As Epic Universe draws hype, what's next for Tampa's hometown park?

Yahoo

16 hours ago

As Universal Orlando put the finishing touches on its $7 billion new gate, Epic Universe, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay had an announcement too.
The Tampa theme park and Adventure Island, its accompanying water park, will spend $40 million to fund a new attraction and restaurant, as well as improvements to other eateries, shade, pathways, restrooms and more.
That's an impressive sum of money — until you compare it to what's being spent across Interstate 4, said Robert Niles, founder of Theme Park Insider, an industry publication. Busch Gardens, he said, is going to have to provide what Disney and Universal are not: great deals for locals, who are becoming an increasingly important customer niche.
'It's honestly ridiculous in this industry when you think about it sometimes,' he said. 'Because $40 million is a lot of money. It's just that in the Central Florida theme park industry, $40 million ain't anything anymore. ... If you're in this business and you're saying 'I've got $40 million,' that's like, meh. They found that in the lint trap over at Disney.'
Niles said it was easier 10 years ago for Busch Gardens to lure Central Florida visitors. Families might spend a few days at Disney and Universal, then head west for the beach and a pit stop at Busch Gardens, which boasted larger, more thrilling coasters than its Orlando counterparts.
But with Epic Universe, Universal aims to become a weeklong destination for tourists, set designers and producers said before its opening last month.
Universal is catching up in the coaster department, with new entries Jurassic World VelociCoaster and Stardust Racers. On-site hotel deals and cheaper multi-day tickets are keeping tourists rooted in the park they chose as their primary destination.
'A decade ago, people were saying, 'We're going on vacation to Florida,'' Niles said. 'Now Disney and Universal want a Disney and Universal trip. That's making it really tough on a lot of other attractions around the state that used to be able to ride the coattails.'
United Parks & Resorts, Busch Gardens' parent company, also owns SeaWorld Orlando. The company posted a net loss that has deepened since the same time last year in its most recent earnings report.
Still, there are reasons to remain optimistic about Busch Gardens, experts said. The park has a new president, Jeff Davis, who wants to tout recent investments and offerings. Wild Oasis, a massive, netted kids' play area that rivals Universal's Islands of Adventure's Camp Jurassic, is expected to open soon.
Busch Gardens initially set an opening day of Friday, June 6 for Wild Oasis — just two weeks after Epic Universe launched. But on Thursday, a spokesperson said the opening timeline has been shifted back. It's now unclear when visitors will see the new attraction.
Among regional competitors like Six Flags and Dollywood, Busch Gardens looms large, said Carrissa Baker, an attractions and theme parks professor at University of Central Florida.
In 2023, Busch Gardens was one of the top 20 most-visited theme parks in the United States, according to the global attractions attendance report, which estimates annual metrics. The parks do not release their own numbers.
Busch Gardens netted about 4 million visitors, ranking 13 out of 20, according to the report, just behind SeaWorld Orlando, Knott's Berry Farm in California and Cedar Point in Ohio. Disney and Universal properties in California and Florida dominated the first nine spots.
Busch Gardens fulfills an important role in the industry, Baker said. Most can't afford annual visits to Disney or Universal, where one-day tickets can cost more than $200 per person. A one-day ticket for a weekend day in June would run a Busch Gardens visitor about $75.
Locals can buy a 'fun card,' which offers unlimited visits through 2025, for the same price. Sweet deals for locals are common among regional parks, Baker said.
The goal with those kinds of discounts is to get more money out of local attendees for parking, merchandise and food, Niles said. The strategy works when locals are willing to pull out their wallets each visit — but it falters if residents bring food from home or park off-site. Higher admission prices at Disney and Universal help them avoid relying on in-park spending.
Davis, the new park president, said he's not agonizing over the parks owned by corporate behemoths down the road.
'There's always competition,' Davis said, noting that it's not just from other theme parks but from attractions like the beaches. 'I think the parks that are successful are focusing on themselves.'
But regional parks are locked in a vicious battle over Universal's and Disney's scraps, Niles said. Cedar Point merged with Six Flags last year, and the company is cutting costs by eliminating individual park presidents. Last week, Herschend, owner of Tennessee's Dollywood, acquired Palace Entertainment, upping its portfolio to 49 parks.
Universal and Disney properties all attract at least twice as many visitors as the country's smaller parks. As international travel dips amid global economic uncertainty, the two giants may more aggressively target domestic visitors who would otherwise stick with regional parks, Niles said.
'What we're really heading toward is a further widening of the split between the winners and everybody else,' he said. 'Disney and Universal are gonna get theirs. They're investing huge amounts of money. ... It's everybody else that is now fighting, more viciously than I've seen in a generation, over the rest of the industry.'
So what can Busch Gardens do to stay ahead of the curve?
Wild Oasis is a good start. New attractions tend to inflate attendance numbers for at least six months, Baker said. And enticing the family demographic is key, she said. Busch Gardens' zoo component, plus new additions this summer of capybaras, a giant anteater and squirrel monkeys, already give it a leg up.
Families 'spend more money,' Baker said. 'They form relationships with the park. That means generationally, they come back again and again.'
Counter-marketing the hype surrounding Epic Universe could also help, Niles said. Busch Gardens could try playing into the sibling rivalry between Tampa and Orlando.
What some forget, Visit Tampa Bay CEO Santiago Corrada said, is that Busch Gardens predates Universal and Disney.
Twelve years ago, Busch Gardens was Tampa's premier attraction. Now downtown developments like Water Street and the Tampa Riverwalk give visitors more options.
But Tampa owes a debt to its theme park, which put a once sleepy city on the map, Corrada said.
'I assure you, I will be at Wild Oasis before I go to Epic Universe,' he said.