News Disney and Miral Announce New Seventh Theme Park Planned for Abu Dhabi

[MisterPenguin]

Thanks for the info. I was operating off older info from when Disney+ was running at a loss (hence my “iirc”). How long has it been profitable? I know most streaming services are still running on a loss so I’m impressed Disney has turned it around, probably helps they were an early adopter.

For the films- I was referring to 2023 when I was talking about flops, I know last year was good but when you lose a lot of money in one year I figured it takes awhile to recover. 2023 was embarrassingly bad, and I don’t remember anything from 2024 other than Moana 2. 2025 was a good year though. Tangentially, Zootopia 2 is the best movie they’ve made (quality wise) since the first Moana, imo, and it’s better than the first Zootopia as well. I hope we see it in the parks!

I didn’t know they didn’t actually invest the money in OpenAI either, so thanks for correcting me on that too. Reporting on it worded it in a way that sounded like it was money already spent on shares. Glad they didn’t waste their money on that grift after all, trading their characters for a fraction of a percent of a share of a company was a bizarre move.

All in all- I wasn’t trying to be spiteful or anything with my post, I’m just running on the information someone who doesn’t read the financials has, and I appreciate you correcting me.

And thank-you for taking the new information in stride.

We're now best friends.

Oh, and when D+, by itself, first had a profitable quarter is hard to say, since around that time Hulu and ESPN(+) were all being merged into one "streaming" accounting bucket. Now, some will say that means D+ was still unprofitable since the other streaming streams were propping it up, but, with the merger of the streamers, D+ was no longer showcasing "general audience (i.e. 'adult')" content such as Only Murders in the Building. Hulu was getting the general audience shows. The distinction between Hulu and D+ became less and less distinct. But on the books, March 2024 was the first time D+ showed a profit for a quarter.

 

[BrianLo]

Disney's streaming will be hitting $1B in *profit* this fiscal year.

I think they’ve projected it to be 2B+. It was 1.3B last fiscal year.

 

[Nickm2022]

I have a source that just DMed me on X.

I cannot say who it is, but I’m 100% confident that’s what is going on.

I can confirm, yes they are building a permanent world’s fair AND a community of tomorrow in Abu Dhabi.

I take everything bad back that I’ve ever said about Iger.

I do hate Tiana’s Bayou Adventure though, but I honestly think we’ll see them update it next decade at the latest alongside Rise to fix both of their issues.

It’d be cool if they made Orlando’s Tiana’s Western River Expedition like the original concept, and then just built a new Critter Country with a brand new Splash Mountain beyond Villains Land in the 2030s.

This is his legacy guys.

He’s giving Walt Disney the experimental prototype community of tomorrow with oil money.

just Gotta say love and agree with all of this

 

[Disstevefan1]

I take everything bad back that I’ve ever said about Iger.

Not so fast.

We have NO IDEA what will end up being built in Abu Dhabi. Iger had no idea when he made the deal and he still does not know, and I suspect he does not care. Abu Dhabi will do what Abu Dhabi will do.

Just like we have no idea what Cars land or Villains land will be in MK.

As for Iger's legacy; he's got his building named after him, he is a Disney legend (oh boy the qualifications really went down for that apparently), He was Knighted, he was given a honorary PHD (ridiculous)..

Oh yes.... He has enough money for multiple lifetimes like a vampire

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

I dare you to be more wrong.

Disney's streaming will be hitting $1B in *profit* this fiscal year.

Disney has only had one big movie release in this year (2026), which is Hoppers, which is breaking even, not "flopping."

As for last year (2025), worldwide, they had...

• Zootopia 2 $1,866,647,950
• Avatar: Fire and Ash $1,485,999,890
• Lilo & Stitch $1,038,027,526
• The Fantastic Four: First Steps $521,858,728
• Captain America: Brave New World $415,101,577
• Thunderbolts* $382,436,917

They never spent the Billion Dollars on OpenAI. Nothing "vanished into thin air."

You seem to be repeating the talking points of the YouTube echo chamber. It'd be better if you read Disney's quarterlies.

Counterpoint:

 

[J4546]

Counterpoint:

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This is meant as a semi sarcastic response but also semi serious. Is the stock market really based on anything relative to profits anymore? I mean really there are like tech 10 stocks that are holding up the US entire market at this point and most of them are hilariously over valued. and we see hilarious gamestop and avis rent a car plays every year. It seems like a giant game at this point

 

[Dranth]

Counterpoint:

View attachment 918615

View attachment 918616

Legit question, what does that have to do with streaming turning profitable and the information from the original poster being outdated?

Apologies if I misunderstood, but I swear, the stock argument has got to be one of the weirdest things to come up on these forums when people talk about the parks. The market DOES NOT LIKE the parks or at best are very cautious about them. They have immense costs that only ever go up and are highly dependent on discretionary spending in a way other entertainment is not.

Not only that, but the whole argument is often used in a very disingenuous way. For example, Comcast is down 47% in the same time period so I should just post an image of that anytime someone says EU is a success and use it to say it is actually a failure? That would be the very essence of cherry picking and ignoring all the other relevant factors that got them to where they are right now.

 

[mkt]

The number of movies that are able to do that is pretty small.

I wonder if the film industry regards itself as habitually disappointing.

Basically. It's either a hit, a franchise, or a "earning opportunity" wrapped in a "tax write off"

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Just want to add - in the film industry, breaking even is considered a "disappointment" (trying not to say flop about a movie my son loved).

