Welcome to Dubailand, twice the size of Disney World

I swear every time I read something about the United Arab Emirates development plans, I am amazed. Last week, I read about Masdar, the greenest city in the world, being built in UAE.

Today, I stumbled upon the plans for Dubailand, the world’s biggest amusement park in the making. Currently, the largest amusement park in the world is the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, which is also the largest single-site employer in the US with 58,000 employees. Dubailand will be twice the size.

Check out these stats about Dubailand:

  • It will be built on 3 billion square feet (107 miles sq.)
  • The estimated price tag is $20 billion
  • The site will have 7 themes: Theme parks, culture & art, science & planetariums, sports & sports academies, well-being & health, shopping & retail and resorts & hotels
  • It will have a total of 45 mega projects
  • Dubailand expects a footfall of 40,000 visitors a day and 15 millions visitors a year once fully operational
  • It will have a minimum of 55 hotels within its geographical location

Doesn’t it sometimes seem that the world tends to copy the worst things about America?