Disney woos visitors with $59 tickets as Universal, SeaWorld struggle with weaker attendance

Disney is luring visitors with cut-rate tickets and family-focused promotions, helping drive higher attendance at its parks even as Universal and SeaWorld grapple with weaker traffic.The entertainment giant rolled out a limited-time offer of a $59 evening ticket at Disneyland, along with resident specials, kids’ offers, hotel discounts and free-dining promotions — targeted deals designed to draw specific groups of visitors without broadly cutting regular admission prices.At Walt Disney World, Disney has offered a three-day, three-park ticket for $89 a day, or $267 total, excluding its flagship Magic Kingdom.The promotional push appears to be paying off.Attendance at Disney’s domestic theme parks climbed 3% from a year earlier in the company’s most recent quarter — its biggest increase since 2023.Even as Disney rolled out cheaper ways into its parks, domestic per capita guest spending rose 4% from a year earlier — showing that higher attendance coincided with stronger spending per visitor.That stands in contrast to Universal and SeaWorld.Attendance at Universal Studios Florida fell 9.3% in 2023 and another 2.6% in 2024, while SeaWorld has also reported softer traffic.Universal parent Comcast’s theme-parks business posted roughly $2.4 billion in revenue in its latest reported quarter, up 2.7%, but adjusted EBITDA fell 5.1% to $609 million as higher domestic operating costs weighed on results.“What we started to see in June was softness in Orlando,” Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong said at a recent conference.“We’re continuing to see softness in that market.”Armstrong said the pressure was “sort of equal parts” related to demand and to the wider economy.Despite the near-term softness, Armstrong said Comcast remains confident in the long-term outlook for its theme parks.“So incredibly bullish in the parks over the long term, but you’re not wrong.

We do have some near-term headwinds.”SeaWorld parent United Parks & Resorts has also report...