A Rider's Guide to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi

You feel Formula Rossa before you understand it. The launch at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi throws you from a standstill to 240 km/h in 4.9 seconds, which is faster than the actual F1 cars these coasters borrow their styling from. That makes it the fastest roller coaster on the planet, and the speed is why every rider is handed a pair of safety goggles at the platform. Wear them. At that pace a stray insect feels like a pebble, and the goggles are mandatory for a reason.

The acceleration is the whole ride. You crest the top of the 52-metre hydraulic hill, and after that it is a long, fast track that never quite lets your stomach settle. People who hate drops sometimes love this one, because the thrill is sideways force and raw speed rather than a stomach-dropping plunge.

If Formula Rossa is brute force, Flying Aces is the technical ride. It opens with a 51-degree cable lift, the steepest of its kind, then runs through a loop that is taller than almost any other on Earth. The theme is a 1920s aviation club, which sounds gentle until the first inversion flips you upside down.

Ride it second. The G-forces are sharper and more sustained than Formula Rossa, and a lot of people find it the more intense of the two even though it tops out around 120 km/h. Between these two you have the headline coasters covered, and most other parks would build a whole season around either one.

Two crowds show up here and both leave happy. Serious thrill seekers come for the two coasters above plus Turbo Track, a vertical launch that fires you up through the roof of the building and out into the open air. That trio alone justifies the trip.

Families come for the rest, and there is plenty. The park is fully indoor and air conditioned, which matters when Abu Dhabi sits at 44 degrees in July. You are not dragging kids across hot tarmac between rides.

Smaller children get their own zone. Junior GT lets kids drive scaled-down Ferraris around a track and pick up a pretend driving licence, which is a bigger deal to a six-year-old than any loop. Benno's Great Race is a slow family coaster themed around a cartoon mouse, and the Driving School is built for toddlers who just want to steer something.

There is also a 4D cinema and a working replica of a Ferrari engine you can climb around. None of it is fast, all of it kills time between the adults' turns on Formula Rossa, and the height limits are clearly posted so you are not queuing for a ride your kid cannot board.

Ferrari World is one of three big parks clustered on Yas Island, and they almost share a car park. Yas Waterworld is a few minutes' walk and works as a cooler second day. Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi, also fully indoor, sits right beside it for the DC and Looney Tunes crowd.

The temptation is to do two in one day. Resist it unless you start at opening. One park done properly beats two done in a rush, and the coasters here reward a full unhurried afternoon.

From most of Dubai you are looking at roughly 90 minutes by car down the E11, traffic depending. Leaving before 8am gets you there for the 11am opening with room to spare and skips the worst of the morning crush at the border between the emirates.

No car is fine. A taxi or a ride-hail runs somewhere around 250 to 350 AED each way, and plenty of operators sell day trips with hotel pickup that fold the transfer and ticket into one price. If you are staying on Yas itself, the hotels there are a short hop from the gate.