Universal beating out Disney on theme park attendance

It may surprise some to hear how Universal Orlando’s theme parks are seeing an “uplift in admissions” compared to Disney!  Yet, the attendance is down 64% from 2019 crowds, the best figures since the parks re-opened, according to an analyst note from Deutsche Bank.

But why is Universal seeing better attendance than Disney World? Several factors are responsible for this phenomenon. First, Universal Orlando allows their Passholders to visit without any restrictions. Disney Passholders must have a Park Pass reservation in order to go to the Disney theme parks. The restriction is limiting those who want to go. Second, Universal allows park hopping. Being unable to park hop is making some hold off on going to Disney until restrictions are lifted.

But due to social distancing restrictions, Disney World’s theme parks are operating at 80% less than last year. Two Deutsche research analysts, Bryan Kraft and Benjamin Soff, relied upon proprietary geolocation data to make their estimates. The attendance figure appeared to represent Disney World as well as Disney’s other international parks that are open.

“At present, Epcot and Animal Kingdom are outperforming Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios,” their note said.

Universal Orlando theme parks reopened June 5, 2020. They were weeks ahead of Disney World, which waited until mid-July to bring back its attractions. By then, Disney’s return came during an uptick in coronavirus cases.

The earlier rise in cases made tourists hesitant to travel during the pandemic, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek said this month.

Chapek acknowledged Disney World had a higher than expected number of reservation cancellations when he spoke during a quarterly earnings call that showed Disney theme parks took a $2 billion hit from the pandemic.

However, the decline in cases could help Disney’s attendance according to the Deutsche analysts.

“Given this ongoing improvement in Universal’s attendance and declining new daily COVID cases in Florida, we believe that Disney World will also soon see some benefit.”

Source: Orlando Sentinel

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