The Comcast quarterly conference call showed that Universal Parks are still showing strong growth. So much so that the theme parks revenue are helping to offset the drop in Universals film division. With new attractions and hotels opening almost every year, and more on the way, it’s not really that surprising.
Theme park revenue is up around 4% over the second quarter in 2017, which makes it around 9% for the first half of the year.
But what about future growth? Universal Orlando, along with all of the other parks in the company all have plans yo add new attractions, but Universal seems to be pushing those plans into high gear. Universal has been buying property in the area, with the largest being over 400 acres.
In June, parents were filed for a number of names including “Epic Universal” and “Fantastic Worlds”. Could these be the names of the new gate? And what can we expect to see from the theme park giant?
Today we got a little bit of an answer during the 2nd quarter conference call.
“In terms of a new gate in Florida, we are looking at it. We filed basically a name registration. We have a lot of great IP, we love the theme park business, it’s one of our best most consistent businesses and we think we have a very long runway, and that another gate in Florida would have the advantage of turning Florida from a 2-3 day destination to a week long destination, we think that would be attractive.” said an exec during the Q&A session.
It was also added the construction in Beijing was going vertical and that there are now slowdowns despite the ongoing trade situations. The theme park side of Comcast is very strong, and right now shows no signs of slowing.
While the names weren’t specifically addressed, it shows that Universal is definitely in the planning stages of the next park. It’s also going to be a gate that will significantly add to the lineup, with 3-4 days of attractions and activities, in order to make a full week to keep guests from drifting to other parks.
While no specific concept has been revealed, speculation, rumors and sources indicate that it will be a park built around the huge IP’s that Universal has been buying, developing and partnering with. Everything from Lord of the Rings, Jurassic World, Nintendo and Dreamworks have been rumored, but honestly with everything happening, it’s way too early to tell what the focus of the new park will be.
The other big question is when. When will wee see an announcement, development or anything from a new park? If we had to guess, I’d say to look towards a Galaxy far, far, away. It seems that Universal will be watching to see just how immersive Galaxy’s Edge at Disney will be to make an announcement. The one thing that’s certain is that Universal is poised to take on Disney his n ten coming years with a massive new park that should rival Magic Kingdom. Will it be enough to dethrone the mouse? We’ll have to wait and see.
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