In his first quarterly earnings report as CEO, Josh D’Amaro has confirmed plans to move forward with Disney Abu Dhabi. This is the first time that a Disney executive has meaningfully confirmed plans for the Middle East theme park. While D’Amaro did mention Abu Dhabi during the Annual Meeting of Shareholders, this latest statement underlines Disney’s commitment to the project. Here’s the latest!
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro: Abu Dhabi Plans Are Unchanged
Back in March, Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi, Group CEO – Miral and Chairman of Miral Destinations, met with Tasia Filippatos, President & Managing Director of Disney Parks International. This was the first real “statement” that Disneyland Abu Dhabi wasn’t canceled due to President Donald Trump’s war with Iran and the resulting instability in the region.
The meeting with Filippatos was the first that we know of between Disney and Miral following the start of the Iran war. The UAE was targeted by Iran in a series of retaliatory strikes against several Gulf states following the bombing of Iran by the Trump administration.
Iran has targeted multiple areas within the UAE, including the Zayed International Airport, which is located just 10 minutes from the planned Disneyland Abu Dhabi theme park site.
Now, in a joint statement with Hugh Johnston, Disney CFO, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro has underlined Disney’s commitment to the Disneyland Abu Dhabi project.
We have multiple experience expansions underway using a capital-light model, including working with established local operators to bring a new cruise ship to Japan and a theme park resort to Abu Dhabi. The strategic logic of our Abu Dhabi plans is unchanged. Major new theme parks are necessarily long-term in nature given the lead time of these projects, and this investment approach has consistently benefited our business.
Turning to commentary, I think it’s worth noting that D’Amaro said that the “strategic logic of our Abu Dhabi plans is unchanged”. The comment comes as part of the broader topic of a “capital-light model”, meaning that Disney is getting other parties to invest the money to leverage Disney IP and royalties.
I don’t think that this is an off-ramp from Abu Dhabi, necessarily, although it could be read as such. The fact that D’Amaro mentions Abu Dhabi by name is as much of a commitment to the project as previously announced as possible.
If anything, I think it was a careful parsing to not say that the plans themselves are unchanged. Plans always go through revisions and changes, even after shovels enter the dirt – which we’re seemingly a long way from for the Abu Dhabi project.
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