Park manager Andy Keeling is a man who has devoted his life to theme parks, having worked for 24 years in the industry at places such as Alton Towers in the UK and Warner Brothers Movie World in Germany. Time Out spoke to him about the challenges of running the world’s largest indoor attraction.
Why was Abu Dhabi chosen as the location of Ferrari World when some would say it would be more logical to build it near the Ferrari factory in Italy?
The fact is that people in the UAE just love the Ferrari brand and have kind of adopted it as their own. You just have to look at the names on the side of the F1 car – Mubadala and Etihad – to see that the local big flagship businesses are behind the team. And I guess economic factors are involved as there’s a recession in Europe, while there’s still growth in Abu Dhabi, and the park fits in with the authorities’ plans to make Yas Island the entertainment hub of the capital.
What will be the appeal if you’re not into motorsports?
I firmly believe that even if you’re not a Ferrari fanatic beforehand, by the time you leave you will be in love with the brand. There are so many different rides, shopping experiences, restaurants and historical attractions, you’ll get an understanding of why Ferrari is more than just a car manufacturing brand or a racing team – it kind of symbolises a way of life.
Will the park be fully functional on the opening day?
We’re hoping everything will be up and running on that date, otherwise we wouldn’t have opened a day early. Saying that, there’ll inevitable be a few teething troubles, such as breakdowns, and you have to repair
rides, but it won’t be anything we can’t cope with.
You’re expecting it to be busy, so will guests spend most of their time in large snaking queues?
I hope not. For example, Scudderia Challenge is an experience that takes up to 10 or 15 minutes to go through the whole sequence. That would be an area that would have a long queue. So we have a timed ticket system, where you pick up a ticket and come back when it’s your time to get on the ride. We’re also in a market where there is some impatience, so we have an express queue line where you pay a bit more for a premium ticket and avoid all the queues. There will be queues, but we’ll do our best to make the queue interesting. For example, if you’re queuing for Formula Rossa, you’re in a building with a viewing window so you can see the ride running and see guests being shot from 0-240kmph in just a few seconds – and look at the reaction on their faces.
You have the fastest roller coaster in the world. How long before someone comes and builds a faster one?
Sure, at some point somebody will beat our record, but Formula Rossa is not just there to be fast. The real reason it’s so fast is because that’s how fast a Grand Prix racing car is. We didn’t set about to create the world’s fastest roller coaster; we just wanted to create an experience that was similar to driving an F1 car, and we just happened to have both. So, if you’re brave enough to keep your eyes open, on the first turn you’ll see chevron corners, gravel run-off zones and other recreations of a GP track.
What are the main challenges of running a theme park of this size?
Formula Rossa has a minimum 1.3m height to ride – if you’re 1.29m you will not be allowed to ride it, it’s as simple as that. It will be difficult for our colleagues, but they’ll have to say, ‘I’m sorry sir,’ or, ‘I’m sorry madam, you can’t ride.’ At the end of the day we will have team members who are young people who will have to turn around to families and older people and insist that they follow safety regulations. Maybe there will be people who aren’t used to being refused things, but these height restrictions aren’t created by us but by the manufacturers and a professional safety body. So we have to enforce these rules, but that will be tough, as it’s the first theme park of this kind in the region and there are some people who haven’t had ‘no’ said to them before. If needs be, I’ll come down and speak to the guests and explain to them why we have these regulations.
Any other cultural issues that might arise?
Another one we have to deal with is loose clothing. As a lot of people wear abiyas, kanduras or headdresses, these can create a safety hazard on the faster rides as they could fly off or get caught in the machinery. We’ve come up with several solutions, one of which is to offer a kind of windbreaker jacket which you put over your abiya that holds the clothing on, so you can maintain your modesty and wear your traditional dress and then safely ride the rides. We’re very sensitive to the region that we’re in, but, obviously, safety is of paramount importance so I think we’ve come up with a practical solution.
Finally, where will this rank in the list of the world’s best theme parks?
I’d have to say number one, wouldn’t I? It’s a very special theme park because Ferrari itself is very special. Because we’re totally indoors and have the Ferrari brand we are a one-off. We’re not trying to compete with Disneyland or Alton Towers. Yes, it’s a theme park, but it’s also so much more.
Details
Tickets will cost Dhs165 for guests under 1.5m, Dhs225 for guests over 1.5m; Dhs270 premium tickets for guests under 1.5m, Dhs375 for guests over 1.5m. Open Tues-Sun, noon-midnight www.ferrariworldabudhabi.com.
