Before flying out to Dubai, the Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Mall, and Fountain Show were high on my bucket list. We heard the rumors to book Burj Khalifa ahead of time was the best advice we were given. I also read about the dress code rules of Dubai Mall before going. Here’s my experience of them…
Before entering the mall there are signs to say dress modestly, I chose a dress that covered my knees and a cardigan to cover my shoulders. Compared to the Mall of Millenium or Nakheel Mall it felt more upper class and people respected the rule. They have become westernised in some ways but I think this shows respect to the country and the people who work there.
We booked the VIP tour for the Burj Khalifa, first, you enter a room where you are told about how high you go and the process of the tour. You then see a model of the tower and a brief history of how the tower is built. You then go through airport-style scanners before entering the first of two lifts to your designated floor.
We opted for the 148th floor, and when we got out of the lift we were ushered out of the lift to be greeted by a photographer. He took six photos of me and my partner and told us to do poses but no directions on where to stand. I wished he’d done it as the angle of my partner is wrong. After buying this bad photo, we discovered for 60 dirhams each we could go to the 154th floor. We decided to go higher, where we were greeted with a drinks voucher and a chance to have some afternoon tea-style nibbles. As my partner didn’t feel great, I had two glasses of prosecco!
We were on the 154th floor, tallest building in the world and it didn’t feel as high as it did when we ventured up the Shard in London. I think it’s because they have tall buildings near which means you’re not looking too far down. Afterward, we made our way down to the exit and to the gift shop.
Making our way back down, we had time to kill before the first fountain show which takes place each evening. The first stop we had was to see the giant aquarium and see all the fish swimming. We were told before to go up one floor as the row gets crowded and you struggle to see the fish. Having worked in one before, I wasn’t keen on entering and going around but the tank was a lot larger than I thought it would be. My partner commented and said, “What do you expect, it’s Dubai?”
The next stop was to see the Dubai Mall waterfall which is iconic and you see a lot on Instagram and vlogs. Like the aquarium, I thought it was huge, but it was the details of the people and how it falls impressed me the most.
Before we knew it, it was time to go outside and watch the fountain show. It’s the same thing as the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas. Music played, and water was pumped up to a height. The music was classical but being the first show it was very crowded. As we made plans to dine out away from Dubai Mall, I should have thought about booking a restaurant to overlook the fountains to watch the show. Next time…
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