Shortly after the park was introduced, it was clear that when Epic Universe opened, it was going to vary the sport within the theme park business. What was much less clear was simply how the dynamics would change. I imply, would this elevated competitors be an issue for Walt Disney World? Was Disney doing sufficient to compete? Simply how massive would Epic Universe be? We’re beginning to get some solutions to those questions, and it’s largely excellent news for everyone, particularly so far as tourism is concerned.
Epic Universe Helped Convey In Document Tourism Taxes To Central Florida
In Might 2025, tourism taxes in Orange County Florida (the place each Common Orlando Resort and Walt Disney World are positioned) had been the very best they’d ever been for that exact month of the 12 months. That additionally simply occurred to be the identical month that Epic Universe opened. Now, the Orlando Sentinel reviews that the tourism tax numbers for June are in, and so they got here to $33.7 million. That is additionally a file for the month of June.
After all, the one main distinction between the Might-June interval in 2024 and 2025 is the existence of Epic Universe. So the brand new park is being given the credit score for the file numbers. Mix this with the truth that Common’s father or mother firm, Comcast, reported a virtually 20% enhance in theme park income in comparison with final quarter, and it appears to be like like Epic Universe is off to an unimaginable begin.
Disney Experiences Had A Document Quarter Regardless of Epic Universe Competitors
One may assume that success at Common Orlando Resort should come on the expense of Disney Parks, however nothing might farther from the reality. Many have been targeted on the success of Epic Universe, however some massive information got here throughout Disney’s final quarterly earnings name. It was at the moment that the Home of Mouse introduced that the Disney Experiences division, which incorporates the theme parks and Disney Cruise Line, had a file quarter. Extra particularly, the division posted income that was up 10% to $6.4 billion.
Whereas that income might have come any variety of locations, it was particularly the home parks — Disneyland and Walt Disney World — that drove that progress, with each attendance and per capita spending growing.
There’s been a number of speak in regard to the notion that Walt Disney World would undergo financially attributable to EU’s opening. Such an concept comes from the idea that vacationers who may need in any other case have visited Disney would as a substitute select Common so as to expertise Epic for the time. Nonetheless, historical past exhibits that’s not often the way it works. Truly, new points of interest steadily draw followers to each resorts.
Epic could have drawn extra vacationers to Florida, and people vacationer tax numbers definitely point out that it did precisely that. However, as soon as these vacationers acquired to Orlando, lots of them apparently determined to go to each Disney and Common.
Evidently, Epic Universe is clearly a success, and vacationers are flocking to it. (Look no additional than Monsters Unchained’s current milestone as proof of that.) All in all, it is vital to acknowledge that that is nice information for Common, however it’s not the one company that is benefitting.