For big releases - and almost anything with Disney on the poster is considered a big release - doubling your money - after marketing costs - is the widely accepted definition of success.

The studios themselves don’t actually think like this. This is a formula that exists almost solely for those on the outside to make educated guesses. There was a time 2.5x was more in line with reality but it was decades ago. Disney in particular also has notably different profit split contracts with exhibitors than other studios. I have learned that from actually starting to work with industry folks.

 

[Rush]

I'm reading a lot of assumptions that this park is made for Americans (it's not). And an equal amount of assumptions that Disney is willing to do an OLC deal just about anywhere (companies and countries all over the globe would jump on that).

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

I'm reading a lot of assumptions that this park is made for Americans (it's not). And an equal amount of assumptions that Disney is willing to do an OLC deal just about anywhere (companies and countries all over the globe would jump on that).

I think the conversation at this point is more about whether it is realistic to build and open this park given the current conditions of the region. It doesn't really matter if the park is for Americans or not (and it wouldn't be if it happens). If the UAE is getting thrust into conflict in an already conflict laden region, the locals aren't gonna be going much either (which is already an existing problem with the UAE parks).

The only potential saving grace at this moment in time is that Disney doesn't have to bankroll it. The UAE is, and they could decide to spend that money war or no war. That does not mean though that Disney cannot or will not back away even if the UAE wants to continue, and a war is a damn good reason to back away.

 

[GenChi]

For a topic beyond the creeping doubts that this ever happens, surprised no one brought up this recent article that suggests there could be multiple parks and it would be called Disney World Abu Dhabi.

I would personally hate the name. Beyond just the admitted selfishness that Florida should have it exclusively, the scale and acres would not match Florida enough to have that label, even if they got multiple parks. But at the same time I think Disney is just bad at naming parks outside the US. For a company who sells on creativity and imagination there is sure too many of Disneyland [Insert City Name Here] as resort names that makes it feel like lesser imitations compared to the real thing. Which I guess goes with everything having the same castle park format

 

[Touchdown]

I'm reading a lot of assumptions that this park is made for Americans (it's not). And an equal amount of assumptions that Disney is willing to do an OLC deal just about anywhere (companies and countries all over the globe would jump on that).

No but it’s not just made, nor can it be supported by exclusively locals. It will need considerable tourists from Eastern Europe and Southern Asia. It is those groups whom I suspect will avoid travel there for some time. Other than suggesting I would never go, I did not mean to infer I was talking about only Americans.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'm reading a lot of assumptions that this park is made for Americans (it's not). And an equal amount of assumptions that Disney is willing to do an OLC deal just about anywhere (companies and countries all over the globe would jump on that).

The purpose of these parks is to attract international tourism and provide a washing effect on the regime’s image. The visitation to these parks already wasn’t very strong. Contraband images of a missile flying just flying overhead is the sort of thing that Disney can’t just shrug off.

For a topic beyond the creeping doubts that this ever happens, surprised no one brought up this recent article that suggests there could be multiple parks and it would be called Disney World Abu Dhabi.

There’s really nothing to discuss. Registering different domains, including common errors and similar names, is a common practice. The biggest item of note from that article is that what is supposed to be a more industry focused used outlet is doing consumer level clickbait.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I'm reading a lot of assumptions that this park is made for Americans (it's not). And an equal amount of assumptions that Disney is willing to do an OLC deal just about anywhere (companies and countries all over the globe would jump on that).

I don’t think the assumption is Americans as much as it’s people who can afford to travel to the UAE and also afford a Disney vacation, that’s a much much smaller pool of people than the regional population.

India for instance has over a billion people but only about 18 million of them are upper middle income or high income, the ones able to visit a Disney park, the same is true of most countries in the region, large populations but predominantly low incomes that can’t afford a Disney park. If they can’t attract “rich” (comparatively speaking) Americans, Europeans, Asians, etc they are only going to draw a few million people a year, and the biggest hurdle to that is all those regions already have their own Disney parks that are closer and less risky.

 

[Touchdown]

Have you lived in countries besides the USA to be able to speak for them?

Are you? This is a discussion board. I did not “speak for them” or offer anything definitive I said and I quote:

It will need considerable tourists from Eastern Europe and Southern Asia. It is those groups whom I suspect will avoid travel there for some time.

That’s called offering an opinion, no where did I make any definitive statements where “I spoke for them” and made it pretty clear with using the first person that this was my opinion, not a fact. My opinion is rooted in what I believe to be a fairly universal human desire to avoid an untimely death, or less severely a ruined vacation in an active war zone. Tourism is currently significantly down to the UAE despite the bombs stopping weeks ago, when do think that is going to rebound? If you have a different opinion feel free to express it and offer your reasons. There is no need to attack me personally.

 

[mkt]

I'm reading a lot of assumptions that this park is made for Americans (it's not).

It'll be a Disney park adapted for the region and designed taking into consideration the tastes of the main tourist groups to the UAE. So expect it to cater to UAE locals + expats, neighboring GCC countries, and major inbound markets like Russia, India, and some UK visitors.

 

[Comped]

Disney noted in their earnings report letter that "the strategic logic of our Abu Dhabi plans is unchanged".

Not exactly a huge vote of confidence. To me, that only implies they want a park in the Middle East, rather than... whatever reasons they have for going with Miral as a partner.

 

[Burgower1994]

 

[coffeefan]

Well, in light of current events in the art of deal-making, it looks like this project is still on track.