Disneyland Abu Dhabi is set to be Disney's seventh resort worldwide.

Disney

Disney has responded to comments about the status of its theme park plans in Abu Dhabi for the first time since the conflict in the Middle East began at the end of February.

Nearly a year ago Disney’s former chief executive Bob Iger announced that its seventh theme park resort would be built on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, which is already home to outposts of SeaWorld, Warner Bros. and Ferrari. This author forecast the news several days before Disney announced it and and as the report pointed out, Abu Dhabi would open up a whole new world for the media giant.

Capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Abu Dhabi has some of the world’s friendliest visa regulations and a tremendous catchment area to take advantage of them. A third of the world's population is located within a four-hour flight of the UAE and it also has the largest global airline hub. Every year 120 million passengers travel through Abu Dhabi and nearby Dubai though that is just the start.

There are several reasons why Abu Dhabi has attracted such a glittering array of theme parks. The sprawling sites are at the heart of a strategy to diversify Abu Dhabi’s economy which has been built on fossil fuels. As the city's reserves began to dwindle, it started to heavily invest in its leisure infrastructure in order to tempt tourists and generate a new revenue stream from them.

Theme parks are at the vanguard of this strategy as they draw tourists from afar and the colossal complexes have the capacity to welcome millions of people. The more people who visit, the greater the local spending and the more diverse Abu Dhabi’s economy becomes.

Miral’s Magic Formula

The man tasked with delivering this strategy is Mohamed Al Zaabi, chief executive of Abu Dhabi government-backed theme park operator Miral. I have reported extensively on the magic formula Miral has used to develop its theme parks. The company closely listens to its audience, doesn’t compromise on quality and ensures that each of its attractions improves on their predecessors. Crucially in a country where the mercury soars north of 100 in summer, all of its theme parks are indoors.

It has earned Miral an extremely loyal fanbase and has made the company the world's leading theme park operator alongside Disney and Universal Studios. Al Zaabi's associates describe him as a dynamo and he honed his skills over a 25-year career in business. He started out working for the UAE government and then switched to Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi's biggest listed property developer, before moving to Miral in 2015.

Al Zaabi had a vision of making Abu Dhabi one of the world's leading tourist destinations and his approach has cast a powerful spell. According to Miral's latest data, in 2024, the number of visits to Yas Island increased by more than 10% to 38 million. "2024 was an exceptional year for us," Al Zaabi told me, adding that the increase in attendance reflected "the success of Yas Island's vision and what we are building on Yas Island. Therefore, we are adding more attractions, more experiences, more rooms." It is no exaggeration.

Theme park industry website Blooloop recently broke the news that over the next five years 1,000 new hotel rooms are due to be built on Yas Island in the run up to the opening of the new Disney park. A land themed to Harry Potter is also currently under construction on Yas Island along with a roller coaster themed to Superman as this report revealed. Even the war isn’t stopping this expansion.

The conflict began when the United States and Israel jointly attacked Iran, ostensibly in order to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Completely unexpectedly, Iran then began firing drones and missiles at its neighbors across the Persian Gulf, including the UAE.

Despite not starting the war, and insisting that its airspace should not be used in the conflict, the UAE has been attacked by Iran more than any other country. Since February 28, Iran has fired 2,012 drones and 457 missiles at the UAE on the grounds that U.S. companies in the country support the strikes on Iran and that its airbases are being used as launch points or support hubs for hostile operations. The UAE’s impeccable air defences successfully neutralized the vast majority of the threats with the most prominent damage done by debris falling from intercepted drones and missiles.

Abu Dhabi is one of the world’s safest and most reliable tourism hubs and the UAE has ranked highly on the Global Peace Index for years. In contrast, Iran has been involved with wars since the early 1980s and its attacks on the UAE have dragged the country into the fighting despite all its attempts to stay out.

The threat to the UAE's airspace has caused many major airlines to suspend flights to the country including Air Canada, Air France-KLM, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Lufthansa. Although it has caused the number of foreign tourists to the UAE to nosedive, the theme parks on Yas Island have remained busy thanks to Al Zaabi acting fast and implementing a smart strategy.

