Universal reports 'softening' theme park attendance in Orlando

I was amused by how Cavanagh kept referring to Universal as "one of two players" in the theme park business during the earnings call. To Universal, Six Flags, SeaWorld and the like don't even exist at their level.

At least they didn’t blame the weather.

To your point Robert, it’s crazy how a company can pull in $2 billion in revenue each quarter and have that just be considered ok. Every other park chain outside of Disney would literally commit murder to post those kind of numbers.

TV Tropes has a bit on that called "Unknown Rival" where someone is convinced they're major foes when other party doesn't care or even know said "rivalry" exists. In this case, Disney and Universal are always about going at each other and brush off anyone else.

>> and weaker consumer sentiment

People don’t want to visit the US for anything short of sportsball

Well as a consumer I will say it is all about affordability

Gas is Up and has been up for over Six month because of a Made up never ending war.

When Oil is up - Airlines, food, Gas all go up as well. And the construction and diesel cost.

So yes it will slow down - then add in the heat in Florida which gets Hotter and Hotter every year.....

As I said in the Past the business model might have to change in 10 years for Florida Theme parks to open in the Summer at 7:00 PM. No More day time operations. We will all melt.

(and Here come the Red clowns into the Thread, any minute now) HAHAHAHAAH

Compared to the previous few years, Universal has definitely been 'quiet' this year.

Disney's been about the same.

Any suprise here? Credit cards are maxed out, and so are Klarna and Affirm. People are broke. Buy Now, Pay Lat or Never is what is happening.

Also, the fact that FL is miserably hot and humid in the summer is a secret that's no longer a secret.

MY BIL and SIL moved to South Carolina in Jan 2026

Now they just came back for a visit and told me about the Heat that never relents - The spike in electric bill if they use the electricity during 3 to 6 PM...
Can't use the 501 highway - it is always jammed up.

But at least the Home was cheap

And the South will rise again?

Brian, you are the Last Rebel.

Well, the temperatures and humidity have risen... LOL.

Not sure how the summer climate plays into a report covering April, May and June ... but, whatever.

It seems reasonable to assume that this regrettable performance is one of the reasons Comcast is bailing on the themed entertainment business.

Robert Niles recently reported (06/29/26): "In addition, the company said that it expects to retain a stake of up to 19.9% ownership position in NBC/Universal for up to one year after the completion of the spin ..."

Faced with these kind of numbers I suspect we can exchange the words "up to" with the words "less than".

As a local the price of parking is major inhibitor for me visiting UO. At least with Disney and Sea World if you buy the cheapest versions of the annual pass they include parking, so for Disney you can pay like $500 a person and go unlimited times including parking (blocked out weekends), United Parks you can pay $270 a person (if you buy at BG, its $300 if you buy at SW), and that is good for all Florida United Parks including parking.

The cheapest annual pass that includes parking at UO is $635 and the $475 tier only gives you half off parking. Looking at it this way UO is a total ripoff compared to other parks. Also while IOA is a great park, USF is lackluster and the pass doesn't include Epic at all.

They are currently offering a Florida Resident ticket that is $200 for unlimited visits for the rest of the year, but that is bunk because it doesn't include parking.

Because of the outrageous parking cost last time I went to UO (winter 2023) I actually parked at Disney Springs and took the Lynx bus, which was fine, but doesn't change the fact that I still had to drive and park somewhere because its not possible to take public transit from my neighborhood. I realize approximately 100% of families would never do this.

EDIT: Before I get corrected I just realized United's cheapest AP doesn't include parking. But the one that does is so much cheaper than Universal that the point still stands.

I believe Mr. Cavanaugh when he says, "In Orlando, Epic Universe continues to perform well, and is delivering the strong guest response we expected."

What was probably unexpected was the cannibal effect that the new park's success had on the older ghost towns ... er ... I mean, parks.

