Six Flags Qiddiya City and Riyadh - Feb 2026 (Falcons Flight Review)

[JoshC.]

So like many other enthusiasts, I've made the voyage over to Saudi Arabia to check out SFQC.

My trip out to the country was short - I flew out on a Saturday, landing at 11pm local time, and flew back Monday night, at 11.55pm, giving me just over 48 hours in the country. That was enough for me: a day at Six Flags, a day to explore Riyadh, and that'd be it. Maybe I could have extended my stay an extra day to give me some extra wiggle room for Six Flags, or to ensure I could have done some extra bits in the country, but cost was a big factor here.

I'll be splitting this into 3 parts - travel and accommodation, the park, and Riyadh. I'll start straight off the bat by saying that whilst I really enjoyed Six Flags, I don't ever see myself returning, and that's because I didn't enjoy Saudi, and the split of this review should highlight that...


Travel and Accommodation
I travelled from London with KLM, with a transfer in Amsterdam. It's the first time I've flown with KLM, but it was a great experience all round. Journey was easy and straightforward, and I made sure to give myself a decent self-transfer time at Amsterdam.

Landing in Riyadh, we were told we'd need to have our passports out immediately as you get off the plane. These are checked by airport staff as you are exiting the jet bridge; something I don't recall experiencing at any other country?
Security took a bit of time to get through; about 30 minutes or so. Just seemed to be a bit of bad luck with multiple planes landing at similar times. At security, my visa was checked and confirmed (I'd pre-bought it, though you can buy-on-arrival), finger prints of every digit taken, as well as a photo, and then was on my way.

I had debated for some time whether to hire a car for this trip. Having driven in the UAE, I was familiar with how the Middle East could be for roads and driving style. But I had heard many stories about it being worse in Saudi, and the cost of a car looked to be significantly more compared to public transport, so I decided against it.

With the Riyadh Metro stopping at midnight, I decided to pre-book a taxi via booking.com to take me to my hotel. In hindsight, this was a mistake which I wish I didn't do, and instead wished I just gone for an Uber.
I contacted the driver to pick me up at the agreed upon time but there was still a long wait. I had lots of cars, some green taxis, others just plain cars, offering me rides. These offers were very short and direct (some even still driving slowly by whilst doing it!), but a simple and firm no meant they moved on. Eventually my driver came along.

Driver was very friendly and welcoming - the standard level of customer service and general friendliness I came to expect from my last time in the Middle East. But he took a detour to get petrol. During our conversation, he asked if I had any cash, and in my admittedly tired and not fully aware state, I simply said no (SFQC is a cashless park, and I knew cash wasn't needed out here). In a slightly more alert state, I'd have probably lied and said yes. When the driver stopped to get petrol, he then very strongly encouraged me to get cash out from a cash machine, not taking a no for an answer. His reasoning was "it's very useful to have cash out here". This did ring alarm bells for me, and if this was in most other countries I'd be very concerned of something bad happening to me. Even being in Saudi, I was still a bit concerned.

Feeling like my back was against a wall, I took cash out (the smallest amount it would let me), and got back in the car. The driver then offered to take me out to dinner, as a welcome to the country. I had to turn him down, explaining I'd been travelling for a long time, and just wanted to get to my hotel and sleep. He then offered to be my "personal driver" for my trip, taking me to all the sites of Riyadh. Again, I declined, making it clear I'd already had plans in place. After that, the journey was pretty quiet. A couple of hours after dropping me off, the driver (who had my phone number) messaged me multiple times, restating the offer to be a tour guide and asking if he could save my number.

At the time, it felt slightly concerning and overwhelming. I do think that it was perhaps a slight culture disconnect - I'm very aware that countries in Middle East can be extremely welcoming, and these offers had no ulterior motives. At the same time, I simply just wanted to get from A to B and move on, which is what I thought I'd booked. The friendliness had to gotten a bit overbearing, especially for a tired introvert like myself.

As for accommodation, I am usually very happy to go cheap when travelling. I tend to avoid Air BnBs or privately managed rooms / houses, as travelling solo that can lead to issues. Unfortunately in Riyadh, I couldn't find cheap hotels which offered check in at the time I'd be arriving (ie middle of the night), which meant I had to spring for the slightly more premium option. I stayed at an Ibis Hotel, opposite the Kingdom Tower. Room was comfortable, shower was great, breakfast was included (more on that later!).


