There is nowhere quite like a theme park! Fortunately, Dubai offers two film-based amusement parks just outside of the city. But which one is the better pick, IMG Worlds of Adventure or Motiongate?
After comparing the two for price, rides, facilities, and location, we found it was a really close call, but Motiongate just about edged it as the better theme park than IMG Worlds.
However, something to bear in mind is that your film and TV preferences will no doubt greatly influence which you’d prefer!
Motiongate features attractions around The Smurfs, Hotel Transylvania, Dream Works and Lionsgate. IMG Worlds of Adventure features attractions around Marvel, Cartoon Network, and Dinosaurs!
You can already book your tickets below and keep on reading to find out what we think of the two!
Locations
First of all, let’s take a look at where the two amusement parks are located.
Motiongate is located about a 25 minute drive away from Dubai Marina and 35 minutes from Downtown Dubai.
As you can see, Motiongate Dubai is located quite out of the way from the main city along Sheikh Zayed Road, towards Abu Dhabi. It is in a fairly isolated location, but it does have the benefit of being surrounded by other theme parks such as Legoland. However, this does mean it will likely have to be a day trip rather than a place to visit multiple times across your holiday.
If you want to make a day or two of it and visit Motiongate as well as Legoland then Rove at The Park provides great rooms at a decent price. Rooms start from as little as 125AED per night!!
As for IMG Worlds of Adventures, it is located approximately 25 minutes from Downtown Dubai and 15 minutes from the Dubai Sports City.
IMG World is also located a bit out of the way of the city as it is beside the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road. It does have the benefit of being nearby to the popular Global Village, so you could easily spend some quality time at both.
It is hard to judge the which is in the best location here as it would depend entirely on where you’re staying. Both theme parks are surrounded by other entertainment so you won’t be getting bored that’s for sure!
In terms for which theme park is located closest to the main city centre, we would say IMG Worlds of Adventure just about wins it.
Which Has Cheaper Tickets?
Next, we will judge whether Motiongate or IMG Worlds of Adventure has the cheaper tickets and which has the best value for money. We thought we’d also take a look at the TripAdvisor and Google review ratings for both theme parks.
| Day Ticket | Annual Pass | Trip Advisor Rating | Google Rating | |
| Motiongate | 330 AED | 595 AED | 4/5 | 4.6/5 |
| IMG Worlds of Adventure | 345 AED | 725 AED | 4/5 | 4.4/5 |
As you can see, there is not a lot of difference in prices at all and the same goes for the reviews. You can book your tickets below:
IMG Worlds of Adventure Tickets
However, as Motiongate is slightly cheaper and slightly higher rated and so wins this round.
Which Theme Park Has More Rides?
To compare the rides between Motiongate and IMG Worlds of Adventure, we thought we would examine what each has to offer.
Motiongate:
- Capitol Bullet Train
- Panem Aerial Tour
- Hotel Transylvania
- Underworld 4D
- Zombieland Blast Off
- Ghostbusters: Battle for New York
- The Green Hornet: High Speed Chase
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: River Expedition
- Smurfs Studios Tour
- Smurf Village Express
- Melman-Go-Round
- Penguin Air
- Madagascar Mad Pursuit!
- The Swinging Viking
- Dragon Gliders
- Swamp Celebration
- Kung Fu Panda: Unstoppable Awesomeness
- Mr. Ping’s Noodle Fling
IMG Worlds of Adventure
- The Haunted Hotel
- Avengers Battle of Ultron
- Spider-Man Doc Ock’s Revenge
- Avengers Flight of the Quinjets
- Hulk Epsilon Base 3D
- Thor Thunder Spin
- The Velociraptor
- Predator
- Forbidden Territory
- Dino Carousel
- Ben 10 5D Hero Time
- The Powerpuff Girls – Mojo Jojo’s Robot Rampage!
- Adventure Time – The Ride of OOO with Finn & Jake
- The Amazing Ride of Gumball
Both parks have a good amount of rides and a mix for adults and children. However, Motiongate overall has more rides, coming in at 18 rides compared to IMG Worlds of Adventure which has 14.
Which Has Better Rides?
So we’ve just compared which has the more rides, but which has more variety? We’ve taken a look across some of the previously mentioned rides to see what type of attraction they are.
