Best Dubai Theme Parks For Families (With Height & Age Appropriate Guide)

The number of world-class theme parks you will find in Dubai and the UAE may take you by surprise!

Currently, three are in line for “best in class” for families living in and visiting Dubai, and another three are just over the border in Abu Dhabi. You could easily take a “theme park only” short break in Dubai and not leave disappointed (but take the time to stop and see the amazing beaches and the desert as well!)

Understandably, if you are entirely new to the Dubai theme park scene, there’s a lot to learn! Not all theme parks have instantly recognisable names (i.e., there’s no Disney or Universal!), and they are not in the easiest-to-access locations, but they are packed full of the kids’ favourite characters, shows and thrilling rides.

Helping you sort out where your Dubai theme park time and money is best spent, this post gives a detailed review of the largest ones:

Where Can You Find Dubai’s Best Theme Parks?

Two of the parks mentioned above, Legoland Dubai and Motiongate Dubai, are located in the Dubai Parks & Resorts complex (DPR), situated in Jebel Ali, 50 km southwest of Dubai Downtown (and only one hour’s drive from Abu Dhabi).  

The site currently houses three theme parks (four if you count Legoland’s waterpark as a separate park), two hotel resorts (one of which is Lego-themed) and an entertainment district known as Riverland. There’s also Neon Galaxy, a space-themed indoor play area featuring a variety of activities (including ninja courses and parkour) for all ages.

The other theme park on the Dubai Parks and Resorts site is Real Madrid World (formerly the site of Bollywood Dubai). Whilst this may be popular with football fans, it’s not quite as big a player as the other two parks, and frankly still feels a little lost in the whole set up; we’re focusing on the other two big parks for this review

Next, we will examine IMG Worlds of Adventure, an entirely indoor theme park, in detail before deciding which park you should spend your precious holiday time at!

Our review is NOT on Dubai water parks – you can pop over to this post if you’d like to learn more about water parks in Dubai

Legoland® Dubai

A park made especially for the junior audience! The target market here is your Lego-loving 2- to 12-year-olds ready for moderate thrills.

Joining the Legoland® family of worldwide theme parks, the indoor Miniland is the centrepiece and most unique part of Legoland Dubai. Housed in a vast dome, it houses a full-size replica of Dubai city and many famous Middle East landmarks, from Petra to Abraj al-Bait Towers in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque.

The park is then split into four ‘lands’—City, Kingdoms, Imagination, and Adventure. Each has rides ranging from sedate to somewhat thrilling, as well as character meet-and-greet opportunities and a 4-D Cinema with rating shows throughout the day.

The park has plenty of opportunities to build, dine, and shop. However, it’s important to note that most of the rides are outdoors, while the shows and building areas are all indoors and air-conditioned.   

Is Legoland Dubai suitable for toddlers?

While the park is aimed at 2-12-year-olds, children under 1.05 meters will find their choice of rides very limited. Duplo Valley is great for younger kids, but older children may find it too babyish, which, in our experience, makes it a challenging park to visit when you have children in different age groups/heights.

There are just two rides with an 80cm restriction, which fits most toddlers – Duplo Valley Express (pictured) and Submarine Adventure. At 90cm they can join in Lost Kingdom Adventure (a shooting game).

95cm is a big breakthrough point, though, opening up the following options:

• Junior Driving School (City)
• City Airport (City)
• Rescue Academy (City)

The next big jump up is 1.05m, where they can start to enjoy:

• Lego Technic Twister (Imagination)
• Dragon’s Apprentice (Kingdoms)
• Merlin’s Challenge (Kingdoms)
• Merlin’s Flying Machines (Kingdoms)
• Wave Racers (Adventure)
• Beetle Bounce (Adventure)

One thing Legoland does really well is family bathrooms. These are large enough to fit a stroller and have good changing facilities. They also have a dedicated mothers’ lounge where you can privately feed your baby. The room includes a full kitchenette for warming bottles and baby food and a play area to keep your little ones entertained while you feed the baby. This feature alone is a real winner for young families, especially in the Dubai heat.