My main method for travelling around Riyadh was the Metro. It was part of the travel for getting to SFQC, and also very easy to use in general, taking you to most key places in the city.

It was also extremely cheap. For a 3 day pass, it cost me 20SAR, plus 10SAR to print of a (reusable) card. So that was about £6 for unlimited Metro use. The Metro is very easy to use, with everything well signposted. All signs and announcements are in Arabic and English, with digital signs on trains telling you where you are on the line. It's new, so clean and spacious. In general, it's not too busy either. But when it gets busy, it's not fun to use at all - I'll speak more about that later..

The Metro trains are divided into 3 zones: "Single", "Family" and "First Class". Single is for men. Family, to my understanding, was for women or for men travelling with children (although I cannot confirm that to be fair). First Class is for those who purchased a first class ticket. For context, I could have gotten a first class 3 day ticket for about £10. It seemed to offer nicer seats and just a more comfortable experience.

I noted on the carriages that there was lots of possible fines one could receive. These included: not having a valid ticket, travelling in the wrong zone, smoking, blocking doors, putting bags on seats, etc. Though the trains are driverless, there were security guards about, and staff at most platforms too.

One final thing on the Metro: it isn't all underground, lots is actually above ground too. The Metro has several different lines, all named after different colours. The trains, and any outdoor ways using the metro, sport these colours too, which was a simple but nice touch.


I'll bring this bit to a close for now. Next part will be all about Six Flags!

 

[Will]

Cheers Josh

I got back around a fortnight ago now, and I've been too lazy to articulate my own thoughts, but it sounds like we had fairly similar experiences.
After my first day at the park, I was approached by an (in retrospect, unlicensed) taxi driver at Jeddah Road and said yes out of tiredness. He had no meter and no GPS, so I navigated with my phone, whilst he used his phone to make various calls, as well as oddly taking selfies with me. He too stopped at a petrol station for me to get cash - and then charged me around triple the amount uber were quoting. I think a fair amount of it is just culture shock, and not what us reserved Brits expect, but that doesn't mean I didn't find the whole affair rather unsettling - I left the park early on day 2 to ensure the metro was still running. I had one or two ubers cancel on me because I didn't want to pay cash as well. Based on what I saw out of windows, this was preferable to attempting to drive.

The 'that's a paddlin'' type signs (and my pre-conceived ideas of the nation) meant I spent a fair while googling 'Riyadh metro etiquette' too - from what I could work out, the 'single' carriages were reserved for 'unaccompanied males', which worked, so long as it wasn't busy. I'm guessing you had similar experiences with crowds at 'Qasr-Al-Hokm' on the orange line.

Other than that - it compared favourably to the London tube (it is still extremely new, clean and easy to use - not to mention cheap!) and the few people who did speak to me were very polite. They don't allow passengers off trains before boarding though, which is ****ing annoying to westerners.

From what I understood, part of the Qiddiya expansion will see vastly improved transport links (certainly needed if that F1 track is to get off the ground) and a far more direct airport link road. The current methods of getting to the park seem unfinished.

 

[JoshC.]

I'm guessing you had similar experiences with crowds at 'Qasr-Al-Hokm' on the orange line.

I had no issues there actually - straightforward and not too busy.

My worst experiences were on the Purple line on the Monday, which like the Orange line seemed to have smaller trains. I did also use them at around the 4-6pm time which I assume is a level of rush hour, but was far from pleasant at other times too.

The worst station I experienced was Sabic, made significantly worse by the fact the Yellow and Purple lines share the same station, causing mass confusion and much busyness.

 

[JoshC.]

So, before I started writing this, I thought this one post would just be on the whole day. Turns out I wrote a bloody thesis on Falcons Flight because I lack the ability to be concise, so this post will just by my journey to the park and my review of Falcons Flight. Enjoy...

Six Flags Qiddiya City
Public transport to the park has been discussed many times on here now I know. Metro to Jeddah Road, shuttle bus to the park. Interestingly, Jeddah Road's Metro station was the first time I saw any reference to Qiddiya or Six Flags during the trip - if there's any advertising for the park in Riyadh, I didn't see it!

