Water show under the Burj Khalifa

When Tim and were in Dubai in May, one of the things I wanted to see (because I had heard it was well worth the time) is a water fountain "show", next to the Dubai Mall and under the shadow of the Burj Khalifa.

If you have forgotten what the Burj Khalifa looks like ...

The water fountain 'dances' to music. Shows start at 6 p.m. and continues every 30 minutes throughout the evening. I wanted to get some photos and video of it.

We had checked into our hotel (the Dusit Thani), which was near the Dubai Mall (next photo below; hotel rooms are on the top floors). 

We took a taxi over, a) because the mall gets busy on a Friday, and b) I had wanted a glass of wine with dinner. (You do NOT drink and drive here ... .001 on a breathalizer and you are going to jail. No exaggeration.)

I have described to Tim how crowded a mall can be on a Friday evening. What I had not factored in my brain was we are talking the Dubai Mall.  VERY popular place.

Outside of the mall, along the water where the fountain show is, are some restaurants with outdoor seating. It was warm but bearable.  We had to get through quite the crowd both in and outside the mall (lots of other people want to see the fountain show as well). You leave the mall, walk over a little foot bridge that spans a canal that feeds into the fountain area. We were so glad to get through the mass of bodies (reminiscent of Disneyland on a crowded summer day), that we stopped at the first restaurant because it had tables ready and waiting. Ended up being an Italian restaurant. As we settled into our chairs and began to look through the menus, I realized -- with disappointment -- that it was unlicensed ... aka, dry. No wine for me that night!

The food was fine. Not fantabulous. But the setting, very cool indeed. Under the Burj Khalifa, which is uplit at various levels of the building, so very striking. And from our table, we could see a could portion of the fountain.

Apparently, every 30 minutes that there is a show, the music is different, as is the motion of the fountain. So that was fun. We saw 3 in the time we were sitting or standing there, and the music ranged from American pop to Arabic.

Here is some video ... 

As a bonus video, here is a random video (25 seconds) of Dubai skyscrapers as we went up the E11 in Dubai. Admittedly, it's not a great video or ultra smooth (from a taxi ... with a driver who didn't amuse use with the swerving and speeding); but you might find it a bit interesting, nonetheless.