LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
Not that I think you have any real idea of local attitudes in the UAE to begin with, but almost 90% of the population is foreign anyway.
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News Disney and Miral Announce New Seventh Theme Park Planned for Abu Dhabi
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
I can very much tell you as someone who has studied the industry in the Middle East for years that it would have made quite a bit of sense for Disney to run it themselves.
Purduevian
Well-Known Member
True, we don't really know what land will be used outside of "waterfront" and Yas Island.Who knows, they may build out more into the Sea.
I did not hear a timeframe?
Its not Disney's money building it, they may be open before Monsters land in WDW
There is ~400 acers of undeveloped land already on the island I think DLR is under 500 acers and includes 2 parks, 3 hotels, parking, and a downtown disney.
Arendelle more likely.
EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
As a lover of concept art, I'm excited. As a travel destination, there are too many other places I'd rather visit.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
Explanation: As a distraction during todays earning call, that's all.
WoundedDreamer
Well-Known Member
Disney has said repeatedly that one of their biggest mistakes was not having equity in Tokyo. Ever since, Disney has always ensured they have an equity stake in their theme park projects. Euro Disney, Hong Kong, and Shanghai all had Disney take equity. This project is a departure from their norm.
Wouldn’t you want to own a share of a Disneyland? The only reason you wouldn’t invest is if you expected a dud.
Ayla
Well-Known Member
They can only cater to one...people with a budget aren't it.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
If OLC allows TWDC to get control of Tokyo Disneyland, it will be the worst mistake they can make.
Disney has tried to buy out OLC on multiple occasions, and I expect if this park is anywhere near as successful they will do the same here. Problem is being the Middle East, the valuation will be absolutely insane... Even for a minority stake. They should have gone full ownership on the deal themselves, because there is no legal reason in the UAE to force them to have a partner. Unlike Shanghai for example. And even that has changed.
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
Fair enough, I am interested to hear more about that. I admittedly only have a very superficial sense of theme parks in the region based on what I have seen online and this doesn't seem to me like a market where the numbers would stack up for the sort of park and resort complex Disney is used to designing and running. Their track record internationally is also generally very shaky, and this looks on the surface more of a Hong Kong Disneyland than a Shanghai Disneyland in terms of the size of the market. Indeed, the population is smaller and UAE (let alone Abu Dhabi) receives less international tourists each year than Hong Kong.
It makes sense to me Disney would be happy to take the royalty and design fees and let the local investors worry about it turning a profit. I am sure, though, there are things I am missing!
Brian
Well-Known Member
I can see a clause in the contract allowing Disney to buy an ownership stake in a certain period of time, perhaps at a fixed price, once they can gauge how successful it will be, for the very reason you cited regarding OLC. This very well may have been a non-negotiable for them. If Miral wanted the deal, they'd agree to this clause.
BasiltheBatLord
Well-Known Member
I am kind of surprised that there does not seem to much interest on here so far regarding this. This is a historic day: a seventh Disney resort in a completely new part of the world, which I don’t think anybody was expecting to get announced anytime soon (I certainly wasn’t).
They could have built a Shanghai or even WDW sized resort given the right location in the UAE. It would have been a long-term deal and required quite a bit of investment, but they could have done it. Building it on Yas Island is the easy way out. They will build it and you will get at least 5 or 10 million visitors minimum from Disney, probably more if they would have legitimately tried to build it out themselves instead of making a relatively small investment. This pigeonholes them in a way that I'm honestly a little shocked by location-wise. Can't really fit an entire WDW style resort there unless they bulldoze other already existing parks!
As I noted elsewhere, this will legitimize the UAE as a theme park destination, and will skyrocket their visitor numbers. This isn't about a current visitor play, this is about 10 years from now. It's actually really smart, arguably would have been even better 10 years ago. (But I also might be a little biased because I've been studying the tourism industry in the UAE and Gulf monarchies for years and have been saying that Disney is going to go to the Middle East for probably the last 10 minimum.)
You'd think so, and farther inland that's true, but right on the coast of the Arabian Gulf like that can get oppressively humid very quickly.
I remember walking out of the embassy in Manama one morning, having been inside since just after dawn when it was relatively cool and dry, and being drenched in sweat in just the 3 minute walk to my vehicle.
If anyone is planning to go, your best time to try for is late December thru early February.
rd805
Well-Known Member
Both Dubai & Abu Dhabi are absolutely on my bucket list - probably right behind Japan! I'm certainly excited about the prospect of a NEW Disney park.
Absolutely would be a great addition.
There are TONS of theme parks (and entertainment ideas) in this area - they'll make it work.
I hope they were that smart. Do I think they will? No. I don't think they did they just saw the dollar signs. If they would have been smart they would have built it in a different part of the country where they could have built an Orlando style resort and owned it all themselves. It would have been a riskier play financially, but would have paid off in dividends for the next 50 to 70 years.
It's the politics of previous decisions. Disney more or less set fire to the Lake Nona project over DeSantis and LGBT rights, a project that was just as if not more important long-term to the company than this park. People are very upset that this appears to be a u-turn, when in reality I don't think domestic politics has a darn thing to do with them announcing this park when they did. Money is money is money. while I do think that Disney has very quickly realized that US politics has realigned from where they were, this is purely a financial deal for them at this point. (They'll regret not having equity but that's besides the point.) Now I just hope that this will require enough imagineers on this side of the continent for time reasons that it becomes easier to get a job at WDI, and maybe Lake Nona returns. Who am I kidding, they'll probably run it out of California like always despite the time difference.
The Middle East is really the last realistic destination where they can build that doesn't cannibalize from somewhere else in terms of market share, and although I would have preferred a much bigger deal that doesn't involve a local partner, I can't really blame them for wanting to make this happen. it makes far too much sense for Disney to go and essentially backslap Universal for the UK announcement on an even bigger scale. (Several of my sources have claimed at one point that Saudi Arabia was under more active consideration because of Saudi government ownership in Disney, but they were never a realistic idea for a number of reasons.) The laws in the UAE, and particularly in AD, are relatively liberal. People will be fine visiting there.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
You can stay in a perfectly decent hotel in Abu Dhabi for about $70 a night. Yes, they also offer far more luxurious experiences for those with deep pockets, but many tourists to the UAE come from countries like Turkey and have far less disposable income than the average visitor to WDW.
ArchiDanDisney
Member
Gross