Disney has revealed that its Imagineering design team visited two of the most historic landmarks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the development of its upcoming theme park in the country's capital Abu Dhabi.

When the park was announced in May last year, Disney's then-chief executive Bob Iger proclaimed that it would be "authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati." He didn't give any further details so the sources of inspiration that the Imagineers might draw on remained unclear. Until now.

During Disney’s D23 convention in California this weekend a new video promoting the plans for the park played in the Imagineering pavilion. As the following link shows, the short film largely consisted of footage from the spectacular announcement event, that I attended in Abu Dhabi, and an advert for the park on the LED screen embedded in the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, in the nearby city of Dubai. However, the video was also interspersed with scenes of a delegation from Disney visiting local attractions.

Most visitors won’t have recognized the landmarks but they were instantly familiar to this author thanks to my knowledge of the region. One scene showed Disney's team walking down a path between towering palm trees which was clearly in the 4,000 year old Al Ain Oasis. At more than 2,900 acres, is the largest oasis in the area and is filled with around 147,000 date palm trees which produce 100 varieties of date.

Adjacent to the oasis is Sultan Bin Zayed Fort with its traditional cream-colored turrets and battlements. The mud-brick building was built in 1910 by Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed the First, a former ruler of Abu Dhabi. His son, Sheikh Zayed, was the first president of the UAE and built the country’s first museum which sits next to the fort and is dedicated to showcasing the history of Al Ain.

Another shot in the sizzle reel showed Disney's delegation standing in front of a whitewashed wall with two rows of arches set into it, one above the other. It is an architectural hallmark of Qasr Al Watan, the UAE's opulent presidential palace which looks like it has come straight from the pages of One Thousand and One Nights. Its expansive stone plazas are surrounded by the double-decker rows of arches at ground level while massive white domes are dotted on its roof.

Although it was only completed in 2018 it soon became one of the most historic buildings in the UAE as it hosted heads of state and meetings of the country's supreme council. In fact, it became so well-known that just one year later it was opened to the public as a tourist site which is now run by Miral, the operator of the upcoming Disney park. Miral is the Middle East's leading theme park manager and it doesn't just handle Qasr Al Watan's internal visitor experience, it also developed the 15 minute Palace in Motion projection mapping show which plays on the outside of the building at night.

The D23 video shows that Disney’s delegation included Tom Fitzgerald, who retired last month after 47 years with Imagineering. Fitzgerald was its chief storytelling executive and attended the Disney Abu Dhabi launch event with Imagineering’s president Bruce Vaughn and Zach Riddley, who heads up the design of the park as I revealed.

In an interview for Abu Dhabi newspaper The National, former Imagineer Jim Shull explained to me that Disney's local partners usually arrange visits to local landmarks as well as "meetings and focus groups."

Shull hosts the Disney Journey YouTube channel and is one of the most talented artists to have ever worked for Imagineering. It is thanks to his eye for detail and dedication. Testimony to this, he explained that in addition to visiting landmarks in the theme park location, "you try to live there, if you can, and kind of soak up the environment to understand what the locals value. It's not just researching, it's taking the research, analysing and understanding it, talking to locals, engaging with locals and understanding what their values are and what is important."

This doesn't necessarily mean that Disney's Abu Dhabi park will be predominantly themed to Middle Eastern stories like Aladdin. Instead, the local touches could be much more subtle and logical.

For example, the entrance area to SeaWorld Abu Dhabi is called Abu Dhabi Ocean and features touch pools and tanks containing local marine life while a life-size traditional wooden boat bobs in the neighboring lagoon. Known as a dhow, these boats were historically used in the UAE for pearl diving and the meticulously-themed wooden arcades around the lagoon are lined with the tools of the trade. There are Persian rugs for the divers to sit on, brass scales to weigh their wares and gleaming urns for their tea. The floor is textured to look like a dirt track and even has prints of camel hooves embedded in it. Completing the theme, avant-garde camel puppets periodically amble around for photo opportunities.

Over at Abu Dhabi's Yas Waterworld park, one of the most thrilling attractions is Falcon's Falaj, a family raft ride which is propelled uphill faster than down thanks to some high-tech wizardry. Magnets underneath the raft repel against ones with opposite poles on the floor of the tube whilst high-powered water jets give it an added boost. It is named after the falaj irrigation system which is used to great effect in the Al Ain Oasis to channel underground water from the nearby Hajar Mountains to sustainably feed the forest of palms.

The domed exterior of Abu Dhabi's Louvre museum was even inspired by the oasis. It was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Jean Nouvel and has become an Abu Dhabi icon thanks to the geometric shapes cut into it. Patterns like this are common in Islamic architecture but that's not the reason why they are cut into the roof of the Louvre.

Instead, Nouvel got the idea on a research trip to Al Ain Oasis as I reported in theme park trade title Blooloop. Miral's chairman Mohamed Al Mubarak explained that Nouvel "was under an oasis, a Waha. Thousands of date trees, right above him. He had these lights coming through and he was very much inspired by that".

Time will tell how Imagineering interprets its experiences on the research trips. At D23 Thomas Mazloum, chairman of Disney's theme park division confirmed that the development process is currently underway. "Right now, we're working on more projects at the same time than at any point in our history," he said. "New attractions, new land, new shows, new ships, an entirely new theme park resort in Abu Dhabi."

Details of what will be in it have been thin on the ground since two initial pieces of obscure concept art were released at the announcement. However, firm decisions have been made. As this author recently revealed, a new piece of concept art shows fireworks which seem to be erupting from Abu Dhabi’s Disney park. Blooloop pointed out that this detail is significant as it suggests that, contrary to widespread reports, the park won't be entirely indoors like many of its counterparts in Abu Dhabi.

More concept art of Disney's Abu Dhabi outpost is expected to debut today at D23 at the finale of the Worldbuilders documentary about the design of Disney parks. No opening timeframe has been given for the park but it is not expected to launch until well after 2030 so there is still time for the Imagineers to rack up even more frequent flyer miles in their quest to ensure it is distinctly Emirati whilst also being authentically Disney.