“How excessive is up?”
When Mark Woodbury grew to become Common’s theme park chief in 2022, he pressed his lieutenants to reply that query. The previous architect was not referring to a curler coaster incline.
Common’s parks had already change into a shock development engine for NBCUniversal, however Mr. Woodbury noticed an excellent larger alternative to raise the enterprise firmly out of Disney’s shadow. “How will we change into the vacation spot of selection in every of the markets that we function in and in the entire markets that we select to increase into?” he stated in a current interview.
Mr. Woodbury, 67, is beginning to unveil the solutions.
This week, Common unveiled theming for a brand new park in Texas aimed toward households and a gap date for an attraction in Nevada centered on horror followers. These come on prime of an enlargement in Los Angeles and an enormous theme park growth in Orlando, Fla., that may open this spring. It’s contemplating “Depraved” points of interest and a major park for Britain, too.
Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, has not disclosed budgets for the initiatives, however analysts say the Orlando venture alone price roughly $7 billion.
As companies, theme parks include quite a few dangers. They’re weak to swings within the financial system. Customer security is a continuing battle. Points of interest require expensive maintenance. Escalating labor prices threaten margins.
However these challenges are outweighed by the potential for added revenue, Comcast has determined. “I couldn’t be prouder of the trajectory and development technique,” Mike Cavanagh, Comcast’s president, stated in an e-mail.
A few of the initiatives are designed to carry Common-style thrills to audiences in new markets. On Wednesday, the corporate introduced {that a} year-round attraction known as Common Horror Unleashed will open in Las Vegas in August, with tickets priced from $59 to $149. The 100,000-square-foot attraction will embody 4 haunted homes pegged to motion pictures like “The Texas Chainsaw Bloodbath” and “The Exorcist: Believer.” It can additionally serve alcohol.
On Friday, Common introduced that its first Common Children Resort — centered on kids ages 3 to eight and below building close to Dallas — would supply rides and play areas themed to film franchises like “Shrek,” “Trolls,” “Minions,” “Puss in Boots” and “Jurassic World.” The 32-acre “starter” park is predicted to open subsequent 12 months.
“We’re going to roll these out throughout the nation and the world,” Mr. Woodbury stated. (They’re comparatively low-cost; Mr. Woodbury stated at a 2023 convention that the primary Horror Unleashed and Common Children Resort would price “a number of hundred million” mixed.)
On April 25, Common Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles will introduce Fan Fest Nights, an evening-hours, individually ticketed occasion constructed round “Star Trek,” “Again to the Future” and Dungeons & Dragons cosplay that runs till Could 18. It represents one other of Mr. Woodbury’s development methods: Discover methods to make older Common parks work more durable. Tickets begin at $74 and attain $373 for a V.I.P. providing.
After which comes Epic Universe, a 750-acre growth in Orlando that features a theme park and three accommodations. When it opens on Could 22, Epic Universe will change into Florida’s first main new park in a technology — and, Common hopes, a property that may reverse a longstanding enterprise dynamic with Walt Disney World to the south. Mr. Woodbury needs households to view the Common Orlando Resort as a weeklong vacation spot and never only a one- or two-day add-on to a Disney trip.
“We would like individuals to think about us first,” he stated. The Common Orlando Resort at present consists of two theme parks (Common Studios Florida and Islands of Journey), a buying and eating district, and a water park known as Volcano Bay.
The park will appeal to roughly 10 million guests in its first full 12 months of operation, in accordance with MoffettNathanson.
Up to now, Epic Universe tickets for most people have been bought solely as multiday packages; the least costly choice for non-Floridians is $352 to $521, with the associated fee fluctuating primarily based on the calendar, and offers one-day entry to Epic Universe and two days on the older parks.
Disney has watched Common’s insurgency with a clenched jaw. In 2014, when the Common parks broadened their focus to households with younger kids — Disney turf — Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief government, questioned whether or not Comcast was critical in regards to the theme park enterprise.
“I feel the jury continues to be out to see simply how a lot they’re keen to speculate and how much creativity they need to spend money on,” Mr. Iger stated on the time.
Within the years that adopted, Comcast spent billions to open a park in China, increase in Japan and add points of interest in Florida.
Extra not too long ago, Disney has dismissed the specter of higher competitors from Common in Florida, contending {that a} rising tide lifts all boats. “The Common guys will achieve a bit little bit of share, however we’ll see extra class development than we see share loss,” Hugh Johnston, Disney’s chief monetary officer, stated at a December convention. “Internet-net, it type of works out OK.”
MoffettNathanson estimated that Epic Universe would siphon one million guests from Disney World from mid-2025 to the top of 2026.
In 2023, the latest 12 months for which attendance numbers have been out there, Common parks attracted about 61 million visitors worldwide, a 70 % enhance from a decade earlier. (Disney parks had 142 million, up 7 %.)
Common’s momentum has come, partly, from nearer collaboration with a company sibling, Common Footage.
In 2023, Common Studios Hollywood opened a significant Mario Bros. attraction in lock step with the discharge of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” by Common Footage. Epic Universe will open in Could with rides themed to the “The best way to Prepare Your Dragon” franchise. Common Footage will launch a big-budget “How to Train Your Dragon” reboot in June.
“We’ve cultivated a artistic and industrial shorthand throughout our groups, and that ease and luxury with each other permits us to tug levers throughout the corporate to amplify our respective methods,” Donna Langley, chairman of NBCUniversal Leisure & Studios, stated.
Mr. Woodbury has still-secret plans for important points of interest themed to “Depraved,” one other Common film. “Once I noticed it, my first response was, ‘This can be a theme park ready to occur,’” he stated.
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