Jan. 4, 2026

NEWS: Universal Plans Middle East Theme Park

Show Notes
Transcript

Universal is reportedly exploring plans for a theme park in Saudi Arabia, funded through a licensing arrangement backed by a government entity. If it moves forward, the project would place Universal alongside Disney, which recently announced a similar licensing deal in Abu Dhabi—one Disney says will be accretive from day one. Also: Submissions are now being accepted for the 2025 Home Haunter Awards Show. Read the news here.

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Coming up your weekly roundup of news from around the

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haunt industry. Welcome to the show. I'm Philip on the

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HN Show. We bring you the haunt news, information, and

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education you need to prepare for Halloween. On Tuesdays, we

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bring you a roundup of news from haunts worldwide. Read

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more about these stories and so much more in our

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free weekly newsletter. Subscribe at the link in the show notes,

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and as always for the news roundup, I'm passing it

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off to Darryl.

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Universal has reported exploring plans for a theme park in

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Saudi Arabia, funded through a licensing arrangement backed by the

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government entity. If it moves forward, the project would place

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the Universal alongside Disney, which recently announced a similar licensing

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deal in Abu Dhabi, one Disney says will be a

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creative from day one. If anything, the surprise isn't that

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Universal is pursuing this, It's that it took this long.

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Universal tried this before. In two thousand and eight, the

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company broke ground on Universal Studios Dubai Land with private financing,

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only to see the project collapse when money evaporated during

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the financial crisis. What's different now? Government backing eliminates that risk.

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The licensing model Disney pioneered means operators collect revenue from

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day one without capital outlay, perfect for Comcast as it

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diversifies away from eroding cable revenue, just as the Middle

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East diversifies away from oyale. Both are betting that theme

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parks are the answer. Middle East is where the action is.

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The bigger question is whether the Middle East becomes the

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global theme park capital over the next ten to fifteen years.

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Six Flags Kadea opens this week, with the Dragonball z

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Park and water park projects progressing in the same area.

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Kadea is five hundred and ninety miles from Abu Dhabi's

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Yas Island, where Disneyland is planning a new theme park,

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which is already hosting multiple theme parks and is the

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site of the new Harry Potter expansion. Saudi Arabia's Vision

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twenty thirty and the UAES Tourism Initiatives represent governments recognizing

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that entertainment infrastructure is a strategic priority as they diversify

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away from oil business. Critics of the area say that

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the Yas Island parks were built for crowds that aren't materializing,

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and it's also a significant risk for the Kadia plans.

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Time will tell, and that's the key. These projects are

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working on a different timescale, Particularly in the US. We're

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so used to discussing ROI and measuring in quarters that

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these projects are measured over decades. The genre of long

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term structural investment is tough for public or private companies

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to execute on these. Universal coming to the area completes

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the set per se, bringing massive capital ips and largest

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theme park chains together in one region. Universal couldn't afford

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to be the missing piece. The longer they stayed absent,

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the more it looked like a strategic failure rather than

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a strategic choice. Whether this news is leaked intention or not,

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it serves a purpose signaling Universal isn't conceding the fastest

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growing attraction market to its competitors. The new paradigm governmentwn

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parks with no competition. Orlando is the current theme park

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capital of the world, and we're all familiar with the

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thriving tourism ecosystem it's created centered around the major players.

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Now imagine in Orlando where Disney World and Universal are

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both owned by the government, run by different government entities,

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but ultimately controlled by the same sovereign power. All the

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competition would come from Tampa, a neighboring country. Feels strange

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right The Middle East parks will be entirely government owned

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within each destination, whether Yas Islands or Kadia, traditional park

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versus park competition doesn't exist the way it does in Orlando. Instead,

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the competition occurs at the national level. The UAE versus

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Saudi Arabia, each building tourism ecosystems to attract regional and

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international visitors. What does innovation look like when governments, not

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companies of the competitive units. It's more of the house

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always wins mentality. What environment will a lack of competition create?

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Are we witnessing the birth of a new theme park

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capital built on a new set of rules, or will

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a lack of innovation and tourists plague the area? Are

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Disney and Comcast trading short term gains for long term

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failure by helping create a new tourism sector they don't control.

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Time will tell. The twenty twenty six OSCARES nominations close

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on December thirty first. The Haunted Attraction Association is currently

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accepting nominations for the twenty twenty six OSCARES Awards. The

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highest honors in the Halloween and Haunted attraction industry, Presented

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annually at trans World's Halloween An Attraction Show in Saint Louis.

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The OSCARES recognized individuals, attractions, and vendors whose work has

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made a meaningful impact on the industry. Awards include Vendor

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Excellence Awards, Board of Directors Awards, Special Recognition, Home Haunt Award,

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and Lifetime Achievement Awards. Nominees and winners are selected by

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the HAA board of directors and industry peers with u

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an emphasis on innovation, creativity, leadership, and long term contribution

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to the haunt community. Nominations must be submitted through the

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official online form by December thirty first. Twenty twenty five

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Home Hunter Awards Show submissions are open. Emissions are now

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being accepted for the twenty twenty five Home Haunter Awards Show.

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Video submissions via cloud server or YouTube link will be

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accepted through February seventh of twenty twenty six. Award categories

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include best motorized Prop, Best pneumatic Prop, Best static prop,

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Best Walkthrough, Best display, Best modified store bought prop, Best

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haunt cycled, Best costume, and best Overall. The entries are

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judged by admits of the Halloween Yard Haunts and Props

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Facebook group based on decor, props, setup, music, and anything

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else your creative mind can come up with. Any not

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for profit home haunter may enter. Home hunters cannot win

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in the same category and consecutive years, however, they can

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enter different categories. View the full list of rules and

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judging criteria on the awards official website. Putting a call

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out for all haunts that might be open for a

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special event in January through March, let us know we're

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looking to feature haunted attractions open for special events during

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the January to March timeline. If your haunt is opening,

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drop us the details to Philip at Haunted Attraction Network

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dot com. Follow the links in our show notes to

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find that address. You can also send us your news

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year round. A reminder as we move into twenty twenty

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six that we will feature Haunt and Industry news weekly.

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Submit your news for consideration to Fillip directly at that

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same Fillip at Haunted Attractions Network dot com email address.

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If you're searching for the perfect last minute gift for

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the haunter in your life or a little something for yourself,

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please consider these the green tagged Unhinged Gift subscription get

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weekly bonus episodes from Scott and Philip discussing the most

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important news in the themed entertainment world. The Thirteen Commandments

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of Haunting foundational concept every Haunter needs to make a

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successful haunted attraction or follow the story the foundation of

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every great attraction. From Upcoming events January through March of

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twenty twenty six include Halloween and Party Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada,

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January twelfth through fourteenth, creep i Econ in Ontario, California,

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January thirtieth through February first, and trans World Halloween and

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Attraction Show in Saint Louis, Missouri, March twenty six through

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twenty nine of twenty twenty six.

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And that's all for the news this week.

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Today's episode was produced by me Philip Bernandez, with reporting

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by Darryl Plunky, post production by David Swope. This hant

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News Update is a production of the Haunt Attraction Network

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and you can sign up to our weekly newsletter at

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Haunt Attraction Network dot com. Support for this episode comes

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from Gantum Lighting and Controls. Until next time, Haunters Stay Scary.

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This is a haunted attraction.

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Network production