There's a staffed waiting room, which has seats, a vending machine and toilets just round the corner. It didn't seem like this had air conditioning (or if it does, it wasn't turned on / working).



Inside the waiting room is a large screen advertising Qiddiya; it's like a minute long loop. Times for the shuttle bus are also displayed...



Whilst I can't comment on the exact accuracy of the times, we were told on the bus the last return journey would be 1am.

We were allowed on the bus a little before 3pm and left dead on 3. This bus probably had no more than 15-20 people. A staff member explains (in Arabic and English) about the journey, the on-board WiFi, toilets on board, etc, and that there was free bottles of water available. After this, screens on the bus start to play, again showing of Qiddiya, but it starts with a 3 minute video of a man screaming (from enjoyment) whilst experiencing everything Qiddiya will offer. The noise was very loud.

Though the road doesn't just lead to Qiddiya (it is a main road which links to other parts of the country), it was surreal how the road was literally just in the middle of a desert. And looking outwards at times, the area looked very muted...it was hard to tell whether it was dust/dirt/sand or pollution. But it just was very dusty. I don't quite know what I expected, but yeah, was odd.



As soon as you reach the wider Qiddiya area, you start seeing signage for the area. The roads were silent except for our bus, and police cars being dotted every 100m or so. Again, a very surreal experience for going to a theme park.

As we got closer, I caught my first glimpse of Qiddiya - Falcons Flight's 535ft hill, with a train cresting over. I breathed a huge sigh of relief: it's at least testing.

The bus stops at the main car park, which also features a welcome centre with a cafe and supermarket. You're told you are welcome to get off and use those facilities, but that this bus is leaving in 30 seconds, so you'll have to get another. To be fair, I guess it's a useful thing for those who have driven by car.



5 minutes later, you arrive. Up some stairs and over the bridge...


At this point, it was 3.50 and there was barely 100 people waiting at the gates. I had purchased the Unlimited FastPass option (which included unlimited uses on Falcons Flight, an option which has currently been removed from sale on the website), but I wasn't sure where to pick it up from. I originally went to Guest Services, but before joining the short queue, a member of staff offered assistance, and pointed me to Upgrade Centre, which is to the left of the turnstiles. A quick scan of my ticket and one purple wristband later, I was ready for unlimited rides.

Dead on 4, the park opened. There was a bit of a clamour, with many people running after getting through the turnstiles, but security was present telling people to walk. The entrance to the park takes you down one pathway to the Citadel area, underneath a large canopy area, which serves as a hub to all the park's different areas (discount Epic Universe vibes?). Even with Fastpass, there was realistically only one place I could head to first...



Falcons Flight
Falcons Flight was open with the park, and after putting my bag in a large locker (which cost about £3), I entered the queue and made my through to the first train of the day, second row.

I hadn't watched any POVs and avoided detailed reviews before riding, so everything was pretty fresh and unspoiled to me.

I think Falcons is best described as a "moments" coaster. It has (several) defining, exceptional moments, which hit hard and leave an impression. The rest of the ride is great too.

The first launch up the 'launched lift hill' is a little punchier than I expected, and the drop off has a nice whip to it. The following elements are taken at a nice pace, feature pops of airtime and are good fun. They don't feel like a waste or filler. At the same time, they felt more like the ending of a great roller coaster which has already had its key highlights beforehand. That's not a bad thing, just different.
One thing I loved about this section is that you go directly underneath the 535ft hill; seeing that above you and looking up gives you that "omg moment" and is really the first time you truly understand this ride's height.

You then reach the launch up the cliff. You don't get a moment's rest, it kicks in before the incline and it just keeps going. This is the first truly exceptional moment of the ride. Much has been said about the sound of the final launch, but the sound here is great too. I haven't seen official stats, but apparently this hits 100mph (and I well believe that!). You almost lose a sense of scale even going through this bit - the launch section goes on and on and on. Eventually you come off the launch section, getting a bump of airtime, before doing the final ascent to the mountain. It was at this moment my ears popped too.



It meanders around this bit, with an outward bank over the cliff. That's a really cool feature, and even though it's not a huge way down (you're above the top of the launch), it's still another 'omg moment'.

