Disney Scrambles With Park Discounts As Most Magical Place On Earth Has New Location

Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando will begin offering ticket discounts from late May through September 20, as the upcoming launch of Universal’s Epic Universe next month is expected to draw families away from Disney.

Disney’s website offers half-price tickets for three-day or longer passes for kids ages 3 to 9 from May 27 to September 20.

The promotion comes ahead of the launch of Epic Universe on May 22—a $7 billion Orlando theme park featuring franchises like Harry Potter, Nintendo video games, and Universal’s movie monsters. The new attraction will draw traffic away from Disney’s theme parks, hence the promotion for kids. 

A recent JPMorgan note to clients forecasted a 1% drop in attendance at Disney’s Orlando theme parks this year, citing the impact of Epic Universe’s launch next month. 

The Most Magical Magical Place on Earth has a new location. The amazing team at @UniversalORL invited us to experience their newest park, #EpicUniverse, and without doubt, they just changed the theme park industry forever. With Epic Universe, the creative masterminds at Universal… pic.twitter.com/RNMG7of8gq

— Variant (@variantcomics) April 9, 2025

Combined with the launch of Epic Universe—which is expected to pressure Disney’s attendance—another factor that could accelerate the slowdown is the mounting recession risks and the growth downgrades Wall Street banks are now issuing as the trade war with China deepens.

“We think there is a high chance that we continue to push toward full recession pricing, which would imply weaker equities, wider credit spreads, a deeper Fed cutting cycle and higher longer-dated equity volatility,” Goldman analysts Dominic Wilson and Vickie Chang wrote in a note on Tuesday. 

This economic uncertainty may force consumers to reassess or scale back travel plans this summer, especially given that a family of four should expect to spend anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 for a week at the theme park.

The live-action remake of Snow White, which bombed movie theaters nationwide, also will not help Disney ahead of the summer.

Disney shares trade around the $81 handle – or Covid lows. 

Bloomberg data shows the average Wall Street Consensus Rating is around 72.5% “Buys,” 25% “Holds,” and 2.5% “Sells,” with an average 12-month price target of $125. 

This won’t help Disney… 

Foreign Travelers Boycott USA After Tariff War Erupts https://t.co/qN7xjbqYxB

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 9, 2025

Epic Universe is set to eat Disney’s lunch this summer. If Disney hopes to win back some of its lost audience, it may need more than just discounts—it might need to rethink its toxic woke strategy completely.