Disney is coming to Abu Dhabi: New resort that could eclipse Disneyland Paris

The Walt Disney Company already owns six global resort destinations and another one will soon be added to the list.

For the first time in 15 years Disney has announced that it’s adding to the roster, with a new park in Abu Dhabi set to become the brand’s first in the Middle East. The new site will be developed, built and operated by Miral, an Abu Dhabi-based company. However Disney’s ‘Imagineers’ will lead the creative design of the site.

“Every time we open a new experience or a theme park… it’s really important not just to take a theme park that might exist somewhere else and plop it into the ground in that new area that we would be going into,” Josh D’Amaro, the chairman of Disney Experiences, told CNN.

This move is a key part of Disney’s goal of expanding in the region and unlock a new section of potential customers. From Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports a third of the world’s total population is within a four-hour flight. That includes 1.4 billion currently in India.

According to D’Amaro, there are around 500 million people in that region with the means to visit a Disney theme park. Previously, their closest Disneyland would have been in Hong Kong or Shanghai, a much further trip.

The Shaghai park was announced in 2010, making it the most recent addition to the Disney world. However the parks have become an increasingly lucrative part of Disney’s revenue in recent years, representing 59% of total operating income for the 2024 fiscal year. With an uncertain future in international trade and travel between the US and China, the Middle East offers an exciting new opportunity for Disney.

The news comes just weeks after Universal unveiled plans for a seventh resort of its own, this time coming to the United Kingdom. These companies clearly see the resort destination industry as an increasingly important part of their global offering and they are taking major steps to expand it.

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