Disney is planning a brand new theme park in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. To this point, particulars are scarce — and one massive query is how a lot tickets will price when the park lastly opens, which may take seven years or longer.
The park, introduced Could 7, 2025, would be the Walt Disney Firm’s first-ever vacation spot within the Center East and the seventh globally. It will likely be constructed on Yas Island — already residence to SeaWorld, Ferrari World and Warner Bros. World — and guarantees to mix Disney’s characters with “distinctly Emirati” cultural components.
What we do not know
Past these particulars, there’s so much we nonetheless do not know:
When the park will open. Disney CEO Bob Iger stated in an interview with CNBC that it usually takes roughly 18 months to 2 years to design plus 5 years to construct a park, however famous Disney wasn’t making any commitments on timing in the mean time.
How massive the park will likely be, and the way a lot of will probably be indoors. Summer season temperatures can climb as much as 120° Fahrenheit, so an indoor park would make it a extra interesting vacation spot within the hotter months. SeaWorld Abu Dhabi and Warner Bros. World are each indoor theme parks.
How a lot tickets will price. The United Arab Emirates is understood for its lavish shows of wealth, and Disney parks are additionally recognized to be expensive — so that you would possibly suppose the 2 mixed could possibly be tremendous costly. However at the moment, Abu Dhabi’s theme parks are a bit inexpensive than their U.S. counterparts.
If present tendencies maintain, the brand new park may additionally be barely inexpensive than U.S. Disney parks when it lastly debuts. However that is a giant if. Building prices, inflation, change charges and different financial components may all have an effect on the ultimate value. And with a number of years to go earlier than opening, so much may change.
(Rendering courtesy of The Walt Disney Firm and Miral, the Abu Dhabi-based firm that can develop and construct the park)
How a lot do different UAE theme park tickets price?
Whereas Disney remains to be removed from revealing pricing for tickets to the Abu Dhabi resort, we checked out different theme parks within the United Arab Emirates to see how the costs in comparison with U.S. costs.
Take SeaWorld and Legoland, two manufacturers that function parks each within the U.S. and within the UAE (Legoland Dubai is a couple of 45-minute drive from Yas Island). NerdWallet analyzed base, one-day grownup ticket costs on the market on-line in Could 2025 and located that tickets to their UAE areas are constantly cheaper. We transformed the UAE costs in dirhams to USD for comparability.
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Dubai theme park value in USD |
U.S. theme park value in USD |
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Whereas the worth variations aren’t large, they’re noticeable — particularly for households shopping for a number of tickets.
There’s additionally the Large Mac Index, a metric developed by The Economist to check buying energy parity across the globe. As of January 2025, a Large Mac prices simply 18 dirhams (about $4.90) within the UAE, in comparison with $5.79 within the U.S. Which means a UAE Large Mac is 15% cheaper than one within the U.S. — a proxy suggesting items and companies (like theme park admission, meals and lodging) may price much less within the UAE.
Don’t overlook the flight — however factors may also help
In fact, Abu Dhabi is a long-haul journey for many Individuals — about 7,000 miles and 13 hours within the air from New York. That’s not a weekend getaway like Disneyland or Disney World.
However airfare may not be a dealbreaker should you’re strategic.
For starters, there are numerous choices for getting there. The deliberate Disney theme park within the UAE is shut to 2 main airports. Mixed, they make up the world’s largest international airline hub with 120 million passengers touring by Abu Dhabi and Dubai annually.
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American Airways AAdvantage: Use miles to e book flights on Etihad, with off-peak award pricing from the U.S. to the Center East beginning at 35,000 miles one-way in financial system.
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Capital One miles: Switch Capital One miles to companions like Etihad Visitor or Flying Blue (KLM/Air France), each of which continuously run promotions to the Center East.
And when you’re there, lodging may not break the financial institution both. Abu Dhabi gives a strong choice of points-friendly resorts, together with Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt properties.
(High picture courtesy of The Walt Disney Firm and Miral)