Could Epic Universe’s opening actually be… good for Disney? That seems to be the thought process coming from the House of Mouse, with data appearing to back it up.
Since Universal announced Epic Universe back in 2019, there has been much discussion about how the seemingly revolutionary new park would affect the ongoing competition between Universal and Disney in Central Florida. There has even been speculation that the new park — and the three hotels opening along with it — may help Universal significantly eat into Disney’s bottom line financials. However, historical precedent and current numbers seem to indicate otherwise… for now.
During Disney’s 2024 Q4 earnings call this past November, CEO Bob Iger answered a question about how Disney was preparing for the opening of Epic Universe by pointing out that over the course of Walt Disney World history, the openings of other major attractions in the Central Florida area — including Universal’s own Islands of Adventure in 1999 — actually been beneficial for Disney’s bookings and overall numbers, with many travelers extending Disney vacations to add time to visit another attraction as opposed to skipping Disney entirely.
The call wasn’t the first time in 2024 that Iger had spoken somewhat dismissively about Epic Universe’s potential impact on Disney’s parks. Earlier in the year, the CEO had said that Disney had been aware of Universal’s plans for some time and had built attractions including Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Pandora: The World of Avatar, Toy Story Land, TRON Lightcycle / Run, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, as well as the overall the “reimagining “ of EPCOT as a staggered way to beef Walt Disney World in preparation.
Three months after the Q4 call, during Disney’s Q1 2025 earnings call in February, the company confirmed that they were anticipating that their Experience segment (which includes theme parks) would see an operating income growth of between 6% and 8% over the year. When asked if this took Epic Universe into account, Disney CFO Hugh Johnston responded with “As we built our plans, we anticipated some small impact for Epic Universe opening, and we effectively hedged in the guidance we provided.”
Furthermore, Johnston said of the upcoming summer season — which will directly follow Epic Universe’s May opening — “bookings are up in the summer right now, and we’re certainly feeling positive. The outlook is good in that regard.”
For now, it seems like the opening of Universal’s Epic Universe is following the historical precedent of being a tide that will raise all boats, including Disney’s. However, it remains to be seen if this will continue for the long haul, or if Epic truly will “change the game” for the Orlando theme park market, despite all of Disney’s upcoming projects. Stay tuned to AllEars for more coverage of the opening of Epic Universe and its effects on both the Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World resorts.
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Are you excited about the opening of Epic Universe? Has it changed your Central Florida vacation plans? Let us know in the comments below.
Disney is reporting resort occupancy is trending up over last year in the second half of this year. I suspect Disney’s attendance numbers will be boosted in the short term as people still add in trips to Disney parks as they visit Epic Universe. Whether this continues after this year is tough to determine. Universal is now a full week park with 3 theme parks (or 4 if you do Universal math and count Volcano Bay), and that kind of competition has not happened in the past 40 years in the Central Florida area.