Universal’s newest Orlando theme park, Epic Universe, is expected to open by summer 2025, executives for parent company Comcast said Thursday, as the Orlando resort reported record-setting earnings last quarter.
Epic Universe’s construction is “full steam ahead,” NBCUniversal Chief Executive Officer Jeff Shell said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. NBC Universal expects to invest about $1 billion on capital expenditures for the theme park this year, Chief Financial Officer Michael Cavanagh said.
“Construction is going really well … we expect that park to open in ’25, and certainly in time for the summer of ’25,” Shell said.
Universal Orlando also just reported the “best quarter in the company’s history for any quarter,” said Brian Roberts, Comcast’s chairman and chief executive officer. The resort has now reported back-to-back record-breaking profits, even as international travel still lags behind pre-pandemic levels.
The Florida park’s success helped NBCUniversal report the company’s most profitable fourth quarter on record, Roberts said. The fourth quarter covered October through December 2021.
NBCUniversal’s theme park revenue increased by $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter compared with the same period in 2020, when all of its theme parks had limited capacity or were closed, the company noted. Per capita spending at Universal’s U.S. parks was above pre-pandemic levels, Cavanagh said, and Universal Studios Beijing’s opening on Sept. 20 last year added to the division’s total earnings.
NBCUniversal reported nearly $1.9 billion in theme park revenue last quarter alone.
Its yearly revenue more than doubled from 2020 figures, from $2 billion to $5 billion, according to the report.
Dennis Speigel, founder and CEO of International Theme Park Services, said he had anticipated Universal would report a strong quarter, but Thursday’s results still pleasantly surprised him.
“[It’s] very indicative of the rest of the industry,” he said. “The parks that were operating [nationwide] were experiencing a lot of the same thing. The numbers were just coming back — and the attendance levels — in droves.”
Epic Universe’s predicted construction timeline is standard for a theme park of that scale, he said, and is especially encouraging since construction was paused for nearly a year.
“From a new park standpoint like this, and with the demands that we’ve seen over the last year or so and where it’s leading now, I think this bodes well for a new [theme park] in Orlando,” he said.
The omicron COVID variant had no impact on Universal Orlando and limited effects on the company’s theme parks in Hollywood and Japan.
“Everything’s kind of going in the right direction,” he said. “And even as we start the first quarter, continuing in that direction. I think part of that, by the way, is because we continue to invest in our attractions during the pandemic.”
Still, international theme park visitation has not returned to its historic levels at Universal Orlando, Shell said.
The resort usually sees international attendance around 30% but it’s slightly above 20% currently, he said. The majority of international visitors are coming from the United Kingdom and Europe but visitation from Latin American countries has not rebounded.
Shell added that Universal is “very happy” with attendance at Universal Studios Beijing so far and expects the park’s crowds to increase further as China opens up travel. The company invested nearly $1.5 billion in its construction in 2020 and $976 million last year, records show.
“All signs are pointed up in our theme park business,” Shell said.
In response to a question about Epic Universe’s timeline, Roberts said he wishes he could retroactively slow down the development of Epic Universe as he reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the business.
“This is a business and if you build wonderful attractions, there is pent-up demand,” he said. “And we’re going to make a fabulous park at Epic, and we’re going as fast as we can now to make up for lost time.”
krice@orlandosentinel.com and @katievrice on Twitter
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