Yas Island Abu Dhabi

[nearly4o]

After some excellent advice late last year on winter sun holidays we booked Yas Island (Hilton) in Abu Dhabi. So thank you Mumsnet for the excellent advice . We go on Sunday! Super excited .

So I am posting for traffic. 😂🤷‍♀️

We are doing the usual stuff - water park/ Warner brothers / go karting / indoor sky dive and climbing.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for things to do or restaurants to go to?
Will have a 5 & 6 year old.

Thanks!!

Ferrari world is in Yas, good rides and day out. You have the marina, nice burger restaurant there , stars and bars or something similar??as mainly hotels in yas.
Once a week they open the F1 race track to walk, run or cycle round it in the early evening , also has a johny rockets dinner there.
Check out any concerts that maybe in yas during your stay.
Also only 45 mins by taxi to Dubai, and cheap to use. Most hotels also run a cheap mini bus into the city itself, also a bout 45 mins.
Plenty if benches a short drive away.
Yas is also very close to airport.

Beaches, not benches lol.
I lived in yas many years ago, loved it. Very clean, safe and friendly

Thanks @Whammyyammy we are on the fence about Ferrari world. Mix reviews and expensive.

Will check out the Johnny Rockets at the marina

Johnny Rockets as Yas Curcuit is amazing, it’s above the circuit so you can look all over it.
Also (pre covid so not sure they still do it) but you could ride/walk/run around the Yas Circuit in the evenings. You hire bikes there as well. We have been to Dubai and Abu Dhabi many many times and out of everything we have ever done this is my DS2’s favourite thing ever!!

The Louvre is also lovely to go around. We did the open top bus tour one day which was also enjoyable.
Ferrari world is brilliant if they are the right height for the rides. We went once when DS1 was the right height and DS2 was tiny and had a great day. Then went again and DS2 was too short to go on anything he wanted to go on so was a complete waste of money.

@nearly4o

Thanks *@Whammyyammy* we are on the fence about Ferrari world. Mix reviews and expensive.

Will check out the Johnny Rockets at the marina

Unfortunately and luckily I can't comment on the prices, as was given complimentary tickets. Johnny rocket's is definitely worth a visit on the evening they open the F1 track, American style boothed diner, coke floats etc.

And just to clarify, Johnny rockets isn't at the marina, it's on the F1 track.
Stars and bars is at the marina, very good sports bar and can view the yachts from the bar.
abudhabi.starsnbars.ae/

A doughnut boat around the mangroves is brilliant.
Trip to the top of Etihad Towers to the viewing area, followed by lunch.
Stars and Bars is good.

Once a week they open the F1 race track to walk, run or cycle round it in the early evening

It's hillier than it looks on the tv and not to be cycled during the tail end of a sandstorm!

Def going to try and cycle on the track on Monday evening. That sounds super fun

@nearly4o

Def going to try and cycle on the track on Monday evening. That sounds super fun

@nearly4o, do just check whether the track is open, as I've seen messages that it's closed Wednesday 16 & 23 Feb. There can be quite last minute changes to things here so do check before you head there.

That goes for most attractions here at the moment - the weekend changed from Fri/Sat to Sat/Sun at the beginning of January with short notice, and websites etc might not be updated with weekday/weekend / special day event timings. We're all still adjusting to some extent...

And there is a brand new area of Yas Island newly opened - Yas Bay. The Hilton is part of it, so you'll be right in the middle of the area.
It's got nice promenade, new cafes and restaurants. It's really nice. Lock, Stock and Barrel does Sunday Roast.

I think Warner Bros is better than Ferrari World for younger kids. More characters, the theming is amazing, and you can walk around Looney Tunes world or Bedrock. But you can also get combined tickets to visit two parks in one day for a cheaper price. (They're not massive)

The doughnut boats at the Eastern Mangroves are great and a chance to see the Mangroves up close. Similar is the Jubail Mangrove Park which has a boardwalk through the mangroves and isn't too far from Yas Island.

Have a great time! The weather should be perfect.

You have to visit the grand mosque. Go on one of the free tours.

Thanks @sunshineyweather . Great recommendations! Didn't know the weekends had changed so good tip!

Following as we are going at Easter. Very excited as haven’t been before. Also staying at Yas Island.

Hickory’s at the golf club is lovely for an outdoor breakfast, though service can be hit and miss. They serve pork and the views are lovely. The beaches and hotels on Saadiyat are lovely too if you fancy heading a bit further out. Warner Bros is perfect for 5 and 6 year olds, as is Yas Waterworld. There’s also a climbing place next to Yas Mall though I’ve not been there yet.

