According to a new interview with Miral Group CEO Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi, Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be an indoor theme park.
Miral Says Disneyland Abu Dhabi Will Be Indoors
According to a post from local radio station Dubai Eye 103.8 on LinkedIn, Al Zaabi shared in an interview with Brandy Scott on The Business Breakfast that the new park would be indoors.
As you know, we have done all of our theme parks indoor, so Disney will be an indoor theme park.
Mohamed Aballa Al Zaabi, CEO of Miral Group
Miral Group is also the operator for SeaWorld Yas Island, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, and Ferrari World Yas Island, which are all indoors as well.
In an interview following the announcement of a Disney resort coming to Abu Dhabi, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro said that the theme park would make use of both indoor and outdoor space, rather than be entirely one or the other.
We’re being incredibly ambitious in terms of architecture, use of indoor and outdoor space. One of the great things about the piece of land that we’ll be building on is it’s right up against the water and so we’ll be pulling water into this resort.
Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro, in an interview on CNBC
The United Arab Emirates and Yas Island, where the resort currently referred to as Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be located, are known to reach temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit and even up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, so keeping guests comfortable in the weather is certainly a factor in constructing this new Disney destination. According to Skift, many outdoor parks in the country have to close during the hotter periods of the year.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said during the company’s Q2 FY2025 earnings call that “there did not seem to be any place that is better than” Abu Dhabi for a new Disney park, and that the location was “a perfect place for us.”
Plans may have changed since D’Amaro’s initial comments, but the park is still in such early development that anything is possible — D’Amaro himself even said that “the possibilities are endless.”
The new Disney park will be fully developed, built, and paid for by Miral, with Disney leading creative design and operational oversight. Disney has said that the new park will be “very modern” and their “most technologically advanced” theme park yet, featuring Disney’s “first modern castle.”
There is no opening timeline for the new resort.
Watch the announcement of Disneyland Abu Dhabi below:
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