The Formula Rossa rollercoaster

 A year after its first Formula One race, Abu Dhabi hopes to lure even more tourists with “Ferrari World” — a grandiose theme park that is the first of its kind for the iconic Italian carmaker.

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi announced on Monday, the 19th of July, that the park will open in 100 days featuring a record-breaking roller coaster ride meant to emulate the feeling of being in a Ferrari F1 car.

Sitting next to the futuristic Yas Marina circuit that hosted Abu Dhabi’s inaugural Grand Prix race in November 2009, the sprawling complex will be the world’s largest indoor theme park.

Due to open on October 28, little more than two weeks before this year’s Abu Dhabi GP, it will be housed under a massive triangular red roof on the 40-billion-dollar Yas Island development.

“It is an indoor thing with an outdoor feeling,” said Claus Frimand, the general manager of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi.

“You forget that you are inside a building because the roof is between 35 and 50 metres (115 and 165 feet) above you and there are no support structures, except the funnel in the middle and one row of columns,” he added.

Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital, hopes the park will help to draw tourists from around the globe along with several other ambitious projects including state-of-the-art branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums.

Ferrari World spreads over 86,000 square metres (925,696 square feet), while the red roof bearing the world’s largest logo of Ferrari’s prancing horse stretches over 200,000 square metres (2.15 million square feet).

Among its 20 attractions are two roller coasters, including the F1-themed Formula Rossa which is set to be the fastest ever reaching a top speed of 240 kilometres (150 miles) per hour.

“It gives you the feel of driving in a F1 car very close to the ground,” said park manager Andy Keeling.

The second of the roller coasters, which stretch beyond the building’s perimeter, features two tracks with Ferrari-shaped trains.

“The unique feature is that it has two tracks, two trains side by side and depending on the weight of the passengers, one will cross the finish line first,” said Frimand.

Right in the centre of the building, out of a big funnel which is the only area with daylight, visitors can experience the space-shot G-force Tower.

“That is the highest we could build on the island,” said Frimand. “We can shoot people up through the roof where they can look over the whole island.

“It gives you the G-force that the drivers are experiencing during the race,” he added.

Elsewhere, a Ferrari California Spyder convertible takes visitors through Bell’Italia, a reproduction of the Italian countryside with model villages and tourist highlights like the lagoon of Venice, the Colosseum, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

A large replica of the Maranello factory demonstrates the manufacturing process from the design stage to the finished product.

Motoring enthusiasts will even be able to experience the inside of a Ferrari V12 engine in another ride.

Abu Dhabi hopes such features will boost tourism in the desert emirate.

“It is a good thing for the tourism offering in Abu Dhabi as there is not all that much to see,” said Grant Salter, general manager of the leisure consultancy Grant Thornton.

“But in isolation, it is not going to drive a huge volume to the capital. It will rather create an additional activity for people who are visiting the emirate anyway,” he added.

Premjit Bangara, manager at Sharaf Travel, sounded more upbeat about the impact of Ferrari World on tourism, saying it will stimulate interest from neighbouring countries where people are passionate about racing.

Another challenge will be profitability.

“Very few theme parks in the world are financially sustainable,” said Salter. “Generally the number of visitors coming in is never enough to cover the costs.”

Rides and attractions:

* Formula Rossa – The world’s fastest roller coaster, reaching speeds of 240 kmph.

* Speed of Magic – A fantasy 4-D journey following the adventures of a young boy as he travels through a kaleidoscopic dreamscape of natural and phenomenal environments, where no Ferrari has gone before.

* Made in Maranello – A virtual trip behind the walls of the famous Ferrari factory in Maranello, taking guests through the intricate process of making the world’s most sought after car.

* V12 - An exciting flume ride to the heart of a 12 cylinders engine.

* G-Force – A thrilling tower ride that will shoot thrill-seekers through the red roof and 62 meters in the air before plummeting back to Earth, experiencing the actual G-force of a Ferrari, in a seat directly inspired by the Ferrari Enzo.

* Scuderia Challenge – Cutting edge racing simulators similar to those used by the drivers of the Scuderia Ferrari in training.

* Viaggio in Italia – A virtual aerial voyage over Italy’s cities and their main monuments, mountains and coasts pursuing a Ferrari.

* Fiorano GT Challenge – A unique dueling rollercoaster with Ferrari F430 Spiders twisting and turning through tight corners on a sprint to the finish line.

* Bell’Italia - A miniature recreation of Italy’s most famous locations, from the picturesque Portofino and the Amalfi Coast to Monza racetrack, the Colosseum in Roma, Venezia and Maranello, the heartland and home of Ferrari.

* Paddock – A re-creation of the Ferrari motor home including garages, transporters & hospitality suites with interactive shows offering fans a taste of the true action behind the scenes on a Grand Prix race day.

* The Pit Wall – An interactive theatre that allows guests to test their judgment in realistic racing scenarios.

* Galleria Ferrari - The world’s largest Ferrari gallery outside Maranello, showcasing the most exclusive range of classic and contemporary Ferrari’s from all over the world.

* Junior GT - A driving school for children with expert instruction where they will drive reduced scale F430 GT Spiders on an equipped driving course.

* Junior Grand Prix - After the Junior GT driving experience, budding F1TM drivers can enjoy the race track in scaled down Ferrari F1TM racers.

* The Racing Legends - A ride through Ferrari’s greatest racing moments starting from the first races all the way to today’s F1 victories.

* Driving with Champions – An interactive 3-D show which follows the adventures of a young engineer who is taken on the ride of a lifetime with a racing champion on his first day working at the Ferrari factory

* Cinema Maranello - Ferrari World’s own theatre showing ‘Coppa di Sicilia’, a short film that tells one of the many inspiring stories from the life of the legendary Enzo Ferrari.

* Junior Training Camp – An interactive play area for children where they can engage with a waterless car wash, become custom ‘constructors’, climb up the grandstand, pilot remote cars, peddle their own miniature Ferrari and play with an F1TM car made of soft, guest-friendly foam.

* Carousel - Featuring never-before-seen Ferrari prototypes based on winning designs from a Ferrari competition.

* Dining and Shopping – A range of concept restaurants and cafes offering authentic Italian dining experiences, in addition to unique shopping locations.

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Source: FerrariWorld via news.yahoo.com and nitrobahn.com