Stills bar at the Crowne Plaza on Yas does a great value brunch and they also have a 50% off night if you sign up for a Best Bites discount - it’s really good value and you get discounts at quite a few places.

Just coming back to the thread as we are just coming to the end of our holiday. It has been amazing. I think we will definitely be back.

The Hilton has been great. Really child friendly- we just did bed and breakfast and have eaten in hotel for dinner 3 times. Our kids were free to eat. Kids club was disappointing as limited games and toys.

Pool is great.
Massage in spa was good too although I have had better. Concierge very helpful. Bus that zips around the island very good.

But the biggest surprise was that we had free tickets for all the parks al week. We thought we got one free entry but it was a free entry for every night so we saved £800 on park tickets. Very happy with that.

The cycling round tbe grans prix was excellent and would recommend but the bikes were only just small
Enough for our 5 yr old. She could
Only touch floor with tippy toes but she is a trooper and got all the way around. We should jlvage done the go karting the same night when we were
At the circuit.

The clymb Abu Dhabi in the mall is brilliant. We did the combo fly abs climb and added tbe photo package. We had our own personal instructor for the climbing and the kids loved it. The flying was awesome and have some great photos.

Ferrari world was a bit meh but it was free so fine. The water park was great for our kids. Feb is off peak so some of the slides were down for maintenance. Older teens probably wouldn't have been impressed. Warner brothers was perfect for our age kids. Again 9/10 + might be a bit bored with the rides.

The mail is impressive and tbe kids play areas inside are great.

Plenty of food options. Stars N Bars was particularly impressive . I think the kids are free and the food was amazing

Thanks for the update! I am looking at this for Easter, can I ask who you flew with and how did you find them?

@Arriettyborrower we flew with etihad and they were great. In fact tbe whole experience was very good. When we landed we were directed to the VIP/fast pass for immigration because we have young kids. So took 5 mins vs 1 hr. And then at tbe PCR testing station - again, sent straight through to the family area and we were in a taxi on way to hotel within 15 mins. Very well
Organised. Slick and professional.

I am getting a bonus with work in a few
Months and May put aside for an upgrade on the plane for next year. Economy was fine to be fair but tbe flight was early
And my kids wanted to sleep on me

That’s a relief - just been reading reviews for Etihad (which appears to be the only direct flight carrier?) which are awful! My kids are teens so I have served my time of being slept on 🤣, would you say the water parks/theme parks would be good for teens? My 14 yro will mostly be interested in race track tbf.
Thanks for responding.

@Arriettyborrower

Def do the cycling round the Grand Prix track. Tbey call it the marina circuit and tbe text driver was confused when we said Grand Prix lol.

At the moment the cycling is Monday evening and one other night. And there is karting at the circuit as well. Just make sure you register in advance. Payment needed for the karting and Tbey only release tickets 1 week in advance.

As long as the rides are open in the water park (and I imagine they will be in April) then it will be good for teens. There are some fast slides and a vertical drop thing my husband did. Might want to look at little water shoes as I can imagine the floor will get hot hot hot in tbe warmer weather. 25ish degrees here this week.

I'm not sure I would bother with Warner. Maybe Ferrari world for the roller
Coaster and faster
Rides? I would probably only do it if the tickets were included in with the hotel. There are some fast rides there though but nothing compared to Thorpe park for example.

Teens should enjoy the climbing and flying. Book ahead.

@Arriettyborrower I saw some bad reviews of etihad. Honestly though it was fine. I don't have overly high expectations though. Usually fly easy jet or fly maybe

I was there a couple of years ago and stayed at the Yas Hotel.
Ferrari world is definitely worth it, it’s great fun!
Warner Brothers, not so much (unless you have younger children). I found >50% of it was over priced burger restaurants and gift shops.

As others have pointed out you can easily visit Dubai for the day too.

PS get the entertainer app to save cash on restaurants, snacks, drinks and attractions. I think it costs about £30 but you’ll easily save 5 times that.

What are the parks that were free? Assuming it’s not parks in the literal sense of the word, as presumably those would be free anyway!

We went to Ferrari world and enjoyed it but we are big coaster fans and really wanted to go on the fast Ferrari one. It was really quiet and we got to go in most rides more than once.

Taxis were good value and much cheaper than here in our experience.

We used them to go to the grand mosque and down to the beach.

If I remember rightly it's not that far to Dubai - our hotel offered transport options at reasonable prices or there's car hire. The Expo 2020 is on still at the moment.