World's Biggest Theme Park Rises in World's Biggest Playground

DUBAI, U.A.E., June 13, 2008 — -- Consider it the world's largest playground.

Rising in the desert of Dubai is Dubailand, a theme park complex of immense scale that its creators hope will catapult the city into one of the top five tourist destinations in the world.

The city-state of Dubai, often called the "Las Vegas of the Middle East," also hopes to become the region's answer to Orlando, Florida.

By 2012, the Dubailand complex, a landmass roughly the size of Orlando itself, is set to be home to a crop of major theme parks. Six Flags, Universal Studios, Dreamworks, Marvel and Legoland will all open Dubailand outlets, their first in the Arab world. Universal Studios Dubailand will be the first to open in 2010.

As a business proposition, Dubailand is a massive real estate project that combines hotel, entertainment, residential and retail subdivisions.

The Tiger Woods, a golf course designed by Tiger himself, will be lined with luxury homes and a boutique hotel. Dubailand's Falcon City will have life-size replicas of the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids, and the Taj Mahal. Beauty Land will house several spas, while Palmarosa development will feature what Dubailand calls a "wellness resort and health farm." Sports City will have massive stadiums and an Formula One racetrack. The Bawadi strip, inspired by the Las Vegas strip, has hotels and shopping.

The one thing Dubailand won't have is gambling, which is banned by Islamic law.

"We want to cater for the whole family and all ages," Mohamed Al Habbai, Dubailand's senior vice president, told ABC News.

"HIT Entertainment, Legoland, they cater for different criteria of age between 2 to 9, then Universal Studios comes to play for the teenagers, then others with a different criteria."

"The plan is pretty fantastic," said Kyle McCarthy of the Family Travel Forum, a New York-based consultancy. "I was impressed with the variety of attractions geared to different ages."

The project involves a vast development of infrastructure and human resources. As designed, Dubailand would sustain 2.4 million residents and workers — nearly twice Dubai's population today.