A glimpse inside the almost-ready Motiongate Dubai theme park

The 45,000sqm indoor DreamWorks space is big enough to fit five Airbus A380s inside and it is now beginning to take shape.

Construction continues at the Motiongate theme park in Dubai. Satish Kumar / The National

DUBAI // It is part of one of three major theme parks to opening this year, and the finishing touches at Motiongate Dubai for its December opening are all but done.

The park is part of Dubai Parks and Resorts, the Dh13.2 billion project at Jebel Ali.

The big blue box, five themed lands based on DreamWorks Animation films such as Shrek and Kung Fu Panda, stand out from afar on the Dubai to Abu Dhabi motorway.

The 45,000 square metre indoor DreamWorks space is big enough to fit in five Airbus A380s.

In the Madagascar-themed area, brightly-painted carousels are in place, the final checks are being made to its two rollercoasters, the theatre backdrops are being rolled out in the Kung Fu Panda land and the longest ride of the park, Shrek's Merry Fairy Tale Journey, is ready and waiting.

The ride lasts more than seven minutes and tells the tale of Shrek and Fiona’s love story, with a twist.

Dragon Gliders, in How To Train Your Dragon land, is one of the most anticipated rollercoasters, a suspended ride set to offer some of DreamWorks visitors the most thrills.

Shrek’s Candy Apple Restaurant stands out at the centre of its swamp-style zone, replicating the comical character’s home.

In DreamWorks alone, there are 12 rides, among the 27 total in Motiongate Dubai's park, which will also feature multiple daily shows based on the movie Step Up, with a cast of dancers recruited from around the globe.

Although DreamWorks is the only all-indoors area of the park, all other attractions have air-conditioned walkways and queuing systems, which general manager John Hallenbeck said will make the park an attraction “for the majority of the year”.

Chief technical officer Matthew Priddy, who like Mr Hallenbeck has decades of experience in theme parks, said DreamWorks is “a mini theme park within a theme park”.

As the man who oversees details from lighting to ride technology, he is ensuring all the ‘I’s are dotted and the ‘T’s are crossed.

“We have a tremendous amount of media here and it’s all being done by the top Hollywood people; all multimedia content in DreamWorks is done by the DreamWorks animators themselves,” he said. “The visuals and audio will be awesome.”

Excited mostly for the Madagascar roller coaster - Madagascar Mad Pursuit - he said it is the "most thrilling ride", employing flywheel technology whereby the speed will increase in just seconds, reaching 95 kilometres per hour.

“When it’s time to launch, you just get whipped out of the station and into a tight turn,” he said.

Health and safety on site for the 14,000 or so workers is paramount, both during construction and as the park opens. “At one time, we had 150 million man hours in 24 months with maybe two lost time incidents,” said Mr Priddy. “It’s an extremely safe place.”

In spite of this week’s accident in Australia where four people died at a water park, Mr Hallenbeck said the impact will not be felt by those attending the parks.

After such events, he said there is an “awareness but it’s not a put-off” for customers. “In our industry we hold safety sacred,” he said. “The time and energy put into health and safety is paramount.

“Even as the park matures, those operating its rides will have to renew their safety certifications annually, something not mandatory but a procedure the parks want to implement to ensure ongoing safety, in addition to the annual checks on ride vehicles and general site safety.

“We’re going above and beyond and not taking any chances.”

Set among an area that will also be home to Legoland Dubai and a Bollywood theme park, Motiongate Dubai's five zones will also involve movies including Ghostbusters and The Smurfs.

Mr Priddy, who works across Motiongate, Legoland and the Bollywood park, said: “Each one of these is the size of a Disneyland, so it’s been a huge growth experience for me trying to co-ordinate all of this and its been very rewarding.”

Motiongate Dubai opens on December 16.