World's largest indoor theme park set to open in Dubai

The Lost Valley-Dinosaur Adventure at IMG Worlds of Adventure in Dubai. (Courtesy of IMG World of Aventures)

The world's largest indoor theme park is set to open its doors in Dubai next week, featuring Marvel-themed thrill rides and a dinosaur park that brings the pre-historic animals back to life in the Middle Eastern desert.

Covering an area equal to 1.5 million square feet, IMG Worlds of Adventure features four zones -- Marvel, Cartoon Network, Lost Valley - Dinosaur Adventure and IMG Boulevard -- and can accommodate up to 30,000 visitors a day.

Developers say they anticipate seeing 4.5 million guests in its first year.

Some of the park highlights include the thrill-ride 'Avengers: Battle of Ultron,' an immersive experience that uses stereoscopic 3D media and explosive special effects to parachute riders into the Marvel universe.

At Lost Valley, the park's version of ‘Jurassic World,' visitors will walk among 69 moving, breathing dinosaurs built in painstaking detail: Scales are hand-sculpted and painted with a thin layer of silicone to lend a lifelike, shiny appearance. In total it took five years to bring the troop to life including the star of the show, Barosaurus, who towers 16 meters high.

For an adrenaline rush, visitors can climb aboard ‘The Velociraptor' roller coaster which features four loops -- the biggest one topping out at 105 feet -- and reaches speeds of up to 100 km/hr in 2.5 seconds.

The glittering city of Dubai has become a hotbed of development for theme parks in a bid to boost tourism and diversify its offerings.

Another hotly anticipated theme park set to open in October is Motiongate Dubai, which will feature rides and attractions themed after some of Hollywood's most popular film franchises including “The Hunger Games,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Madagascar” “Shrek" and “Ghostbusters.”

Motiongate Dubai is one of three theme parks from Dubai Parks and Resorts, billed as the region's largest integrated theme park destination. Along with Legoland Dubai, Motiongate and Bollywood Parks, a Six Flags-branded area is also expected to open in late 2019, with plans to build "at least three world record-breaking rides."

Six Flags Dubai will feature 27 rides and attractions including six roller coasters, four aerial attractions and a 350-meter River Rapids ride.

The US company also revealed this summer that it had entered discussions to open a park in Saudi Arabia.

IMG Worlds of Adventure opens August 31.