Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi Officially Announced for 2018

Warner Bros. today officially announced that it will open a theme park in Abu Dhabi in 2018.

The Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi will be developed by Miral, the developer responsible for the development and management of the Yas Island destination in Abu Dhabi where the park will be built. Yas Island also is home to Ferrari World Abu Dhabi and the Yas Marina Circuit that hosts the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the Formula 1 circuit.

Construction is underway on the project, which is estimated to cost US$1 billion.



The current status of construction. Photo courtesy Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi

From the park's press release:

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi will bring together stories and characters from the Studio's unparalleled portfolio of DC Comics Super Heroes universe including Batman, Superman and Wonder Women as well as Warner Bros. Cartoons such as Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo and Tom and Jerry. Guests of all ages will be able to step inside Gotham City and Metropolis, and experience the cartoon worlds of Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and more, all under one roof.

As you can see from the construction photo, this will be an indoor park, like the nearby Ferrari World, on account of the often extreme heat in the United Arab Emirates. The project also will include a Warner Bros.-themed hotel, the first of its kind at any Warner Bros. attraction around the world.

By our count, this will be the world's third Warner Bros. theme park, following Warner Bros. Movie World in Gold Coast, Australia and Parque Warner Madrid in Spain. (Another park in Germany no longer carries Warner Bros. branding and is no longer affiliated with the studio.) Warner Bros. also operates Warner Bros. Studio Tour attractions in Leavesden, England and in Burbank, Calif. In addition, Warner Bros. properties can be found in Studio City Macau as well as in Six Flags theme parks around North America. But Warner Bros.' most lucrative theme park licensing deal might be the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attractions in Universal theme parks in Orlando, Los Angeles, and Osaka, Japan. For what it's worth, you might notice that Harry Potter is not listed among the Warner Bros. properties that will be included in the Abu Dhabi park.

Elsewhere in the UAE, Motiongate Dubai is opening this October as part of the multi-park Dubai Parks & Resorts development, located about 50 minutes from Yas Island. Ferrari World Abu Dhabi opened in 2010. Developers said that they expect the Warner Bros. park to help drive visitation to Yas Island to 30 million visitors in 2018, from its current 25 million visitors a year.

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