OPINION: Disney’s seventh park is a failure for inclusion

On May 7, Disney announced a seventh Disney theme park resort would be opening on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates. What the company thought was going to be an exciting and good announcement for Disney fans around the world quickly became a disaster, with both Disney fans and the general public calling the news a disappointment. While I’m not someone who likes to follow a trend, in this instance, I’m pretty disappointed too.

First, some background. Outside of this new park announcement, the Disney company has six resorts worldwide: Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disney.

All of these parks are either fully or jointly owned by the Walt Disney Company except for Tokyo Disney. The Japanese resort was designed by the Disney Imagineers and has the Disney license but is fully owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company.

What does this mean? While the resort is able to use Disney characters and other intellectual property, the Oriental Land Company handles daily operations, pays royalties to Disney and is responsible for the overall park care.

While many people find this gives the Tokyo parks a slightly different feel, parkheads are also huge fans of the Japanese park because the Oriental Land Company is willing to spend much more money on rides and attractions than the Walt Disney Company is. Therefore, the Tokyo park is more up to date and usually has newer innovation and technology than the Disney-owned resorts.

With the announcement of a park in UAE came the news it would be completely owned and operated by entertainment company Miral, similar to the Tokyo parks. Miral has developed other resorts on Yas Island, including SeaWorld, Waterworld and Warner Bros. World.

While this will likely mean newer and more technologically-advanced attractions, this also means Miral makes the rules for guests. This becomes a major problem when you look at the numerous human rights issues in the UAE. Under Emirate law, it is illegal to swear, blaspheme any religion, be queer, have a marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man or have any alcohol in your system outside of your home. During the month of Ramadan, it is illegal to eat or drink publicly.

Not only are the laws strict, but the enforcement of these laws are stricter. The U.S. Department of State includes in their executive summary on the UAE, “Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killing; cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions.” This is about a fifth of the list of human rights issues.

In their announcement for the new resort, Disney said about one-third of the world’s population lives within a four-hour flight of the UAE, making Disney accessible to a whole new group of people. However, is it actually accessible if a majority of the people can’t go without having their rights violated?

In 2021, the Walt Disney Company added a fifth “key” to their pillars of being a cast member: inclusion. However, with the announcement of the UAE park, people were quick to ask if the company was removing this pillar.

In an Instagram post announcing the news, comments included: “A park I will never see. What a dangerous and irresponsible location choice.” “A huge chunk of foreigners would be putting themselves at risk of being arrested by simply existing in Abu Dhabi. This is NOT an exciting prospect.” Or my favorite, “They just need to complete the promises they’ve made for Europe and the U.S., not open an entirely new park in a human rights hellhole.”