The other great thing about this top section is the...silence. You can't hear the park. You can't hear anything else around. It's just the train (which is quiet) and the people. And even though people talk with each other at this point, they almost naturally quieten themselves too. Something I haven't seen mentioned (so I wonder if it's a new thing added recently?) is that as you approach the cliff edge, you hear a falcon's screech (a "kak", according to Google). It's really impactful, breaking that silence.

Here, Falcons Flight now turns into a dive coaster, as you slowly creep down, overlooking the park and the desert. Again, another surreal moment.

Then you drop. And pick up speed. And pick up more speed. And more. And then the launch hits. Sadly I can't find the words to describe this. The force you feel pinning you back, whilst surrounding by that noise. Launching downwards, and then going upwards. It's just...yeah.

Cresting the hill you are hit with powerful trims. You still get good airtime, and you get a lovely view, but it is a bit of a shame that you have to be trimmed quite so much. Don't get me wrong, it's necessary - you would uncomfortably fly over the hill without them. It does leave me wondering why they couldn't have made the hill even taller so it didn't need such heavy trims - let physics play its natural course. It's not like money or space were an issue. I'm sure there is a logical reason, but I'm just curious.



Anyways, the rest of the ride. After dropping 500ft+, you're naturally going quite fast. The elements are long and drawn out, again out of necessity. But it's far from boring. The force you're going at leaves you with no rest, it's difficult to put your hands up. And all this time, you're trying to comprehend what's happening and it's all a bit of an overload. It's not until you get to the end that you really can process the ride.



One of my bigger concerns prior to riding Falcons was the windshields on the ride stopping you 'feeling' the speed of ride. I think that when you're sat directly behind them (so in Row 1, or an even numbered row), it is something which does have an impact on the experience. You still, obviously, realise the speed, and the force is exceptional. But you do lose a bit of that natural rush that comes from the wind coming into your face.

Throughout the rest of the day, I got 4 more rides - one more in Row 2, one in Row 3 and two in the last row.

Firstly, the rides really does warm up nicely. By the end of the night, it's a different level of a beast.

Secondly, being in the odd rows makes a big difference. Due to the odd rows (except row 1) being slightly further out, you are still protected by the windshield, but you are more exposed to the elements. And you really feel the speed smashing against your face. Honestly, Row 3 felt like it was damn near ripping my face off (in the best possible way). Experiencing that does make you fully understand and appreciate the need for the windshields. But at the same time, those odd rows are an extra level of incredible.



Some other scattered thoughts:
-It's a big shame you can't get anywhere near the 535ft hill on public paths, or within the park at all. The park being surrounding by high cliffs does mess up the scale of things (this will be a common thing I'll mention). But it makes it so much harder to understand and appreciate the sheer scale of the ride.
-By extension, it also means you don't really hear the sound of the final launch except when on ride.
-I think the trains do have lighting packages, but they weren't on during my visit?
-Ride's reliability was good, but not perfect. I saw two shutdowns (one time I was in the queue), but neither lasted very long. It is worth noting that they had a sign out front the entrance still saying the ride is in a "Technical Rehearsal" stage
-It was running 4 trains most of the day with both stations. By the end of the day, they dropped down to one station and 2 trains.
-The longest I saw the queue advertised was 40 minutes. I do feel like it might have been a bit longer but can't comment.
-When checking restraints, staff make you stretch your legs out (in the extremely roomy trains), so there's no way of you giving yourself extra room when they check restraints. Despite this, they do not staple you.


The closest you could really get to the hill

Something else worth noting is headwear / hair. I noticed at Falcons, and some other rides, that any woman wearing any religious headwear was given a grey spandex hood to wear over it, to help ensure it didn't come off / they had an extra level of protection in case it became dislodged. Similarly, women (of any background) with long hair were being offered this too.

I found it particularly interesting that as a man with longer hair (it just reaches my shoulder), I was not offered this hood, but I did see one instance of a European woman with slightly shorter hair than me offered one. That was until my last ride on Falcons, when a staff member gave me one and told me to wear it "for safety". I guess the park is still at that stage where they're formalising rules like this, staff are still getting used to procedures, etc. Didn't bother me wearing it to be fair. Being honest, my hair did get quite knotty and overly windswept after each ride, so I was glad to have it!

