The Global Village Dubai is a popular destination for people visiting Dubai. You can easily spend days exploring all that the Village has to offer. But maybe you are wondering if visiting the Global Village Dubai is feasible on your vacation budget.
How much is the entrance fee in Global Village Dubai? The entrance fee in Global Village Dubai is 15 AED or approximately 4 USD. Children under 3 years old, seniors, and visitors with special needs can get in for free. Read on to find out more about how to make the most of your trip to Global Village Dubai.
Global Village Dubai – An Overview
In case you’re not familiar with the Global Village Dubai, here’s a quick overview of what you can expect when you visit. The Global Village has something for everyone. It is basically a collection of attractions, performances, food kiosks, restaurants, and shopping centres that highlight and feature different countries from around the world.
This year there are over 20 restaurants and 130 food kiosks to choose from that offer everything from Italian to Bosnian to Thai Cuisine. There are 26 pavilions that feature 78 different countries. There are also 3,500 shopping venues at the Global Village that feature amazing items from many of the 78 countries.
Know Before You Go
There are a few logistics that you should be aware of before you plan your visit to the Global Village. For example, opening hours for the Global Village are 4pm to 12am on weekdays and 4pm to 1am on weekends and public holidays.
In Dubai weekends are Friday and Saturday, so weekend hours are applied to Thursday and Friday in the Global Village. Mondays are women’s days so only women and families can visit the Global Village on Mondays, unless Monday happens to fall on a public holiday.
The entry fee of AED15 is equivalent to about 4 USD, so it is very reasonably priced, especially when you consider the fact that children under 3 and seniors over 65 can get in for free. People with special needs and one helper can also get in for free.
Ticket sales begin at 3:30pm and end half an hour before closing every day. Some rules that you need to be mindful of when visiting the Global Village are:
- No public displays of affection
- No segways or roller skates
- No pets
- Visitors should dress modestly
The attractions at the Global Village Dubai vary slightly from day to day. For example, there is a firework show every Thursday and Friday night at 9pm. You won’t pay any extra for a ticket on those days, but you will get the added value of a spectacular fireworks display. Researching the events happening on the day you plan to go can help you get the most value out of your visit.
What Am I Paying For?
The entry fee to the Global Village allows you to enter and explore the Village. There are a number of events and attractions that you can enjoy at no added cost as well as restaurants and attractions that you will need to pay extra for.
Fireworks displays and the Parade of Tolerance are two examples of things you can see at the Global Village for no extra cost. The parade and fireworks don’t happen every day though, so be sure to check out the daily schedule before you plan your visit.
Just walking around the Global Village may be enough to keep you entertained for hours. The 2019/2020 Global Village incorporates representation from almost 80 countries and is filled with amazing shopping outlets and food kiosks. There are over 130 food kiosks and at least 20 sit-down restaurants to choose from.
There area also about 3,500 shopping venues and some people come to the Global Village exclusively for the amazing shopping!
What Do I Have to Pay Extra For?
Like at most amusement parks, food is not included in the price of entry. If you get hungry during your visit to the Global Village you will have to pay for your meal or snacks, so be sure to incorporate a food budget into your financial plan.
Still, food prices are quite reasonable, and it is a great opportunity for you to try some truly fantastic international cuisine. It’s hard to find a place that offers as many different options as the Global Village in Dubai.
I started looking around online to see what kind of food I could expect to find at the Global Village, and I was totally blown away. You can find all sorts of creative and delicious-looking treats, in fact the multitude of choices seems a little bit overwhelming.
Some highlights that stood out to me were watermelon flavoured ice cream that is served inside of a real watermelon slice, cheese wheel pasta, and samsa and plov from Plov 7 – the traditional Uzbek restaurant.
My research showed that you can expect to pay about AED 25 for food at many of the kiosks. A full meal will cost you more than that of course and you can get smaller snacks for less. But bear in mind that AED 25 works out to about 7 USD, so you’re not really going to be breaking the bank!
Some of the attractions that will cost you some extra money are the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! gallery, the Survivor Stunt Show, Carnaval, and Circus Circus. The Ripley’s show is a new attraction that is being featured at the Global Village for the first time in 2019/20.
Carnaval is like a mini amusement park that has rides and other attractions such as skill and arcade games that are designed to appeal to the whole family. There is a total of 31 rides, 25 skill games, and over 100 arcade games!
The Circus Circus show is part of the Carnaval experience. Circus Circus provides an authentic circus experience featuring a ring master, perch and high wire performers, and an act called the Wheel of Death.
It’s up to you whether you want to pay the extra money for these attractions, but if you want to visit a bunch of the attractions then you should consider purchasing the Wonder Pass.
What About the Wonder Pass?
The Wonder Pass is a great option if you are planning to take advantage of a lot of the attractions and shows in the Global Village that aren’t included in the entrance fee. The Wonder Pass will cost you AED 100 (less than 30 USD) and you can use the 105 ‘points’ that the pass gives you to gain entry to attractions and shows.
The Wonder Pass grants you entry to the Global Village as well as access to additional attractions such as Stunt Show Survivor, Circus Circus, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Galleries, Ripley’s Mirror Maze, and Carnaval rides and games.
This is how many points each attraction will cost you:
Carnaval: rides and attractions all cost different amounts of points
Circus Circus: 15
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Galleries: 40
Ripley’s Mirror Maze: 25
Ripley’s Mirror Maze/Galleries combo entry: 50
Stunt Show Survivor: 10
You can still access all of these attractions without the Wonder Pass, but the Wonder Pass helps streamline the process and makes it easier to check out a bunch of attractions quickly and easily.
Wonder Passes start at 100 AED, but you can choose to load the Wonder Pass with any 100 AED increment between 100 and 1,000. For reference, 1,000 AED works out to about 275 USD.
What Can I See for “Free”?
If you don’t want to pay anything on top of the AED 15 entrance fee there are still a number of things you can see at no extra cost. There are 26 pavilions at the Global Village that showcase 78 different countries.
Just walking around the pavilions is a treat for the senses and will teach you all sorts of things about the featured countries. Here are some other things that won’t cost you any extra:
- Fireworks show: Thursday and Friday night @ 9pm
- Parade of Tolerance: Mondays @ 7:30pm
You can also see a variety of exciting stage shows at no extra cost! Here’s a taste of what shows you can expect to see at the Global Village:
Kpop Krazy: 13th Jan – 3rd Feb (Days off: Fridays)
Ballet Revolucion: 2nd Mar – 30th Mar (Days off: Fridays)
Globo Show “The Name’s Bo, Glo-Bo”: Days off: Tuesdays
Bollywood Icon: Days off: Fridays
Battle for the Block: Days off: Fridays
Urban Crew: Days off: Fridays
The Enchanted Forest: Days off: Sundays
Fiestaval: Days off: Sundays
Related Questions
What countries are featured at the Global Village?
MENA:
UAE
Saudi Arabia
Yemen
Lebanon
Syria
Iran
Bahrain & Kuwait
Al Sana’a Pavilion
Palestine & Jordan
Far East:
China
Thailand
Japan
Korea
Vietnam and Philippines
Europe:
Turkey
Bosnia & Balkans
Azerbaijan
Africa:
Egypt
Morocco
Kenya
Uganda
Tanzania
Senegal
Ghana
Ethiopia
Mauritania
Angola
Zimbabwe
Sudan
Rwanda
Madagascar
Namibia
South Africa
Nigeria
Americas:
Various countries from North, Central, and South America
South Asia:
Pakistan
Afghanistan
India