Safe Haven

First, annual passes were put back on sale after months of being unavailable. This appealed to local residents who were still in the country after the tourists had gone. Giving them further incentive to visit, last month Yas Island introduced a deal which offered four annual passes for the price of three. The on-site hotels are equally generous.

One night in the five star Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island, including breakfast, dinner and one day of theme park tickets costs only $252.88 (AED928.72) for two adults and two children most days next week. Staggeringly, at the same time, a one-day ticket for one person to Disney's Magic Kingdom park in Orlando, Florida, costs $211.94 which is almost the same price as the entire package for two adults and two children in Abu Dhabi.

As the parks on Yas Island are all indoors, they keep visitors safe and there is no need for them to shelter from the regional tension. It has had a magic touch and at the height of the conflict, the parks on Yas Island remained packed with crowds of parents and children wearing annual pass lanyards. At the same time, construction on the Potter land and the Superman coaster continued apace outside.

With these achievements ticked off, Al Zaabi turned his attention to Disney. As I reported, 12 days after the conflict began, Al Zaabi posted a message on LinkedIn congratulating Thomas Mazloum, the new boss of Disney’s theme park division, on his new role.

"As we continue our exciting journey to bring Disney to Abu Dhabi, I look forward to working closely with Thomas and the incredible Disney team to turn this vision into a reality. Together, we will create something truly extraordinary for our region and guests," wrote Al Zaabi. A later post on the platform delved deeper into the origins of the Disney plans and explained that "large projects rarely begin as large projects. They start as possibilities that someone decides to pursue with discipline and patience. Over time, this commitment builds momentum. Teams align, partnerships strengthen, and ideas grow into experiences that shape destinations and industries.

“The upcoming Disney Theme Park Resort in Abu Dhabi represents just this. It is the culmination of a leadership idea, long-term vision and collaboration, marking a pivotal step in Miral’s evolution while further establishing Yas Island as a global destination for entertainment and leisure.”

The post followed a visit late last month to London where Al Zaabi met Tasia Filippatos, the new president of Disney’s international parks. Alongside a photo of them, Al Zaabi posted another message on LinkedIn saying that “as we continue to advance our collaboration on Disney Abu Dhabi on Yas Island, we at Miral are excited about the opportunities ahead to create a truly iconic destination for the UAE and the region, that brings Disney storytelling to life in new and inspiring ways.”

Until then, Disney had not publicly responded to comments about the Abu Dhabi park since the start of the conflict, causing some to wrongly suggest that the venture was at risk. The park was highlighted as an upcoming project in a video introduced by Disney’s new chief executive Josh D’Amaro at its 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) last month. Likewise, filings for the AGM described the resort as being "planned for development in Abu Dhabi" but none of the questions at the event were about the project. Variety reportedly asked Disney for a comment about it but did not receive a response.

However, that silence ended following Al Zaabi’s meeting in London as Filippatos responded to him on LinkedIn saying, “thank you for the kind words, Mohamed. It was a pleasure meeting you in London - I greatly enjoyed the exchange of ideas.”

Al Zaabi’s posts were more than just project updates, they signalled confidence, commitment and long-term vision which are crucial to Disney when it decides who to partner with on a theme park. As Iger explained in a 2018 interview, "when we make decisions like this, we consider cultural issues, economic issues, and political issues. And it may seem simple, but it’s far more complex." These attributes aren't the only reasons why Disney would want to stand by the Abu Dhabi park.

Bob's Deal

As former Disney chief executive Michael Eisner explained to me, "it was Bob’s deal." The Abu Dhabi park was the last big deal that Iger signed before he stepped down last month and it gave the media giant the biggest recent boost to its stock price as it surged more than 10% on the announcement.

