If we stopover in Vegas , we may lose our spending budgets chasing Lady Luck.
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News Disney and Miral Announce New Seventh Theme Park Planned for Abu Dhabi
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
I would think a lawyer would know it's illegal to buy and sell children!!!
Now, bartering with them...
Chi84
Premium Member
That’s clearly autocorrect. He meant “buy wee tykes.”
That's still purchasing children!!!!!
If only we could be sure of his intent, but, wee digress.
nickys
Premium Member
London to Sydney direct is 21.5 hours. No way would I ever willingly book a direct flight for that route.
I did it once but that was after a couple of weeks in a Sydney hospital (thankfully at the end of my planned 3 months trip) and the insurance company booked the flight for me.
Twice in HS I had to spend significant time in Vegas (my dad was doing some work with Metro PD - 2 weeks the first time, a month the next year). While he worked, the rest of us (mom, my brother, and myself) would go walk around the Strip looking for stuff to do. One day she was in some store in Circus Circus while we waited outside - a security guard approached us and asked if we wanted some "gambling money". Apparently cash, not even credits. Being idiots, we said no, as we were under 21 but didn't look like it (had a mustache since I was 12 -think I was 16 during this trip). Turns out that we could have accepted the money! And probably should have!
I always had fun on those trips, and still love to return there every 5 years or so. Need to get back there for more than a few days. Fantastic near Christmas.
Robbiem
Well-Known Member
A lot of airfares on Middle Eastern airlines can include a free stopover of 2 or 3 nights, shorter layovers may also include free sightseeing trips, its a good way to make an indirect trip more appealing
JMcMahonEsq
Well-Known Member
The flight have to take to headquarters is about 17 hours. Leaves generally after midnight. It’s miserable but the alternative to flying to Germany and then across doesn’t seem much better. At the point would rather just get it done and over with. There is something so depressing about realizing you could watch the entire first trilogy of Star Wars and still only be about half way there
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
I think Turkish Air gives you a hefty discount on the fare and free nights at a hotel if you agree to stay over a few nights.
EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
I usually take a one night layover if its a very long haul.
'Disney Will Be Indoors': Abu Dhabi Developer Confirms Plan for New Theme Park
Disneyland Abu Dhabi is going to be the Mouse's first indoor theme park as it enters the Middle East region.skift.com
Never heard of this website, so I don’t know how reliable it is, but they are reporting the park will be indoors.
Miral CEO: Disneyland Abu Dhabi Will Be An Indoor Theme Park
Miral CEO Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi has stated that Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be an indoor theme park like other parks on Yas Island
blogmickey.com
It's a pretty reliable travel blog. Many years ago, I was a contributor to its predecessor, Gadling.'Disney Will Be Indoors': Abu Dhabi Developer Confirms Plan for New Theme Park
Disneyland Abu Dhabi is going to be the Mouse's first indoor theme park as it enters the Middle East region.
Never heard of this website, so I don’t know how reliable it is, but they are reporting the park will be indoors.
Disney in Abu Dhabi: Where "Inclusion" Has Fine Print
The Magic Comes with Terms and Conditions
elrobrex.substack.com
I cannot take seriously an article which claims viable alternatives for DLAD include Canada (too close to US parks in its major population centres unless you want to build in Winnipeg, never mind winters that would make Iger cry), Portugal (the author writes off DLP being an issue except it absolutely is), Iceland (Seriously?), Australia (Dick Nunis already tried and failed to convince Disney to do this decades ago - same reasons apply now), Uruguay (would kill WDW's South American market and is absolutely tiny), and Puerto Rico (Seriously? One good hurricane...).Disney in Abu Dhabi: Where "Inclusion" Has Fine Print
The Magic Comes with Terms and Conditions
I'm the author.
The point was to offer alternatives to the human rights reputation of the UAE in a market that Disney doesn't have parks in. The obvious shortcomings are clear.
Want to have an actual discussion about the logic behind those other places?
None of those locations make sense, because Disney Abu Dhabi has something the other places don’t: a company with the financial muscle to pay Disney for the franchise rights to its brands, ideas, and services.
But if we’re going to speculate, I think South Korea has both the population and the cultural attachment needed to support a successful Disney park. I also believe a Disney park on Spain’s Mediterranean coast—second most visited country in the world and a stop for Disney cruises—could work, perhaps in Barcelona. That said, it would have to be built around a completely different concept than the typical “castle park” to avoid cannibalizing Disneyland Paris.
But if we’re going to speculate, I think South Korea has both the population and the cultural attachment needed to support a successful Disney park. I also believe a Disney park on Spain’s Mediterranean coast—second most visited country in the world and a stop for Disney cruises—could work, perhaps in Barcelona. That said, it would have to be built around a completely different concept than the typical “castle park” to avoid cannibalizing Disneyland Paris.
Both reasonable options, except with South Korea you have Tokyo and both China parks as potential competitors, and Spain would have the same issue as Portugal.
But again, my entire speculative exercise focused on places without the human rights issues that the UAE has. That's it.
Human rights reputation matters relatively little to Disney when it comes to where to put its parks. The same with the rest of the industry. What matters far more is location, money, and the ability to get access to untapped markets. Disney will never build a park in any of those places. They are either too close to an existing park, too far from major population centers, or too small/economically nonviable to support one. You do not go around building parks on places based on their human rights records - except when doing so would absolutely cause long-term damage above and beyond alternatives. Saudi was, so I've heard, turned down due to such concerns despite the mountains of cash on offer. UAE is far more liberal (probably the most liberal next to Bahrain), and a far better location anyway. Even if they were building it themselves, the UAE makes far too much sense compared to, say, much of South America or Asia to ignore it. Where was this outrage with Shanghai?
Universal pre-Bejjing was going to build a park in SK. Wonder if they made the wrong call in the years since.
Disney and a number of very powerful people and companies in this world like doing business with the Gulf Region. So much money and potential to tap into non US markets on the other side of the world. Also as long as we keep filling up our gas guzzler vehicles at the pump , it just keeps the Gulf Region richer and richer.
This is fair pushback - but yeah, there’s no perfect location. But I’ve worked in the industry at a fairly high level until recently, and this kind of global expansion conversation isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds.
That’s why I’m surprised you’re dismissing the alternatives so quickly.
Canada, Iceland, and Puerto Rico all attract high-spending tourists and don’t come with the same geopolitical baggage. Puerto Rico especially has a giant coastal parcel (Roosevelt Roads) that’s just sitting there. It’s U.S. territory, natively bilingual, desperate to attract investment, and already a cruise port hub. That’s a huge combo. And Disney could build out their own infrastructure, just like they’ve done before.
Uruguay is the dark horse, but strategically it’s not a bad play. It’s politically stable, progressive, and would serve high-income tourists from Argentina, Chile, and Brazil - especially folks who can’t get U.S. visas or just want a closer, more accessible park. Same logic behind Hong Kong and Shanghai. And just like DLP never stopped UK tourists from flying to WDW, this wouldn’t hurt U.S. attendance.
Australia makes sense from a logistics standpoint - strong infrastructure, airlift, and a solid economy. Personally I think New Zealand would offer better creative potential, but it’s hard to beat Australia’s connectivity. Australia is extremely plausible - even if it’s not the most inspired creatively.
None of these ideas are flawless, but all of them come with fewer human rights headaches than opening a resort in the UAE. That’s really the heart of the critique.