The Kompany formerly known as Kabletown could have had an unbeatable One Two punch in Central Florida if it filled in the holes in the original parks with the world class attractions near the convention center. Even Dreamworks land could have benefited from some of the Frisco kiddie rides. I get wanting to go head to head with the Mouse, but there is a benefit to having a 3-5 day theme park resort in a weak economy.

Actually the_man26, the $630 UO preferred pass is non resident price, Resident price that has free parking is $530, $424 for renewals.

"What was probably unexpected was the cannibal effect that the new park's success had on the older ghost towns ... er ... I mean, parks."

Do you really think cannibalization was unexpected? Universal's own actions would suggest that they created strategies to limit such cannibalization by preventing guests from initially buying tickets to Epic without also purchasing tickets to the legacy parks and preventing UOAPs from including Epic on the APs and forcing them to purchase single day tickets to the new park. I think it was crystal clear that cannibalization was top of mind, and is occurring now because Universal has started to roll back some of those mitigations. I know TH has been barking up this tree since Epic was announced before the Pandemic, but I strongly believe that Universal had planned to improve the legacy parks in advance of the opening of Epic, but the Pandemic changed everything, and likely forced Universal to shift those resources to finish Epic before costs to finish the new park spiraled completely out of control. Because of that, the attractions that likely would have been opened in 2025 and 2026 are coming 2-3 years later and "small ball" additions (like VillainCon and Dreamworks Land) were left to carry the load during a period where USF and IOA were now being measured against a brand new theme park.

While these results aren't terrible, Universal is clearly trying to soften the blow of disappointing results to come, that will likely be felt across the entire theme park industry.

the_man26, what are the current parking prices at WDW, Universal and SeaWorld please as I am vising in November and want a flavour of how many grandkids I need to put on ebay?

@BrianEmery I moved from SoCal to the South, and your In Laws have no right to ever complain about the cost of electricity. We run our AC at 68 twenty four seven in a three bedroom condo and we are still paying less for electricity here than we were for a one bedroom beach bungalow that had no AC in CA.

@Zarex As for Universal, IOA is the best park they have, and a great full day experience with a well rounded roster of attractions, but EPIC is shiny and new at the moment. The original park needs help badly. I agree that in a perfect world they should have just added what became EPIC to the other parks. London would have been a perfect home for the Ministry of Magic. That said, they need to start plussing their older parks ASAP, especially the studios park.

@AngryDuck - SO you are telling me to tell them to stop complaining about their energy bill going up 75% if they use their electricity from 3 to 6 PM?

Sorry Ducky but that was not in the brochure when their were house hunting.
Wonder why?

It was truly sticker shock to them. The South is getting too damn hot and oppressive.

And you live in South Carolina? Probably not.

In Southern Cal you can simply open the window - In Florida you can't - you will melt. It's the humidity...

Anyway I gave them some advice like getting a propane tank for cooking and Hot water or adding Solar Panels... They are against Solar Panels for some reason..

I am in South Carolina. Not sure what awful energy company your inlaws have, but we have no such limits where I'm at. EDIT: Google searching, apparently some power plans in SC you can elect to be in a program where they charge you more during that period, or if you're in an energy co-op you might have to deal with that. I have no idea what an energy co-op is, or why anyone would sign up for a plan that charges you more during the hottest time of the day. Good luck to your inlaws.

Russell: “Do you really think cannibalization was unexpected? Universal's own actions would suggest that they created strategies to limit such cannibalization …”

Me: Fair point. Cannibalization was probably a real concern. Maybe Comcast just didn’t care.

Russell: “… but I strongly believe that Universal had planned to improve the legacy parks in advance of the opening of Epic, but the Pandemic changed everything, and likely forced Universal to shift those resources to finish Epic before costs to finish the new park spiraled completely out of control.”

