Disney plans first Middle East theme park in Abu Dhabi

Unlock the Editor’s Digest without cost

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales in this weekly e-newsletter.

Walt Disney is planning a theme park in Abu Dhabi, its first in the Middle East, in partnership with state-backed Miral Group, because it targets more and more prosperous customers in the area.

Bob Iger, Disney chief government, mentioned the Abu Dhabi park can be inside attain of “a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of folks” with disposable revenue who lived too far to simply attain its different parks. 

“One of the simplest ways to succeed in these folks was to convey our product to them,” Iger mentioned. “It’s distant sufficient from our different areas in order that we don’t view this to be in any manner cannibalistic to the locations the place we already function.”

The information got here as Disney shares surged near 10 per cent after the group boosted its outlook for the monetary 12 months. It credited worth will increase for its streaming companies and powerful attendance at its US theme parks for pushing earnings above Wall Avenue’s expectations final quarter.

Disney will design and function the brand new park, its seventh, and will likely be paid royalties by Miral, an Abu Dhabi state-owned developer that will even present all of the capital.

The park will likely be positioned on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island. Miral has a mandate to develop the beforehand desert district, which Disney says will draw travellers from throughout the Middle East and Africa, India, Asia and Europe.

For a lot of potential Disney park guests, it’s a lot easier to acquire a visa from the United Arab Emirates than Europe or the US, the place a number of of Disney’s resorts are positioned.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi desires to draw vacationers and already has Sea World and Warner Bros theme parks, which additionally belong to Miral, together with the Louvre and Guggenheim museums. It is going to be Disney’s first new park since Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016.

Iger in 2023 outlined a 10-year, $60bn funding in its experiences enterprise, which will even embrace main expansions in its parks in Florida and California. No opening date for the brand new park has been introduced.

Disney on Wednesday forecast a robust efficiency for the remainder of its monetary 12 months throughout its leisure, sports activities and theme park enterprise. However the firm additionally warned that “uncertainty stays in the working atmosphere” as questions swirl in the market in regards to the influence of US President Donald Trump’s tariff insurance policies.

Disney boosted a number of of its steerage metrics, with Iger saying: “Total, we stay optimistic in regards to the course of the corporate and outlook for the rest of the fiscal 12 months.”

The group swung to internet revenue of $3.28bn in its second quarter from a lack of $20mn a 12 months earlier, beating Wall Avenue expectations for $1.88bn, as revenues rose 7 per cent to $23.6bn. Adjusted earnings of $1.45 a share have been up 20 per cent from 12 months in the past and topped analysts’ forecasts for $1.20 a share.

Regardless of latest considerations about belt-tightening by US customers, Disney’s theme parks in Florida and California carried out effectively, with income rising 9 per cent from a 12 months earlier. Visitor spending at its US parks rose, whereas its cruise enterprise grew following the launch of the Disney Treasure cruise ship in the beginning of 2025.

In its worldwide markets, attendance fell at Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland.

Value will increase at Disney+ and Hulu pushed the corporate’s streaming income up 8 per cent from a 12 months earlier, although the corporate mentioned it anticipated solely “modest will increase” in subscribers in the present quarter. Mixed, the 2 companies have about 180mn subscribers.

Disney shares had fallen greater than 17 per cent since January previous to Wednesday’s bounce.