That’s because Miral will cover the development, construction and operating costs of the park. What’s more, Miral even committed to paying for the likely hundreds of Disney designers needed to develop the park and work on the seafront construction site. In short, Disney doesn’t have to invest a dime in the project but will receive a cut of its revenues in return for licensing its Intellectual Property to the park. As this report forecast, the royalties could come to as much as $2.3 billion over a decade. It could be just what Disney needs.

The crisis in the Middle East has already sent the price of oil skyrocketing due to a drastic step taken by Iran three days into the conflict. The nation sits on the north shore of the Persian Gulf and thanks to its military presence along the coast, it effectively controls the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow stretch of water which is the only way into the open ocean.

On the southern side of the Gulf are the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. They are some of the world’s biggest oil producers which is why 20% of the world's supplies are carried down the Strait of Hormuz. After three days of fighting, Iran threatened to set fire to any ship passing through the strait which prevented tankers from leaving and led to the price of oil surging.

Since the war in the Middle East began, the price of Brent Crude has swelled by 23.8% to $90.38 per barrel and it has been suggested that this could cause structural shifts in energy security and supply chains that may persist for years.

It may seem like this skirmish in the Gulf has little to do with Disney’s parks but actually it is directly related. Not only does the soaring price of fuel put more pressure on travelers' pockets but it also increases the price of air fares which makes it less likely that tourists will be able to travel. As the world's biggest theme park operator, it is likely Disney will feel that pressure more than any other company in the industry so cost-free cashflow from Abu Dhabi in a few years could give a much-needed sparkle to its bottom line.

The stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz is so significant that the U.S. government sent a team of negotiators all the way to Pakistan two weeks ago to meet members of the Iranian government and try to ease the deadlock. President Trump attempted to apply pressure of his own by threatening to destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran but it was not to be. After 21 hours of talks, both sides announced a ceasefire which was fragile from the start. I was staying in Abu Dhabi at the time and found out about the ceasefire when a cell phone alert arrived in the middle of the night advising locals to shelter from incoming missiles. It was the first of a maelstrom of mixed messages.

Soon into the ceasefire it came to light that although Iran had re-opened the Strait of Hormuz, it was still charging fees for ships passing through it. Iran began doing this around a month into the conflict, reportedly in order to cover the $270 billion cost of rebuilding the country following the attacks from the U.S. and Israel. In retaliation for continuing to charge fees during the ceasefire, the U.S. set up a naval blockade in the ocean outside the strait in order to prevent Iranian ships from reaching the country.

Dire Straits

In return, Iran announced that it won't let any traffic through the strait and this weekend reportedly fired on several ships which attempted it. Trump called that a "serious violation" of the ceasefire and insisted that the blockade will remain in place until the end of the war. In response, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei called the blockade a "war crime and crime against humanity". Further complicating matters, this evening Trump said on social media that the U.S. had attacked an Iranian ship that tried to pass through the blockade and had taken control of it.

There has been equal confusion over Iran's nuclear future with Trump initially saying that Washington would work with Iran to bring its enriched uranium back to the U.S. However, just yesterday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said “I can tell you that no enriched material is going to be shipped to United States.”

With the ceasefire ending in two days, the U.S. is now sending its team tomorrow to Pakistan again to continue negotiating. "We are still far from the final discussion," said Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, in a televised address earlier today. Defiantly, Trump reiterated his previous threat and said that if Iran doesn't do a deal by Wednesday's deadline, “the United States is going to knock out every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran.”

The tension may keep tourists away from the region but it isn’t likely to affect Miral’s expansion plans according to Robert Niles, the expert analyst and editor of Theme Park Insider. "Let's not forget that the attractions that have opened and will open in this region are not targeted primarily at American tourists," he said. They "appeal to the hundreds of millions of people who live in and travel to the Middle East each year. Those residents are not going anywhere."

He added that "Disney's deal with Miral is easy money for Disney, with state-backed Miral committing to fund the design, construction and operation of the Yas Island Disney theme park. I can't imagine that anything short of a much greater disaster in the area would cause Disney enough PR pain to walk away from that." So with both sides in alignment, Disney still seems set to have a happy ending in Abu Dhabi.