Disney theme park to open in Abu Dhabi

Media company joins hands with Miral Group

Walt Disney announced plans on Wednesday to open a Disney theme park in United Arab Emirates' capital Abu Dhabi in collaboration with regional developer Miral Group, representing its first major new theme park in nearly a decade and its first in the Middle East, reported Reuters.

The planned Disney waterfront resort will be located on Yas Island, a popular tourist destination that is home to other family-friendly attractions, including Warner Bros World Yas Island, SeaWorld Yas Island, and Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi.

"We've always been interested in this part of the world - to bring our Disney stories to new, younger fans," Disney's Experiences unit Chairman Josh D'Amaro told Reuters, adding, "Abu Dhabi was an ideal location for us."

Miral, the Abu Dhabi-based leisure and entertainment group responsible for developing Yas Island, will finance, build and operate the resort. The creative and technical professionals who design Disney's theme parks, known as Imagineers, will lead creative design and provide operational oversight.

The Disney park "will be authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati - an oasis of extraordinary Disney entertainment that is at the crossroads of the world," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement on Wednesday.

Disney did not announce the opening date for the new park, though D'Amaro said a project of this scale could take a year or two to design, and another four to six years to build.

Once complete, the resort will offer Disney-themed attractions, dining and retail experiences, in a way that blends the Burbank entertainment company's storytelling and Abu Dhabi's heritage, D'Amaro said.

The Abu Dhabi park, Disney's first since Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016, represents a continuation of the company's plans to "turbocharge" its Experiences unit, which includes its six global theme park resorts, a cruise ship line, and a family resort in Hawaii.