Also, I know that when the park opened, ORPs were not ready. They are now for most rides, including Falcons. Two photos are taken; one in the final part of the ride, and the other at some other point I honestly can't remember. In any case, here's my beautiful mug towards the end of my very first ride...

(bottom right in that picture)

So, overall thoughts: Falcons Flight is bloody fantastic. It is a ride that is defined by several stand out moments, which do all come together. And I do like how it does, broadly speaking, feel like a flight of a falcon (a low glide, before soaring up high to find prey, and then speeding fast to catch said prey). It comes in somewhere in my Top 5% (where exactly I'm still not sure, but at that level it's splitting hairs about the differences).

I have seen many people call it their number 1 / best coaster is the world. I can totally see why people rank it as such, and I don't think that is just new ride / exclusivity hype (though for some, I reckon that's a factor). For me, it doesn't scoot into that upper-upper-echelon because I favour rides with powerful airtime and rides which I am able to re-ride again and again and again. Falcons Flight does have good airtime, but not necessarily powerful airtime. Also, I found that, even though I rode it multiple times and did go round and lap it again, it did feel like a bit of an endurance test. It's not something I could ride multiple times in succession. That's not a bad thing of course, just how my personal preferences go!


Coming soon...the rest of the park...

 

[JamesA]

Also, I found that, even though I rode it multiple times and did go round and lap it again, it did feel like a bit of an endurance test. It's not something I could ride multiple times in succession. That's not a bad thing of course, just how my personal preferences go!

I found this too. I'm a little prone to motion sickness, and whilst on most coasters I'm fine with re-riding, I did find I couldn't ride Falcons twice consecutively without it making me feel ill. I don't know if it was just the sheer extremity of the speed/height, the long ride duration, or the wind that gushes into your face... but yeah... I ended up having to have a break between each go.

Great review. You've put into words pretty much how I felt about it. Top coaster, but not quite at the very top for my personal preferences.

Good to see they've got the on-ride photo working now. I was disappointed it wasn't working when I went.

 

[JoshC.]

So, the rest of the park...

After my first ride on Falcons Flight, I went over to Colossus. I got to the station and was the only one there, so staff naturally gave me a choice of row. They said that 'front row will give you the best views, back will be more extreme'. Since I was going to be the only person, back row seemed to offer best of both worlds.



It features a fun, and hidden away, pre-lift section that I enjoyed. Climbing up the lift hill is weird, as being able to see Falcons Flight around you does make it feel so dwarfed - it's the only ride on park which really suffers from this. The ride itself lived up to the staff member's claim - it is very intense and full on throughout the whole ride. The pace of the ride is excellent, and it's a decent length.



But damn, the restraints. They press on you and are uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that they ruin the ride. The airtime becomes a survival game. The laterals are dreaded, not looked-forward-to. The ride is just not enjoyable, despite having such an excellent layout. I rode it again later and still didn't enjoy it, even after prepping myself.

It also suffers from the GCI parking issues, except that starts all the way on the brake run which is very far away from the station.



This could have been a sleeper hit for the park. Instead it's a nightmare run.

My focus at first in the park was to get the major coasters done. Moving around the park is a broadly anticlockwise fashion, Spitfire would have been next, but it had still not opened. So I carried on over to Iron Rattler, which would be my first Vekoma Tilt Coaster.



Again, pretty quiet, so was able to choose a row and gravitated to the front. The tilt section on the front row was genuinely unnerving. Logically you know you're absolutely safe, but being 200ft in the air and seeing nothing in front of you to stop you falling out...it was a lot. The tilt section has a some neat audio too.

I've always really enjoyed New Vekoma rides (Fonix at Farup is in my Top 10%), but it is very fair to say they can feel a little over-engineered. Part of the beauty of riding coasters - especially those top tier ones - is that out of control, oh my god feeling. New Vekoma rides feel like they know exactly where every part of every person's body would be to the exact millimetre, which means it loses some of that wildness.



Iron Rattler doesn't suffer from that problem. It has the excellent flow of New Vekomas, along with great forces, pops of airtime / hangtime and brilliant pacing. The stall loop and double zero-g roll are major highlights. But along the way, it has the right level of feeling like it is out of control. It is just sheer brilliance from start to end.



