How big is this Mall ?

The Dubai Mall is the largest shopping mall in the world. Jeff and I braved the Saturday crowd and spent five hours at the mall today. In five hours, we were only able to see less than 1/4 of what it has to offer. There are so many fun things to see, an over abundance of food selections and any retail store known to man kind is open in the Dubai Mall, 1200 + to be exact. More than anything else, it would be fun to take the day, find a comfortable chair and people watch. There are probably more languages spoken at the Dubai Mall then anywhere else in the world. I have quickly learned that there is one thing that is consistent across any nationality or country in the world -no matter where you come from, people like to shop and eat!

Cute father and son looking at one of the fountains

We had been running around most of the day and were hungry. There were too many restaurants to choose from and we could not make a decision, so we decided on Texas Roadhouse. Yes, it is the same Texas Roadhouse that is open in the states and people were swarming the hostess like flies to get a table. When we approached the podium to add our name, the small Filipino employee, said, "howdy partner, welcome to Texas Roadhouse". So cute...
The food was identical, right down to the peanuts, tasty rolls and raspberry butter. They also do western line dancing and put people on the saddle for their birthdays. It was hysterical to watch the Filipino and Indian workers line dancing to a few western songs. Bless their little hearts, it was a good effort on their part.

Line dancing at Texas Roadhouse in the Dubai Mall

Besides the Dubai Mall being the worlds largest shopping mall in the world, it also houses other stores and attractions that are also considered the largest, biggest or most in the world, (Dubai has the official Guinness world record plaques to verify it) such as, the worlds largest acrylic panel aquarium and under water zoo, the largest candy store in the world called, "Candylicious", (that is really the name - I could not make that up), the most fountains in one mall, and so on and so on. Like I mentioned earlier, there is too much to see in one day, it could take many days or a week. After five hours my feet were tired of walking.
Dubai mall also sits right next to the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. The Burj Khalifa was featured in most recent Mission Impossible movie starring Tom Cruise, scaling the outside of the skyscraper. It makes me anxious just to think about it. 
All of it is quite extraordinary!
There are no plaques to verify it, but I can personally attest that the Dubai Mall parking garage is the worlds largest,with a mere 14,000 parking spaces. Jeff and I got lost in it for one hour, wandering around looking for our car. They definitely need a shuttle service like Disneyland. It is recommended that you take a picture of the parking level number posted closest to your car with the camera on your phone, supposedly it will help you find your exact location when returning. Jeff took a picture and it still did not help. Goodness gracious !

One wall of the largest candy store in the world - "Candylicious"

Besides the Dubai mall, there are 67 other malls in Dubai, with 8 others currently under construction. Wow, that is a lot of malls ! No matter the day or time, the malls are always busy. Jeff and I and were in the one of the malls on a Monday morning and I could not believe the crowds - doesn't anyone work? People definitely shop until they drop in this city. If shopping was an Olympic sport, they would certainly be the gold winners.

Each of the malls has their own unique theme and extraordinary extractions, such as an indoor ski resort, which includes live penguins that are adorable. I will blog about the indoor skiing at a later date. It is so awesome it deserves its own post.

Okay family and friends - I need shopping companions. Anything you want to find, or not, is here. Any takers?

Fun fact @ the Dubai Mall - 54 Million people visited the Dubai Mall in 2011. It was the most visited leisure destination, which includes New York City, Times Square and Niagara Falls.