Kuwait Entertainment City (Arabic: مدينة الكويت الترفيهية) was an
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
located in the western outskirts of
Kuwait City
Kuwait City ( ar, مدينة الكويت) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economical centre of the emirate, ...
, the capital of Kuwait. It first opened on and was run by the
Kuwait-based Touristic Enterprises Company. Some of the park's attractions, such as its large
Bolliger & Mabillard
Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabil ...
inverted roller coaster
An inverted roller coaster is a roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. This latter attribute is what sets it apart from the older suspended coaster, which runs under the tr ...
and its
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
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. 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
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include ''Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', '' ...
and an indoor snowpark. 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.
The New Entertainment City is expected to be one of the biggest entertainment venues in Kuwait when the project is complete.
Sections
*The Arab World
*International World
*The Future World
*Provincial Garden
Roller coasters
Railway
Kuwait Entertainment City's
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
railway and original train were built by the
US-based company
Crown Metal Products
Crown Metal Products was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock based in Wyano, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Ken Williams in 1946 and initially sold pot cleaners and then electric fence wires and other products. In 1959, the compan ...
in the 1980s with a track gauge of . The railway continues to operate, but now uses a train built by the
UK-based company
Severn Lamb
Severn Lamb, sometimes known as Severn-Lamb, are manufacturers of various forms of transport systems and equipment, principally aimed at the leisure market. They are based at Alcester in the England, English county of Warwickshire, but sell thei ...
. The locomotive is one of their
4-4-0
4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...
''Lincoln'' models custom-built to fit on gauge track (the ''Lincoln'' model is normally built for gauge track).
Iraqi military occupation
Kuwait Entertainment City was open every year since its inaugural season, except for the period during and after
Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait beginning in 1990. From 1990 to 1991, Iraqi Forces took many of the park's rides and shipped them back to Iraq, while also pillaging and vandalizing the park's property. Many of the stolen rides, including the park's
Crown Metal Products
Crown Metal Products was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock based in Wyano, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Ken Williams in 1946 and initially sold pot cleaners and then electric fence wires and other products. In 1959, the compan ...
locomotive and train cars, ended up in
Al Zawra’a Dream Park
AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media
* Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera
* Al (''Fullmetal ...
, located in
Downtown Baghdad. After Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait and decisively defeated during
Operation Desert Storm
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
in 1991, the park began the process of recovery. It reopened to the public in 1994 until it closed for renovations on 6 June 2016.
Legacy and new park
While originally closed temporarily for renovations in 2016, the park was completely demolished in 2020,
paving the way for a completely new park to be rebuilt on the same property, called "The New Entertainment City".
The Amiri Diwan's New Entertainment City is currently under construction in Kuwait.
References
{{reflist
External links
Kuwait Entertainment City - official website
1984 establishments in Kuwait
3 ft gauge railways in Kuwait
Amusement parks closed in 2016
Defunct amusement parks
Buildings and structures demolished in 2020
Demolished buildings and structures in Kuwait
Tourism in Kuwait