Disney Worldbuilders is now streaming on Disney+, offering a closer look at how the company transforms familiar films and franchises into physical destinations. For audiences in the UAE, however, the documentary arrives with particular relevance: Abu Dhabi is set to become home to Disney’s first theme park resort in the Middle East.
Directed by Academy Award- and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks, Disney Worldbuilders brings together Bob Iger, James Cameron, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Jennifer Lee, Pete Docter, Dave Filoni, Jared Bush and Josh D’Amaro. Their conversations explore the creative process behind turning stories from Avatar, Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, Frozen and Zootopia into environments that visitors can physically experience.
That concept now has a direct connection to Abu Dhabi. Disney announced in 2025 that a new Disney theme park resort will be developed on Yas Island in partnership with Miral, adding one of the entertainment industry’s biggest names to an island already built around large-scale leisure and tourism attractions.
Unlike Disney’s existing resorts, the Abu Dhabi project will be developed and built by Miral, with Disney Imagineers leading creative design and operational oversight once the resort opens. Disney has described the project as its seventh global theme park destination, joining its existing resort locations in California, Florida, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Few concrete details about the Abu Dhabi park have been revealed so far. Disney has not announced its attractions, lands or opening date, leaving significant questions about which franchises will make the journey to Yas Island. That uncertainty makes Disney Worldbuilders more interesting for regional viewers than it might otherwise have been.
The documentary provides a window into the thinking that could eventually influence the UAE project. Disney’s modern parks increasingly rely on immersive environments rather than individual rides operating in isolation. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Pandora – The World of Avatar are prominent examples of that philosophy, where architecture, attractions, food and environmental details are designed around a single fictional setting.
Abu Dhabi also presents Disney Imagineering with a different creative challenge. The resort is expected to incorporate Disney storytelling while responding to the region’s culture, climate and location on the waterfront. How those considerations translate into the final park remains unknown, but it gives Disney an opportunity to create something specifically for the Middle East rather than simply reproduce an existing destination.
Iwerks is well placed to document this process. Her previous work includes The Imagineering Story and The Pixar Story, while her family history is closely connected with Disney: her grandfather Ub Iwerks was Walt Disney’s collaborator and co-creator of Mickey Mouse, and her father Don Iwerks worked at Walt Disney Imagineering.
Disney Worldbuilders premiered at D23 on August 16 and is now available on Disney+. For UAE viewers, its most compelling element may not be its retrospective look at Disney’s famous worlds, but the possibility of understanding the creative playbook behind a completely new one taking shape in Abu Dhabi.
