Address: Yas Leisure Drive, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Opening Hours: Sunday – Tuesday 11:00am – 8:00pm, Wednesday 10:00am – 8:00pm, Thursday – Friday 12:00pm – 8:00pm
Official Website: ferrariworldabudhabi.com
To F1 Grand Prix and Ferrari fans, the Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi must be a paradise for you. Here, you can ride the fastest rollercoaster in the world, shop at the world’s largest Ferrari merchandise store, and even drive the Ferrari itself around Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. Hey, when are you going to get the chance to even drive one?
For kids who like driving race cars and simulators, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi has a lot of rides to choose from the Speedway Race to the Junior Grand Prix. There’s even a station where you can be part of the tire-changing team and try to beat the world record. (Of course, Red Bull is still the world’s fastest tire-changers in Grand Prix.)
I thought the theme park was very well designed and unique, compared to Disneyland, DisneySea or Universal Studios.
I love the whole Italian theme of the place, especially with the Little Italy zone dedicated to Ferrari’s hometown in Marinello, Italy. Here, you can eat Ferrari-shaped waffles, or if you like churros like me, they have it powdered with sugar. This is one of my favorite parts of the park.
I was a little disappointed when I saw that you need to pay extra just to go karting, which I felt was really unnecessary. They might be doing that to manage the queues and weed out those who truly are Ferrari fans. Without the karting academy, there weren’t a lot of rides at Ferrari World theme park for non-roller coaster riders.
You can ride the Formula Rosa, which is the world’s fastest rollercoaster. Or the Turbo Track where you can experience zero gravity fall. I’m not into rollercoasters at all, so I’ll leave you to experience that! It’s best to watch my TikTok to see how it goes:
@candidcuisine Everything is bigger faster and larger than life at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi 🔥 #abudhabi #thingstodo #traveltiktok #ferrari #ferrariworld ♬ Bowser Castle (Original Mix) – Ditsuo & Ditsuo
Of course, driving a Ferrari is a once in a lifetime experience. For AED 895 you can drive it for an hour, and every passenger is an extra AED 120. If you have a couple of hours, best to do this instead of the simulator!
And finally, take home some Ferrari merchandise for you. I found jackets, luggages, shirts, magnets and caps, as well as matchbox cars.
Food at the Ferrari World wasn’t that expensive. We ate at the Il Podio, which had a variety of Asian, Middle Eastern cuisine and desserts to choose from. It’s nice to see a theme park that isn’t trying to empty your wallet like Disneyland. But I guess, as drivers we gotta fill up the tank!
I can’t do Max Verstappen’s diet… Can’t resist a slice of strawberry cheesecake.
There are two theme parks around Abu Dhabi: Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and Warner Bros Abu Dhabi. I encourage you to visit both if you have time, but otherwise if you only have 1 day, definitely visit Ferrari World Abu Dhabi.
There are city tours that bundled with visiting the Shiekh Zayed Mosque (which is stunning) and either one of the theme parks coming from Dubai. The lines at Ferrari Rosa and Turbo Track can cost you a couple of hours, so if you have plans to ride them, best to spend a few days in Abu Dhabi instead.