Tag: family vacation

Spend Winter Holidays with your Kids in Sunny Dubai

Dubai is by far the best destination for a sunny vacation during winter when it is pouring rain in many corners around the world. If you want to escape the cold weather and the strong winds to enjoy the Christmas holidays wearing Santa’s hat while sunbathing, Dubai is the place to be. What is tempting about this coveted city is that it has everything it takes to spend the perfect family vacation since numerous activities can be enjoyed by people of all ages thanks to Dubai’s amazing attractions and amusement parks.

In this post I will take you through super fun places in Dubai where each visit will create a unique experience for you and your children.

1- LEGOLAND Dubai

My kids are fond of LEGO. They have created their own LEGO designs, built many LEGO sets and collected so many LEGO items. They also watched the LEGO movies, had LEGO themed birthdays and so on. You get the picture… So you can imagine their reaction when they realized LEGOLAND was going to open in Dubai back in 2016. We lived in Dubai for ten years and we were still there when the first LEGOLAND park in the Middle East opened! We were probably among the first visitors to discover LEGOLAND Dubai, a world where you experience LEGO in a new dimension.

First things first! It all begins with a LEGO brick and what could be more exciting than discovering how the bricks are made? So our first stop was at the FACTORY where we witnessed the creation of the LEGO bricks and received valuable souvenir bricks signed “Legoland Dubai Factory” with the year of our visit, a brick you cannot find elsewhere.

Next, we entered the MINILAND: a colorful miniature museum of iconic landmarks from the United Arab Emirates and some other countries, recreated in LEGO down to the last detail! It is an impressive and unique work of art that demonstrates once again that LEGO lets your imagination run wild and allows you to create endless possibilities.

As if these outstanding LEGO models aren’t awesome enough by themselves, they also light up at specific times of the day to create a dazzling light show.

Our following stop was at the LEGO CITY, the city of dreams of my little ones (my boys were a little younger then). Here, instead of building a fire station and pretend playing with fire fighters figurines, they could actually BE the fire fighters and drive LEGO fire trucks in the Rescue Academy attraction! They got a chance to drive a car at the Driving School, fly a plane at the City Airport and be policemen at the LEGO CITY Police Headquarters.

Our adventure wouldn’t be complete without stopping at the LEGO gift shop and choosing remarkable LEGO souvenirs. www.legoland.com/dubai

2- Dubai Dinosaur Park

All kids are absolutely fascinated by the gigantic creature that lived on earth about a hundred million years ago. They learn about dinosaurs at school, watch cartoon characters based on dinosaurs, wear dinosaur costumes on Halloween and love to play with dinosaur toys.

So what would you say if you could take your children to a park full of life-size dinosaur models, spread around a large outdoor area as if they were in their own natural habitat?

In Dubai Dinosaur Park you will be standing in front of a T-Rex, up-close, feeling so small when suddenly you hear the dinosaur emit sounds and move. Spooky!

I can tell you that it was so exhilarating to be walking in a dinosaur park while remembering some scenes of Jurassic Park movies! It was undoubtedly an unparalleled experience, filled with excitement but also with educational pre-historic information. www.dubaigardenglow.com (same website as the one for Dubai Garden Glow and Dinosaur Park)

3- Dubai Garden Glow

Another fabulous part of Zabeel park, just adjacent to the Dinosaur Park is Dubai Garden Glow, which is, as its name implies, a wonderful garden showcasing fantastic luminous designs.

Made with ten million LED lights and recycled materials, the exceptional glowing works of art are sure to bedazzle all visitors of all ages. As we walked along the garden, my family and I were transported to an enchanting world where colors and shapes blend in a surreal way.

Every year a new theme is created, so what you see in my photos will not be the exact work of art you will get to see when you visit this year. www.dubaigardenglow.com

4- Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo in Dubai Mall

Marine life is fascinating. A whole world exists beneath the oceans but we sometimes forget about it. Since kids love fish and all kinds of sea creatures, it would be a dream come true for them to get a chance to interact with aquatic animals.

In Dubai Mall, the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo offers an extraordinary experience for children and adults. One of the most unforgettable memories I have with my older son is when we took a thrilling ride on board of a glass-bottom boat. Yes, that’s right! A boat with a completely clear glass floor. So picture yourself sitting on a bench in a small boat and dangling your legs over more than thirty-three thousand aquatic animals swimming under your nose. I can assure you that it is an unparalleled experience and an opportunity that doesn’t come your way often.

The cherry on the top for the kids is that at a certain point throughout the aquarium tour they are given fish food to feed the fish themselves. My son threw the food above a glass fence and watched the fish come on top of the water surface to catch it. He was over the moon! www.thedubaiaquarium.com

For more ideas about traveling with kids, check my posts Canada’s Mont Tremblant Resort and 5 Roman Piazzas in One Afternoon.