United Parks & Resorts hosted its Q2 earnings call on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, which covers April, May, and June of 2026. With attendance continuing to decline, United Parks & Resorts is looking to Howl-O-Scream and new intellectual property partnerships as increasingly important sources of growth. The company says advance ticket sales for this year’s Halloween events are running ahead of 2025 across its parks, while additional IP partnerships are already being discussed for 2027 and beyond.
The parent company of SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and other theme parks reported attendance of 6.1 million guests during the second quarter of 2026, a 2.9% decline compared with the same period in 2025. Revenue decreased 1.4% to $483.3 million, while net income fell 21% to $63.3 million.
Howl-O-Scream to the rescue
As the company works to reverse those declines, its expanding use of licensed properties at Howl-O-Scream is already showing encouraging early results. Advance ticket sales for the 2026 Howl-O-Scream events are running ahead of last year across United Parks’ properties, CEO Marc Swanson said during the company’s Aug. 4 earnings call.
“This year, we have partnered with Sony Pictures to introduce popular horror films ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ and ‘Anaconda’ to our Halloween lineup at our SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks, respectively,” Swanson said in the company’s earnings release.
Howl-O-Scream graphic.
Courtesy of SeaWorld
The partnership represents the first significant use of movie franchises across the company’s Howl-O-Scream events. SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Diego and SeaWorld San Antonio will introduce haunted houses based on “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” while the Busch Gardens parks in Tampa Bay and Williamsburg will feature different “Anaconda” houses.
Swanson described the addition of IP as something United Parks has done very little of historically but now views as a “significant opportunity” for the business.