Over the weekend we decided to go jaunting in Abu Dhabi and spend time in Yas Island at the Hilton Curio Warner Brothers Hotel. The hotel is a great option for kids and has three entertainment parks in the vicinity including Warner Brothers Theme Park, Seaworld, Waterpark and Ferrari World. The two former theme parks are indoors while the waterpark is outdoors and we opted out of it since the weather was leaning towards the hotter side and we also skipped Ferrari World as our daughter is too young to enjoy the rides.

During our hotel stay, we were always greeted with the infamous Looney Tunes squad like Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny and the interactions were always a joy for our daughter. The hotel itself is sprinkled with cinematic artworks and memorabilia from the Warner Bros Production which were fun to spot.

Warner Brothers Theme Park

Upon arrival, our first stop was the Warner Brothers indoor theme park and one of the greatest perks is that the park is adjacent to the hotel. We were also given a free pass to visit two places per day which was another bonus during our stay. Even though we visited during the weekend, the queues were surprisingly non-existent in the morning and well into the afternoon. I was told beforehand that lines tend to get crazy and so it was preferable to get a fast pass, but we didn’t end up needing it which made the experience that much more nice.

Once inside the theme park, you are under a virtual dynamic sky with sectioned immersive worlds featuring Flintstones, Superman in Metropolis, Batman’s Gotham City, the Cartoon Junction as well as the central plaza for shopping, dining and live shows.

Our 4-year old daughter loves rollercoasters so she got her fix here and had a blast. Sometimes, there were height restrictions on certain rides but her dad could accompany her. From whizzing around in the Tom and Jerry cheese coaster to Daffy Duck’s bouncing pogo-stick ride, it was amusing and entertaining to step into the realms of cartoons.

I was actually quite surprised at how kid-friendly most of the Warner Brothers rollercoaster rides are for a 4 year old, most of which would have restrictions placed back in Kuwait’s theme parks.

The Cartoon Junction

We stepped into the Cartoon Junction world where we met Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo. The Scooby Doo house features a tour around a creepy house complete with spooky hallways and a living room resembling a cabinet of curiosities and other museum artefacts.

As we meandered through the house and scary corridors, we reached the actual ride that recreates one of the classic Scooby Doo stories using animatronics. A cool feature that as the ride moves long, there’s an integrated laser-like gun that you use to point and trigger targets around you causing them to move to tell the story.

Gotham City

The entertainment at Gotham City is darker and a bit more challenging as one would expect. Personally I loved the feel of the place as it truly captured the gritty atmosphere of the Batman movies through dilapidated buildings of urban decay and a brooding landscape. We first entered the Joker Funhouse which is a mystery hallway leading up to a mirror maze, moving floors, and “traps” in an attempt to escape the joker. I couldn’t enter because you had to have closed shoes on and I was wearing sandals, so my daughter and husband went in. The joker visuals ended up frightening my daughter so she didn’t like this one.

Lunch at the Main Plaza

Towards the end we had lunch at Starlight dining serving international cuisine along with character appearances by Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters. The dishes were great and I liked how it wasn’t just the typical “kids theme park fried food” consisting of fries, nuggets and ketchup, but decent meals like Spaghetti Bolognese, mac and cheese croquettes, and seafood.

The Looney Tunes Live Stage Show

Right after our meal, the plaza was getting ready to host a live Warner Brothers show. The show brings to live all the Looney Tunes characters on stage with a musical number and comedic skits. Moreover, there were also choreographed dance routines so the ambiance was very energetic and fun. In this case the scenario was a basketball competition between two Looney Tunes teams and the kids in the audience cheered for their favourite squad.

Back at the Hotel

Once we returned back to our room by late afternoon, we had a swim at the hotel’s pool. I really like the kid’s splash area and cute little dedicated lounging area for them with a screen showcasing Scooby Doo cartoons, it’s a nice touch.

SeaWorld Adventures!

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel’s “Sidekick” restaurant designed for kids. It’s basically a cartoon-inspired place with a children’s buffet and Looney Tunes visitors coming to say hi.

We took a short 8-minute car ride to reach Seaworld.

I came to know that officials from Guinness World Records recently announced that SeaWorld Yas Island has been named the “Largest Indoor Marine-Life Theme Park” in the world.

Seaworld is huge and it is estimated to take as long as 5-6 hours to fully explore it. The place is divided into different marine realms and a central area where they all connect. Some of the themes to explore are the Abu Dhabi ocean, Polar Arctic, and Tropical Ocean to name a few.

Aside from observing animals, there are also experiences such as the dolphin show, pearl-diving presentation, animal feeding sessions and tide pool touch tanks where you can come in contact with some marine creatures under the guidance of a marina biologist. There were also a couple of roller coaster rides like the Eel Racer.

Some of the activities and experiences had a timetable, so either we were lucky enough to be there on schedule or we were exploring the giant aquarium elsewhere. We happened to be nearby one of the activities early on which was the Dolphin show and we got good seats. Before we knew it, the stadium was filled to the brim. We got our pop corn and some hot chocolate as we were still warming up after the penguin encounter at the Polar realm.

The show showcased the intelligence, agility, and playfulness of dolphins in a choreographed performance, while also educated the audience about marine life and conservation efforts. What’s more is that we enjoyed lots of splashes at the front row!

One of the other experiences was a live performance on pearl-diving retelling the history of the trade with humorous drama. The narrator told the story of the challenges and the nature of the pearl diving practice. A cool feature is the theatrical aquarium they used in the background as the story unfolded.

Emperor Penguins at the Arctic Ocean

The immersive penguin exhibit allowed us to closely observe and learn about the emperor penguins in an environment that closely mimics their natural Antarctic habitat, therefore the area was below zero degrees Celsius and we were freezing in our summer clothing.

There was also a feeding demonstration showcasing the penguin’s diets and how they’re fed.

Wrap up

And that summarises our trip to Yas Island. It was such a great experience and I loved re-living childhood again with my daughter and most importantly seeing her excitement and joy in meeting her favourite characters and experiencing their world!

If you would like to read some of my other travel stories you can click here.