Me: This is what is so maddening about some of Russell’s posted commentary is how it advances his “beliefs” and theories. In the sentence above the scenario he paints includes terms like “strongly believe” and “likely”. But no evidence. No credible insider commentary. Just Russell’s gut feelings. And If Comcast wanted to shift resources away from USF because there was a dire need for funding Epic, why did they have no problem finding money to build a park in Frisco, Texas? Or a haunted house in Vegas? Or another haunted house in Chicago? Or a new Universal park in the UK? And Russell, don’t even try to claim that you had accounted for those expenditures when you were concocting Epic/resource/shift theory – the theory that you “strongly believe” in.

Russell: “Because of that, the attractions that likely would have been opened (at USF) in 2025 and 2026 are coming 2-3 years later …”

Me: What attractions? Where is the credible information indicating any major attraction was in the works for USF -- pre-pandemic and post-Epic? Your own words from just eleven days ago (07/13/26): “Over at USF, Universal has been sitting on a theater that hasn't been regularly used in years and an entire land based on an IP they're about to lose the rights to in 2 years and have done NOTHING to address - instead they're replacing a coaster with a new coaster themed to an IP that has yet to have a successful theme park attraction …”

For the record, in the part of the post that reads, “and have done NOTHING”, Russell was the one who presented the word “NOTHING” in all caps.

Thanks Duck - why so angry? HAHAHAH

They moved to Conway in a new construction area

If I recall it is on Grey Owl road....

I'm not sure how you want me to respond TH. I don't work for Universal (or Disney), so my comments are going to be based on conjecture and a general reading of the tea leaves. I can see your point in regards to Universal's willingness to commit resources to new properties around the world while simultaneously ignoring/deferring improvements to existing parks to prevent cannibalization. I'm merely providing hypotheses that could explain why Universal made the decisions they did based on the conditions at the time. It was well known that Universal initially planned to open Epic sometime in 2023, and COVID played a major role in delaying that opening to May 2025. Not only was the opening delayed, increases in labor and materials over the 2 years of delay as well as the significant amount of demurrage that occurred during the worldwide economic slowdown of 2020/2021 almost certainly forced Universal to spend more on the project than initially anticipated. Only the accountants and financial sleuths can ferret what that number really is, but I've seen estimates of between $1-2 BILLION more than initially projected, bringing the total investment to $7 billion. That money didn't just fall from the sky, so in the wake of significantly reduced revenue and increased labor costs, Universal had to have reallocated resources from other projects in the pipeline or deferred capital investments to finish what they started. Again, only someone inside Universal can say what projects were axed or deferred to make sure Epic was finished on a reasonable timeline and budget, but I think it's safe to assume that at least one of the projects currently in development was deferred (F&FHD or the Lost Continent replacement) and/or one of the projects that opened in the past 2-3 years was significantly curtailed or reworked to deliver a cost savings (VillainCon or Dreamworks).

Now, when looking at the company's decision to expand with the Vegas and Frisco (and soom Chicago) properties while at the same time deferring/trimming legacy park projects, I think the answer to that is simple. The ROI on an investment into an existing property is not going to be the same (or even calculated the same) than opening a new location. It's like a restaurant choosing to add an item to the menu versus opening a new restaurant. Universal chose to invest in new properties (including Epic and UK) because they see a greater ROI from those investments than incrementally adding to their existing properties. Perhaps they've miscalculated how much Epic would cannibalize IOA and USF, but the story they've been telling in earnings calls over the past 4 quarters is that these new properties are delivering value on those investments. These expansions do not come without risk, and I think we're seeing some of that with the lukewarm reception for Universal Kids, and while improvements to the legacy parks carry less risk, the ROI isn't always there, especially in a market where destination parks have yet to recover to pre-Pandemic attendance numbers.

