Disney dreams up new "tech-forward" Abu Dhabi theme park

The new theme park will be Disney's 7th around the world.

By Emma Keates | May 7, 2025 | 9:44am

Disneyland Abu Dhabi rendering (courtesy of Disney)

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Disney has gotten a lot of mileage out of Walt’s ghost the past few months. In an interview last year, Disney experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro shuffled it out to justify the company’s $1.5 billion partnership with Epic Games, something he saw as being true to the vision of the company’s founding “adventurer” and “risk taker.” Now, Disney’s new, “tech-forward” park in Abu Dhabi will also be able to “tell our stories in more immersive ways and more flexible and dynamic ways, in ways that Walt probably dreamed of back in 1955.”

Whether the real Walt Disney would approve of any of this or not, the company that bears his name is blazing forward. The new Abu Dhabi park, which it announced today, will be the seventh Disney resort around the world and the first to arrive in the Middle East. It’ll also be the first completely new land since Shanghai Disney opened its gates in 2016.

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Disneyland Abu Dhabi “will rise from this land in spectacular fashion, blending contemporary architecture with cutting edge technology to offer guests deeply immersive entertainment experiences in unique and modern ways,” CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. He further characterized the park as “authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati – an oasis of extraordinary Disney entertainment at this crossroads of the world that will bring to life our timeless characters and stories in many new ways and will become a source of joy and inspiration for the people of this vast region to enjoy for generations to come.”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, D’Amaro explained that the park would be the company’s most “tech-forward” yet. “There is so much that we can do, whether it be with a character like Mickey or something with Marvel, we’re going to have an opportunity again to pull our fans into these stories in new and unique ways,” he continued. The company hasn’t disclosed what IP will be used in the resort as of this writing, and an artist rendering (above) doesn’t give many hints. It does, however, point to the fact that the architecture in this park will be a departure from past Disney resorts, with some kind of crystal castle in the foreground and perhaps a second, slightly shorter castle looming in the background.

The difference in design may be due to a different model the company is employing for this park. Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be both developed and operated by a different entertainment company called Miral, with Disney merely providing oversight—a similar model employed by the company’s Tokyo DisneySea resort. Like that park, Disneyland Abu Dhabi will also be located right on the water, on the entertainment-heavy Yas Island. “A third of the world’s population is within a four-hour flight from our site,” D’Amaro said of the choice of location.

The announcement comes as rival park Universal prepares to open its own extremely techie Epic Universe to the public on May 22 and plans a long-rumored extension to the U.K. Perhaps the Mouse House really just made a wish upon a star to retain their place in the theme park hierarchy.