Universal Orlando Resort’s parent company Comcast released their most recent quarterly financial results earlier this week, and while the theme parks may not be the entire focus of their report, Comcast’s press release did contain some interesting information for fans of the Universal theme parks around the world. From some positive revenue news to an early confirmation of the opening target for Universal’s Epic Universe, here’s everything we learned about the present (and future!) for Universal parks from parent company Comcast’s financial results:
Attendance and revenue are up at Universal parks around the world 
According to the official press release (which you can read in full at the link above), Comcast’s parks and resorts division saw a pretty decent bump when compared with last year during the most recent financial period, with revenue increasing 6.8% to $1.6 billion in the third quarter of 2019. This is largely due to higher per guest spending and higher attendance at Universal’s global theme parks. For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, revenue from the Theme Parks segment increased 4.8% to $4.4 billion compared to 2018, again due to increases in attendance.
However, though it looks like the money is still coming in from Universal’s theme parks, one thing that was not disclosed in the financial report was any information about specific park attendance so far this year. While it is pretty common for these financial reports to omit specific, hard figures about how many guests are entering Universal theme parks during a given period, they do often include at least some general statistics about attendance changes between the fiscal periods and year-over-year when it comes to specific resorts (disclosures about big gains at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood have been touted in previous releases).
And though Comcast’s earnings do not include any such information, with revenue up by a pretty decent percentages and attendance confirmed to be up across Universal’s parks overall, it seems like the current state of Universal theme parks is very healthy.
Universal’s Epic Universe confirmed to be targeting 2023 opening
Image: Universal
Though it was not confirmed in the release, during an earnings call following the release of the financial results, a Comcast executive let the opening date for Universal’s Epic Universe slip, saying: “We recently announced we are doing a fourth gate in Orlando in 2023. We think the theme park business is a great business for us.
Though the executive probably mis-spoke when he mentioned Universal’s Epic Universe being a “fourth gate” (it will of course be the third gate behind Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure), the 2023 opening date lines up with previous rumors about the opening of this new part of Universal Orlando Resort.
Image: Universal
“[This] new park represents the single-largest investment Comcast NBCUniversal has made in its theme park business and in Florida overall,” said Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation in a previous statement. “It reflects the tremendous excitement we have for the future of our theme park business and for our entire company’s future in Florida.”
Universal’s Epic Universe will be located on a 750-acre site south of Sand Lake Road and east of Universal Boulevard. The new park will be part of a larger complex, complete with entertainment district, restaurants, hotels and shops (similar to the existing CityWalk area).With this new addition, Universal Orlando Resort will double its current size,even though the location is several miles away from the current Universal Orlando Resort theme park complex.
While we don’t know exactly what is going on with attendance at Universal Orlando Resort so far this year, it looks like these theme parks are still making plenty of money for parent company Comcast, and the project to bring a new theme park to the resort in less than five years is making progress! Are you excited to see what’s next for Universal?