The only slight negative I have, which is unavoidable really, is that when you're released from the tilt into the drop, there's a moment where effectively it feels like the train is moving but your body isn't, so if your head isn't right against the headrest, you bump your head a bit. So yeah, you have to fight against gravity a bit.



After my first ride, I went straight back for a second ride, at the back. Annoyingly there is a strict no re-ride policy, so you do have to go round the exit and queue again (this was where having Fastpass was at least a bit of saviour, as the queue lines looked physically long to walk round). The tilt is fun at the back, and going up that high in the air is novel. But I did prefer it - and the ride in general - at the front.

I did ride it 5 times across my visit, and it warms up well, but nothing crazy. At the same time, the ride did spend about 4 hours in the middle of the day - the tilt track didn't line up properly.


Where it was stuck

After some reflection, Iron Rattler sneaks into my Top 10 outright - it is that damn good. And yes, I prefer it to Falcons Flights.

Spitfire didn't turn into Spitefire and opened at about half 4. Again, ended up with a front row ride at first. And damn, this took me by surprise. It is very fun. The swing launch, featuring a airtime hill, is bloody brilliant. The extra speed compared to others I've experienced adds to it. The inversion is good fun, and the pop of airtime into the brakes is good fun.



It's a bit of a shame you can't see the launch track, or get close to the top hat. The latter in particular is a shame as the scale of top hat (240ft tall for goodness sake - taller than any coaster in the UK!) is completely lost due to the surroundings.




There's not much else to say to this. It's a one trick pony, but it's a heck of a good trick.

In terms of other coasters...Saw Mill Falls is the Mack Water Coaster. It's smooth, which I guess should be the bare minimum for a new coaster. It has some nice effects during the 'water ride' sections to help increase the wetness a bit, but you equally don't get too wet. The coaster section is very bare though and has no theming, which is a bit of a shame.
Sea Stallion, the Maurer Spike coaster, is...bad. The ride is well presented, themed and well integrated. But, the ride type is terrible. The seatbelts are extremely tight and uncomfortable. The controls for the speed are rubbish. Just bad.

Adrena-line, Vekoma SFC, is good fun. Once you've ridden one of these, you know what you're getting yourself in for with these - decent family coasters. Same for Twilight Express, the Junior Vekoma coaster.

As for other rides...I guess the main ones are GyroSpin and Sirocco Tower. I don't like swinging/spinning rides, so admired GyroSpin from afar. As for Sirocco Tower, I'm not a big fan of shot and drop towers, in the sense that I find them a bit underwhelming. But hey, tallest one in the world.

Off the bat - it was only running 2 of the 4 towers on my visit. This meant it had the longest queue of the day - it was advertised as 60 minutes but I expect it was longer. I waited about 20 minutes in the Fastpass queue, and the main queue was way more than 3x the length.

The other issue is that the ride sequence is extremely long. The car lowers down below ground level. It then shoots up, and then bungees for so so so long. The ride cycle far outstays its welcome, to the point where people get bored. And the drop moments lack any sort of force whatsoever. Sure, you get to admire the view, but there's only so long you can admire that really...

I appreciate that they created a story which is cohesive with Falcons Flight to present during the queue and for the ride experience. But yeah, it's rubbish.



On the more positive side, Zoomaflooma, the quirkily-named log flume is well presented, has a couple of neat moments and surprises and a really fast-paced middle-third. Big Splash, the Zamperla Big Wavez, is a show ride and pretty boring to ride, but otherwise inoffensive.



Qiddiya does have two dark rides as well. First one I experienced was Into the Deep, which is a Triotech interactive ride (and, apparently, Triotech's largest ride). I didn't really understand the story beyond some sort of exploration of caves and shoot things. It's largely screen-based, but does have some theming. Unfortunately the ride experienced technical issues half way through my ride - it was very strange as it played a "this ride is closed due to technical issues" announcement constantly, but the ride system continued to do its things, and some screens worked and others didn't. It did reopen later, but I didn't bother trying again.

The other dark ride, The Enchanted Greenhouse, is a trackless ETF Dark Ride. And it's very similar to Symbolica at Efteling, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's a cute, endearing family dark ride which has a fun story, great effects and just comes together really well. It has a cool pre-show too. It does feature a level of interactivity, with guns to shoot things, but they don't create any sort of score. But it works in context. Really really good on the whole, and I think this would fit into pretty any theme park in the world.



