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Miral to develop Disney theme park on Yas Island

7 May 2025

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The Walt Disney Company and Abu Dhabi’s Miral have signed an agreement to build a Disney theme park resort on Yas Island.

US-based Disney said it will be its seventh theme park resort. The others are in California and Florida in the US; Paris in France; Hong Kong and Shanghai in China; and Tokyo in Japan.

In a statement, Disney highlighted that the UAE is located within a four-hour flight of one-third of the world’s population, making it a significant gateway for tourism. It is also home to the largest global airline hub in the world, with 120 million passengers travelling through Abu Dhabi and Dubai each year.

The Disney theme park resort in Abu Dhabi will include entertainment areas, themed accommodations, and dining and retail experiences.

Miral will develop and build the resort. Disney’s in-house design and engineering unit, Walt Disney Imagineering, will lead creative design and operational oversight to provide a world-class experience. Miral will operate the resort.

Miral has developed a series of theme parks and other entertainment-related attractions on Yas Island and has worked with several local and international contracting companies. It is working on an expansion to the Waterpark on Yas Island. The local Alec is the contractor.

In 2023, Miral opened SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, also on Yas Island. Alec was the contractor for the estimated $565m project.

In 2018, Miral opened the Warner Bros theme park on Yas Island. Belgium’s Besix was the contractor for the estimated $531m project.

Other Miral projects have included the Etihad Arena and the indoor climbing and skydive centre Clymb. Bam of the Netherlands was the contractor for the Arena and Germany’s Ed Zueblin was the contractor for Clymb.

Yas Island was launched as a project in 2006 by local developer Aldar Properties. The original centrepiece attractions were the Yas Marina Circuit, which hosts Formula 1 motor racing’s annual Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and the Ferrari World theme park.

Abu Dhabi hopes bigger is better with Disney theme park 

READ THE MAY 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

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Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the May 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf projects index inches upwards
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Colin Foreman

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