Motiongate:
- Capitol Bullet Train -Thrill rollercoaster
- Hotel Transylvania – Castle ride
- Underworld 4D – 4D thrill simulator
- Zombieland Blast Off – Thrill ride
- Ghostbusters: Battle for New York – Interactive ride
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: River Expedition – Water Ride
- Smurf Village Express – Child’s coaster
- Madagascar Mad Pursuit! – Roller coaster
- The Swinging Viking – Swinging boat ride
- Dragon Gliders – Air roller coaster
- Swamp Celebration – Spinning ride
IMG Worlds of Adventure
- The Haunted Hotel – Scary thrill ride
- Spider-Man Doc Ock’s Revenge – Roller coaster
- Avengers Flight of the Quinjets – Race ride
- Hulk Epsilon Base 3D – Simulation ride
- Thor Thunder Spin – Spinning ride
- The Velociraptor – Thrilling roller coaster
- Predator – Roller coaster
- Forbidden Territory – VR thrill ride
- Adventure Time – The Ride of OOO with Finn & Jake – Flight ride
- Dino Carousel – Carousel
We’d say that IMG Worlds of Adventure has a split of child suited rides and adult thrill rides, but we’d say Motiongate generally has more variety in the types of rides.
Motiongate has plenty of rides suited to children and adults alike, so we think they should win, although IMG Worlds of Adventure has a good range of options too.
Which Has Better Facilities, Food, And Other Things to do?
Next we will look at what other entertainment options Motiongate and IMG Worlds of Adventure have to offer, as well as what food options there are.
Other entertainment options at Motiongate include: Flint’s Imagination Lab, Smurfberry Factory, Smurfs Village Playhouse, Woodland Play Park, Camp Viking, Shrek’s Merry Fairy Tale Journey, Kung Fu Panda Academy, Step Up Dubai, All In! and The Fountain of Dreams.
Entertainment options at IMG Worlds of Adventure include the Adventure Fortress and meet and greets.
Both locations have their fair share of themed and exciting shops too. Motiongate‘s shops are: Sweet Sweet Nothings, Daily Variety Store, Shrek Shack, Studio Store, Creature Comforts, Ghostly Gifts, Gifts to Die For, Smurfs Studios Store, DreamWorks Store, Hiccup’s Workshop, Big Top Treasures, Dragon Warrior Shrine and Gift Shop, Panem Supply Co., and Tim and Son’s Bait Shop.
IMG Worlds of Adventure‘s shops include: Marvel Universe, Empire News and Comics, Avengers Exchange, Epsilon Command, Daily Bugle Company Store, Marvel Vault, Cartoon Network Classics, Cartoon Network Store, The Amazing World of Gumball – The Store, Lazy Store, Ben 10 – Universe, The Explorer’s Supply, Raptor Outpost, LV Retail Cart, Haunted Hotel Store, World of Candy, IMG Emporium, and Courage & Kind.
For food, Motiongate‘s restaurants include: Hotel Beastro, Baby Brent’s Luncheonette, Very Smurfy Café, The Candy Apple, Dragon Flame Grill, King Julien’s Side Show Café, Mr. Ping’s Noodle Shop, and Supporting Rolls Bakery.
On the other hand, IMG Worlds of Adventure‘s restaurants include: Tony’s Skydeck, Chang’s Golden Dragon, Mama Scano’s Of Yancy Street, Downtown Shawarma, CN Feast, Mr. Smoothy, Richard’s Around the World Café, Finn & Jake’s – Everything Burrito, Spice Valley, Carnivore Hut, 360 Express, Popcorn Factory, Boulevard Gourmet, Samosa House, Flavors of Arabia, and The Coffeehouse.
IMG Worlds of Adventure’s stands include: 2 Churro & Pretzel Stations, 2 Hotdog Expresses, Captain Scoop, Popping Popcorn, The Candy Palace, Crepe Construction Zone, Powerpuff Ice Cream Parlour, SportsCandy Station, Fruit Station, Bean Stop, and Waffles on Wheels.
We think that Motiongate has a great range of extra entertainment options as well as shops so you can grab some merchandise at themed stores or a souvenir to take home! They also have a vast range of food options serving all sorts of different cuisine, no two places to eat are the same.
We think that IMG Worlds of Adventure falls slightly short for other entertainment. However it has a great range of themed shops for adults and children, especially if you are looking for some impressive Marvel memorabilia. IMG Worlds of Adventure’s restaurant and dining options are endless, the park really does cater cuisine from all over the world. There are also plenty of stands to grab a quick bite.
We’d say, Motiongate has the better range of extra entertainment, but IMG Worlds of Adventure has a great range of shops and a lot more food variation with stunning decor. For that reason, we would say that IMG Worlds of Adventure takes the cake for best facilities and food.
Conclusion
It was a very close competition, but overall, grab a ticket and enjoy Motiongate. It is the better theme park and wins by 3 points to 2!
It is clear to see that both theme parks offer completely different options whilst still catering to both adults and children. What’s more, they are absolutely both worth a visit! A big element of personal preference comes into play here depending on what films you prefer too!
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