Disney CEO Iger stakes out beach site for Disneyland Abu Dhabi

Bob Iger has confirmed the site for Disneyland Abu Dhabi in an Instagram post picturing the Disney CEO wandering along the shoreline of Yas Island.

“Walking the site of what will one day be Disneyland Abu Dhabi! Lots of work ahead, but all very exciting,” the caption reads.

The photographs, which show the “Yas” welcome sign in the distance, appear to be taken at a location on the western end of Yas North, which is the only large undeveloped waterfront site remaining on the island.

Disney’s seventh theme park, which was announced with great fanfare last May, is expected to open by 2032. It will be built and operated by Abu Dhabi developer Miral, under a licensing arrangement with Disney.

Iger met with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed last week, along with Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro, to discuss progress on the project.

Saudi Arabia to open Six Flags Qiddiya City theme park

Saudi Arabia’s new Six Flags Qiddiya City theme park is set to open its gates next week, welcoming visitors on Dec. 31 just in time for New Year’s celebrations with its record-breaking roller coaster and other mammoth attractions. 

The $1 billion park marks the first Six Flags location outside North America and sits at the heart of the vast Qiddiya megaproject, a centerpiece of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan to build a global entertainment, sports and culture destination. 

Saudi Minister of Media Salman Al-Dossary said the theme park’s opening kicks off a phased rollout of other projects being developed across the $10 billion entertainment city by Qiddiya Investment Co., which is owned by the Public Investment Fund. 

Among the 70 new properties under construction are the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, Qiddiya Performing Arts Center, the Mercedes-Benz Performance World and Aquarabia.

The Six Flags park’s Falcon Roller is being billed as the longest, fastest, and highest roller coaster in the world.

Disney to open its first Middle East theme park in Abu Dhabi

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.