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Six Flags Qiddiya | Saudi Arabia | Theme Park

ScottLann said:
Well....looks like my trip to Six Flags Qiddiya won't be happening anytime soon 🙃

Meant to be going in early April but I very much doubt things will have calmed down by then. It seems a few (but not all) airlines are suspending their flights to Riyadh, I'm still yet to hear back from Virgin Atlantic about my flights currently. Of course, safety for everyone is paramount and the top priority. I do wonder however, what sort of impact this could have on not just SFQ, but the Qiddiya project as a whole.
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I suspect this will "blow over" relatively quickly in regards to tourism travel but yeah, I was looking at going March/April and looks far more likely it'll be winter instead now.
 
I can't see anything about park closures.

Obviously, if people are thinking twice about travelling, I understand that, but my (uneducated) guess is that this will blow over fairly quickly.
 
From what I've seen, life as going on pretty much as normal in Riyadh but as others have said, right now it's not worth the risk. It could be a case where you go there, all is well, then things escalate and the airport has to close down (like they have with other countries in the Gulf Region). Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely gutted to not be getting on Falcon's and all the other great looking coasters there in April, but I wouldn't fancy it if there's a risk I could get stuck there 👀
 
Virgin have temporarily cancelled all their flights to/from London/Riyadh.

Will said:
I can't see anything about park closures.

Obviously, if people are thinking twice about travelling, I understand that, but my (uneducated) guess is that this will blow over fairly quickly.
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The UAE parks were open today i believe. Most people seem to be going about their day there after the nights events. They certainly wouldn't be closing Six Flags due to this.
 
ScottLann said:
From what I've seen, life as going on pretty much as normal in Riyadh but as others have said, right now it's not worth the risk. It could be a case where you go there, all is well, then things escalate and the airport has to close down (like they have with other countries in the Gulf Region). Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely gutted to not be getting on Falcon's and all the other great looking coasters there in April, but I wouldn't fancy it if there's a risk I could get stuck there 👀
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The Riyadh US embassy was struck tonight / this morning... I can't imagine it will be business as normal for much longer as far as Western tourists are concerned.
 
Guess that's that for a while, then. Though with two updates a day to the Travel Advice page, who knows it'll probably look completely different tomorrow.

FCDO__TA__034_-_Saudi_Arabia_Travel_Advice_Ed7__WEB_.jpg


I'd say getting the cred should probably fall under essential travel, but suppose the airlines and insurance might see it differently...
 
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Well, one might argue that riding Falcon Flight constitutes essential travel 😂
On a more serious note, even though the park is an unlikely target, Iran’s troops are desperate and might randomly attack everything they can. I wouldn’t travel there until the situation has stabilised again.
 
A week on and it seems like things are not particularly stabilising. I have been critical of this project, but I do feel bad for all the people's trips that have been disrupted. I do think this could be quite a major event for SF Qiddiya, as obviously during this month I doubt anyone is booking future middle eastern trips, as god knows what the future has in store. So many people are trapped in the UAE at the moment, it's insane. Qatar/Emirates literally infamous for their huge hubs reduced to fractions of their usual traffic, this might be a big hurdle for the parks opening year.

Honestly really bad timing, I hope the park is able to recover. I do feel it might affect the UAE's parks more though to be honest.
 
I do feel bad for people from an enthusiast point of view, must suck getting excited to ride something only for it not to happen. I do struggle to have toooo much sympathy in this case if I'm honest. I know it's a record breaking coaster but you do have to ignore a lot of human rights violations to want to book a holiday there. I put influencers and the like visiting this park in a similar (but not identical) boat to those who move to Dubai. You know the type...

I suppose it's all subjective. Some people will be willing to overlook more or less than others, and that's the reality of it. I just feel for the people, many of whom labourers who have had their passports taken, who are stuck in these parts who have no means to flee or travel elsewhere. I am curious to see how tourism is affected in the long term.
 
Just from a practical standpoint, tickets are now available up to end of April. The park is closed Mondays and Tuesdays in April (including Easter Monday). I still think it's strange they don't have clearer opening days listed if they're trying to attract foreign tourists; I considered visiting early April over the Easter weekend, so would have encountered issues (assuming the trip even went ahead given the current climate).

