Disney just announced a brand new SEVENTH Disney Park in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and many fans are curious about what’s happening in the park.
Located on Yas Island, this waterfront park will be the newest park since Shanghai Disneyland Park opened in 2016. Disney released a trailer video in celebration of the new park, and it might have dropped some clues about what’s to come.
This teaser video discussed many of the different Intellectual Properties (IP) that Disney owns and uses in other parks. While we don’t have any official confirmations, here are some ideas that Disney might use in the Abu Dhabi park.
Because the new park will be located on an island and surrounded by water, it’s possible Moana will appear.
The video showed Moana in Fantasmic and her walk-through interactive attraction, Journey of Water in EPCOT.
We also saw our favorite royal sisters, Elsa and Anna, who have themed lands in Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.
Over at Ferrari World Yas Island, there is the world’s fastest rollercoaster, and in the Disney video, they showed TRON a few times as well as…
…Iron Man, who is getting his own ride at Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure. You can also find Iron Man at Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, a roller coaster at Disneyland Paris. Maybe additional Marvel heroes will be there, too.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT, which opened in 2022, was also mentioned. It has six random songs you can get when you ride, and maybe if they build it in Abu Dhabi, there will be different songs to get.
Avatar has its own world, Pandora, at Animal Kingdom at Disney World, which uses many water features and details. Disney California Adventure will also be getting a ride dedicated to Avatar in the future.
Zootopia could also make an appearance, similar to the land at Shanghai Disney, which is designed to make you feel like you’re walking through the city of Zootopia.
How about Star Wars? Disneyland and Disney World have full lands dedicated to the brand, and there are a few other rides at other international resorts.
The Lion King was also mentioned, which made us think of the Lion King area coming to Disneyland Paris with the first Lion King ride.
Last but certainly not least, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway was represented, which was the first ride to feature the mouse himself.
However, the response to this new park announcement has largely been mixed. Fans who live near the park are excited, while others have concerns that Disney is partnering with a government that is so different from Disney’s goal of inclusivity.
According to Wikipedia, “Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the United Arab Emirates face discrimination and legal challenges. Homosexuality is illegal in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and under the federal criminal provisions, consensual same-sex sexual activity is punishable by imprisonment; extra-marital sexual activity between persons of different sexes is also illegal. In both cases, prosecution will only be brought if a husband or male guardian of one of the participants makes a criminal complaint.”
It wasn’t too long ago that Disney butted heads with the Florida government regarding the Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the Don’t Say Gay bill. Disney has also made a very clear focus on ensuring a comfortable and accommodating work environment with its Inclusivity Key, so choosing Abu Dhabi as the location for this new park is proving to be controversial.
We’ll be ready to learn more about this park and see if some of our favorite rides or brand new attractions will be coming. Keep following AllEars for more Disney news.
“WE’RE CONVINCED THAT THIS WAS A PERFECT PLACE FOR US” — DISNEY EXECS COMMENTS ON NEW THEME PARK ANNOUNCEMENT
What are your thoughts on the new park? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
Disney has also been making changes to their DEI program (as many large companies have in 2025), so despite their opposition of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida, that was three years ago when Bob Chapek was in charge. This shows things have clearly changed now.