Originally Posted By dshyates From The Orlando Sentinel: "Harry Potter's magic shows no signs off wearing off at Universal Orlando. Universal announced Friday that attendance soared 68 percent during the first three months of the year — the biggest increase yet in a series of record attendance gains the resort has reported since opening its wildly popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter last June. The big crowds fueled a dramatic financial rebound for Orlando's No. 2 theme-park resort, which posted a $45.8 million profit for the quarter — after losing $36.4 million a year ago. "We are very happy with how our year has started, and we are going to work to maintain that momentum as we move forward," Universal Orlando President Bill Davis said in a prepared statement. "We continue to see excitement for everything we offer — from attraction experiences to special events, such as Mardi Gras." Combined attendance between Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure — home to Wizarding World — rose by 1.1 million visitors for the January-through-March quarter, from 1.7 million a year earlier to 2.8 million. Those visitors continued to spend richly on mugs of butterbeer, magic wands and other Potter-themed food and souvenirs: Universal said per-capita guest spending jumped 17 percent during the quarter compared with the same period last year. Ticket sales rose 85 percent to $159.3 million. Food-and-beverage sales leapt 104 percent to $33.6 million. And merchandise sales skyrocketed 156 percent to $42.7 million. Universal's total revenue nearly doubled for the quarter, to $309 million. The results benefitted from a quirk in Universal's fiscal calendar that gave this year's first quarter three more days than last year's first quarter had. The turnaround comes as executives at Comcast Corp. negotiate a possible purchase of the resort. The Philadelphia-based cable-TV giant, which earlier this year acquired Universal co-owner NBCUniversal, has until next month to decide on an opportunity to buy the other half of the resort from the private-equity firm Blackstone Group." <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-universal-orlando-earnings-20110513,0,7688564.story" target="_blank">http://www.orlandosentinel.com...64.story</a>
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>> rose by 1.1 million visitors for the January-through-March quarter, from 1.7 million a year earlier to 2.8 million.<<< I never realised Universal's attendance was so low. This is a misprint right? It's per quarter, or did they really only get 1.7m visiters per annum before the WWoHP? Europa Park closes seasonly and they pull 4m a year, and DLP often does about 12m per year (and yet people call it a failure - rolls eyes). But still, not bad gains at all.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<I never realised Universal's attendance was so low. This is a misprint right? It's per quarter, or did they really only get 1.7m visiters per annum before the WWoHP?>> This is quarterly attendance.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Thought it might be. Very cool (though still surprisingly lower than I would have thought).
