Dubai - The Dubai Frame is open from 10am to 7pm
Published: Tue 2 Jan 2018, 4:27 PM
Residents and tourists rushed on the first day of 2018 to get the first sight on Dubai's latest landmark, the Dubai Frame.
Standing outside Zabeel Park Gate 4, people started piling up from 9am on two counters to purchase tickets that will give them a new 360-degree view of the city on New Year's Day.
Open from 10am to 7pm, the frame that stands tall in Zabeel Park allows visitors to see the journey of the city's past, present and future in one-hour tour with a real view of old and modern Dubai from a 150-meter sky glass bridge.
People on Monday purchased their tickets for Dh50 for adults and Dh20 for children between 3 to 12 years old at the park's counters. People above 60 and persons of determination along with two companions were allowed free entry.
A Dubai Municipality official on site told Khaleej Times the queues, though long, were manageable. "It is fast moving, because the frame takes up to 200 people per hour. Soon, entry to the frame will be paperless," the official said. In two weeks, an integrated website and app will allow visitors to pre-book their tours in Dubai Frame and Dubai Safari Park online. Tickets could be displayed on smartphones upon entry.
Tourists said the frame told them the story of a country that developed during a short time span. Visiting Dubai for the first time to spend New Years with family, Nieke Troisfontaine said the city reminded her of the development her country, Netherlands, has witnessed.
"Dubai was a big desert then 46 years later, we see an entire city based on high-ris estate and glamour. Reminds me of my hometown Netherlands and how it rose from reclaimed lands of sea in a very short time," said Troisfontaine. She said the landmark is a witness of the leadership's ability to build an entire city from nothing.
Accompanying her, Linda Troisfontaine said the new landmark helped her get a full background about Dubai with its past and visions of the future. Her favorite part, she said, was getting the "beautiful view of the city from up from the bridge." It took the family 30 minutes to enter the frame.
Chinese Jeff Zhang, who's in Dubai for work visit, said he was "mind blown" by the glass bridge experience that reminded him of China's glass walkway on the Tianmen Mountain. "The frame's glass bridge, though, is higher and more terrifying," he laughed. "I loved how I could see past and present of Dubai from the top."
On the sky bridge, Zhang used the advanced interactive application to write his friends' name on the screen and send it to them for memories.
Zhang noted that augmented reality screen that took visitors to the future of Dubai was a unique experience. "It is something you won't get anywhere else, which is special because you'd want a new perspective on first day of a new year."
Meanwhile, Indian couple Anjana and Prasath who've been in Dubai for 10 years said the frame experience was "up to expectations." "It was very impressive to see the drastic change Dubai has come to and its plans to the future that take visions to a new height," said Prasath.
The couple's highlight was the transparent elevator that showed the view and walking on the glass bridge that showed the city 150 meters above the ground. "You just keep thinking, will it hold my weight? Which is an interesting question," Prasath laughed.
sherouk@khaleejtimes.com
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