With the announcement of Disneyland Abu Dhabi and the renaming of Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris to Adventure World in 2026, Disney shows no signs of slowing down. These developments show a broader strategy to refine, reorganize, and strengthen their parks, especially with increased competition from Universal around the corner. In addition, the land-use agreement in Paris has been extended by ten years, giving Disney a decade to begin development on a third park. While the exact concept for the new parks remains uncertain, existing parks offer important clues.
A likely possibility is that Disneyland Abu Dhabi will follow the traditional format of Disney’s Castle Parks. These parks typically center on lands such as Main Street, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Frontierland, and Fantasyland, with local variations on the castles, lands and attractions being common. For instance, Disneyland Paris replaces Tomorrowland with Discoveryland, reflecting European influences like the works of Jules Verne. This structure has defined the main parks of Disney, so it makes sense any new Castle park like the one in Abu Dhabi will follow this structure as well.
In contrast, the secondary parks in Florida, California, and Paris focus on movie-themed lands and attractions, with the latter two even being named Hollywood Studios and Walt Disney Studios. However, the latter is currently undergoing a major expansion and will be renamed Adventure World in 2026, brining it more in line with California Adventure. These parks typically feature a Hollywood-style entrance and highlight the worlds of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars, and the art of animation. Since Paris already has a park of this type, a third park is unlikely to follow the same format.
However, not all Disney parks fit these two models. EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and DisneySea take a more original approach. They are not inspired by traditionally themed or movie lands, but are inspired by cultures, environments, and concepts from around the world. EPCOT focuses on community, discovery, nature and the world, Animal Kingdom on animals and nature, and DisneySea focuses on different nautical environments. This more world-focused design philosophy may offer insight into what a third park in Paris could look like.
The third park could take inspiration from EPCOT's World Showcase, with focus on continents inspired by Animal Kingdom and DisneySea instead of cities. This would also set it apart from the nearby Europapark. Lands based on Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania could borrow from Mediterranean Harbor, American Waterfront (and New Orleans Square, Liberty Square & Grand Avenue), Lost River Delta, Asia & Arabian Coast, Africa, and Mysterious Island repectively. With no clear naming convention for these parks, the new park's name is uncertain.
Competition to consider
Disney’s long-term planning must also account for competition mostly from Universal. Universal Studios parks typically feature themed lands based on Hollywood, the Wizarding World, Minions, New York City, DreamWorks properties, Jurassic World, and Super Nintendo World, along with signature attractions centered around Transformers, The Mummy, and the Waterworld stunt show. While individual parks vary in specifics like Disney, Universal Studios is a major competitor in theme parks based on movies. Especially in locations such as Hollywood, Florida and Japan.
This competition is even set to intensify with Universal’s newly planned theme parks in the United Kingdom and India. Although no plans have been revealed, the parks could draw from the aforementioned themed lands, shows and attractions. It thus would feature these seven core themed areas, the Waterworld stunt show, and two signature attractions. The UK park could swap out New York City for London, and incorporate British icons such as Paddington and James Bond instead. The latter perhaps even in a stunt show reminiscent of Bourne Stuntacular found in Florida.
Finally, competition also comes from Warner Brothers themed parks. Currently, there are only three such parks. However, with Warner Brothers up for sale, the new owner could choose to develop new parks. If Universal ends up acquiring Warner Brothers, it would significantly expand it’s portfolio. This would enable them to expand their own parks with new properties, and rebrand the current Warner Brothers themed parks to Universal Studios parks. Either scenario presents stronger competition for Disney to take into account with future planning efforts.