Universal Orlando Resort’s long-awaited third gate, Universal Epic Universe, was billed as a game-changing destination that would redefine the Central Florida tourism landscape. However, only months after its grand opening, new financial data from Comcast suggests that the park’s performance has not met expectations—especially when compared to Walt Disney World Resort’s continued dominance.
Epic Universe’s Numbers Tell a Story
Comcast, which owns Universal Orlando Resort, recently released its Q3 2025 earnings report, covering the months of July through September. The report marks the first full financial quarter since the official debut of Universal’s most ambitious project to date: Universal Epic Universe. Executives acknowledged that the new park enjoyed some “early success,” but the numbers reveal that its financial impact may have already started to cool.
Theme park journalist Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) shared a portion of the company’s report on X (formerly known as Twitter):
Comcast says the early success of Epic Universe helped drive a 19% jump in theme park revenue in Q3 (July – Sept.), with theme parks EBITDA rising 13% to $958 million for the quarter.
Comcast says the early success of Epic Universe helped drive a 19% jump in theme park revenue in Q3 (July – Sept.), with theme parks EBITDA rising 13% to $958 million for the quarter. pic.twitter.com/cNXS1kjMdg
— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) October 30, 2025
At first glance, those figures look impressive. Comcast’s overall theme park revenue rose 18.7% in Q3—a solid increase over 2024. However, the growth percentage is actually lower than in previous quarters, including Q1’s 18.9%, which benefited from Universal Epic Universe’s initial hype and pre-opening buzz. Some analysts are viewing this slight decline in quarter-over-quarter momentum as a sign that the park’s impact may already be plateauing.
For an international destination that opened amid unprecedented anticipation, those results are being described as a modest success rather than a breakout triumph.
Disney Keeps Climbing Without a New Park
While Universal enjoys the glow of its newest addition, Disney continues to grow without relying on a grand opening. The Walt Disney Company is expected to release its own Q3 figures on November 13, 2025, but early data already shows that Walt Disney World Resort’s performance remains unmatched in the Central Florida theme park market.
In its most recent quarterly report, Disney reported a 22% increase in domestic theme park operating income and an overall operating income increase of 13%. That puts Disney ahead of Universal’s 18.7% Q3 growth, even though Disney did not debut any new theme parks during the same period.
Epic Universe’s Long-Term Outlook
Universal Orlando Resort’s leadership remains optimistic about Epic Universe’s long-term success, describing it as a major addition to the company’s global theme park portfolio. The park’s highly themed lands, including SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, continue to draw attention from fans worldwide.
Still, financial reports suggest that Universal’s initial surge in attendance and revenue may not have translated into sustained growth.
Have you visited Universal Epic Universe yet? Share your experience with Disney Dining in the comments!
One problem is that you can’t buy a single day ticket to Epic Universe. The only way to get a ticket is part of a multi-day pass. My wife and I were recently in Florida for a few days and were interested in visiting the new park. We were very disappointed to find out we could not visit the park for 1 day.
As for Disney, we used to be big fans and visit at least once a year, sometimes multiple times a year for a day or 2 at a time. Now they are just overpriced with little value.
That’s not true. I went to Orlando a couple of weeks ago and visited Epic Universe without buying tickets to other parks.
Hi. I also have a one day park ticket to Epic.
I visited Epic during the soft opening and loved it. I’ll be visiting again during Thanksgiving week.
In my opinion if Epic was connected like the other Universal parks its success would be better.
Me to! I went last week
Yes, I bought my one-day Epic ticket about a week ago for this coming weekend.
I agree that the location is one of the biggest factors of Epic’s success, or perceived lack thereof. The ticketing issue is the other. I’m currently on a trip to Universal and Islands of Adventure with my family, there was no way for us to order tickets to Epic ahead of time. Plus I don’t think that they are operating at full capacity yet, kinda the way that Disney started with the Star Wars Park. I’m hoping to get there this weekend to see for myself.
Clearly written by a disney fan.
We just went a couple of weeks ago and the theming at Epic is better than anything Disney is currently doing, IMO.
We are local and went back in September. Extremely disappointing in that it’s very small, not enough actual attractions to keep you entertained and the most popular attractions are for kids. Not worth it and will never go back.
Then don’t go back, continue to make the mouse rich. No loss there
You must be referred to Disney then lol
You can buy individual Epic Universe tickets. Although it isn’t financially the best thing to do so. I found the new park worth our efforts. The comment that it is only for kids is hogwash. I’m 67 and I thought it was lots of fun.
Out of town visitor. Epic had two rides down, one all day. There’s so little to do in each land that everything else was greatly impacted. Wait times we’re 110-150 minutes. We rode 4 rides and one repeat in 9 hours.
At various Disney parks the same week, the longest wait was 50 minutes for Peter Pan (nostalgia) and 45 for Rise. We rode multiple single riders very quickly.
All parks were very crowded. Seems Universal still has a lot to learn from Disney (theming is NOT one of them!!!!)
I was there three weeks ago and Epic was packed. I also went to Halloween horror nights and it was packed also.