Finally, I've been clear and consistent in my criticism of Universal's indifference with their idle theaters at IOA and USF. It looks like they're finally moving forward with a replacement for Sinbad, but the Comic Strip and Fear Factor theaters are nearly boundless potential waiting to happen. I would not be surprised if UC has filing cabinets (does anyone use these anymore) of plans to revamp these areas, just as WDI has oodles of plans and ideas to revamp and expand every one of their stale park attractions/areas. It's all a matter of timing, desire, and the right combination of circumstances to move those projects forward. As a comparison, Disney has similar issues with un-underutilized areas/attractions (Hyperion Theater, Fantasyland Theater until Bluey showed up, Odyssey, Imagination Pavilion, Theater of the Stars, and on and on), so it's not just Universal that has allowed areas of their parks to sit idle while simultaneously plowing billions into other ventures - the Disney Adventure debuted in March 2026, which reportedly cost $1.8 billion yet Wonders of Life is still idle in EPCOT. So if we're going to criticize Universal for building new properties in England, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Frisco while letting existing in-park areas to sit un/under-utilized, that same criticism should be aimed at Disney.

Russell: "So if we're going to criticize Universal for building new properties in England, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Frisco while letting existing in-park areas to sit un/under-utilized, that same criticism should be aimed at Disney."

Me: First, criticizing Disney is not a prerequisite for criticizing Universal. Second, speaking for myself, I didn't go after NBC/Universal's former owner Comcast for building either their disappointing park in Texas, the UK project, nor their half-a-week park in Vegas -- which apparently only opens Thursday thru Sunday and closes at 1030 PM ... that's 1030 PM in Las Vegas (!!!). I commented on it because you had (ahem) a strong belief that Comcast probably had big plans for USF (still an unsubstantiated assumption) but had to amend those plans due to the pandemic and elected to move resources around to address inflated Epic Universe construction costs.

So I don't know who this "we" is supposed to be ("if we're going to criticize") as it relates to commentary on the parks Comcast formerly owned in Orlando.

Russell: "These expansions do not come with risk ..."

Me: I think you meant to write "These expansions do not come WITHOUT risk..."

"Me: I think you meant to write "These expansions do not come WITHOUT risk...""

Yes, that was a type-o on my part - fixed.

"Me: First, criticizing Disney is not a prerequisite for criticizing Universal."

It may not be a prerequisite, but is often needed to provide perspective and comparison between what are currently the two most successful theme park operators in the world. I don't think you can provide an analysis of one company's work without at least mentioning the other company. Frankly, I don't think it's fair to critique either company's work without balancing that analysis from the other (or another theme park operator's work if there's a better comparison).

I do feel that TH has been on a mission lately over the past few months to constantly bring up issues at Universal parks without balancing those critiques with issues at its competitors, which are completely valid concerns and bring perspectives to any discourse.

I think it's interesting that so many people are saying they think it's because of the heat. I just went to Dollywood and the real feel was over 100°. I went to Cedar Point and the actual temperature was 98°. In both instances these were hotter than Florida. Somehow we forget every summer That July gets hot pretty much everywhere. It's been cooler in Florida than it has been in Europe. I think if anything the World cup probably negatively affected the FL theme parks this year more than anything. Because we always get a lot of travelers from the UK and a lot of them choose to follow Scotland or England around the country for FIFA rather than go to a theme park this year. Also if operation costs are up to 5%, but profits are down 5% doesn't that mean that attendance is pretty close to stagnant, not really down that much. Especially since they didn't raise prices this year (which I'm definitely not complaining about). Another thing a lot of people are blaming is fuel prices, flight cost, etc. But other places such as the Ozarks and Gatlinburg seem to be up in tourism from what I've read and experienced, even though they have the same natural problems.
I really think another huge factor here is that right now Islands of Adventure is about half under construction, they tore down their only high thrill roller coaster at USF, they have delayed Fast and Furious in Hollywood by several months. The concert lineup for Mardi gras this year was also weak compared to the last few years. I live in Orlando so these things don't bother me as much as someone planning a multiple thousands of dollars trip. Meanwhile at Disney there really haven't been any new attractions that opened in the last year. And epic universe is prohibitively expensive to add to your Universal ticket as a local. I think all of these factors combined are why the FL parks are doing slightly more poorly this year.