Epic Universe Demand High Ahead Of May Opening, Comcast Says, As Domestic Theme Park Attendance To Rally By Next Summer

Theme parks – both Universal and Disney — have seen a succession of softer quarters following a post-Covid surge but NBCUniversal parent Comcast sees that turning around by next summer.

Lower attendance at domestic parks followed “a pull-forward of demand in 2022 and 2023, which were record years for the theme parks, as well as the new attraction pipeline, which is light this year” but set to jump by the second quarter of 2025. That’s “when we begin to lap this year, and Epic Universe opens,” said Comcast President Mike Cavanagh on a call with analysts after reporting its latest financials.

The park will rack about $150 million in pre-opening costs split between the current fourth quarter and the first.

“We are seeing great demand in early days since we announced opening day,” he said. The media giant is putting together a marketing effort across its properties to increase awareness.

The company’s anticipated fourth Orlando park, online May 22, will have five new worlds and a massive hotel with Comcast looking to create a week-long destination just for Universal parks. It will be priced at a premium.

As traditional linear media falters (Comcast is now looking at a spinoff of its cable networks) and streaming is still on the hunt for significant profits, theme parks instead boomed post pandemic with floods of guests and became a focus for Wall Street.

Investors had become a bit apprehensive at softer attendance this year from the two biggest players. The idea is that a dip this year was against unrealistically high comparisons and will now stabilize.