Abu Dhabi for 5 days with the Kids?

[IceBoy]

Hi All,

I'm trying to book a late short Summer holiday break with the wife and kids.

Abu Dhabi has come up a fair chunk cheaper than Dubai on the usual websites. I understand it will be hot but what fun activities are there with the wife and kids, aged 16 and 13 (boys).

They like fast cars, water parks, eating out etc.

I also note that a couple of hotels offer a resort type All Inclusive, has anyone tried these?

IceBoy

[shirt]

Try to get something on yas island, it’ll tick all your kids boxes - ferrari world, waterworld etc. some of the hotels do deals where the passes for that are thrown in for free (look at dnata travel).

You expect it to be hot, that’s what everyone says and then they come here in summer lol. It’s only about 42 at the moment but the humidity is off the scale.

[belleair302]

Any mall with air conditioning, it is that simple.

[EarlofDrift]

It's not the heat that will drain you it's the humidity, go out in a shirt and it'll be saturated within 15 minutes. The malls are air conditioned but forget going to the beach if it's anything over 35c.

The best way to describe it is like being stuck in a giant city sized sauna or when you open the oven door and a plumb or hot air smacks you in the face.

Not sure many kids are going appreciate it given it's just about tollerable for a pastey Northern European like myself.

[GT03ROB]

I'd think long & hard about it. If you've not experienced the heat & humidity of the gulf in summer before you'll wonder why you did it. If you are outside the only place to be is in a chilled pool.

[crossle]

Lived there for 3 years - there's no way I'd inflict that humidity on a family holiday - it's cheap for a reason - no one wants to go there at that time of year...

[Stylus]

You already know it's going to be hot, but a benefit of this is that its also going to be quiet as a combined effect of little tourism and some of the resident expat families will bail for the summer.

You mentioned a "short" trip which is more than doable in my mind as long as you plan to either keep near a pool, or inside. Forget any idea of lazing at the beach all day, or going for a walk anywhere and you'll know what to expect. These are all on Yas Island, which is also the Dubai side of town should you want to head there for a day trip (under an hour to get to the Dubai Marina end of town);

Yas Waterworld
Ferrari World (inside)
Warner Bros theme park (inside)
Yas Marina Circuit still runs track days, and driving experiences throughout the summer. I've done both at this time of year.
If feeling particularly energetic you can rent bikes for free and cycle the F1 track a few times a week too.
Malls


You also mentioned all-inclusive, which probably is the newly opened Rixos on Saadiyat (not many hotels do all-inclusive as you know it). Lovely place and only 15 minutes from the Yes Island activities too.

[TNJ]

I went for a week with my two boys (11 and 15 at the time) last August staying at the Yas Viceroy over the F1 circuit.

It is very hot but we were prepared for it and it was fine. It was substantially cheaper than Dubai, albeit I would choose Dubai over Abu Dhabi if I went back.

We had a nice time - the boys enjoyed the waterpark and Warner Bros and we used the beach club a couple of times.

My impression of Abu Dhabi was that it is not really set up for tourists in the same way as Dubai. We were having to get shuttle buses all the time and everything was a bit disjointed. The food and service in the hotel was also pretty poor compared to Dubai.

Also, be prepared for the cost - £100 plus for the waterpark for the day, same again for Warner Bros, etc. It does mount up very quickly.