We are in the middle of the peak of travel season for the summer, however it seems that U.S theme parks are seriously underperforming what is to be expected from them. Disney are seeing great comments for their crowd management over recent months, however with thinning crowds in recent weeks, some keen eyed investors are wondering if the company went too far with blackout dates for annual plans.

Facing similar problems three states away, Disney World have started selling Multi-day tickets, and heavily discounting three and four day tickets for locals for the remainder of the season in a bid to increase visitor numbers.

Out of Disney fairytales, and into Comcast’s Universal Orlando, where the company are facing their own challenges. A new addition to the park, Hagrid’s magical creature’s motorbike adventure has been an operational nightmare for the park, and has faced significant downtime, almost half of the time since its opening. Comcast is certainly not sitting down and taking the low numbers, and are pulling out all the stops to get locals back to their attraction.

This week the company have eliminated blackout dates for their level three annual passes allowing access to their volcano bay water park, which is usually unavailable to them in the peak season. Comcast are facing the struggle of filling up their parks amid a brutal summer heatwave, which is causing more problems than relief, with guest satisfaction at new lows due to the fact that rides are facing more downtime.

It’s simple to see why Comcast and Disney are trying to increase attendance at their parks this month. Their second quarter financials ended last month, and although both companies saw a boost from the Easter weekend, which more than likely boosted their results. However now the companies both need to focus on keeping those numbers up moving into the third quarter, given that this quarter should be one of the highest numbers wise, as we move through the peak summer months. With both companies offering substantially reduced rates for customers, both companies hope that will be enough to keep investors happy.

Freddy Xiang – IEC International