Disney announces an Abu Dhabi theme park and resort

A new Disney theme park is coming to Abu Dhabi.

The Walt Disney company announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with immersive destination and experiences company Miral to bring a park and resort to Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates.

This will be Disney’s seventh theme park resort and it will be fully developed and built by Miral. Disney’s imagineers will lead creative design and operational oversight on the project. The entertainment giant will not be investing capital in the project, but will reap the benefits of royalties.

The development in Abu Dhabi is not part of the $60 billion that Disney has pledged to invest in its theme parks over the next decade.

“This is a thrilling moment for our company as we announce plans to build an exciting Disney theme park resort in Abu Dhabi, whose culture is rich with an appreciation of the arts and creativity,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger, in a statement. “As our seventh theme park destination, it will rise from this land in spectacular fashion, blending contemporary architecture with cutting edge technology to offer guests deeply immersive entertainment experiences in unique and modern ways.”

Iger, in an interview with CNBC’s David Faber on Wednesday, said imagineers have already begun designing the park. He declined to specify when the company expects the park to open.

“We’re not pinning down a date yet,” he said. “It typically takes us between 18 months and two years to design and fully develop and approximately five years to build but we’re not making any commitments right now.”

The announcement came after Disney reported a top- and bottom-line beat for its fiscal second quarter, with its experiences business — including parks, cruises and resorts as well as consumer products — reporting 6% year-over-year revenue growth.

The segment represented 37% of the company’s overall revenue in fiscal 2024 and nearly 60% of its operating income.

“Experiences is obviously a critical business for Disney and also an important growth platform,” Iger said on Disney’s second-quarter earnings conference call. “Despite questions around any macroeconomic uncertainty or the impact of competition, I’m encouraged by the strength and resilience of our business as evidenced in these earnings and in the second-half bookings at Walt Disney World.”

Disney has slowly been entering the United Arab Emirates in recent years, adding retail locations and touring entertainment shows like Broadway’s “The Lion King” and “Disney on Ice.”

Iger told CNBC that the company first started eyeing the region as a potential new resort location in 2017 or 2018, but Covid and a CEO change delayed expansion into the UAE.

The company noted that around one-third of the world’s population lives within a four-hour flight of the UAE and that the region has an addressable tourism market of around 500 million visitors.

“This groundbreaking resort destination represents a new frontier in theme park development,” said Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney experiences. “Our resort in Abu Dhabi will be the most advanced and interactive destination in our portfolio. The location of our park is incredibly unique – anchored by a beautiful waterfront – which will allow us to tell our stories in completely new ways. This project will reach guests in a whole new part of the world, welcoming more families to experience Disney than ever before.”

Yas Island is a hub of entertainment and retail experiences. It is already home to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Waterworld, SeaWorld Abu Dhabi and Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi as well as the Formula 1 Yas Marina Circuit. The area also hosts Abu Dhabi’s largest mall and an award-winning golf course.

Upon completion, the new Disney park will have themed accommodations and unique dining and retail experiences that integrate the storytelling heritage of Disney and the futuristic and cultural essence of Abu Dhabi.

“It’ll be much larger than anything that’s currently here,” D’Amaro teased on CNBC.