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.

CEO Bob Iger said the company's "imagineers" have already started designing the park, but he declined to say when it would open.