The entrance portal to the epic universe topic in Orlando, Florida, USA, on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
Thomas Simonetti | Bloomberg | Getty pictures
Orlando, Florida – With the opening of the epic universe on Thursday, Comcast Positions the Orlando Resort as the goal, not as a pit stop.
The resort of Universal, based in Florida in Florida, has been playing the second violin towards the rival for years Disney. While three themed parks – Universal Studios Florida, Universal Islands of Adventure and Water Park Volcano Bay – and a handful of hotels, it was not considered the goal.
“This fourth gate is changing everything,” said Karen Irwin, President of the Universal Orlando Resort. “It not only cemented us as more than a full week of destination, but also adds three hotels to the resort.”
The epic universe opens up in a time of economic uncertainty in the United States, since President Donald Trump initiated a wide range of constantly changing tariffs that have found fears about a global trade war, sent the stock exchange on their own scooter coaster ride and divided the American economy into a recession.
The United States has already seen a slump in the flight, especially from international travelers. While these guests are a small sub -group of total visitors in central florida, they often spend a longer period of time in hotels and visit theme parks and spend more money on food and goods.
“If there is an uncertainty of consumers, the parks tend to feel it,” said Jason Armstrong, Chief Financial Officer at ComCast, during a Moffettnathanson conference last week. “They tend to use very quickly, but they feel about it.”
Guests drive Stardust Racers, a new dueling eighth Coaster Ride in Celestial Park during a preview day for the Universal Epic Universe on April 5, 2025. Orlando, Florida's first new theme park in a generation, will be open to the public on May 22nd.
Patrick Connolly | Orlando Sentinel | Getty pictures
“In parks, whether it is the current attendance trends or bookings – the bookings are not a perfect window, but they are the window that they have – there is nothing that is shown in the previous trends of the bookings,” he added. “That is true in Orlando. It is internationally true.”
Those who are the most budget -conscious may have already priced out of the theme parking market, said Craig Moffett, co -founder and senior analyst at Moffettnathanson, to CNBC.
“There was a time when visiting a theme park was a mass market vacation,” he said. “It is probably too expensive than that this is more the case. The tickets alone can lead a family a thousand dollars or more for a multi -day visit, and that is before hotels and meals. Maybe we don't see as much economic sensitivity as we might have expected.”
Despite this economic headwind, the epic universe is expected to achieve millions of visitors, increase income from the themed park for universal and Disney on the highway and bring billions from dollars to the local economy.
It is also the beginning of a new era of developing the theme park for universal.
Creation of an epic universe
Comcast lasted almost a decade to bring the epic universe to life. This 750 hectare development is the first new theme park to open in Orlando for 25 years, from the purchase of the country that had sold the former administration, to delays with covid-related building delays.
The first Epic Universe announced in 2019 is the largest individual investment that Comcast has ever made in his theme park and Florida as a whole, said CEO Brian Roberts at that time. It is rumored that this number is around 7 billion US dollars, although the exact amount is unclear.
The park has five themed worlds: The Wizard World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How To Training Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, Celestial Park and Dark Universe.
The investment from Comcast in the Epic Universe is part of another push of expanding its theme park and experiencing business. The company has already planned to open a year-round Hollywood horror night in Las Vegas, a child-friendly park in Frisco, Texas, in 2026, and a park in Great Britain 2031.
“Comcast leans into the theme parking segment for a simple reason: it works,” said Moffett. “The growth is good and the investment returns are attractive and the theme parks pay all kinds of strategic dividends by deepening customers' relationships with their favorite university figures.”
While themed parks are a smaller revenue driver than the media department of ComCast, the department is profitable and has considerable growth potential. In 2024, theme parks made up a little less than 20% of the total turnover of ComCast, but about 44% of his adjusted profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
For comparison: Disney's experience department, which includes parks, made 37% of the company's sales in the 2024 financial year, smaller than the entertainment business, but made up almost 60% of the net income.
The investment and expansion of Universal's Theme Park will be made because Disney has undertaken to spend 60 billion US dollars for improvement, innovation and expansion of its pleasure locations over a decade. New developments, regardless of whether it is parks, countries or trips, healthy competition between companies arises in order to create convincing and innovative attractions that can attract guests.
How you train your Dragon Isle from Berk is a family-friendly Viking paradise full of immersive moments based on the Dreamworks animated film franchise. (Adrian Ruhi/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Adrian Ruhi | Miami Herald | Getty pictures
“This is the first new theme park in Orlando for a quarter of a century, and these 25 years have made breathtaking technological progress,” said Moffett. “For this reason alone, it's a big deal.”
The company has received 161 patents for its innovations in the epic universe, including new animated effects, driving designs and robotics. There are Trackless Ride systems, augmented reality and high-resolution projections in the new park. Overall, the department considers 3,300 patents worldwide.
Great innovations are in trips such as Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein experiment in the Dark Universe and Harry Potter portal and the Battle of the Ministry of the Latest Country of the Magicians, which transports the guests of Paris of the 1920s to the British magic of the British 1990s.
It can also be seen in new entertainment shows such as “The Untrainable Dragon” with The How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk Portal, where an animatronian toothless floats with a wingspan of almost 27 feet over the audience.
Only the beginning
A statue of Luna, the Roman goddess of the moon, with a view to the Celestial Park area on Saturday, April 5, 2025, in the theme park of the epic universe in Orlando, Florida, USA.
Thomas Simonetti | Bloomberg | Getty pictures
“This is a really important opportunity for us and only an important milestone in this continuum of our development,” said Mark Woodbury, CEO of universal destinations and experiences. “The future is great. … There is a lot of space for expansion. We are already thinking about how this affects. New attractions come, new intellectual property, all part of our philosophy to expand our business by expanding our existing footprint.”
Woodbury noticed that there was plenty of space on the epic universe campus to bring other worlds into the wrinkle.
The company has to open up many intellectual real estate, including existing themed park brands such as Jurassic Park and Minions as well as unused franchise companies such as “Wicked”.
Where universal managers also see strength, is with its partner brands. In its domestic and international themed parks, the company and attractions based on intellectual property of other studios such as Harry Potter, Nintendo and Transformers have created.
“There is no creator out there who would not like to see that your IP will be delivered in a way into the world as you can see in these parks,” said Mike Cavanagh, President of Comcast. “It actually improves the IP for the further use of the creator.”
The Darkmoor Village in the Dark Universe in the area of the epic universe in Orlando, Florida, USA, on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
Thomas Simonetti | Bloomberg | Getty pictures
The expansion of the themed park of Universal also expands its attractiveness for more old -age segments with the training of their dragon and super nintendo worlds.
“In the past, Disney really had that under ten years of segment more or less,” said Moffett. “Universal for Tweens. The new Epic Universum Park brings all the worlds to life for younger children.”
More parks, more goods, more food options and more guests to open up more options for universal to achieve revenue, not only in Florida, but worldwide. The company has selected a franchise -sip that is not only loved, but is also evergreen, said Comcast executives. It has also updated characters and stories, like its classic monsters, for modernity.
“We have opened soft for a while, and that gives them a lens in what people will do in the parks,” said Armstrong. “And the exit surveys were great. The reviews of it were great.”
Disclosure: ComCast is the parent company of NBCUNIERSAL and CNBC.
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