Kuwait Entertainment City

Kuwait Entertainment City (Arabic: مدينة الكويت الترفيهية) was an amusement park located in the western outskirts of Kuwait City, the capital of Kuwait. It first opened on March 14, 1984[1] and was run by the Kuwait-based Touristic Enterprises Company. Some of the park's attractions, such as its large Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster and its narrow gauge railway, are common features in large-scale amusement parks in the United States, but were very rare in amusement parks in the Middle East. On 6 June 2016, the park closed with the aim of being renovated.[2] In October 2019, it was announced that the Kuwait Entertainment City property will be taken over by Amiri Diwan and transformed into New Entertainment City Kuwait featuring 13 sections, including an indoor theme park envisioned by Ubisoft Entertainment and an indoor snowpark.[3] By October 2020, the old park was fully demolished.

The Amiri Diwan has plans to replace it with the New Entertainment City, currently under construction. The New Entertainment City will include Outdoor Theme Parks, Indoor Theme Parks, Indoor Snow Parks, Water Parks, Aquarium, Dolphinarium, Museum and Planetarium, High Street Rail, a retail mall, Luxury District, Icon Hotel, and Sports and international festival areas.[4]

Activity

The amusement park had 12 entrances. Upon entering the park from the Arabian World Zone, Arabian customs were visible everywhere. In the center of the park was a miniature artificial lake, featuring a model of an ancient Kuwaiti fishing boat, as well as live fish. Around the lake were numerous kiosks selling various snacks, as well as merchandise, gold and silver jewelry, black robes, and veils. In the "Sinbad’s Voyage" area, there was a replica yacht based on the sailboat used by the ancient Arab navigator Sinbad. Visitors could board the yacht and follow a simulation of Sinbad's sailing route.

Visitors could also ride camels at the adjacent zoo, which housed elephants, antelope, sika deer, and various other animals which could be fed for a small fee.

The International World Zone featured themed areas from all over the world (similar to Epcot at Walt Disney World), including 19th-century Wild West-themed buildings, replicas of the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Dutch windmills, and the European Alps, as well as mosques from Baghdad and temples from Ancient Greece.

The Future World Zone contained various laser electronic ‘toys’, as well as futuristic transportation and communication equipment. There was a 110-meter-high rotating observation tower open to visitors. The zone also featured a "spaceship" and "Moon rocket," allowing visitors to be taken into the "space world" and sent to the "Moon".[15]

Railway

The Arabian World Zone featured a narrow gauge railway with Arabian-style trains. Its stations were all domed buildings, with traditional Arabian patterns decorating the walls. The railway and its original train were manufactured by the US-based company Crown Metal Products in the 1980s, with a track gauge of .[16] The railway continues to operate, but now uses a train built by the UK-based company Severn Lamb. The locomotive is one of their 4-4-0 Lincoln models custom-built to fit on gauge track (the Lincoln model is normally built for gauge track).[17]

status	Demolished
location	Doha
location2	Al Asimah
location3	Kuwait
coordinates	29.348°N, 47.8166°W
operator	Amiri Diwan of Kuwait
opening date	March 14, 1984
closing date	June 6, 2016

Kuwait Entertainment City

Roller coasters

Activity

Railway

History and future

External links

References