Disney To Open First Middle East Park

The Middle East is getting a pilgrimage site for Disney adults. In addition to reporting strong earnings yesterday, the House of Mouse said it plans to open a theme park in the United Arab Emirates.

The company noted that a third of the world’s population lives within a 4-hour flight of Abu Dhabi’s resort-filled waterfront, where its seventh park—and its first in the Middle East—will be located.

Disney plans to provide the magic, but not much else, as local company Miral will handle the park’s development and its day-to-day operations:

• Disney won’t own the park, nor will it put any money into it. Instead, it will only provide creative ideation and operational oversight to Miral.
• Disney said it’ll start getting royalties for its IP as soon as the park opens.

There’s no set ribbon-cutting date, but Disney CEO Bob Iger said its parks usually take up to two years to develop and “approximately five years to build.”

Riding the parks bonanza

In-person experiences have proven to be Disney’s golden goose. Operating profits at its US Parks grew 13% last quarter compared to the prior year.

Globally, it plans to invest $60 billion into its parks and themed cruises by 2033.

But it’s not just parks making Disney shareholders scream like they’re on a rollercoaster: Disney+ and Hulu earned $336 million in profit last quarter, compared to $47 million a year earlier.—SK