Disney released their earnings for Q3. They tell a very different story from the Universal theme park earnings that were released for the same period. Disney shared that Walt Disney World in particular delivered a strong quarter. There are a number of factors from the period that may have caused Disney’s numbers to be stronger than Universal’s.
I’ll dive into the specific details from the quarter and other factors that likely led to Disney’s success compared to Universal. We watch Disney’s businesses very closely to provide updates like this one. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including changes hitting Magic Kingdom and upcoming Disneyland ride closures.
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How Disney Beat Universal Numbers For Same Quarter
Disney released their theme park earnings for Q3 this morning. This quarter includes April, May, and June 2026. They delivered a record quarter and pointed to Walt Disney world specifically as having strong performance. Disney commented on the resort’s healthy attendance from domestic tourists and annual pass holders, plus successful summer promotions and new relaunched experiences.
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Domestic Parks attendance is up over 3% and guest spending is up over 4%. Disney Experiences revenue hit nearly $10.0 billion, up 11% year-over-year. The operating income for the division was $3.0 billion, a +20% increase over the previous year.
Disney also highlighted the success of Walt Disney World against the specific narrative of lagging other theme park attendance in Central Florida. This is really in response to Universal’s comments during their own earnings call.
“Domestically we’re doing extremely well right now,” CFO Hugh Johnston told CNBC, noting that park attendance in the U.S. was up 3% and per capita spending increased 4%.
Johnston also called out the “very strong attendance” at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
“Those numbers are somewhat different than what you would have seen from our competitor down there, as well as some of the reported traffic coming through Orlando [International] Airport,” he added in what seemed to be a direct reference to Universal Orlando.
Comcast, the owner of the Universal theme parks, reported their quarterly results for the same period last month. Universal saw a decline in theme park attendance during the period. Leadership pointed to the wider macroeconomic environment as the cause of the decline.
Universal leadership stated that their new Epic Universe theme park continued to perform, but Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh noted on the company’s earnings call that “attendance across the broader Orlando market began to soften in June, and that trend has continued into the third quarter.” He specifically stated that there was reduced attendance across Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure parks and international locations. He blamed higher fuel prices and weaker consumer sentiment.
The reality of the lower Comcast numbers compared to the Disney numbers indicates the success of a number of strategies that Disney deployed during the quarter and demonstrates the overall strength of their theme parks business. There are a number of reasons for Disney’s success this quarter while Universal struggled.
Disney has successfully delivered marketing and discounting campaigns targeting young families on both coasts. They also brought the Bluey character from the popular Disney Plus streaming show into the theme parks for the first time. Disneyland’s aggressive California Resident discount was strongly received and drove notable attendance.
Before diving into the strength of Disney’s business there are two key realities of Universal’s business that are worth mentioning.
Universal’s Epic Universe may be cannibalizing the other theme parks at the Universal Orlando resort. If a family previously visited Universal for just one day, they may still just be leaving Walt Disney World for a day and are now visiting Epic Universe during that day instead of the other Universal parks. Where Universal was hoping for an expanded number of days, they may have just cannibalized their existing offerings. This could have been the cause of the older parks seeing an attendance dip.
In California at Universal Studios Hollywood, we have heard that Universal wanted to get their new Fast and Furious roller coaster open by the spring break period. That has been pushed out for months due to testing. They are only just now running soft openings for the ride. The park seems to have been in limbo from a marketing standpoint since then.
Turning to the strength of Disney’s business, there are a number of factors that drove the specific success of the company during the quarter.
Disney Cruise Line benefits from favorable comps against the previous year because it added in both the Disney Destiny and Disney Adventure since that same time last year. Year over year, the number of staterooms in the fleet is up ~50% with the addition of the two ships. I would caveat that the Disney Adventure ship is a slightly different model because it is in Asia and rooms sell for less. Just counting the Destiny, the number of staterooms in the fleet serving a largely domestic audience is up 18.5%.
The quarter captures the end of spring break and into the summer period. While June starts to be a bit slower in Florida, it is more stable in California. Disneyland balances the Florida decrease that WDW and Universal Orlando might have seen in June due to the less hospitable summer months. Universal doesn’t have this strong California balance due to the smaller size of their operation in California.
Bluey offerings launched at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in and around this quarter. Disneyland’s offering started at the end of March and so this quarter got the full benefit of that boost. Walt Disney World got Bluey in mid-May.
There were extremely strong California resident ticket sales for Disneyland. 50% of Disneyland guests are from California. This was a real, strong savings. Many purchased these tickets and had to use by end date of May 21, leading to big crowds that month. That ticket deal led directly into aggressive $50 per day park hopper ticket for kids. The California ticket in particular had a huge impact on park attendance.
Disneyland is also offering nearly 50% more $104 ticket days this year than last year. This is their cheapest tier of ticket.
Walt Disney World has been leaning into a big slate of newly refreshed or relaunched rides and attractions. They are continuing with this focus and specifically are emphasizing an approach to investing in the classic attractions. They opened reimagined attractions including Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the new Animation Courtyard, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets.
They also have their Cool Kids Summer promotion and ongoing discounting, for instance the $99-per-night hotel special at Walt Disney World.
Walt Disney World offers a free water park day on arrival. This gives the Walt Disney World resort the benefit of being a closed ecosystem and keeps guests from spending money at Universal or reduces the number of days they would consider going to any other Central Florida attraction.
If Disney does face future declines in demand, we expect that they will offer additional discounts and promotions. This quarter is a perfect example of how they are able to utilize discounts and promotions to drive bookings even if the general economic outlook is perceived to be more tense. People want to have a reason to visit Disney theme parks.
We have previously seen Disney increase discounts during times when Americans faced economic pressures. We will continue to monitor and report on any discounts that arise.
In addition to the use of discounting, we are about a year away from the beginning of the new rides coming to Disneyland and new rides at Walt Disney World getting ready to open. That investment will only further drive interest and engagement with a Disney trip.
Stay tuned for our reporting next week when we expect to receive tons of updates on the new rides and attractions coming at the D23 Expo.
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