In March 2008, Dubai Holdings, Inc.

Dubai Holding

Dubai Holding is a holding company that belongs to the Government of Dubai . It manages and controls 20 companies, which operate in real estate, hospitality, finance, healthcare, energy, research, education, entertainment, media, internet, tourism and biotechnology...

 and Six Flags

Six Flags

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. is the world's largest amusement park corporation based on quantity of properties and the fifth most popular in terms of attendance. The company maintains 14 properties located throughout North America, including theme parks, thrill parks, water parks and family...

 announced a corporate marketing alliance that would allow Tatweer

Tatweer

Tatweer is a member company and subsidiary of Dubai Holding, a Dubai-based holding company set up by the government of Dubai to manage its assets and investments...

, a member of Dubai Holdings, Inc., to lease the exclusive right to the Six Flags brand name in the Dubailand Development of the United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

. According to Six Flags, this is the largest Six Flags to be developed outside of the United States, and is the first of several products outside of the Middle East. The park will feature thrill rides and live entertainment featuring Tony Hawk

Tony Hawk

Anthony Frank "Tony" Hawk , nicknamed "The Birdman" is an American retired professional skateboarder and actor. Hawk gained significant fame for completing the first 900 as well as his licensed video game titles distributed by Activision...

. Groundbreaking will begin in early 2009. Unlike other Six Flags theme parks (including Six Flags America

Six Flags America

Six Flags America is a family theme park and water park located in Mitchellville, Prince George's County, Maryland. It is situated east of Washington D.C. and southwest of Baltimore. The park covers , 131 of which is currently used for park operations...

), this one will not have a Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

 theme in its park or any other Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 characters because Warner Bros. is planning on opening its own park in Dubai: Warner Bros. Movie World

Warner Bros. Movie World

Warner Bros. Movie World is a popular movie related theme park on the Gold Coast in Australia. It is owned and operated by Village Roadshow since the take over from Time Warner and is the only movie related park in Australia...

. Six Flags Dubailand is the first park to be built and opened as a Six Flags since Six Flags Over Mid-America (now Six Flags St. Louis) opened in 1971.

Design

Six Flags Dubailand was designed by the Goddard Group- the Los Angeles-based design firm responsible for many popular attractions at Six Flags theme parks, including the Glow in the Park Parades and Monster Mansion. Design began in May 2008 and continued until November 2008.

Retired Six Flags General Manager Steve Calloway served as Executive Producer for Six Flags overseeing the day to day creation of the park's concept, and the Goddard Group's Taylor Jeffs served as the park's Creative Director.

While the details of the park's design have not been officially released to the public, insiders have reported that the park follows a traditional hub-and-spoke model with several innovations, including first-of-their-kind approaches to the ticketing, entry, and exit experiences. It has also come out that the park does not have lands themed to places or times, but instead designed to a collection of emotions.

Many themed entertainment industry veterans worked on the project, including James Adams, Christopher Smith, Greg Pro, James Michaelson, James Wong, Scott Sherman, Lawrence Nelson, Victor Post, Bob Baranick, Scott Wren, and Greg Maletic.

External links

• Six Flags Dubailand

United Arab Emirates°N date=December 2010°W