Disney to open its first Middle East theme park in Abu Dhabi
The iconic wonderland sitting on the UAE capital's Yas Island will be built by Miral Group, with creative design and operations led by Disney
Abu Dhabi Media Office
Disney CEO Bob Iger with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed at the announcement of Disneyland Abu Dhabi. Also present were Josh D’Amaro, Chairman of Disney Experiences; Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi, Group CEO of Miral; and Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism.
Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island has been selected as the home for Disney’s seventh theme park – the first in the Middle East – in a major coup for the UAE capital.
The park will be built by Miral Group, with creative design and operational oversight led by Disney.
Announcing the agreement at the W Abu Dhabi Hotel on Wednesday alongside Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the park would be “authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati, an oasis of extraordinary Disney entertainment that is at the crossroads of the world.”
Arab leaders have been courting Disney for years, with Iger reportedly saying in 2018 that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had made an “impassioned plea” for a theme park in the kingdom, which Disney dismissed at the time as a cultural mismatch.