Earlier this week, the Disney world was buzzing with the announcement of a new Disney theme park and resort being built in Abu Dhabi. The announcement came as Disney reported strong earnings for its second quarter, particularly with its theme parks division. This new theme park and endeavor is quite some time off from being able to be visited. In the meantime, there is a lot of information swirling around about Disneyland Abu Dhabi. It can be overwhelming to try and figure out what is going on and why. Below are five takeaways from this announcement to simplify everything that is going on.
1. A New Partnership with Miral
Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be paid for, built, and then operated by Miral. Miral already operates several theme parks on Yas Island, where this new Disney theme park and resort will be located. This includes Ferrari World Yas Island, SeaWorld Yas Island, and Warner Bros. World Yas Island. While Miral will pay for the building and operating Disneyland Abu Dhabi, Disney and Walt Disney Imagineering will lead the creative design and operational oversight. This business model is most similar to what Disney does with the Oriental Land Company at Tokyo Disney Resort.
An Appetite for Disney Experiences
“There is almost an insatiable demand for these Disney experiences, and for every one theme park visitor we have today, there are 10 more fans out there that want to experience something Disney but have never had a chance,” Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro shared. “Abu Dhabi is an incredible place. It’s an international crossroads, a place that celebrates art and creativity and still celebrates their heritage, something that fits very nicely with the Disney company, and we think with this new park, we have an opportunity to celebrate everything that is special about the Disney stories, all the tradition that comes along with our theme parks, but really lean into a modern esthetic.”
Smiles & Magic
“Our company is based on creating smiles,” Miral Chairman H.E. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak said. “We’re here to create happiness. And this is what Disney’s all about. What I truly love about Disney is that it engulfs you in their magic. I’m passionate that we are here building something that is for the next generation. It’s a legacy piece – we are a part of something great.”
2. A Business Decision
Building this new theme park and resort in Abu Dhabi is a business decision. “A third of the world’s population is within a four-hour flight from our site,” D’Amaro shared on the day of the announcement. “Just today, there are 120 million passengers coming through Abu Dhabi and Dubai alone. And that number is only going to go up.” Disney CEO Bob Iger noted that the region currently has demand for the Disney product, but there isn’t an easily accessible Disney theme park nearby. Hong Kong Disneyland is six hours away by plane. “The UAE and Abu Dhabi is a crossroads of the world,” said Iger to ABC. “This is a hub in many respects but also, because it is located where it is, it’s accessible to so many different regions, places where we typically have only scratched the surface in terms of attendance to our parks.” This is a decision about the change to reach new customers in a new way that has data to back it up.
Not Just a Data-Driven Decision
Along with the data behind the decision, Bob Iger said there are shared qualities between Disney, Abu Dhabi, and Miral. “They demonstrated a number of things that are really important to us,” Iger said. “One, a real appreciation of quality and innovation, an appreciation of arts and creativity, and a huge commitment to new technology. We were impressed with all of that.” He also cited “a real appreciation for our history and our legacy, of moving forward and being forward-thinking and innovating.”
Iger summed it all up, saying, “It was clear to us that of all the places that we could choose from, there didn’t seem to be any place that was better than this.”
3. A Modern Disneyland
This new theme park will be a modern Disneyland. It will have a castle, but it will be the first modern castle. Looking at the concept art, that already seems to be indicated. “You start thinking about what is possible, actually envisioning a castle rising up in this case from the sand and also being on the water,” Iger said in an interview with ABC. “We haven’t decided everything that will go into it but we do know it will be anchored by a castle,” Iger continued. “And again – the modernization that is Abu Dhabi – the castle will be the first real modern castle that we built.” Throughout the day on multiple interviews, it was said this park will be “the most technologically advanced theme park that we’ve ever built,” by both Iger and D’Amaro
“We’ve decided that we want to build a very modern Disneyland,” Iger said. “It will obviously incorporate a lot of our intellectual property and some of the typical stories that we tell in our theme parks.”
4. Authentically Disney, Distinctly Emirati
Similar to when Shanghai Disney Resort was built, Disneyland Abu Dhabi will lean into the culture of the country it is being built. “Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati … blending wonderful Disney stories and characters with the cultures and tastes of this country and this region,” Iger shared on Disney’s earnings call this week.
This means that guests can expect the food, design, and experiences that will be offered in this new Disney destination to be influenced by the United Arab Emirates. This will mean a theme park and resort that could be quite different than what has come before. If for no other reason than the climate, this theme park will need to be different. Quite often in Abu Dhabi, theme parks are at least partially covered. The climate, coupled with expectations of future guests from the region, will all be variables that are considered in the design of this new location.
5. Disneyland Abu Dhabi Opening Timeline
The timeline for the opening of Disneyland Abu Dhabi was not revealed during the announcements this week. “We’re not pinning down a date yet,” Iger 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.” This could set up a rough timeline of this new park and resort opening in a wide target window in the early 2030s. Miral is very eager for this project to get going and open.
New Disney theme parks aren’t announced and built very often. However, the time between the announcement of Shanghai Disney Resort and its opening was five and a half years. The announcement was made in November 2010. Construction began in April 2011. Shanghai Disney Resort opened in June 2016. It is unknown when ground will be broken for Disneyland Abu Dhabi. This gives a rough idea of how long some things could take. It is based on the most recent Disney resort and theme park that was built.
Looking Forward
At the end of the day, opening a new theme park and resort in Abu Dhabi for Disney is about the future. In business, a company is either growing or it is dying. There are countless lessons to be learned about not looking to the future and improving for tomorrow. “Our focus must always be on building for tomorrow as much as managing for today,” Iger said earlier this week. The decision to build Disneyland Abu Dhabi is about the future of The Walt Disney Company and making sure that as a new CEO takes the company into a new chapter, this chapter will continue on its 100+ year legacy and help build what this legacy will look like in the next 100 years.
Daps Magic will continue to follow and cover the development, building, and then opening of Disneyland Abu Dhabi. This will be in the coming days, months, weeks, and years. There is a lot more to dig into about this new theme park and resort. Daps Magic will research, explore, and explain this new park, the implications, and the possibilities for this new Disney destination!
