More people visit Dubai Mall every year than visit New York City.
Over 100 million people, making it one of the most visited places on Earth.

So I thought:
Why not try to see all of it in one day?
Over 1,000 stores, an aquarium, a dinosaur, an ice rink, and who knows what else.

What could possibly go wrong?

Turns out—quite a lot.

The “Simple” Plan That Wasn’t So Simple

The plan sounded easy enough in my head:

Take the metro
Follow the signs
Step into the mall
Spend the day exploring until I’ve “seen it all”

Reality: Dubai Mall is less like a mall and more like an indoor city.

Even getting there is an experience. From the metro station, you walk through a long series of air-conditioned walkways, moving sidewalks, and glass windows overlooking Dubai’s skyline. There are more perfume ads than I’ve seen in my entire life combined.

By the time I actually reached the main entrance, it felt like I’d already done a warm-up hike. And that’s when it really hit me:

You can’t see from one end to the other.
You can’t even feel where it ends.

This place is massive.

Souvenir Shopping and Getting Lost in 10 Minutes

I decided to start simple: souvenir shopping.

There are stalls and shops selling:

Arabic lanterns
Gold-plated camels
Burj Khalifa models
Rugs that probably cost more than a used car

You name it, someone is selling a polished, shiny version of it.

And yet, somehow, I still managed to lose track of where I was within 10 minutes. Every hallway looks like it could be a different mall. One second, you’re in a traditional-style lane with lanterns and arches. The next second, you’re in a glossy modern luxury wing that looks like an airport made by Gucci.

I wasn’t just exploring anymore. I was wandering.

When Security Found Me Before I Found the Food Court

Here’s when the “didn’t go as planned” part really begins.

I was filming a few clips on my GoPro—nothing crazy, just normal vlog B-roll—when two guys approached me. No uniforms. No badges. Just regular clothes.

They asked me to come with them.

At first, I thought I had accidentally walked into an area where filming wasn’t allowed. But I was in a pretty normal part of the mall. Then they said they were with the Dubai police.

That’s when my stomach dropped.

They started asking questions:

Who I was
Why I was filming
What I was doing in Dubai
Where I was from

They asked to see my passport.
Handing over your passport in a foreign country is one of the most terrifying feelings in the world.

They took it.
They made me scroll through my footage.
They made calls over the radio.

I just stood there trying to look calm, while internally wondering if I was about to get banned from malls forever.

Eventually, they told me the problem: no “professional filming” without a permit. Tripods, mics, and “serious-looking” gear get attention. I guess I should be honored they thought I looked professional.

They ran my info, checked my footage, and after about 15 very long minutes, they handed back my passport and waved me off with a warning.

I took a deep breath.

Welcome to Dubai Mall.

Refueling at One of the World’s Best Food Courts

After my little “chat” with mall security and police, I needed a reset. And the food court sounded like the perfect place to regroup.

People call Dubai Mall’s food court one of the best in the world, and that might not be an exaggeration. You’ve got:

Global fast food brands
Middle Eastern grills
Indian, Asian, Italian, and everything in between
Fancy concepts that look like standalone restaurants

I did a couple of loops trying to decide where to eat. Free sample people were out in full force, handing out bites of fried food and dessert. I tried hard not to accept samples from places I knew I wasn’t going to buy from—cruise-ship-buffet guilt energy kicking in.

Eventually, I went all in: lamb shank with three kinds of rice at a Middle Eastern stall.

They plated:

A giant lamb shank
Three rice varieties
Salad on the side

It looked incredible. It was also… a lot of lamb.

I got through about two-thirds of the plate before I had to tap out.
Delicious? Yes.
Heavy? Extremely.

Waterfalls, Luxury Wings, and the Indoor City Feeling

Once the food coma started to fade, I went back out into the mall to explore the iconic spots.

First stop: the waterfall atrium.

This massive wall of water stretches multiple stories high, with silver human figures diving through the falling streams. It’s beautiful, dramatic, and loud enough that you almost have to shout to talk.

From there, I wandered straight into Fashion Avenue—Dubai Mall’s luxury wing. This is the part of the mall that makes your wallet nervous just by looking around.

Gucci
Prada
Dior
Stores that look more like art galleries than places to buy shoes

Even the ceilings look expensive.

You don’t have to buy anything to enjoy it, though. Just walking past the window displays feels like wandering through a fashion magazine.

The Aquarium: The Best Free View in the Mall

Next up: the Dubai Aquarium, one of the mall’s biggest attractions.

Now, here’s the thing a lot of people don’t realize:

You can see a huge portion of the aquarium for free, just by standing in the mall.

The main tank is:

Floor-to-ceiling
Multiple stories tall
Packed with sharks, rays, and thousands of fish

I stood there for around 20 minutes watching sharks glide past, kids lose their minds, and tourists jostle for the perfect selfie spot. It’s honestly better than some paid aquariums I’ve been to.

