Ferrari World: Opening day images [w/video]

You may never get the chance to strap yourself behind the wheel of a real live Formula One racing car festooned with all manner of Prancing Horses. We feel your pain, but perhaps the next best thing would be a trip to Ferrari World, which just opened its doors to paying guests in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

If you're thinking that no theme park could possibly give you the kinds of thrills you'd get behind the wheel of the real thing, well, you might be right. That said, no street car ever produced in Maranello is capable of accelerating to 60 miles per hour in about two seconds flat, which is exactly what the roller coaster Formula Rossa puts its passengers through on its way to a 150-mile per hour top speed. That equals 1.7 Gs of acceleration force, by the way.

The exterior of the park is modeled after the side profile of a Ferrari GT, and the roof has a total surface area of 200,000 square meters (2,200,000 sq ft) with a perimeter of 2,200 meters (7,200 ft). One-hundred-sixty feet below that roof, which is festooned with the largest Prancing Horse ever created (see above), sits 86,000 square meters (930,000 sq ft) of floor space. That makes Ferrari World the largest indoor theme park on the planet.

Naturally, there will be other attractions for those looking for slightly less thrilling kinds of fun, including a plethora of movies (some in 3D), and a ride that takes you through the inner workings of a V12 engine. You can also drive a Ferrari 250 California Spyder though an exhibit that shows you the best that Italy has to offer while you let the kiddies have their kicks learning how to drive Junior Grand Prix race cars.

Finally, what Ferrari theme park would be complete without bevy of places to buy your officially licensed gear? Not to mention a slew of fine dining locales with which to fill your gullet? The price to get in is just 225 AED, a little over $60 U.S. Check out our high-res image gallery below and hit the jump for a behind-the-scenes video.

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