Gabrielle Russon
Hurricane Milton took a $10 million swipe from the theme park company that runs Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, SeaWorld Orlando and several water parks in Florida.
United Parks and Resorts, the Orlando-headquartered company formerly known as SeaWorld Entertainment, disclosed the financial impact of the hurricane, which shut down its parks for a combined 14 days. The company’s revenue fell to $546 million, a $2 million drop from the third quarter of 2023.
“We’re going to try to finish out the year, obviously, as strong as we can, but no longer expect record revenue,” CEO Marc Swanson said during Thursday’s third-quarter earnings call. “Hurricane Milton really put us in a tough spot to start October.”
Milton brought an unprecedented shutdown at Busch Gardens, which closed on Oct. 8 and reopened on Oct. 13.
“When we went back, I think 30 years, we hadn’t been closed five days in a row at Busch Gardens, that we could see,” Swanson said, disclosing Milton’s estimated $10 million EBITDA impact.
For Florida theme parks, there is a cost to do business when hurricane season runs alongside the the profitable Halloween season and into the Winter holiday period.
Milton shut down multiple theme parks — including Disney World and Universal Orlando — as it hit the state last month as a Category 3 storm. Milton’s wrath could be felt across much of Florida, with tornadoes, strong winds and damaging storm surge.
Comcast, owner of Universal Orlando, did not release its Milton-related costs last week. The Walt Disney Co. is scheduled to discuss its last earnings on Nov. 14.
For United Parks, attendance would have jumped 3% from July to August had it not been for bad weather — which included Hurricanes Debby and Helene. But instead, third-quarter attendance fell by about 100,000 visitors compared to the same time period in 2023, the company disclosed Thursday.
Analysts asked Swanson about Epic Universe, Universal’s third theme park in Orlando, opening May 22.
Swanson reiterated his previous statements that he isn’t concerned and acknowledged that some days at SeaWorld Orlando might be slower, but the park has long endured the growing competition in Orlando’s theme parks industry.
“We welcome more people to town,” Swanson said.
Swanson added that the company is planning to continue building hotels on open land at its theme parks.
“I’m not sure it’s always fully appreciated by everyone with that land, how much we have and how valuable we believe it is,” Swanson said.
The company is now getting ready for its Christmas festivities to recover from the hurricane and drive attendance. The events start on Nov. 15 at Busch Gardens and Nov. 16 at SeaWorld Orlando.
