Revenue dropped more than 10% at Universal's theme parks during the second quarter of 2024, compared with the same period one year ago.
Universal's corporate parent Comcast reported this morning that its theme parks brought in $1.975 in revenue for the three months ending June 30, 2024. That's down 10.6% from the same period in 2023, when the parks brought in $2.209 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA was down 24.1% for the quarter, to $632 million. Comcast officials attributed the decline to lower attendance at its domestic theme parks.
"Going back to 2022 and 2023, parks were clearly the early beneficiaries of substantial rebounds in tourism and travel after the pandemic, resulting in a surge in demand that contributed to us reaching record results for both of those years," Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said. "More recently, other travel options, including cruises and international tourism, given the strength of the dollar, have experienced their own surge in demand, which cause visitation rates at our parks to normalize.
"The second factor affecting attendance at our domestic parks is the timing of our investments in new attractions, where we are light in Florida in advance of next year's opening of Epic [Universe] and our lapping of Super Nintendo World in Hollywood is creating some headwinds for us as well. While the parks results are below our original expectations for the year, we still view parks as a terrific long term growth business for us. We couldn't be more excited about the opening of Epic Universe in 2025 as we've been releasing new details about Epic's five immersive worlds, the consumer reaction has been tremendous, and recently, we opened an Epic Universe Preview Center in Orlando, and the foot traffic and guest enthusiasm have been off the charts. So we look forward to Epic Universe having a meaningful impact by driving incremental attendance, longer visits and higher per cap spending once the park opens in 2025."
Universal has been fighting soft attendance at its Orlando and Hollywood parks with ticket discounts. You can find details on a two-day free offer in Orlando and second-day free offer in Hollywood on our partner's Universal Orlando tickets and Universal Studios Hollywood tickets pages.
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Massive discounts and still struggling?!
DOOM for Universal?! Probably not… but Universal’s struggles certainly don’t appear to get nearly as much attention.
I hardly think over one billion in revenue in a quarter as "struggling"!! It will bounce back next year once Epic opens. Both Universal and Disney will see big increases once it does.
Hurry, Universal! Do what United does and blame the weather.
Its pretty obvious this is just the osbourne effect. Nothing to see here.
NB: "They will both eventually price themselves right out of the market."
Me: Unless they add new attractions. Unfortunately Diagon is 10 years old and Comcast hasn't announced any new attractions for their existing UO parks. If only they had a cruiseline ... sigh ... See you at D23
If only Universal had a streaming service that has now lost 14B.... (chuckle). Sigh... see you at the stockholders meeting. Down another 3.4% today and sitting $90.94.
Funny there is zero mention of Disney problems on this site. The swag will stop flowing... we all get it.
I can supply plenty of links to legitimate financial websites.
NB: "Funny there is zero mention of Disney problems on this site."
Me: Um, didn't you just "mention" a Disney problem (financial losses at a streaming service) on this site?
Oops.
I don't understand how you folks aren't bored silly by Disney vs. Universal.
This, and WDW's slowdown, are obvious byproducts of Epic Universe. Not a story.
Not talking about you, TH. The site owner chooses the stories very very carefully around here. Apparently, Universal isn't is sensitive about yanking "approved media" and free cupcake status from people as Disney is.
The story related to this thread was based on a news release from Comcast. Why wouldn't TPI report it? The site publishes similar content associated with Disney and other park operators.
NB = Don't like the message, blame the messenger.
TPI steers clear of almost anything negative regarding Disney. Always has. As I stated before, "approved media" has to walk on eggshells to keep the swag and invites coming.
>>Funny there is zero mention of Disney problems on this site.
"Disneyland's cast members vote for strike - so what's next?" is on the front page...
Chad, that is nationwide news. It's everywhere. I am still surprised by its mention on TPI, however. The fights, the parade fires, the light poles falling on guests, the shoddy condition of the parks, the 5 year EPCOT courtyard build, that Splash Mountain re-skin disaster, the low attendance, Disney+ 14B in the hole... shall I continue?
After being on this site for a long long time, you'll notice there is a formula.
@NB: Yes because a theme park site is supposed to cover streaming services. Great point!
NEXT!
But cruise ships are OK.... SMH.
As cruise lines represent competition for vacation dollars, and as one of Comcast's chief competitors (Disney) runs a cruise line ... um, yeah articles about cruise ships seem in step with this site's jurisdiction.
Even Comcast acknowledges this in its statement about why their theme parks (two of which, in Orlando, have no announced, new, gate-crasher attractions in development) are struggling to attract guests. From their release. "More recently, other travel options, including cruises and international tourism, given the strength of the dollar, have experienced their own surge in demand ..."
Since Comcast ties theme parks and cruise ships, maybe you should direct your comments and questions to:
Brian L. Roberts
Comcast Corporation
Comcast Center
1701 JFK Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(Chuckle)
So, it's.... Cruise Ship Insider now? Got it.
Pretty sure CSI has been claimed by CBS already
@NB: Again, you should direct your comments and questions to:
Brian L. Roberts
Comcast Corporation
Comcast Center
1701 JFK Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19103
He will probably answer pretty quickly. I mean it's not like he's busy reviewing plans for new attractions at Comcast's Orlando theme parks.
(Chuckle)
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All videos I see on YouTube for Universal Orlando show the parks emptier than normal for this time of the year. Same with the mouse. They will both eventually price themselves right out of the market.