Dubai Opens World's Biggest Shopping Mall

Dubai, UAE Makes Yet Another Landmark on the Map for Tourists to See

Nov 9, 2008

The size of 50 soccer pitches, Dubai Mall offers everything from retail shops, to an Olympic sized Ice-skating rink, to an indoor theme park.

Dubai debuted it's latest attraction: the world's largest indoor shopping center, packed with entertainment, activities and shopping for all ages. With the current manpower of 13,346 people and 1.38 million dedicated hours, Dubai Mall opened with over 600 retailers, making it the largest mall opening in history.

Dubai Mall consists of several malls within malls, including: a gold souk with 220 retail shops; the "Fashion Catwalk Atrium" with almost 100 shops dedicated to haute couture; and a waterfront atrium. Alongside this includes other attractions such as theme parks, the largest movie theatre in Dubai, an Olympic sized ice skating rink and a large indoor street-scape with a retractable roof.

A few of the most notable attractions that has already given Dubai Mall the great recognition include the Dubai Aquarium and Discovery Centre, and the SEGA Republic theme park.

Construction

The Dubai Mall is owned by Emaar Properties, the world's largest estate company and claims to be the size of 50 international sized football pitches. Packed with 13,800 tonnes of structural steel and 1.93 million sq feet of stone and tile work has been used in the construction of the mall itself.

Dubai Aquarium and Discovery Centre

Set to display over 33,000 marine animals representing 85 different species when fully functional, the Dubai Aquarium has already earned its name in the Guinness Book of World Records for the world's largest acrylic panel measuring 32.88 metres wide, 8.3 metres in height, 750 mm thick weighing approximately 245,614 kg!

The aquarium has been built with a 270 degree walk-through tunnel allowing for mall visitors to experience close-encounters with marine life. Situated above the aquarium is the Discovery Centre which is dedicated towards educating people on the different aquatic environments.

This two floor indoor theme park, includes rides, amusements and motion simulators which are categorized in a range of themed zones for vistors to explore. Rides such as the "Sonic Drop Tower", a free-fall tower, and the "Spin Gear", a horizontal spinning coaster, allow for visitors to experience a high-adrenaline thrill on rides. The first of it's kind in the Middle East, the SEGA Republic® aims at innovative attractions to lure tourists and people living in the region of all ages.

To sugar-coat it all off, the Dubai Mall will also feature the world's largest indoor parking facility with over 14,000 spaces.

Beware, the Dubai mall-madness does not end there: The construction of an even bigger mall, Mall of Arabia, is already in the works which will consist of over 1,400 retail shops, a rooftop hotel, a theme park, an earth science museum as well as an indoor planetarium.

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