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Orlando, Florida – The Mushroom Kingdom at Universal Studios Hollywood continues to drive massive business for Universal’s theme parks, according to a new earnings report from the park’s parent company, Comcast.
At a Thursday morning earnings conference, leaders said the theme park division, which includes Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood, posted revenue of $2.3 billion, a 12.2% increase in the fourth quarter.
One of the key drivers cited by leaders was the continued success of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan.
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“Hollywood also continues to benefit from the positive consumer response to Super Nintendo World, which opened in early 2023, driving strong attendance and per capita growth, resulting in the highest performance in Hollywood history. We achieved our best fourth quarter EBITDA,” said Jason Armstrong. , Chief Financial Officer of Comcast. “We performed well in Orlando as well, with attendance roughly in line with pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and revenue significantly higher.”
Super Nintendo World first opened at Universal Studios Japan on March 18, 2021. This year, the team from Comcast and Universal Creative plans to open a new Donkey Kong-themed area on the property, which leaders said will expand the land area by about 70%.
In central Florida, Comcast is betting big on Mario and Luigi, hoping it will be a huge success when Universal’s newest theme park, Epic Universe, opens.
Epic Universe, located just a few miles south of Universal Orlando Resort, was originally scheduled to open in 2023, but the pandemic delayed construction by more than a year. This 750-acre property, once just a piece of dirt, is becoming more themed day by day as staff make significant progress at the facility, which will be Orlando’s first new theme park in more than 20 years. It’s starting to look like a park.
“It’s completely original. This is probably the most exciting project I’ve seen since we acquired NBCUniversal,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said. “I think it will be the first completely new theme park in the United States in decades, so we’re very excited.”
Super Nintendo World is Universal’s only officially announced Epic Universe themed land.
In line with balance sheet projections, Comcast executives said capital spending will increase by $1.2 billion for the full year in 2023. The bulk of that spending was driven by the theme park division, primarily for the construction of Epic Universe. Leaders said they expected spending levels to remain high in 2024 until they reach equilibrium in 2025, when Epic Universe opens.
Speculation and rumors indicate that the new theme park could include land dedicated to the Harry Potter movies, DreamWork’s How to Train Your Dragon intellectual property, and Universal’s classic monster movies. It is increasing on many websites.
“I give incredible credit to Mark Woodbury and the entire team at Universal for coordinating something massive that is being built,” Roberts concluded.
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