{"id":436000,"date":"2026-10-23T16:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T16:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/436000\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T16:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T16:20:08","slug":"universal-theme-park-revenue-drops-as-comcast-cites-disney-competition-epic-universe-capacity-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/436000\/","title":{"rendered":"Universal Theme Park Revenue Drops as Comcast Cites Disney Competition &#038; Epic Universe Capacity Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Universal theme parks had a soft summer, only making $2.6 billion in Q3 2026 \u2014\u00a0a 4.4% drop from last year. The company cited competition with Disney and capacity challenges at Epic Universe.<\/p>\n<p>Universal Theme Park Results<a data-fslightbox=\"1\" data-type=\"image\" aria-label=\"Open fullscreen lightbox with current image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Universal-Orlando-Resort-globe-featured-stock-1200x900-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Universal-Orlando-Resort-globe-featured-stock-1200x900-1.jpg\" alt=\"Universal Theme Park Revenue Drops as Comcast Cites Disney Competition &amp; Epic Universe Capacity Challenges\" class=\"wp-image-1449530\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The adjusted EBITDA dropped 17.1% to $780 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Theme park demand softened this summer, said Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong on their earnings call. Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said their rivals, including Disney, \u201cwere quicker to anticipate and recognize softness in demand\u201d and adjust accordingly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cavanagh also referenced \u201ccapacity challenges\u201d at Epic Universe, their newest theme park, which opened at Universal Orlando Resort in May 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Comcast and Universal \u201cremain confident in the long-term outlook,\u201d however.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our powerful IP, differentiated attractions, and world-class destinations position us well for long-term growth, while we continue to see near-term demand pressure across portions of the parks business, including in Orlando and certain international markets, we view these trends as temporary rather than structural, due to the confluence of a few factors. And payroll, in addition to the macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds we have referenced in the past.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We believe two other factors have contributed to this recent softness. First, we believe competitors were quicker to anticipate and recognize softness in demand and adapt their marketing strategies. Second, we continue to work through capacity challenges and ride throughput at Epic, given the complexities of opening the most technologically advanced theme park ever built, we are taking action to address both of these challenges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Q2 saw an increase in revenue but a <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/2026\/07\/universal-theme-park-revenue-increases-but-attendance-below-expectations-in-q2-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">decrease in attendance<\/a> at Universal theme parks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did you visit Universal Orlando this past summer? Let us know on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UniNewsToday\" target=\"_blank\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Twitter<\/a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversalParksNewsToday\" target=\"_blank\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Facebook<\/a>, and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uninewstoday\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Instagram<\/a>. For Disney Parks news, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/category\/parks-resorts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">WDWNT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Universal theme parks had a soft summer, only making $2.6 billion in Q3 2026 \u2014\u00a0a 4.4% drop from&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[52359,170749,170750,6113,139,141,140,3435,2749,54004,5656],"class_list":["post-436000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-comcast","tag-comcast-earnings","tag-comcast-earnings-report","tag-epic-universe","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-universal","tag-universal-orlando-resort","tag-universal-studios-hollywood","tag-universal-theme-parks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}