Will older kids still enjoy Legoland Dubai? 

Now, this is a tricky one! Young and young at heart, right?  No one likes to admit when they are ‘over’ something, but we know plenty of adults who just adore Legoland Dubai. 

Sure, your tweens and teens might think it’s just not quite cool enough, and there are indeed more thrilling rides elsewhere in Dubai, but Legoland is a great place to spend a nostalgic family today. With peer pressure, though, you’ll have a hard time getting your 10 to 15-year-olds to admit they actually really love it!

Can you visit Legoland Dubai & Legoland Waterpark on the same day? 

A 2-park pass for DPR is a great idea in the heat. During the cooler months, if you only have one day, you could easily spend 6-8 hours alone at Legoland if you try all the experiences. 

However, you would benefit greatly from combining the two in summer and the warmer months. Note that Legoland Water Park has a slightly altered opening schedule in off-peak months; if you plan to combine both, do check their opening schedule.

Note that the Waterpark will close for a couple of weeks every January/February for annual maintenance during the coldest part of the year.

What are the queues like at Legoland Dubai? 

If you visit early in the day (the normal opening time is 10 a.m.), you shouldn’t need to queue for anything. On weekdays, there are no crowds whatsoever unless it’s a local school holiday.

On weekends ( remember that schools and many offices finish early on Fridays) and public holidays, the popular rides can be crowded by early afternoon. Only visit on these days in the winter if you have no other choice!

What does Legoland Dubai cost?

Legoland Dubai 1-Day Ticket

A day pass to Legoland Dubai OR Legoland Dubai Water Park costs AED 295 per person if purchased online in advance or AED 330 if purchased at the gate on the day of your visit. Certain discounts apply to residents with the Fazaa card.

If you’d like to visit BOTH Legoland Dubai and Legoland Dubai Water Park on the same day, tickets cost AED 355 per person if purchased online in advance or AED 395 per person if purchased at the gate on the day of your visit.

Children under three years of age enter for free. Children over 3 pay the standard adult rate.

Check out some third-party deals that may work out cheaper:

Annual Passes to Legoland Dubai

For both Legoland and the Legoland Water Park, you can buy annual passes that allow unlimited visits for 12 months. The passes are categorised as silver, gold, and bronze and come with varying benefits, which may include discounts on food, beverages, and merchandise.

• Annual passes for Legoland (only) start at 495 AED per person for the silver package and rise to 795 AED per person for the VIP Platinum package.

• Annual passes combining Legoland Water Park start at 695 AED per person and rise to 995 AED for the VIP Platinum package.

You can find out more about annual passes for Legoland and the Legoland Water Park here.

Special Offers & Discounts

Always check the Legoland Website for special offers and discounts. These are often available during the Summer months as well as during public holidays. You can find out more here.

Motiongate Dubai

So what exactly is it? This UAE concept park is based on a sample of favourite Hollywood movies and characters.  But don’t be mistaken; this is as good as any US movie-based theme park!

There are four main sections to Motiongate:

• Columbia Pictures – a real mixed bag of movie favourites, including Ghostbusters, the Green Hornet, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Hotel Transylvania.
• The Smurfs Village – as you’d expect, all things Smurfie
• Lionsgate – more thrilling rides and simulator based on Hunger Games and other action thriller movies
• Dreamworks – indoor theme park set around favourite characters from Shrek, Dragons, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda.

The rides here really vary from slow and easy, movie adventure stories (Shrek, Hotel Transylvania, Smurfs Studio Tour) to rollercoasters, rapid rivers and 4D simulators.  There’s quite a bit of variety, depending on your desired thrill level! There are also lots of shows and character meet-and-greet opportunities.

Is Motiongate suitable for toddlers?

