AD DIRIYAH: Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Season has featured many exciting one-time events such as concerts, the Formula E Prix, and the historic Clash on the Dunes fight, but there’s always plenty more fun to be had in Diriyah. One of the most popular attractions available in the area is the Diriyah Oasis.
Diriyah Oasis is a funfair-type attraction in the heart of Diriyah. Split into four zones — Nature, Imagination, Reflection and Excitement. The 130,000 square meter area features new attractions, old favorites and plenty of entertainment for the whole family.
The Nature Zone includes outdoorsy activities such as a “forest walk,” an elevated obstacle course to challenge you, a butterfly dome, where people can take a walk inside a butterfly-filled bubble and learn more about their life cycles, and even a special area where they can experience the feeling of skydiving.
The Reflection Zone includes the Diriyah Wheel, a towering Ferris wheel offering views of the surrounding Diriyah area, waterfall swings that magically dissipate as you swing through them, and a series of sand art sculptures.
The Imagination Zone contains attractions such as a series of escape rooms, urban ping pong tables that can take four, six, or even eight players, illusion rooms and an urban maze.
The Excitement Zone features drone racing, laser tag, bumper cars and a video game arena where visitors can indulge in some rounds of popular multiplayer games.
HIGHLIGHTS
• The Nature Zone includes outdoorsy activities such as a ‘forest walk,’ a butterfly dome where people can take a walk inside a butterfly-filled bubble and learn more about their life cycles.
• The Imagination Zone contains attractions such as a series of escape rooms, illusion rooms and an urban maze.
• The Excitement Zone features drone racing, laser tag, bumper cars and a video game arena where visitors can indulge in some rounds of popular multiplayer games.
Workshops are available throughout each area where kids and adults can create artwork to take home (such as birdfeeders or plant pots in the Nature Zone, futuristic abstract art in the Excitement Zone, and so on), and also themed carnival games with several prizes on offer, ensuring no one goes home empty-handed.
And of course, a variety of restaurants and cafes have set up shop in the area, from the quick and casual eateries such as the Mexican-inspired Fire Grill or the donut bakery Glaze, up to more fancy eateries such as the French Le Relais de l’Entrecote steak restaurant or the Armenian Mayrig. There’s even a Starbucks, set up high on one of the Oasis’s two main gates, where you can enjoy a coffee while overlooking the entire area.
Payments in the Oasis are made by way of rechargeable electronic bracelets, which you can preload with money at various points in the park. However, the bracelets are only used for the attractions, which range in price between SR20-60 ($5.5-16). Food and drinks are purchased normally.
The Diriyah Oasis was designed to pay tribute to Diriyah’s historical importance and reflect the rich heritage, architecture and resources of Saudi Arabia and the region.
The Oasis is open from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday to Wednesday, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday, and 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Entry tickets can be purchased for SR100 from the Diriyah Season website, or from the Jarir Bookstore.
