Disney, Miral announce plans for new Disney theme park in Abu Dhabi

Miral said that the city of Abu Dhabi has a population of about 2.5 million, but Yas Island recorded more than 34 million visits in 2023, a 38 per cent rise compared to the year before.

Walt Disney announced plans on Wednesday to open a Disney theme park in United Arab Emirates' capital Abu Dhabi in collaboration with regional developer Miral Group, representing its first major new theme park in nearly a decade and its first in the Middle East.

The planned Disney waterfront resort will be located on Yas Island, a popular tourist destination that is home to other family-friendly attractions, including Warner Bros World Yas Island, SeaWorld Yas Island and Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi.

The city of Abu Dhabi has a population of about 2.5 million, but Yas Island recorded more than 34 million visits in 2023, a 38 per cent rise compared to the year before, Miral has said.

“We've always been interested in this part of the world - to bring our Disney stories to new, younger fans,” Disney's Experiences unit Chairman Josh D’Amaro told Reuters, adding, “Abu Dhabi was an ideal location for us.”

Miral, the Abu Dhabi-based leisure and entertainment group responsible for developing Yas Island, will finance, build and operate the resort. The creative and technical professionals who design Disney's theme parks, known as Imagineers, will lead creative design and provide operational oversight.

The US entertainment company will earn royalties based on the park's revenue, according to a regulatory filing.

The Disney park "will be authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati - an oasis of extraordinary Disney entertainment that is at the crossroads of the world,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement on Wednesday.

Abu Dhabi is known for its oil wealth, though last year it announced plans to invest more than $10 billion in infrastructure to grow its tourism business. The international airport in UAE's commercial hub Dubai aims to boost its capacity to accommodate 120 million passengers a year by 2026.

Disney did not announce the opening date for the new park, though D’Amaro said a project of this scale could take a year or two to design, and another four to six years to build.

Once complete, the resort will offer Disney-themed attractions, dining and retail experiences, in a way that blends the Burbank entertainment company’s storytelling and Abu Dhabi’s heritage, D’Amaro said.

Investments in experiences unit

The Abu Dhabi park, Disney’s first since Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016, represents a continuation of the company’s plans to “turbocharge” its Experiences unit, which includes its six global theme park resorts, a cruise ship line and a family resort in Hawaii.

In 2023, Disney announced it would commit $60 billion over a decade to double the size of its Disney cruise ship fleet and invest in its theme parks. It also took a minority stake in Epic Games, creator of the online game Fortnite.

Miral initially approached Disney to talk about their plans for creating a tourism hub in Abu Dhabi, said D’Amaro. That conversation led Disney executives to visit the prospective theme park site last September.

“We saw where our potential park might go, and had some serious conversations about what this could mean to our 'turbocharging',” D’Amaro said.

After a return trip to the region in February, D’Amaro said the parties entered into serious discussions that culminated in a deal. The amount of Miral's investment was not disclosed.

Miral Group CEO Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi issued a statement hailing the addition of a Disney theme park to Yas Island as a “historic milestone” in the company’s efforts to build the island into a global entertainment destination.