Epic Universe and the state of Universal theme parks, according to Comcast executives
Epic Universe ticket sales and public reaction is going better than anticipated, according to Universal executives.
Michael J. Cavanagh, president of Comcast Corporation (the parent company of Universal Destinations & Experiences), shared updates on Epic Universe and other in-progress projects — such as Universal Horror Unleashed, Universal Kids Resort, and the upcoming Universal park in the U.K. — during a quarterly earnings call with investors and business analysts on April 24, 2025.
“We’ve seen strong demand since launching Epic [Universe] ticket sales in the fourth quarter of 2024,” Cavanagh said, “and the most recent reaction to early previews has been nothing short of phenomenal, with thousands of media stories, social posts, and fan reviews characterizing Epic [Universe] as having groundbreaking creativity and taking immersive entertainment to a whole new level.”
Cavanagh later reiterated, “Ticket sales and advanced plans are a little ahead of our expectations.”
Elsewhere in the call, Cavanagh described Universal as “one of two players
in a market that is, within media, not at all exposed to the shift in time on screens from one venue to another.” He didn’t specifically refer to any competitor by name as the other “player.”
During a Q&A portion of the call, one caller asked if Universal had noticed any decline in parks business due to “un-American sentiments” from international travelers.
“While I see the same headlines you’re seeing about airlines and the like,” Cavanagh replied to the caller, “some of that might be outside the window of our booking windows, but what we’re seeing continues to be tracking well.”
The full quotes from Cavanagh relating to the above topics are transcribed below.
Overall check-in on Epic Universe + other Universal parks projects
Cavanagh:
We are just four weeks away from the May 22 grand opening of Epic Universe, our most ambitious and technologically advanced theme park to date with iconic IP from “Harry Potter,” DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon,” horror with Dark Universe, and Super Nintendo World.
Epic Universe doubles the size of our parks’ footprint in Orlando, transforming our collection of resorts into a weeklong vacation destination.
We’ve seen strong demand since launching Epic ticket sales in the fourth quarter of 2024, and the most recent reaction to early previews has been nothing short of phenomenal, with thousands of media stories, social posts, and fan reviews characterizing Epic as having groundbreaking creativity and taking immersive entertainment to a whole new level.
Beyond Epic, we’re continuing to grow our parks business across the United States, starting with Universal Horror Unleashed, our first permanent, year-round horror entertainment experience, opening in Las Vegas this August.
In 2026, we’ll debut our first-ever Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, Texas.
Earlier this month, we announced plans to build our first-ever Universal theme park and resort in Europe, with construction starting in 2026 and grand opening scheduled for 2031. This park and resort will be located in Bedford, England, right outside London.
The United Kingdom is an incredibly attractive market, with its large population, a strong tourism industry, favorable transportation infrastructure, and close proximity to the rest of Europe, especially considering the announced expansion plans at nearby Heathrow airport. All these factors make this location an ideal one for Universal theme park and resort expansion into the European market.
Universal’s long-term strategy for parks
Caller:
Can you talk about how you’re thinking about theme parks with long-term … as you expand into new markets?
Cavanagh:
We feel very strongly that the returns that we’re getting, given our position and strength in the parks business as we know it today, gives us the right and the opportunity to deploy capital in smaller opportunities, which are the Horror experience that will open in Vegas this year and the kids’ park in Frisco, Texas next year.
We looked around the world. We’re always looking for ways to put capital to work in our growth businesses and the U.K. opportunity came along. We feel quite good about the prospects there.
To answer the broad question, which is, “What is our plan for the parks business?”: The plan is to keep driving growth in a business that we think we’re one of two players in a market that is, within media, not at all exposed to the shift in time on screens from one venue to another.
Live experiences, parks experiences have been thrilling to people and we think we lean into that and continue to do so.
Concern of international travel
Caller:
We’ve seen very significant drops in international travel to the United States and some anti-American sentiment, even, affecting travel patterns. I’m wondering if you can share what you’re seeing with respect to theme parks and how you think that might impact the 2025 results, even with Epic.
Cavanagh:
Our first quarter results continue to be stable in Florida. We had pre-opening expenses for Epic Universe, but excluding that, underlying trends stable in Orlando. What we’re seeing for advance bookings for both ticket sales and hotel bookings are strong for the overall parks and for Epic.
While I see the same headlines you’re seeing about airlines and the like, some of that might be outside the window of our booking windows, but what we’re seeing continues to be tracking well.
To your point, some of that is definitely related to the excitement about Epic, without a doubt, for which reviews and pre-opening buzz is very strong and, again, ticket sales and advanced plans are a little ahead of our expectations. Right now, what we see is continued steadiness for our backdrop of parks.
Our domestic parks do draw a lot of folks from the U.S., and a lot of folks from markets in the south and, in the case of Florida, that are not necessarily hopping on planes to get there. So there may be a delayed effect between what the airlines are starting to report on and what we see. But like I said, no real sign of that in our business as we sit here now.
In L.A., it’s all about getting L.A. back to having the tourism industry broadly recovered after the wildfires. I think the whole market is continuing to see people staying away a little bit more than I think the leadership in L.A. broadly, or us as a parks owner in that market, would like it to be.
That’s domestic parks. International trends for Japan and Beijing [are] stable, as well.
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