To be honest, I don't think foreign tourism is making up a big part of current visitors. Just based off my experience of course, but I saw very few westerners during my visit, and the buses to the Metro were extremely quiet. I'd expect most Saudi nationals were driving to the park (and again, that seemed accurate given how busy the buses to the car park were at the end of the night). So I think, for now, the lack of tourism potentially going into the country won't be a massive hit for the park on the short term.
 
JoshC. said:
Just from a practical standpoint, tickets are now available up to end of April. The park is closed Mondays and Tuesdays in April (including Easter Monday). I still think it's strange they don't have clearer opening days listed if they're trying to attract foreign tourists; I considered visiting early April over the Easter weekend, so would have encountered issues (assuming the trip even went ahead given the current climate).

To be honest, I don't think foreign tourism is making up a big part of current visitors. Just based off my experience of course, but I saw very few westerners during my visit, and the buses to the Metro were extremely quiet. I'd expect most Saudi nationals were driving to the park (and again, that seemed accurate given how busy the buses to the car park were at the end of the night). So I think, for now, the lack of tourism potentially going into the country won't be a massive hit for the park on the short term.
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Short term no and financially its meaningless because of how the park is funded but don't forget the entire reason for its existence is to boost tourism to the country.

I agree the calendar system is ridiculous though! Seems to be a Middle Eastern thing as the 4 parks on Yas Island in the UAE are the same and they've been open for years.
 
JoshC. said:
Just from a practical standpoint, tickets are now available up to end of April. The park is closed Mondays and Tuesdays in April (including Easter Monday). I still think it's strange they don't have clearer opening days listed if they're trying to attract foreign tourists;
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I've just checked and it's just as well my trip there was cancelled! The only two days I would have been able to go were the Monday and Tuesday 🤣 Seriously, if things calm down over in the Middle East and I can one day have faith in travelling over there again, I really hope they have their opening dates planned out well ahead of time, the current method is ridiculous.
 
ECG said:
I should have posted this weeks ago, but for those who haven't seen it on our homepage...

https://coasterforce.com/falcons-flight-six-flags-qiddiya-city-review/
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Figure the footage is from Scott, but who took those pictures? Figure they can't have been on the same day(s) as the cloud cover is completely different (and unusual for that part of the world).

EDIT: Just watched it (again - did when it first came out) and that POV is probably one of the best I've seen of this coaster. Super, super work!
 
I have a season pass to the park now. I've gone about 8 times now since previews back in December. The Ramadan hours were great. Only 9pm to 2am, but mostly dead. Very easy to lap rides. The park is really looking nice now-- they've added in a lot of the things that didn't make it for opening and the cadence of operations and just generally running the park has improved. Aquarabia is still intending to open in the coming weeks.

Obviously the current situation in the region is not the best though the park is still operating as normal. There are some close periods now before Eid and then it should be fairly busy during that period. I saw some comments above about Easter weekend and it's important to note that Easter doesn't exist here nor is it a consideration. It's just another operating weekend.

I've temporarily come back to the US, but once the situation settles down, I should be back in KSA and will certainly enjoy more visits.
 
CedarPoint6 said:
I saw some comments above about Easter weekend and it's important to note that Easter doesn't exist here nor is it a consideration. It's just another operating weekend.
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That was me. The broader context was my alternative plan to visit was Easter weekend, so simply a 'extra glad I didn't plan then' thought.

However, whilst Easter isn't a thing in the country, as the country expands its tourism offering and attracts more Westerners, they should put that into consideration. Not saying they have to do anything special or do it this/next year (nor should they), but it will be a logical step at one point in the future if all goes well for the tourism strategy.
 
JoshC. said:
The broader context was my alternative plan to visit was Easter weekend, so simply a 'extra glad I didn't plan then' thought.
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Yeah, this was my plan - leverage the extra long weekened here in the UK to get a four day trip out to Riyadh without taking any annual leave. Hoping also that it'd just be "any other weekend" at the park, so not super busy, etc. Have done similar things in past years with our May and August bank holidays.

Wish I'd have just gone on one of those weekends in January now! :P
 
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