My family and I have all been living busy lives. Work requires my parents to spend 10 hours a day on duty and school requires me and my sisters to spend 8 hours for creative learning and challenging preconceptions. And once we reach home, we practically do not find time to do recreational activities with each other to strengthen family bonds. We felt this lack of being drawn to each other so we wanted to get away from all the traffic, noise and bright lights; the city life. That’s when my father planned to spend a day outside the city for some leisure time with each other.
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| Dreamland Aqua Park, Umm Al Quwain |
The place we planned to go to was Dreamland Aqua Park in Umm Al Quwain. It was the perfect place to relieve stress, relax and free oneself from all the lemons that life throws at us. We always visited this place ever since it opened, that’s why I suggested this place to lessen my nostalgia. Before the weekend came, we fixed our bags, made sure to bring towels and extra clothes, prepared the sunblock and swimsuits, and made sure that the car was fully loaded. We didn’t bring food because it wasn’t allowed. You have to buy food inside the park.
Friday morning came and Mom double checked everything. We bid our house good bye and excitedly jumped in the car. Dad started driving and as usual, we stopped by Emarat’s Mini-mart to buy junk to munch on, on the way. And as always, I’d have a mini pizza, mango juice, my favorite Skittles, and the biggest Lays Tomato-Flavored Chips Pack. When we reached the borderline between Sharjah and Dubai, my little sister was snoozing. I guess she had too much muffins and croissants, both her favorite pastry. I got my camera set for action in shooting camels or donkeys or just other stuff you’d see outside the city. Halfway the trip, Mom and Dad were busy mumbling stuff which weren’t any of my business. My older sister was busy taking pictures of herself. My little sister was sleeping so I joined her in hitting the hay time. After two hours, Mom was waking us up because we arrived. While falling in line for the entrance fee, my older sister and I were giggling and busy talking about which ride to go on first.
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| Slide Five is the yellow and blue slides. |
Then, we got in, found a spot where to put our bags, and changed into our swimsuits. This is where the fun begins. Traditionally, my older sister and I would float in the
Dream Stream. Their workers would help you get in the float, pushes you down the stream and you just have to lie down, your eyes on the clouds, relax, and dream. It was a childhood favorite. But this time, we went to
Slide Five first. It was a wavy slide and you’ve got no choice but to go down the fast way. We slid for five times and it was pretty much tiring because you have to get your butt up there if you want to slide again. And I’m telling you, the stairs goes up way high and you could see the gulf beside
Dreamland.
After all the sliding madness, we took our little sister to
Aqua Play. It’s the pool for toddlers with 19 game options. The best part was standing under a big bucket which showers you once it’s full. It was like a waterfall by surprise!
After amusing ourselves, Dad bought fried chicken crisped to perfection! And Mom came with a big bowl of fries and ketchup. Yum!
Snack Attack cooks them Havana-style.
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| The Pool Bar! |
After eating, we accompanied our parents in T
he Pool Bar. It’s where you get to drink cocktails and quench your thirst in a pool with chairs, tables and an umbrella. There are waiters too! But we got bored because only adults go there, so me and my older sister checked out the
Twisting Dragons. She got scared so I took the ride with a stranger. In the
Twisting Dragons, you’ll know from which side you entered the ride but have to make a wild guess which one you’ll end up with. I was screaming because the slide was like having to slide inside a dragon’s esophagus! It was very dark and you’ll never know when you’ll reach the pool. So it takes you by surprise! When I reached the pool, I rushed to my sister to go on another amusement.
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| The Twisting Dragons! |
We went to
Hippos Island. It’s designed like an island where you have to walk to get to the volcano , pass by hippopotamus and dragon figures. And once you get inside the volcano, you'll have to ride the slides inside it and have a go on the freezing pool. What's cool about the inside of this amusement is it has a freezing pool on one side and a jacuzzi on the other. It's wild in there alright!
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| The Cave inside the volcano of Hippos Island |
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| The Family Raft Ride |
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| Twisting and Turning. |
One of the rides I enjoyed the most was
The Family Raft Ride. Your whole family rides a raft which is elevated and the staff pushes you in a slide which had the raft twisting and tilting! We screamed our hearts out, but not my dad. He was cool about it. Near that ride was
The Bumper Boats, us kids rode of course. My little sister went with my mom and they took the swan. It cost AED5 and you get 10 minutes of bumping others in the pool on designed bumper boats.
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| Mighty Go Round Overview |
After the ride, my older sister and I hiked to see the
Mighty Go Round and we rode it for three times! It’s a wild wild ride! And a long one too, it takes you a couple of minutes to reach the pool. The last amusement we went to was the Wave Pool. It generated waves on its own. My sister and I held on to each other but we just keep getting separated because of the huge waves.
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| Mighty Go Round Up Close! |
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| Aqua Play for toddlers and Kids! |
After all the fun, we went back to check on Mom and Dad. They were in
Aqua Play watching over our little sister slide on the mini-slides for kids. It was getting late in the afternoon so we decided to fix ourselves and go back home since it's another 2-hour ride. We showered and changed , fixed our things and went back home just before night arrived. This is a one-day escapade which was set for family bonding and stress relief. It was purposed for trying to live life for fun once in a while. I will never forget this escapade because I had a great time with my family and I enjoyed a lot. Besides our camping on mountains or overnights in cabanas, I choose a one-day escapade filled with splashing fun as my favorite! I will never forget this day.
-- The Kayester!
More Pictures:
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| The Entrance. |
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| The Twin Slides |
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| The Pool Bar !One of its side tables! |
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| AQUA PLAY FOR KIDS! |
Oh and Dreamland, I’ll be back for you on April! Just you wait! :P
