As U.S. theme parks head into the peak of the holiday promotion season this week, their operators are facing more challenges in returning to pre-pandemic attendance and revenue.
After third-quarter attendance fell, some parks are pushing forward with extensive investments to stay competitive. But there are factors beyond operators’ control, including weather conditions and consumers spending less at a time of economic uncertainty.
“Unfavorable weather has defined 2025,” said a report by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. The industry trade group said a number of operators reported this year’s spring proved wet and unseasonably cool, discouraging park visits.
“By contrast, the early summer months proved exceedingly hot, which also had a negative effect on visitation,” the report said. “Uncertainty in the economy and politics also affected consumer sentiment, as guests adopted a ‘wait and see’ mentality before committing to visit.”
The start of December is traditionally the peak time for holiday season promotions to lure more visitors to schedule year-end visits and purchase season passes for the coming year. Those promotions are more important than ever this year as the trade group has projected that the industry — including numerous small regional operators in addition to giants like Disney, NBCUniversal and Six Flags — may not fully return to pre-pandemic attendance around the globe until 2027.
An industry outlook report prior to the third quarter from credit ratings firm S&P Global estimated U.S. parks may post a slim 1% to 2% annual attendance gain for full-year 2025 as “lower discretionary spending may lead consumers to pull back on leisure spending, which could limit theme park operators’ ability to continue raising prices and lead to muted per capita spending growth.”
Among lingering headwinds, S&P Global said, is a slowdown in international visitation, as tourism to the United States has slowed significantly this year and that particular cohort of park visitors may be slower to return than their domestic counterparts.
Six Flags Entertainment, which has the most regional park locations in the nation, faces decisions regarding its real estate, with some park closings and property sell-offs already underway. With three quarters in the books for 2025, its rivals are taking their own approaches to an increasingly competitive environment in which park attendance has slumped for most major operators.
Merlin Entertainments
For now, operators like United Kingdom-based Merlin Entertainments are investing in new attractions and developments in a bid to lure visitors who need a reason to return. Part-owned by Blackstone Group, Merlin in July announced new attractions that include investments totaling more than $90 million at its U.S. Legoland Resort parks near San Diego and Orlando, Florida.
Plans for the family-focused Legoland parks include new indoor roller coasters set to debut in 2026, along with other technology-enhanced “space-themed experiences.” A Merlin statement described the additions as “the biggest ever single in-park investment in the resorts’ histories.”
Merlin earlier this year opened its second U.S. Peppa Pig theme park near Dallas in a partnership with toy maker Hasbro. Its latest plans come as Legoland parks are facing slowed attendance and increasing competition in places like Southern California and South Florida, especially from attractions built in the last five years by Disney and Comcast’s NBCUniversal division.
They also come as Merlin has recently struggled to pay down its debt generated by prior developments and corporate changeovers. Merlin since August received downgrades to its credit ratings from both S&P Global and Moody’s.
Responding to slowing attendance and debt-related matters, Merlin has instituted financial moves including the September sell-off of its Discovery Centers division, which runs interactive family-oriented amenities found at some of Merlin’s theme parks and several retail centers.
With factors including a difficult operating environment, “we believe that maintaining a sustainable capital structure will be challenging without further asset disposal or shareholder support,” Moody’s said in its October downgrade of Merlin.
Comcast’s NBCUniversal
Comcast reported third-quarter revenue at its NBCUniversal theme parks rose 19% from a year earlier, driven by the first full quarter of operation for its $7 billion Epic Universe park, which opened in May at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida. This came even as total attendance at its parks declined 3.4% because of such factors as decreased international visits to domestic parks.
“What we’re seeing as Epic is now in the market is that it’s driving higher per capita spending and attendance across the entirety of Universal Orlando,” Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said during an earnings call. “One of the nice things is that there’s lesser cannibalization of attendance from our two pre-existing parks than we had expected.”
He added that “in terms of Epic itself, our focus now is just driving increased ride capacity. It’s a new park and very technologically advanced,” so the company is “working on the labor and the kinks to drive it to full capacity.”
Comcast is planning on opening a new concept for the company, Universal Kids Resort, in the Dallas area in mid-2026.
Disney
Disney reported a 1% annual decline at its domestic parks in its latest quarter, as attendance increased about 1% at its international parks. Sales and profits for its division that includes parks and cruises still posted overall gains for the quarter, helped in part by higher per-person spending at its parks.
Disney previously announced plans for more than $60 billion in developments at its California and Florida parks over the next decade. Competitive factors in Florida include the May opening of Comcast’s Epic Universe.
“We’ve talked about Epic in the past in particular as something that we knew was going to be a factor in domestic parks and, in fact, was very much in line with our expectations,” Disney CEO Robert Iger told analysts during the company’s latest quarterly earnings call.
“If anything, it seems to be, in fact, impacting the rest of the competition down in Florida more than it’s impacting us,” Iger said.
United Parks & Resorts
The operator of 13 U.S theme parks, under brands including SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, reported that third-quarter attendance decreased 3.4% from a year earlier as revenue declined 6.2%. Company executives cited factors such as poor weather during peak holiday periods, including the Fourth of July, and a decline in international visits that accounted for about 90,000 fewer customers.
United Parks still reported higher per capita spending on food, tickets and holiday events, including pre-Halloween festivities. Also, overall group business was up 20% from a year earlier, and attendance at its flagship SeaWorld Orlando was up year to date from 2024.
CEO Marc Swanson said the company has new attractions debuting in 2026 at the Orlando park, including a “submersible adventure” letting customers view undersea ecosystems in a submarine-like ride. It also plans to unveil an updated Shark Encounter attraction at SeaWorld San Diego and an inverted “family coaster” at SeaWorld San Antonio in Texas.
Swanson also reiterated plans by United Parks to develop unused real estate at its parks, potentially for new hotel and retail amenities — announced in 2023, though the company has yet to move forward with such projects. On its latest earnings call, Swanson said the company has “recently received specific proposals that we are actively evaluating.”
The CEO said United Parks owns more than 2,000 acres “of valuable real estate in desirable locations,” including about 400 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to its parks. Significant portions of that acreage are in Orlando.
“We do not believe that the public markets have or are appropriately giving credit to these attractive and valuable, 100%-owned real estate assets,” Swanson said.