Travelers may think of the Middle Eastern destination as a place of unbridled luxury, replete with Michelin-starred restaurants and hotels whose rates can run as high as $1 million per week.

Disney's new theme park will be located on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island, about 8,400 miles away from Anaheim, California – the site of the first Disneyland that opened in 1955. "You start thinking about what is possible, actually envisioning a castle rising up in this case from the sand and also being on the water," Iger said.

Disney is set to open a new theme park in Abu Dhabi that the company describes as its most tech-centric park to date.