Yas Island in Abu Dhabi will engulf you with childhood nostalgia and Bollywood

Seven years is a long time to return to the familiar Having spent my childhood in Muscat the capital city of Oman where the Arabian Seamdashunlike Mumbairsquos steely grey oceanmdashis cyan and the rolling Hajar range a looming presence covering a wide expanse of its landscape the Gulf has always had a piece of my heartDuring a recent trip to Abu Dhabirsquos Yas Island some of my early memories came back to me So did those years of sitting in front of the idiot boxmdashwhen cable TV was the ragemdashspending empty hours watching the gimmicks of Tom and Jerry and the antics of the stoneage Flintstones and their antithesis the futuristic Jetsons This writer joined actor Ranveer Singh on the Scarecrow Scare Raid a thrilling flight with 360 degree aerobatic spinsWe had only heard about Yas Island because of Ferrari World the Ferraribranded theme park and of course actor Ranveer Singh who recently became its poster boy on him laterA 20minute short drive from the verticalmarvel that is downtown Abu Dhabi the leisure and entertainment destination that spans 25 square kilometres was going to be our home for three days We are at the Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi that overlooks our hotel room at The WB Abu Dhabi Curio Collection by Hilton where just moments ago we had been marveling at a page from a screenplay of the iconic Hollywood film Casablanca 1942 framed on the wall Batman gets our attention firstmdasha towering sixfooter with a deep husky voice thatrsquos slightly unnerving Totally in character we feel as he gets us to stand at ease and do a fist bump while a friend takes a photograph ldquoI donrsquot hugrdquo he warnsThe Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi opens into the Plaza that celebrates Warner movies and the Golden Age of Hollywood with Art Deco elements that hark back to the cinema halls and jazz bars of the 1900sItrsquos a whole other universe at the indoor theme mark touted as the worldrsquos largest Not to mention cavernous A neverending maze which means that even if you had an entire day at the park yoursquod perhaps not experience all the rides We got access to the park as part of our stay at the WB Hotel but you can also buy single day tickets as steep as AED 310 per headRs 7000 approx which includes parking or an annual pass that costs R20000 plusThe theme park opens into the Plaza that celebrates Warner movies and the Golden Age of Hollywood with Art Deco elements that hark back to the cinema halls and jazz bars of the 1900s Apart from immersive videos that play out on the large screen itrsquos the theatrical lighting above painting the sky in colours of dawn to dusk thatrsquos a spectacle to behold From here you enter the ldquoportalsrdquo as they are known which take you into the different Warner Bros experiencesmdashtherersquos Bedrock Dynamite Gulch Cartoon Junction Gotham City and Metropolis For the fainthearted therersquos the leisurely boat ride into the town of Bedrockmdashyou turn voyeur absorbing the sights and sounds of a surreal world inhabited by round cavemen woolly mammoths and sabertoothed cats Being the eternal ScoobyDoo fan that we are we also hopped onto the Mystery Machine for a joy ride into the Museum of Mysteries and got spooked along the wayAt the Museum of Mysteries you can enjoy a spook trip with ScoobyDoo and friendsIt was in the dark abyss of Gotham Cityrsquos waterfront district that our hair stood on end Quite early on we tried the Riddler Revolution ldquoa fiendish contraptionrdquo inside a warehouselike space that as the name suggests revolves horizontally and even perpendicularly This wasnrsquot half as bad as the Knight Flight a highspeed VR experience through the skies of Gotham which had our stomach churning To imagine yourself flying with dizzying drops spins and rolls brought memories of our prepandemic skydiving feat in New Zealand What we made a deliberate effort to stay away from was the Scarecrow Scare Raid another thrilling flight with 360 degree aerobatic spins How deluded we were to have come out of the theme park glad to have thought we were unhurt by that experience And then Ranveer Singh happenedmdasha happy accident you would presume Not until we heard of his plan The Yas Island ambassador was visiting Abu Dhabi for a string of events and invited us to join him for a ride No prizes for guessing which one he chose Reluctant as we were we took the plunge squeezing our eyes shut screaming our lungs outmdashbut laughing through it all The cherry on the cake was a selfie with the actor Wasnrsquot as bad as we thought if we were to ignore having been upside down for a few nervewracking secondsThe island which will next be hosting the IIFA Awards has regular shuttles from one centre to anothermdashyou can even dare a walk but the afternoon sun stays long and is harsh We visited the muchhyped Ferrari World on our last day where a significant wait timemdashnearly an hourmdashwas spent at Formula Rossa which at 240 kmh is the worldrsquos fastest roller coaster Ahead of us was an elderly couple whorsquod been cautioned about the risks They went before us and when they returned the old uncle joked lsquodonrsquot wet yourselfrsquo The 22kmlong ride was over in less than a minute but the after effects a dizzy head and wobbly feet lasted the entire day Warning Donrsquot eat a meal at least two hours prior to the ride The Ferrari theme park in itself has a lot to pack in including shopping arcades and plush eateries Everyone loves a good souvenir and there are plenty from mugs keychains to mini cars but it comes at a premium Some as expensive as the cost of your ticketFacing onersquos fears can sometimes be daunting On a personal note 2022 a month away to its end has seen us being thrown into the deep end once too many without any warning at all In a welcome change we had complete control to how dangerously far wersquod go choosing the ride prepared for the consequencesBudget travel to DubaiWhile private cabs to Dubai from Yas Island would cost you anywhere between 400 to 500 AED this writer who went exploring the Emirati capital covered the distance in less than 100 AED We shared a private cab from our hotel to Central Abu Dhabi with three others which came to about 20 AED We took an intercity public bus from the Central Bus Station at Abu Dhabi to the last stop Ibn Battuta in Dubai The travel time was less than two hours and it cost us 35 AED which is inclusive of a rechargeable card Our return trip came up to 25 AED and took us just 50 minutes For outstation travellers the bus has WiFi Etihad Airways has daily flights from Mumbai to Abu DhabiWant to hear from youWe are looking to visit and write about interesting places of stay and travel near and far If you wish to host us for a fair engaging experience review write to us at smdmailmiddaycom