The soaring cost of oil has not translated into an attendance decrease at Universal's domestic theme parks.
During parent company Comcast Corp.'s Q1 earnings call Thursday, Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said the parks haven't seen any significant impact.
"That does not mean that it may not happen, depending on the duration of the effect on the price of gas and the like, and airline tickets and so forth, so more to come," Cavanagh said. "But thus far, we're not seeing a pullback of any level that's concerning in the current results. But like I said, we'll see what the coming quarters look like."
While Cavanagh said international visitation to Comcast's domestic theme parks has never returned to pre-Covid levels, the first quarter was a good one for Universal theme parks in the U.S.
Universal Orlando Resort continues to be bolstered by Epic Universe, the park that opened in May 2025. Attendance in Orlando is strong, CFO Jason Armstrong said.
"We are really pleased with Epic's performance since its launch," he said. "It's expanding the overall guest experience and helping to position Universal Orlando as a true, weeklong destination."
Attendance pressure at Asia parks
Theme park revenue was up 24% in the quarter to $2.33 billion; adjusted Ebitda was up 33% to $551 million.
Universal's parks in Osaka, Japan, and Beijing are seeing attendance pressure, Armstrong said, the former because of China-related inbound travel trends and the latter because of a challenging macroeconomic environment.
Cavanagh said he is excited about the future in store for Comcast's theme parks, which includes the Universal Kids Resort in Frisco, Texas, opening this year, and a U.K. theme park currently in development. He also teased "more to come."
"I think the creative plans inside our parks business to keep driving growth … is a good one, and we love that business and will allocate and recycle the capital they create back into the business over time to keep growing that business and creating value above our cost of capital," he added.