Disney recently held its second quarter earnings call for Fiscal Year 2025, and we got a huge announcement — a brand-new, seventh landmark Disney theme park is being built in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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During the call, CEO Bob Iger said that there are “hundreds of millions” of “income-qualified” people who were a significant distance from a Disney park, and that they wanted to bring the parks to them. But, what exactly did Iger mean by income-qualified?
Disney’s new Abu Dhabi theme park is expected to connect travelers from the Middle East and Africa, India, Asia, Europe, and more. According to Disney, the theme park “will combine Disney’s iconic stories, characters and attractions with Abu Dhabi’s vibrant culture, stunning shorelines, and breathtaking architecture.”
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During the May 7th Disney earnings call, just shortly after the new park was announced, CEO Bob Iger said, “This is a thrilling moment for our company as we announce plans to build an exciting Disney theme park resort in Abu Dhabi, whose culture is rich with an appreciation of the arts and creativity.”
He continued, “We did study the region very carefully and we know that we had many opportunities…Obviously, building a theme park in a location is a huge endorsement of that location. It speaks volumes in terms of the ability of that location to sustain a theme park.”
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Iger also said that many “income-qualified” people weren’t anywhere near a Disney park. “It was very obvious to us that there were many people, basically hundreds of millions in the world that are income qualified — where a trip to one of our six locations was pretty lengthy in nature and expensive. And so, we felt the best way, obviously, to reach those people is to basically bring our product to them.”
He continued, “We talk about it being at the crossroads of the world — 500 million income-qualified people live within four hours, 120 million people will come through Dubai and Abu Dhabi this year alone. Abu Dhabi estimates that 39 million tourists will visit Abu Dhabi by 2030, that says a lot.”
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But what do Disney and Iger actually mean by “income-qualified”? In general corporate-speak, it means that someone or something meets the specific income requirements or standards necessary to be eligible for something. In Disney’s case, it likely refers to people with enough disposable income to visit one of its theme parks.
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Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates as a whole certainly fit that bill. According to the S&P Global Ratings from 2023, the GDP per capita of Abu Dhabi was $84,900 USD. For comparison, the United States’ GDP per capita was $81,633 USD in 2023.
The response to the announcement has been mixed, however. While some fans are excited — especially those living near the new park — others are concerned about Disney partnering with a government that seems to go against what Disney has previously maintained as a goal: inclusivity.
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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.”
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Disney went through a battle with the Florida government regarding the Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the Don’t Say Gay bill, in the not-so-distant past. The bill did pass, despite Disney being the largest employer and taxpayer in the state and voicing its opposition. Disney later dropped a lawsuit against the state for what the company viewed as retaliation with the takeover of Disney’s special taxing district.
The company has also made a very clear focus on ensuring a comfortable and accommodating work environment with its Inclusivity Key, so the choice of Abu Dhabi as its next park destination is controversial.
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While we may not have many details so far, keep an eye out for the latest updates on Disneyland Abu Dhabi and beyond. In the meantime, make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for more Disney news.
When Will Disneyland Abu Dhabi Open?
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More problematic for me is the endorsement of the anti gay laws abu Dhabi has. I won’t be going, never would. But money talks and Disney is a business
Well when everyone born there is given a 100k a year for life id say YA NO SH.. THEY HAVE MONEY! Y do u think they r okay w/ letting America turn into a ghetto. Cuz the elite have moved on and moved away. And they did it in the 90s when yall were being greedy.
Good for Disney. Maybe they’ll finally learn that being woke isn’t really accepted and the ones pushing the BS are all liberals. I’d like to see them push Inside Out 2 and Buzz Lightyear and all these other bad movie decisions they’ve made and are likely to make be banned. With that the attractions won’t be built.
Income qualified. I. Otherworldly rich people who can afford our outrageously high prices now.
This is another insult to the Disney name and legacy
Walt wanted a park that all people and all families could afford and enjoy
Not a park the discriminated by income, or any other difference
Those running this company do not hold the values of the disney name whatsoever. They are a scar on what was once a symbol of Americana
I hope this project fails. I hope this company goes bankrupt and i hope we can all just remember what Disney once was but sadly will never be again. These truly are dark times. Trump must be a silent partner with Disney now. It’s the only true explanation to their greed
Yea at first I thought maybe it meant some kind of deal for those of us living below poverty level on fixed income. Like Walmart and Amazon have . I should have known better ,like Santa only gives good gifts to rich kids,Disney’s blue fairy couldn’t give a flip about poor people’s wishes.
“Disney’s Talking About “Income Qualified” Theme Park Guests, But What Does That Mean?”
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It means Disney is going to choose the more affluent as their fan base. The welfare family with 9 kids will not be able to afford a Disney park.
Disney is now all about greed and profit. Why is this hard to figure out
How ironic that there’s a huge river surrounding their centerpiece! And I see many bodies of water throughout their park rendering. Anything for AbuDhabi’s megarich park guests. Meanwhile, they are destroying Walt’s beautiful oasis, in the middle of Orlando’s Magic Kingdom, and filling it with more asphalt and cement. They are destroying Walt’s vision for a parklike atmosphere. They don’t care that they are erasing our beautiful memories of the park Walt designed. That body of water didn’t generate income for them, so they are desecrating Walt’s Magic Kingdom to save a few bucks. I’m so disgusted with Disney’s greedy mentality.
To “N says” Disney doesn’t need Trump’s help in being greedy, they are doing a good job by themselves.
Yes, Abu Dhabi is considered a very wealthy place but once again Disney doesn’t have to fit the bill. They just reap the benefits more money more money.
And I do like the fact that Abu Dhabi does not put up with the woke stuff. good for them. I would like to know Disney always justifies for the price hikes but in the year 2024 Eger made $41.1 million. I think that is absolutely ridiculous and guess what we paid his salary they can afford to have things go down in prices, but they’re not going to as long as people keep opening their wallets to them and taking every last penny
Seems like the park in Abu Dhabi will be the the Un-American park due to so many restrictions with a persons lifestyle and beliefs. They are obviously catering to a certain crowd and demographic. I don’t see a lot of Americans visiting that park even if they have the money and can easily afford it.
Say Maria, when are you moving to Abu Dhabi? It could be a nice relaxing winter retreat for you. Also, in case you were wondering, I am liberal and “Woke”. You see, woke means consideration for others and interest in understanding.
To Don I think you need to look at the definition of woke, you are incorrect. But then again liberals make new definitions for words to suit them.
Lots of Americans go to Abu Dhabi just because it’s rich that doesn’t mean the whole city is rich and they only cater to rich people.
And the lady who is talking about how they are putting cement everywhere in the part because agreed I agree with you. It’s all about the money just like what they’re doing to the Halloween ticket this year if you wanna go on Halloween is gonna cost you an extra 30 bucks shame on them