (or rather, the boys and mr. khairul had super-fun while mak had enough *fun* on the family raft ride to ever ride on something like that ever again! haha)
staff and lifeguards are friendly with strict safety precautions, there are locker for our valuables, toilets and changing rooms are very comfy and clean. also, on the day we went the water park was not crowded at all – overall a memorable time, especially for the boys. we'll come again!
or wild wadi, yas island water park or atlantis next?
‘dreamland aqua park’ is in umm al-quwain and can be reached following the ras al-khaimah highway. please refer to mr. google for further directions. hihi.
visit the dreamland aqua park official site for entrance fee, and more information.
2 comments:
excellent piece.
~me
thanks love :)
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