Younger children can enjoy a surprisingly good mix of rides here. Children under 1.00m can enjoy:

• Hotel Transylvania – ride through the hotel set (90cm)
• Ghost Busters Battle for New York – shooting game (92cm)
• Mr Pings Noodle Fling – spinning cups (90cm)
• Melman go-round – merry-go-round (95cm)
• Shrek’s Merry Fairy Tale – interactive story ride (92cm)
• Smurfs Studio Tour – behind-the-scenes ride (90cm)

There are several play and climbing spaces for kids, the largest being the Woodland Play Park. Indoors, Flint’s Imagination Lab and the Smurfberry Factory provide great play opportunities. In the Dreamwork’s Dragon zone, you’ll also find Camp Viking, where little ones can explore splashy water features on Viking long boats.

Of course, there will be some waiting around for them if they have older siblings, but there seems to be a good balance of rides for different age groups in each section except Lionsgate, which is really geared to tweens+.

Are there long ride queues at Motiongate?

You will need to queue for the popular rides on weekends and holidays. On the busiest days, the queues can be over one hour long -but this is the exception, not the general rule. Just like Legoland, if you visit midweek in the hottest months you could get around the parks almost queue-free.

Is it worth getting a Q-Fast?

If you have no choice but to visit during the busy winter holidays or weekends, yes, you will benefit from a Q-Fast, but still, expect to queue! Some people mistake these for meaning no queue, which means you skip to the shorter queue.

You can upgrade to a Q-Fast at customer service on the day to test how busy things are. They are a pricey addition, though, so we’d only recommend this if you’re really short on time and want to pack a lot in.

Are there single-rider options at Motiongate?

Sadly, no. For the unfamiliar, the single-rider concept is that if you don’t want to ride in a group, the spare seats in a row/ride are filled by people from the single-rider queue. This usually results in a much quicker queue and stops the frustration of rides being sent around half-empty.

Is Motiongate open in the summer?

Yes, it’s open 365 days a year. Getting between the four different parts can be hard in the heat, but many—in fact, most—of the rides themselves are indoors, so your queue is, at least, in air conditioning.

The whole of Dreamworks is indoors and airconditioned and can help you occupy several hours out of the heat.

The good thing is that Motiongate is open until late in the evening. If visiting in the summer, we would suggest waiting for the sun to go down to miss the worst of the heat. 

What does Motiongate Dubai Cost?

Motiongate Dubai 1-day ticket

Like Legoland, a day pass to Motiongate will set you back 295 AED if you book online at least one day in advance. Alternatively, you pay 330 AED per person if you buy your ticket at the gate.

Better yet, buy a combined 2-Parks Pass and enjoy either Legoland, Legoland Water Park, or Real Madrid World on the same day. Motiongate opens at 11 a.m. and stays open until 8 p.m. during the week and 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, so it’s a great combo for the Lego parks that close early (6 p.m.). 

The parks take about 10 minutes to walk between but enjoy the stroll through Riverland, there’s always street entertainment and special events going on.

Motiongate Dubai Annual Pass

Annual passes start at 495 AED for the silver pass, rising to 795 AED for the platinum pass. Here is a breakdown of the benefits included with each:

• Silver – unlimited access to the park (except on blackout days where a 50 AED charge is applicable), 10% discount on food and beverages within the park and 20% off in-park photos – 495 AED per person.
• Gold – unlimited access to the park, free popcorn (up to 6 visits). 15% discount on food and beverages and retail, 20% discount on in-park photos, nanny pass for an additional 50 AED – 595 AED.
• Platinum – unlimited access to the park, up to 6 free meals, six free drinks and six free popcorns, free Q-fast, 20% discount on food and beverages and retail and 30% discount on additional admission tickets.

You can find out more about ticket pricing, annual passes and special offers here.

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IMG Worlds of Adventure

Our final contender for Dubai’s best theme park is a real mixed bag. Again, it is difficult to sell to overseas visitors as it doesn’t have an instantly recognisable international name. When we start saying Marvel Comics, Cartoon Network, and Dinosaurs, you get the gist of what to expect!

