Universal's theme parks took in more than $2.4 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2023, parent company Comcast reported today. That helped drive the parks' adjusted earnings to the highest level in corporate history.
Comcast reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were up 20% year over year for its theme parks during the quarter, to $983 million. Universal attributed its growth to "higher revenue at our international theme parks, which had Covid-19 related restrictions in the prior year period, and higher revenue at our domestic theme parks, including Universal Studios Hollywood due to the continued success of Super Nintendo World, partially offset by lower revenue at our theme park in Orlando."
While revenue was down year over year in Florida, Comcast noted that Universal Orlando's revenue continue to be "above comparable pre-pandemic 2019 levels."
"The reaction to Nintendo and Hollywood in Japan continues to be fantastic, and we're very excited about bringing the experience to Florida soon," Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said. "I was just in Orlando with the parks leadership team last week, reviewing our plans for the new Halloween Horror experience in Las Vegas and kids theme park in Frisco, Texas. I also spent a few hours on a site tour of the Epic Universe park, which is deep in construction and is simply breathtaking.
"So thanks to the momentum of our third quarter results and what we have in the pipeline, I could not be more excited about our parks business."
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Or, that summer is really freakin' hot and humid in Orlando, and people have decided to visit in the winter and spring - or to theme park destinations with better environments - instead.
I always applaud Universal's success because I hope it will pull people away from Disney and cause Disney to deliver better value.
I always applaud Universal's success because I want the Central Florida tourism industry to thrive. I hope it will attract more people to Orlando -- increasing attendance at Universal, Disney, Sea World and all of Orlando's exceptional attractions.
And they’ll get a huge surge soon with Epic Universe, which oddly, there is still no “ insider” information
That means more livable wages for USH team members…right?
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>>While revenue was down year over year in Florida, Comcast noted that Universal Orlando's revenue continue to be "above comparable pre-pandemic 2019 levels."
So this suggests to me the whole "Orlando Downturn" we've been hearing blamed on Woke or not woke is actually a reversion to the mean. The pent up demand from the pandemic has exhausted itself, and we're back to regular travel patterns.