The epic universe opens as Universal is leaning in the parks, takes Disney

Orlando, Florida – with the opening of the epic universe Thursday, Comcast Position its universal studios Orlando Resort as a destination, not a stop.

For years, the seaside resort based in Universal in Florida played the second violin for rival Disney. Although it boasts of three themed parks – Universal Studios Florida, Universal Islands of Adventure and Water Park Volcano Bay – and a handful of hotels, it was not considered a destination.

“This fourth door changes everything,” said Karen Irwin, president of Universal Orlando Resort. “It cements not only as more than a full holiday vacation, but it also adds three hotels to the station.”

The epic universe opens at a moment of economic uncertainty in the United States, because President Donald Trump has instituted a wide range of rates in constant evolution which have delighted fears concerning a world trade war, sent the stock market on its own roller coaster and threatened to denigrate the American economy in a recession.

The United States has already seen a collapse of plane trips, especially international travelers. Although these guests are a small subset of visitors in the center of Florida, they often spend more time staying in hotels and visiting themed parks and spending more money for food and goods.

“When there is the uncertainty of consumers, parks tend to feel it,” said Jason Armstrong, COMCAST financial director, at a Moffettnatnathanson conference last week. “They tend to come back very quickly, but they tend to feel this.”

“On the parks, whether it is current attendance trends or reservations – which, reservations are not a perfect window, but it is the window that you have – there is nothing that appears in the reservations of the reservations so far which would indicate pressure,” he added. “It's true in Orlando. It's true internationally.”

Those who are the most concerned about the budget may have already been assessed on the themed parks market, CNBC, Cragoson, co-founder and principal analyst at Moffettnathanson told CNBC.

“There was a time when visiting a theme park was a general public vacation,” he said. “It is undoubtedly too expensive that it is the case. Tickets alone can lead a family thousand dollars or more for a visit of several days, and it is before hotels and meals.

Despite these economic opposite winds, the epic universe should attract millions of visitors, strengthen the revenues of the theme park for universal, as well as Disney just at the bottom of the highway and bring billions of dollars to the local economy.

It is also the beginning of a new era of development of the theme park for Universal.

It took almost a decade to Comcast to give life to the epic universe. From the purchase of land, its previous administration had been sold, to the construction delays linked to COVVID, this development of 750 acres is the first new theme park to open in Orlando in 25 years.

Epic Universe, announced for the first time in 2019, represents the largest unique investment that Comcast has ever made in its themed parks and Florida as a whole, said CEO Brian Roberts at the time. This figure would be around $ 7 billion, although the exact amount is not clear.

The park includes five themed worlds: the sorcerer world of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, the Super Nintendo world, how to train your dragon – Berk Island, Park Celestial and Dark Univers.

Comcast's investment in Epic Universe is part of a wider push to develop its theme park and business. The company is already planning to open up experience on the theme of Hollywood Horror Nights all year round in Las Vegas later this year, a park adapted to children in Frisco, Texas, in 2026, and a Park based in the United Kingdom in 2031.

“Comcast looks at the theme park segment for a simple reason: it works,” said Moffett. “Growth is good and the feedback is attractive, and themed parks pay all kinds of strategic dividends by deepening customer relationships with their favorite universal characters.”

Although themed parks are a smaller income engine than the Comcast media division, the division is profitable and has significant growth potential. In 2024, themed parks represented a little less than 20% of the overall Comcast income, but approximately 44% of its profits adjusted before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

For comparison, the Disney experience division, which includes parks, represented 37% of the company's income during the year 2024, smaller than its entertainment activity, but represented almost 60% of its net income.

The investment and expansion of Universal's theme park came while Disney is committed to spending $ 60 billion over a decade to improve, innovate and extend its fun locations. New developments, whether parks, land or journeys, arouse healthy competition between companies to create more convincing and innovative attractions to attract to guests.

“This is the first new theme park in Orlando in a quarter of a century, and these 25 years have seen breathtaking technological advances,” said Moffett. “For this reason, this is a big problem.”

The company received 161 patents for its innovations in Epic Universe, in particular new animated effects, driving and robotics conceptions. Through the new park, there are driving systems without track, augmented reality and high resolution projections. In total, the Destinations and Universal Experience Division has 3,300 patents worldwide.

Major innovations can be seen in rides like Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment in the Dark Universe Portal and Harry Potter and the Battle of the Ministry of the most recent Wizarding World which transported guests from the 1920s to Paris to the British Ministry of the 1990s.

It is also obvious in new entertainment programs like “The Uncainable Dragon” with the How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, where an amazed animatronic, with an increase in almost 27 feet, hovers over the public.

“This is a really crucial opportunity for us, and just an important step in this continuum of our development,” said Mark Woodbury, CEO of universal destinations and experiences. “The future is super brilliant. … There is a lot of room for expansion. We are already thinking about the way it takes place. New attractions to come, a new intellectual property to come, all this is part of our philosophy to develop our business by expanding our existing footprint.”

Woodbury noted that there was a lot of space on the campus of the epic universe to bring other worlds into the fold.

Society has many intellectual properties to exploit, including existing theme park brands such as Jurassic Park and servants as well as unexploited franchises as “Wicked”.

Where universal leaders also see strength concerns its partner marks. In its national and international theme parks, society has brought to life and attractions based on the intellectual property of other studios like Harry Potter, Nintendo and Transformers.

“There is no creator who would not like to see their IP delivered to the world in a way as you see in these parks,” said Mike Cavanagh, president of Comcast. “It actually improves the IP for subsequent use of the creator.”

The extensions of the Universal theme park also widen its appeal to more age segments with the way of forming your Dragon and Super Nintendo worlds.

“In the past, Disney really or less had the segment under 10,” said Moffett. “Universal Souted to Tweens. The new epic universe park gives life to whole worlds for young children.”

More parks, more goods, more food options and more guests to contact more opportunities in Universal to generate income, not only in Florida, but in the world. The company has selected a franchise IP which is not only loved, but in Evergreen, said the leaders of Comcast. He also updated characters and stories, such as his classic monsters, in the modern era.

“We have opened soft for a while, and it gives you a lens in a kind of what people will do in the parks,” said Armstrong. “And the exit surveys were great. The reviews were great.”

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of Nbcuniversal and CNBC.