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Here's what to expect from the theme park's Middle East debut

The Walt Disney Company recently announced plans for its first Disney theme park resort in the Middle East, set to open in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.

A partnership between The Walt Disney Company and Abu Dhabi-based Miral, Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be the seventh Disney destination in the world, and is expected to open some time between 2030 and 2032. Here are eight more things we know about the theme park.

1 Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be the fifth theme park on Yas Island
The new Disneyland will join what is already a theme park-led lineup on Yas Island, located 20 minutes from the centre of the UAE capital. Yas Island is currently home to Ferrari World, SeaWorld and Warner Bros World, which is set to debut a Harry Potter attraction this year. Yas Waterworld also resides here, and will open 18 new attractions in 2025. Within walking distance of the parks, visitors will find five-star hotels, a marina, a mega mall, an arena, beach, a golf course and an F1 racing circuit, home to the annual three-day Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December.

Yas Island recorded more than 38 million visits in 2024, a 10% increase on 2023, while its hotels saw the highest occupancy since 2019

Ferrari World, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi

2 Its waterfront location will inspire attractions
Disneyland Abu Dhabi’s location along Yas Island’s waterfront will play a pivotal role in the park’s layout, design and experiences, providing an opportunity to “tell our stories in completely new ways”, according to Josh D’Amaro, Chair of Disney Experiences. He added: “One of the great things about the piece of land that we'll be building on is it's right up against the water and so we'll be pulling water into this resort.” Sea views and open-air spaces will be part of the experience.

3 It will be high-tech Being billed by the studio’s CEO Bob Iger as its "most technologically advanced theme park", Disneyland Abu Dhabi will blend “contemporary architecture with cutting-edge technology to offer guests deeply immersive entertainment experiences”. A spokesperson for Disney told CNN that the company is interested in incorporating technologies such as Unreal Engine to fuse characters and stories into its attractions. "This groundbreaking resort destination represents a new frontier in theme park development," D’Amaro said in a statement. "Our resort in Abu Dhabi will be the most advanced and interactive destination in our portfolio."

4 It will have an Arabian theme
Rather than being a copy-and-paste of Disney parks elsewhere, Disneyland Abu Dhabi "will be authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati", Iger said in a statement, and will offer “storytelling in a way that celebrates both the heritage of Disney and the futuristic cultural essence of Abu Dhabi”.

Expect regionally inspired storytelling and Emirati cultural touches in the architecture, design and experiences

5 It will be Disney’s first indoor theme park
In an interview with DubaiEye radio station, Miral Group CEO Dr Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi confirmed that Disneyland Abu Dhabi would be an indoor theme park. “We really want [guests] to enjoy their time and have the best experience here in Abu Dhabi. As you know, we have done all our theme parks indoors, so Disney will be an indoor theme park. We will make it easy for people to arrive... and enjoy as many rides as possible.” However, some of Miral’s theme parks, such as Ferrari World, offering both indoor and outdoor attractions, so Disney may well follow suit.

6 It will not follow a usual model of operation
The new resort will be developed in partnership with Miral, the Abu Dhabi-based developer behind many of the capital’s leading leisure and entertainment destinations. Rather than Disney’s usual model of owning and operating theme parks, the Abu Dhabi venture will see Miral – which operates the most-visited theme parks in the Middle East – fund, develop and build the new park and use Disney’s characters and IP under a licence. For this, Disney is expected to receive royalties based on a percentage of ticket and merchandise sales. However, Miral will contract Disney’s Imagineers, the architects named after their imaginative use of engineering, to design the park.

7 There will be combined Disney-Formula 1 packages and experiences
Just weeks after announcing Disneyland Abu Dhabi, The Walt Disney Company reported a new global collaboration with Formula 1. Starting 2026, the partnership will offer one-of-a-kind packages, which will likely include Disneyland Abu Dhabi given the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been held on Yas Island for the last 16 years. Hosted annually at Yas Marina Circuit in late November/early December as the final race of the F1 season, the three-day event includes concert series bringing A-list acts to the emirate alongside other entertainment.

In 2024, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend attracted 190,000 people, the largest weekend attendance at the circuit since 2017

Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi

8 The theme park is expected to attract millions
According to D’Amaro, Disneyland Abu Dhabi has a potential market of around 500 million visitors, given the UAE’s strategic location within a four-hour flight of nearly one-third of the world’s population and a six- to eight-hour flight from 80% of the population. Currently, Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports collectively bring in 120 million passengers each year.

For more information, visit miral.ae and thewaltdisneycompany.com

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