This whole Dubailand project just reads "Heritage USA" to me, only without any religious ties and not ran by the Bakker's.

Everything in that area of the world has to do with oppressive religion.

Right down to women not being able to drive and imprisonment of gay folk.

Anticipation builds ahead of F1-X Dubai’s 2009 opening:

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/1/8806.html

No Busch Gardens, Seaworld for Dubai:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attr...,2251456.column

^^Yes!!!! Theme park gluttony, anyone?!

What happens in Dubai Hits Home (Orlando):

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/or...,5934938.column

Dubai Dries Up:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weeken...606.html?via=mr

And this weekend it was announced that Dubai would not allow a Ladies Israeli tennis pro into the country to compete in the Sony/Erricson WTA Tourney.

I'm sorry, why are we wasting so much time on such a backwards country?

The sooner this country sinks back into the sand, the better.

Why were we wasting time? Because they were paying us money, as opposed to us paying them money for oil as we usually do...but enough political discussion (and that related to the topic at hand)...during this recession even the oil producing countries are cutting back, and that is affecting the amusement industry even more...

Just a short quote from that first article:

When one project is put on hold halfway around the world, firms in Orlando feel a sudden squeeze.

Case in point: Busch Entertainment Corp. announced that the Dubai-owned developer Nakheel put its plans for four theme parks on ice, and local companies had to contend with layoffs and other ways to reduce expenses. . . .

Like it or not, it's a small world, after all.

F-1X Runs Into Trouble:

Reports from the Middle East suggest that F1-X, the Formula 1 theme park in Dubai, has been postponed by developer Union Properties. It seems that the project has run out of money. The plan was to fund the park with the sale of houses, but the collapse of the UAE property markets has meant that income dried up and with banks unable to loan money and the government showing no interest in saving the project, it seems that the whole thing has been shelved.. . .

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21208.html

Dubai May Cancel $460m Theme Park Project (F1):

http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?thearti...009030912321146

Recession Threatens to Derail Dubailand:

Walk through the grand arched entrance of Universal Studios’ Dubai theme park, and you step into ... wind-swept desert.

No Hollywood thrill rides, no ticket kiosks, no studio backlots. Even the guard house and the construction office sat empty during a recent visit.

The planned park is part of a vision by Dubai officials to turn a patch of sand on the edge of the Mideast city-state into Dubailand — a vast amusement complex twice the size of Walt Disney World studded with theme parks including Universal Studios, Six Flags and Legoland, along with resorts, the world’s biggest shopping mall and the first golf course designed by Tiger Woods.

It is now unclear when or if much of it will ever get built. Dubailand has hit the harsh economic realities of the global downturn, much like the rest of Dubai, which once seemed unstoppable in its drive to build the biggest, the tallest, the most extravagant. ...

http://dcnonl.com/article/id35087

I find it funny that just about a year ago all the major parks were dropping their plans for Dubai left and right but now...

What parks are still planned for Dubai? Is a Six Flags still planned?

...Six Flags, the New York-based amusement park chain, said plans for its first Mideast park were "moving forward" but provided no additional information. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in June....

From the article I cited in post 40 above. The article also attempts to answer your first question.

Terpy, trying to help