Shortly after the park was announced, it was clear that once Epic Universe opened, it was going to change the game in the theme park industry. What was less clear was just how the dynamics would change. I mean, would this increased competition be a problem for Walt Disney World? Was Disney doing enough to compete? Just how big would Epic Universe be? We're starting to get some answers to these questions, and it’s largely good news for everybody, especially as far as tourism is involved.
Epic Universe Helped Bring In Record Tourism Taxes To Central Florida
In May 2025, tourism taxes in Orange County Florida (where both Universal Orlando Resort and Walt Disney World are located) were the highest they'd ever been for that particular month of the year. That also just happened to be the same month that Epic Universe opened. Now, the Orlando Sentinel reports that the tourism tax numbers for June are in, and they came to $33.7 million. That's also a record for the month of June.
Of course, the one major difference between the May-June period in 2024 and 2025 is the existence of Epic Universe. So the new park is being given the credit for the record numbers. Combine this with the fact that Universal’s parent company, Comcast, reported a nearly 20% increase in theme park revenue compared to last quarter, and it looks like Epic Universe is off to an incredible start.
Disney Experiences Had A Record Quarter Despite Epic Universe Competition
One might assume that success at Universal Orlando Resort must come at the expense of Disney Parks, but nothing could further from the truth. Many have been focused on the success of Epic Universe, but some big news came during Disney’s last quarterly earnings call. It was at that time that the House of Mouse announced that the Disney Experiences division, which includes the theme parks and Disney Cruise Line, had a record quarter. More specifically, the division posted revenue that was up 10% to $6.4 billion.
While that revenue could have come any number of places, it was specifically the domestic parks -- Disneyland and Walt Disney World -- that drove that growth, with both attendance and per capita spending increasing.
There's been a lot of talk in regard to the notion that Walt Disney World would suffer financially due to EU's opening. Such an idea comes from the assumption that vacationers who might have otherwise have visited Disney would instead choose Universal in order to experience Epic for the time. However, history shows that’s not usually how it works. Actually, new attractions frequently draw fans to both resorts.
Epic may have drawn more tourists to Florida, and those tourist tax numbers certainly indicate that it did exactly that. But, once those tourists got to Orlando, many of them apparently decided to visit both Disney and Universal.
Needless to say, Epic Universe is clearly a hit, and vacationers are flocking to it. (Look no further than Monsters Unchained's recent milestone as evidence of that.) All in all, it's important to acknowledge that this is great news for Universal, but it's not the only corporation that's benefitting.