At 1.5 million square feet, there’s a lot going on here.  It’s the best park to visit if you are a bit of a thrill seeker – and tall! The four main zones to explore are:

• Marvel – rides based on the Hulk, Avengers, Spiderman and Thor
• Lost Valley – Dinosaur-based rides and adventures
• Cartoon Network –  a live show plus Ben 10 and Powder Puff girl rides
• IMG Boulevard – retail and dining zone, also includes the very popular “Haunted House” (for 15 years+ only!)

There are 17 rides in total, as well as shows and kids’ play areas. 

The park is based in an outer area of Dubai on the E311, near to Global Village and Arabian Ranches.  There is a hotel shuttle service, but be warned it makes a lot of stops.  You may be best paying for a taxi to take you door to door.

Is IMG Worlds of Adventure suitable for toddlers?

Some parts are suitable, but overall, this is not the best theme park for younger children. Entry is only charged once children are 1.05m, though even then, they can enjoy very few rides.

There are play areas in LazyTown Robbie’s Liar, the Dinosaur Adventure Zone, and the Adventure Fortress. A new kids’ zone has also been developed with younger guests in mind. The zone includes an inflatable playground, climbing walls, a football pitch, slides, and a sweeper game. Access is subject to an additional fee of 50 AED for an hour or 100 AED for all day.

Whilst IMG Kids Zone is a great addition to the theme park, it does mean that you need somebody who’s happy to supervise the little ones whilst older group members enjoy the more thrilling rides in the other areas of the park.

All in all, kids will enjoy IMG Worlds of Adventure a lot more once they are over 1.2 m, and almost unrestricted above 1.3 m.

Are there long queues at IMG Worlds of Adventure?

You will need to be patient at weekends and public holidays. Arrive early and go straight to the rides that you really want to experience to avoid any queuing. Weekdays are usually no problem except during school holidays. If visiting on a weekend, we’d recommend you upgrade to include an Ultimate Fast Pass to get the most out of your day.

Can you do a “family rider swap” at IMG Worlds of Adventure?

Yes! We’re pleased to report that if you have a little one with you who’s too short for the ride, your group can line up together, and parents can switch riders after their turn without needing to line up again.

Can you visit IMG Worlds of Adventure in the summer?

Absolutely. This is an entirely indoor theme park, so it’s your best bet for beating the summer heat.

What does IMG stand for?

Good question! It is named after its owners and operators in the UAE, Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari (IMG).

What does IMG Worlds of Adventure Cost?

A day pass is 365 AED – you can advance book a discounted ticket through Get Your Guide. Annual passes can be purchased for 765 AED. Children under 1.05m do not need to pay. 

Other UAE Theme Parks

As we mentioned at the outset, we have only included the biggest new theme parks in Dubai and excluded the water parks.

We have also excluded the theme parks on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. Here, you will find Ferrari World, Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi, and the new Seaworld Abu Dhabi. All of these are located just a 45-minute drive further west of Dubai Parks and Resorts (or about 1 hour 10 minutes without traffic from Downtown Dubai).

We discuss each of these theme parks in much greater depth on our partner site, Abu Dhabi Travel Planner.

Are there better places to take your toddler in Dubai?

Frankly, yes! Sure, there are elements toddlers can participate in at each theme park, but they are not ideally designed for this age group. If you are visiting Dubai with an under-four only (i.e., no older siblings to keep happy too!), there are better-themed entertainment options than the big theme parks. 

OliOli experiential play museum and Woohoo! are two much better hands-on options for toddlers in Dubai. There are also dozens of choices of soft play centres across the city! Some of the bigger Edutainment chains include Caboodle, Fabyland, KidsHQ.

Our Verdict: Is There a “Best” Theme Park in Dubai for Families?

Obviously, this is too subjective to call, but from our experience, families with younger children tend to enjoy Legoland and the Legoland Water Park the most. Anyone with older children may get more from Motiongate. It has a surprisingly good mix of indoor airconditioned rides and thrilling rides.

For the real thrill seekers, however, and those wanting to beat the peak heat of the UAE, it has to be IMG.

We are happy to help with your Dubai theme park-related questions! With many years of experience taking our own kids to all of these parks we can help you narrow down which park might suit your needs best.