The first Hunger Games theme park land opens in Dubai

The world's first theme park land themed toopened officially this evening at Motiongate Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The World of the Hunger Games features two main attractions: Capitol Bullet Train, a Mack Rides halfpipe launch coaster, and Panem Aerial Tour, a suspended theater ride. The Hunger Games land joins the Step Up Dubai, All In show in the adjacent Hollywood Theater to complete the park's Lionsgate area.

Tonight's opening marked the final phase in the opening of the movie-themed Motiongate Dubai at the three-park Dubai Parks and Resorts complex, which also includes Bollywood Parks Dubai and Legoland Dubai. A Six Flags theme park is under development at the resort, as well. The resort celebrated the opening this evening with a fireworks display that included a flaming Mockingjay logo from the books and films.





Orlando-based Falcon's Creative Group managed the design of the Hunger Games land. I've reached out to the executive producer of the project for an interview, and I hope to have that for you sometime relatively soon.

While theme parks have been developing attractions based on popular film franchises since the dawn of the industry, it is somewhat rare to see a land themed to a dystopian franchise, such as The Hunger Games. As SeaWorld Orlando discovered with its Antarctica land, it's tough to create an enticing attraction based on an inhospitable destination. The challenge for designers is to find and bring out the elements that fans love about the franchise without allowing the attraction to get mired in its dystopian environment. But you've got to make the experience feel authentic, too. It's a tough balance.

And then there's the issue of whether a park is attempting to create a fully immersive land — in the mold of wildly expensive Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Pandora lands — or a much less expensive, old-school, just-slap-a-name-on-the-coaster land as we've seen in many DC Comics-themed Six Flags theme parks over the years. The reported budget for Motiongate Dubai's Hunger Games development shades it toward the later category, though Falcon's Creative Group appears to have been able to deliver a more robust decoration for the land than one might have expected given limited space and resources. We will have to await visitors' reactions to see how successful the new land will be.

We visited Motiongate Dubai and the rest of the Dubai Parks and Resorts development last December for its official opening and have continued to follow the development of the resort since. Follow the links for our coverage, as well as reader ratings of the parks.

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