Disney just recently had their 2025 Q1 earnings call and revealed how things have been for the company as a whole going into the first part of the new year.

Magic Kingdom

While there were many questions surrounding future updates to Disney’s Lightning Lanes and how the integration of ESPN into its own streaming service is expected to work, Disney was also asked a question that’s on everyone’s mind. When asked about Universal’s upcoming theme park opening in just a few months, Disney seemed rather positive about its competition down the street and the effects it’s had on attendance in their parks.

During Disney’s Q2 Earnings Call, Disney executives were asked about the impact the neighboring Epic Universe park’s construction and approaching opening date have had on Disney so far.

Walt Disney World entrance

Disney announced several ambitious new plans for its parks during last fall’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, which included several new lands like Monster’s Inc., a ‘Cars’ Land to Frontierland in Magic Kingdom, a complete overhaul of DinoLand U.S.A. in Disney’s Animal Kingdom park to become Pueblo Esperanza and even a villains-themed land for Disney World.

A new attraction themed after the Walt Disney Animation Studios film “Encanto” follows Antonio the day after he received his magical gift – the ability to communicate with animals and is situated in the new Tropical Americas land coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

As excited as we were for these plans at their announcement, we have also been hyper-aware of the construction on Universal’s next park almost right next door. While we’ve been tracking the construction progress on Epic Universe’s lands and rides, the company announced earlier this year that their opening date for the new park would be May 22nd, 2025.

©Universal

This new park will feature 5 key “worlds” themed to popular Universal IP like Universal classic monsters in Dark Universe, How To Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk, Harry Potter and The Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, and Celestial Park.

©Universal

As booming as this construction may seem, and as baited as we’ve been to see this new park once it opens, Disney doesn’t seem to be terribly concerned about Universal’s newest park. In fact, during the earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger commented that Disney “anticipated some small impact for Epic Universe opening,” and went on to explain they “effectively hedged in the guidance we provided.”

Crowds at Magic Kingdom

Disney also went on to explain that bookings are up for the summer! Now, there are a number of factors that could lead to this including Disney World’s latest free dining package promotion that starts this summer, too, but for now, it seems that Epic Universe’s anticipated opening is having a positive effect on Disney World’s attendance thus far. For now, we’ll continue to see what Disney’s strategy remains as we all anticipate Universal Epic Universe’s opening and wait to see if Disney changes things up once that happens.

We’re always reporting on the latest Disney news as it drops so be sure to stay tuned with us at Disney Food Blog for more!

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