UniversalParksBlog News for November 6th, 2026
In this week’s UniversalParksBlog News, we wonder where all the crowds went.
Where Is Everybody?
Photo: Fox 35
The Themed Entertainment Association just released its annual report.
Each year, the Global Experience Index evaluates theme park attendance.
Photo: Universal
Compiling such a list takes a long time, which explains why we just got the 2025 report.
Let’s just say that Comcast officials aren’t happy about this one, but what else is new?
Photo: Comcast NBC Universal
As a reminder, Comcast has already washed its hands of NBCUniversal anyway.
The corporation will spin off NBCU soon, including Universal Studios.
Photo: NBC Universal
Part of the reason Comcast is doing this is to clean its books, but there’s more.
The reality is that theme parks looked like a better business two or three years ago.
OC Register
During the revenge travel era, Comcast loved its ownership of Universal Studios.
Since the Stardust Racers incident(s), Comcast has definitely started creating distance.
Universal
Universal’s recent performance isn’t helping anything, either.
As I mentioned last time, Comcast’s theme park EBITDA dipped 17 percent year over year.
Photo: Themed Entertainment Association
Now we’ve received another piece of the puzzle, and it’s worrisome, too.
According to the Global Experience Index, all three of Universal’s existing domestic theme parks suffered attendance declines last year.
Universal
Universal Studios Hollywood took it the worst, dropping eight percent.
I could defend what happened at Universal Orlando Resort, though, as it makes sense.
Universal Studios Florida fell 2.1 percent in calendar 2025, according to T.E.A. estimates.
I want to stress that Comcast will never confirm or deny this stuff. So, it’s all educated guesswork.
Photo: Attractions Magazine
Keeping that in mind, Universal’s Islands of Adventure dropped 2.6 percent.
Overall, the two parks shared an estimated attendance of 9.5 million and 9.2 million, respectively.
Image: Universal
Many of us had expected this behavior, though. In fact, I’d said as much.
The Epic Universe Effect
Let’s be real. Most of the people who visited Universal Orlando Resort (UOR) last year had a reason.
They wanted to check out Universal Epic Universe, which was new in 2025.
Attraction Insight
Universal officials handled admission tickets oddly for this reason.
Guests needed to purchase multi-day admission to UOR, and only one date applied to Epic.
Universal
Comcast did this to prevent Epic from further damaging attendance at the other two parks.
The negative impact proved inevitable, but Comcast managed to reduce it.
Attractins magazine
However, Epic Universe didn’t perform as well as I’d expected anyway.
The park opened on May 22nd, 2025, giving it 223 days of full availability in 2025.
Attractins Magazine
Over those dates, four million people entered the park’s front gates, according to the T.E.A.
At that pace, the park would have claimed 6.6 million guests for the year.
Attractins magazine
I’ll give it a bump to 6.7 or 6.8 million due to the Spring Break crowds it narrowly missed.
Even then, I’d expected 7.5-8 million for the park’s first 12 months.
Attractions Magazine
We’ll never know that number unless Comcast says something, and…they haven’t yet.
Since we’re now in month 18, I’m not holding my breath that we’ll learn that information.
Epic
Still, the T.E.A. generously credited Epic Universe for positively impacting Central Florida.
The report indicates that Central Florida attendance increased by 4.3 percent in 2025.
I consider this a generous assessment, though, at least based on the math.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay experienced an attendance drop of 4.4 percent.
Image: Universal
Meanwhile, the theme parks at Walt Disney World all fell 0.2 percent in 2025.
Also, SeaWorld Orlando fell 0.3 percent. So, everything was down except for Epic Universe.
Image: Universal
Literally the only reason for the Central Florida increase was Epic Universe itself.
What Else We Learned
Photo: NY Times
Comcast also held its earnings call transcript after the most recent UniversalParksBlog News went live.
So, I couldn’t cover the story then, but there were some telling quotes.
(Jeff Fusco/Comcast via AP Images)
For lack of better terminology, Comcast blames “capacity challenges” for the park’s struggles.
That’s a polite term for “The lines are too long,” which we already knew.
Photo: USJ
Of course, Comcast could have solved that problem ahead of time by adding more attractions.
Many analysts locked on the paucity of attractions as cause for concern.
Universal
Comcast officials dismissed those claims at the time but are admitting their validity now.
Co-CEO Michael Cavanagh took it a step further by indicating this isn’t over.
Universal
He flatly states that Epic’s soft attendance will continue through mid-2027.
Comcast plans to attack the issue by providing more promotions and discounts.
Universal
Frankly, Universal Studios should have been doing more of those throughout 2026.
Hilariously, Cavanagh promises “three park passes and the like.”
So, his big initiative involves undoing the stupid practice he originally put into place.
Let’s just say that if the right company buys NBCU, we’ll look back on the Comcast era and laugh.
Universal Miscellany
Universal
While Halloween Horror Nights has sadly ended, Grinchmas is nearly here!
Universal Studios starts its holiday celebration on November 14th.
Credit: Universal
That’s for UOR. At Universal Studios Hollywood, November 21st is the big date.
Speaking of that park, HHN ended with a fiery dining incident. Didn’t expect that, did you?
Yes, a churro cart (!) caught fire, which led to firefighters walking through the park.
Since this happened during HHN, guests probably thought it was people in costume anyway.
Image Credit: Universal
The other big story is that, with the winter season approaching, we’re down a water park.
Universal Volcano Bay has closed for 2026 and may not return until April 1st.
Photo: Instagram/Universalvolcabobay
That’s the target date Universal has listed, although the water park may return sooner.
As an aside, Volcano Bay also fell three percent to 1.6 million guests last year.
Photo: Universal Hollywood
So, this was a rough year for every Universal theme park in America. I don’t think 2026 will be better, either.
Finally, in case you haven’t heard, a new indoor roller coaster is coming to Epic Universe…eventually. I’ll discuss this one more next time.
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Feature Photo: Universal
