What does it take to turn Saudi Arabia’s desert landscape into a groundbreaking water theme park? At Aquarabia in Qiddiya City, the answer is 250,000 square meters of immersive storytelling, bold design, and record-setting attractions. As the first water theme park in Saudi Arabia, Aquarabia brings eight uniquely themed zones to life, each inspired by indigenous desert animals, and features 22 rides and experiences, including five first-of-their-kind attractions. In this episode of Experience Imagination, we explore the creative vision and design process behind Aquarabia with in-house creatives Bruce Sereta, Andrew Tober, and Eric Loperena. We also hear firsthand perspectives from content creator Saroosh Shadid and Brian Machamer, Park President of Six Flags & Aquarabia.
Turning Vision into Reality
Q: What were your roles in bringing Aquarabia to life?
Bruce: “I was a senior concept artist at the time and worked on most of the artwork, preliminary drawings and sketches all the way through to the final key art at the end.”
Eric: “I was a senior design manager for this project, and my role was taking the concept and developing schematic drawings, so basically taking what these incredibly talented artists would produce and making it buildable. This included producing everything from master planning, elevations, details, interior design, and hardscape design”
Andrew: “As a creative manager my role involved everything from working with the artists to working through schematic designs, 3D modeling, and then working with Eric and team to get the CAD put together for the later phases of the design”
Q: What was it like to finally see Aquarabia open to the public?
Bruce: “Initially, I was surprised at just how accurate and how cool everything looked and true to our initial intent… there was a sense of pride.”
Andrew: “It’s always wild when you’re scrolling social media and you see something that you worked on out in the wild, like, ‘oh wow, I worked on that.’”
Eric: “Seeing the end result was very satisfying because I think it was executed very well.”
Bruce: “Seeing people’s reaction… to see them enjoying it and really having a good time, that validates everything.”
Q: The park has been praised as one of the most innovative in the world, what makes it so special?
Eric: “I would say it’s a combination of multiple things. You’ve got this beautiful backdrop and this facade and the story that was created ties into that. And we embrace the idea of carving away and something that reveals itself, right, from that rock work.
And then we’ve got world record setting slides in Camel Rock and a couple of other places, tying that in with the story, the visuals, the immersive themed overlay, I think that it’s a great combination.”
Andrew: “I think part of why Forbes and people that are reviewing the park are just wowed by it is because once you actually go there and you see this scale, it’s truly something you can’t do anywhere else on earth.”
Bruce: “Everything about it, the size, the scope, the location, it’s just a “wow”, everywhere you go.”
Learn more about Falcon’s work on Aquarabia here: https://falconscreativegroup.com/projects/aquarabia-water-theme-park/
Q: Aquarabia stands out for its strong narrative. How did the story take shape?
Andrew: “We decided to celebrate the culture there, the mountains, the animals in the area, the history of the animals.”
He explains the core idea: “The idea is that you have these animals that are in the rock work. And one thing we really wanted to convey was that this isn’t something that was sculpted by man. This is something over thousands of years, the rock work has formed in these formations of these animals.” He continues: “Camel rock draws you in, you see there’s an opening, you go in there and there’s this whole new world.”
Bruce: “There was a lot of learning involved, you have to learn about the culture, the wildlife, the environment, the type of rock, there’s a very specific look to that area.”
Experiencing Aquarabia a Guest’s Perspective
Q: How does Aquarabia compare to theme parks you’ve visited in the U.S.?
Saroosh: “Something that stood out to me is the cleanliness. It’s super clean.”
She also highlights the design: “The attention to detail is out of this world as soon as you walk in it feels so immersive.”
And overall, “I haven’t been to a park quite like Aquarabia… nothing like this with this kind of architecture throughout the park.”
Q: What makes Aqua Arabia such a visually striking and unique destination?
Saroosh: “It’s very different and so many aesthetic spots for pictures, it was amazing.”
She points to the design and cultural integration: “I really like how they incorporated their culture into the vibe, the space, you can see it throughout the architecture.”
“It’s very different from what you would see in other parts of the world.”
Q: Do you have a favorite spot in the park?
Saroosh: “That’s a difficult question because all the spots are great. But if I had to pick, I think, as you probably have seen my video, right in front of the Hyper Viper ride, especially when the ride is coming down and there’s like a splash, I think that is a perfect moment to take a photo.”
She also highlights iconic views: “Right under the huge camel statue… Camel Rock… and… right in front of the wave pool.”
Q: As a parent, what impressed you most about the park?
Saroosh: “The number one thing I look for is safety, it brings me comfort to see that the park and their staff also care about my child’s safety as much as the parents do.”
And thoughtful design: “I also really like calm spaces, kids can get very overwhelmed and just need some time to unwind.”
Q: What makes Aquarabia especially appealing to international visitors?
Saroosh: “They are giving visitors a very unique experience by mixing luxury into amusement and theme parks, that’s not something you could actually find in the West.”
“It’s a mixture of luxury and tropical vibes while also combining the desert vibes. You cannot experience something like this outside of Saudi.”
Q: Any tips for first-time visitors?
Saroosh: “Go early you want as much time as you possibly can get.”
“Wear comfortable shoes you’re going to be walking a lot. Have a waterproof phone case so you can record, take pictures while also enjoying the rides.”
Watch Saroosh’s visit to Aquarabia here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DWoAk2doPqM/
Operating a World-Class Destination
Q: Can you set the stage from a real estate perspective?
Brian: “The Qiddiya City development is massive. Eventually, it will all be connected by high-speed train from the airport. It’ll take you literally 27 minutes to go from the international airport all the way to Qiddiya City through the center of Riyadh. We’ll have metro line connections. For now, in the current phase that we’re at, the area that we call the resort tour consists of Six Flags, Aquarabia, and hotels. We’ve got 6,000 hotel rooms under construction at the moment, opening in phases starting later next year, the F1 Speed Park, and a retail dining entertainment district that connects all of this together.”
He continues to set the stage: “Guests will be able to come in through mass transportation or personal vehicle, visit the various assets, but also easily move around through monorail system or just general pedestrian walkways to visit the various parks.”
Q: What was opening day like?
Brian: “Opening day is always filled with a lot of emotions. It’s seeing something come from nothing.”
“And so when you get to opening day and you walk through the park and you can remember elements of design that we played with or we adjusted, and then, now when I walk through the entrance, I can play that time lapse, through my mind as I’m walking through the park.
“It’s a big celebration for all of the team.”
Q: How do you operate a theme park in a desert environment?
Brian: “It was definitely something that operations, the maintenance teams were involved with, going back to even the original ride contracts with our ride vendors, things like making sure certain equipment would be able to withstand the extreme temperatures, building shelters over motors, you know, so they don’t overheat, doing everything that we could to prevent maintenance issues or ride reliability, you know, with the various suppliers.”
Q: What’s else are you looking forward to about Qiddiya City?
Brian: “I’m looking forward to our first Formula One race. The racetrack is well under construction. The Blade, which sits 20 stories above, I can look out my window and see it under construction. So, when that race goes to the market and the global eyes on Qiddiya City, the racetrack runs right next to Aquarabia, right through Six Flags.
He continues: “It’s going to be year after year something new and bigger.”
