ORLANDO, Fla. – The Mushroom Kingdom at Universal Studios Hollywood continues to drive big business for Universal’s theme parks, according to a new earnings report from the parks’ parent company Comcast.
During an earnings call Thursday morning, leaders said the theme park division — which includes Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood — rose 12.2% and generated $2.3 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter.
One of the major drivers that leaders pointed to was the continued success of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan.
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“In Hollywood, we also continue to benefit from the positive consumer reaction to Super Nintendo World, which opened earlier in 2023. Driving strong attendance and growth in per capita, and resulting in Hollywood’s best fourth quarter EBITDA in its history,” said Jason Armstrong, chief financial officer of Comcast. “In Orlando, our results were also strong, with attendance in line with 2019 pre-pandemic levels and revenue substantially ahead.”
Super Nintendo World opened first at Universal Studios Japan on March 18, 2021. This year, Comcast and Universal Creative teams plan to open a new Donkey Kong themed area in the land, which leaders said will expand the footprint of the land by roughly 70%.
In Central Florida, Comcast is betting big on Mario and Luigi, hoping it will bring a brick-smashing success when the land opens in Universal’s newest theme park, Epic Universe.
Epic Universe, located just a few miles south from Universal Orlando Resort, was originally planned to open in 2023, but construction was delayed for more than a year due to the pandemic. The 750-acre property, once just a patch of dirt, is looking more like a theme park every day as crews make significant progress on what will be Orlando’s first new theme park in more than twenty years.
“It’s completely original. It’s maybe the most exciting project I’ve seen since we bought NBCUniversal,” said Brian Roberts, Comcast chief executive officer. “I think it’s the first new entire theme park in decades in the U.S. and we’re so excited.”
Super Nintendo World has been the only Epic Universe themed land officially announced by Universal.
As expected on the balance sheet, Comcast leaders said capital expenditures in 2023 increased by $1.2 billion for the full year. A majority of that spending was driven by the theme park’s division, primarily for the construction of Epic Universe. Leaders said they expect the spending levels to remain elevated in 2024 before numbers balance out in 2025 when Epic Universe opens.
Speculation and rumors have grown on many websites that show that the new theme park could include intellectual properties from the “Harry Potter” films, Dreamwork’s “How to Train Your Dragon” and a land dedicated to Universal’s classic monster movies.
“I give Mark Woodbury and the entire team at Universal incredible kudos to coordinate something of a scale of magnitude that’s being built,” Roberts concluded.
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