Final attraction I think is worth mentioning is Skywatch, the flying island / pagoda attraction, which gives a huge overview of the park. Whilst it still doesn't let you realise the total scale of the park, it's the best way to appreciate it.

I love this image in particular - really showing the extreme difference in the 240ft-tall Spitfire and Falcons Flight's 535ft airtime hill.

More broadly for the park, I really enjoyed the vibe it had. It has a proper 'theme park' style to it, with theming around most parts of the park, well-defined areas, themed audio all over the place and a clear identity everywhere. It's well designed in terms of layout too. They seem to have gotten the basics right, which I don't think every brand new park always does. In many ways, it didn't feel like a brand new park given how slick and well-oiled it was.

The food at the park was great. I went to the park's Mexican place, getting a pulled beef taco meal for about £10. I also got a freshly made pretzel with Nutella for about £3. Other food outlets, from restaurants to grab n go's to snack places all looked good a well-priced too. I did notice at many food places staff outside trying to encourage people to come eat, or explaining the menu / ready to answer questions. I can only imagine that was because the park was quiet, and they had nothing else to do. It does make me wonder how sustainable the current staffing levels are - I can't imagine it's worthwhile having every food outlet open right now.

Another huge positive was the merchandise. Most major rides, and even some smaller rides, have the classic gift shop to exit through, with relevant merchandise there. There's also some larger ones with a collection of merch in the main Citadel area, along with other random retail places. The merchandise is good quality, hugely varied and definitely seems to have something for everyone. It's a little on the pricier side I'd say, but not extortionate. I don't have photos, but I found it crazy that a theme park in a dry country had two different shot glasses for sale!

I did also overhear a manager touring some people round a shop discussing merch. He was saying that the current bestsellers were t-shirts / sweatshirts that simply said "Six Flags Riyadh" (the ones without and obvious Six Flags branding). It is a huge selling point for people apparently, and most merch seems to have that on one way or another (as opposed to Six Flags Qiddiya / Six Flags Qiddiya City). So there's definitely a draw with locals there.


One final point before I wrap up - being at this park distorted my concept of time a bit. As someone who has mostly visited European parks, and the few non-European parks I've visited have been at times when parks closed by 8pm, I'm not used to late-night openings as standard. Sure, I've done late-night openings at parks, but that's always been when the parks have opened at 10/11am.
What that means is that 7pm, for example, feels late to be at a park. By that time, I feel like I should have done most things and not be panicking. When I hit that time on park, I'd done most things I wanted to do, but still wanted to get lots of re-rides, do some other rides and check out shops / restaurants. But internally I started to feel like I was running out of time. I was thinking "I need to pick up the pace". It took a moment for me to go 'hang on, I've done most things and I'm not even half way through the day'. It was an odd but novel moment.

I left the park just before the closing time of midnight. There were plenty of staff around the exit pointing people to the right bus (whether to go to Jeddah Road or the car park). The bus back to Jeddah Road had about 8 of us on there, and took about 30-40 minutes to get back. There were loads of taxis about, since the Metro finishes at midnight, and many asked me if I wanted a taxi. Short, clear "No"s stopped them from asking further, but a couple who did not speak English (and would communicate through Google Translate) required a bit more convincing to say no. I got an Uber which took me back to my hotel, which ended up being about £7-8 for a 35 minute drive just before1am.

Final Thoughts
Six Flags Qiddiya is surprisingly well polished for what was a park that had only been open properly for like 5 weeks when I went. It's got some top tier coasters and a decent support line up to go with it. I'm really curious to see how the park goes. The short-term future feels a bit rockier now due to the conflict in the Middle East. But even ignoring that, I don't know how sustainable the park could be in its current set up with all the staff it had for a quiet day. The mid-term future is the make or break for the park. As Qiddiya grows, and we hit Saudi's 2030 vision target, it will be interesting how popular the park is, and how it competes or compliments the other entertainment (and theme parks) that will come to the area. And then, whether to choose to introduce new rides, expansions, etc.

But for now, it's a wonderful park, I really enjoyed my time there. I went for Falcons Flights, but I stayed for the whole package.



Coming soon - mall creds, Riyadh thoughts, going home