You can pay to:

Walk through a glass tunnel
Visit additional exhibits

If you’re obsessed with marine life, it might be worth the price. But purely for that “wow” moment? The free outside view is more than enough.

There’s even a lesser-known free viewing spot if you walk around behind the ticket counter—a budget traveler’s dream.

The Dubai Dino: Jurassic Park Meets Luxury Shopping

At some point in this surreal indoor city, I found myself standing in front of a dinosaur skeleton.

Yes, an actual dinosaur skeleton. In a mall.

It’s called the Dubai Dino, a genuine 155-million-year-old Diplodocus fossil, originally discovered in Wyoming. Now it lives under bright lights in the middle of Dubai Mall, just steps away from high-end boutiques and an ice rink.

It’s over 60 feet long, towering above shoppers who pause, snap photos, and then wander off to buy handbags.

Only in Dubai can you casually look at a dinosaur skeleton, then walk 30 seconds and buy a Rolex.

The Anime, Pokémon & Collectibles Surprise

One of the things that surprised me most: anime and collectibles stores.

Hidden between fashion brands and chocolate shops are full-on geek havens dedicated to:

Pokémon
One Piece
Anime figures
Trading cards
Plushies and limited edition merch

I went hunting for rare Pokémon cards and instantly felt like a kid again. Glass display cases held figures and cards that probably cost more than my plane ticket.

It’s not on the same level as Tokyo or Akihabara, but for a mall in the desert in the UAE, the selection was impressive.

I came very close to buying a Pikachu plush.
Travel discipline barely kicked in.

Hunting Down the Viral Dubai Chocolate Bar

Somewhere in all the pre-trip research and TikTok scrolling, I saw people raving about a “Dubai chocolate bar” that was supposedly life-changing.

So naturally, I made it a side quest.

I wandered through chocolate boutiques that looked like jewelry stores—glass counters, perfectly arranged truffles, gold foiled bars lined up like museum pieces.

Eventually, I found it: the viral Dubai chocolate bar TikTok had been hyping.

I unwrapped it, took a bite, and…

TikTok did not lie.

It was:

Smooth
Rich
Not overly sweet
Just really, really good chocolate

Good enough that I bought extra bars as souvenirs for friends and family.

Fresh from the source hits different.

The Dubai Fountain: The Big, Loud, Perfect Finale

As evening settled in, I finally made my way outside to what might be Dubai Mall’s most iconic experience: the Dubai Fountain.

Right next to the Burj Khalifa, the fountain show is:

Massive
Fully choreographed
Loud
Completely free

If you’ve seen the fountain show in Las Vegas, this makes it look like the warm-up act.

The music starts.
The water shoots up, hundreds of feet in the air.
The entire lake turns into a stage.

Behind it, the Burj Khalifa lights up the sky.

After a full day of walking, eating, getting lost, and being mildly terrified by security, standing there watching the water and lights felt like the perfect way to end it.

The Result: 10 Miles Walked and Still Not Done

On the way back toward the metro, I checked my phone.

I’d walked over 10 miles inside and around Dubai Mall.

And I still hadn’t seen everything.

There are entire wings, corridors, and sections I probably passed without realizing. It’s the kind of place you could visit every day for a week and still stumble onto something new.

So no, I didn’t “see all of Dubai Mall.”
Not even close.

But somewhere between:

Getting stopped by police
Eating my weight in lamb
Watching sharks drift past
Standing under a dinosaur
And ending the day with fountains and skyscrapers

…I realized something:

Sometimes the best travel days are the ones that completely fall apart in all the right ways.

Final Thoughts: Dubai Mall Is More Than a Mall

By the end of the day, one thing was crystal clear:

Dubai Mall isn’t really about shopping.

It’s about scale and imagination—the idea that:

You can build an ice rink in a desert
Put a dinosaur next to a couture boutique
Install an aquarium in the middle of a mall
And then top it off with the tallest building in the world right outside

Walking through Dubai Mall felt less like visiting a shopping center and more like moving through a dozen different worlds under one roof.

It’s beautiful.
It’s bizarre.
And it’s completely unforgettable.

If you love places that push the limits of what’s possible, this belongs on your list.

Watch the Full Dubai Mall Vlog

🎥 Watch on YouTube
Want to see the security moment, the food court, the aquarium, the dinosaur, and the chocolate bar hunt in motion? Check out the full vlog on my YouTube channel.

And if you want my Google Maps pins for Dubai—Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa views, and more—join my free travel email list. The link is in the description of the video.

Thanks for coming along for this chaotic mall marathon.
As always…
Travel Far.

I Tried to See All of Dubai Mall — It Didn’t Go as Planned