Disney will open theme park in Middle East
Listen to the story (British accent)
The Walt Disney Company will open a new theme park. It will be in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the Middle East. The park will be on Yas Island.
Yas Island is near Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Disney will work with a company called Miral to build the park. Miral wants Yas Island to be a nice place for tourists. Miral already has theme parks there, like SeaWorld and Warner Bros World. Miral will also open a Harry Potter park.
Disney has six parks now. They are in North America, Europe, and Asia. A new park opened in Shanghai in 2016. The first Disneyland opened in California in 1955.
Disney thinks the UAE is a good place for a new park. Many people live near the UAE. 120 million people fly to airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai every year.
The Walt Disney Company is doing well recently. They made a lot of money in 2025. More people use Disney+, more people went to Disney parks in America, and more people went on Disney cruises.
Vocabulary11 words
- Open
- to start a new place or business for people to use
- Theme park
- A place built for fun, with rides and shows, like Disneyland
- Middle East
- the area from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to Iran
- Called
- Named; To give something a name
- Build
- construct; put up; set up; to make something by putting bricks or other materials together
- Tourist
- Someone who visits a place for fun and to learn about it; traveller; visitor in a new city or country
- Million
- 1,000,000 = one-million
- Airport
- A place where airplanes land and take off; a place people go to to travel by airplane ?
- Recently
- Not long ago
- Make money
- earn money; make a profit; gain or acquire money; get money for doing work
- Cruise
- A holiday/vacation trip taken on a large ship that visits different places; ?
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
The Walt Disney _____ will open a new theme park. It will be in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), _____ the Middle East. The park will be on Yas Island.
Yas Island is _____ Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Disney will work with a _____ called Miral to build the park. Miral wants Yas Island to be a nice _____ for tourists. Miral already has theme parks _____, like SeaWorld and Warner Bros World. Miral will also open a Harry Potter _____.
Disney has six parks now. They are in North America, _____, and Asia. A new park opened in Shanghai in _____. The first Disneyland opened in California in _____.
Disney thinks the UAE is a _____ place for a new park. Many people live near the UAE. _____ million people fly to airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai _____ year.
The Walt Disney Company is doing _____ recently. They made a lot of money in 2025. More people _____ Disney+, more people went to Disney parks in _____, and more people went on Disney _____.
Discussion questions
- Would you like to visit this new Disney park in the UAE in the future? Why or why not?
- Yas Island already has other parks like SeaWorld and Warner Bros. Is it good to have many big parks on one island? What do you think?
- What do you like best about visiting a theme park?
- What theme parks have you visited? Which one was best and why?
- What do you think about the weather in the UAE? Is it comfortable to visit a theme park like Disney in hot temperatures?
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