Disney, other theme parks could lose millions due to hurricane

The usual dodging around strollers and lollygaggers to get to Cinderella Castle vanished from Magic Kingdom on a sunny afternoon this week.

Instead, it was a straight shot Thursday with no heavy crowds in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

The theme parks will take a financial hit from the hurricane. Disney and Universal Studios declined to comment on their attendance figures or finances, but industry analysts say they expect huge shortfalls.

“They closed the parks and that cost them millions of dollars,” said University of South Carolina assistant professor Scott Smith, who follows the theme park industry.

Disney shut down Sunday and Monday, which included canceling one night of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween and a Christian music event. It was only the sixth time the Orlando resort closed in its nearly 46-year history, according to the company.

Universal Orlando also was closed for two days and shut down a night of a Christian music festival.

Hurricane Matthew — a far less intense storm that did not cause as much damage in 2016 — had a $40 million impact on Disney’s operating income, the company reported when discussing fourth-quarter earnings in November. Then, Disney closed at 5 p.m. on a Thursday and then for all of the following day.

This year, resort hotels were packed, helping offset Irma’s losses dramatically, Smith said.

From Sept. 6-9, the region’s occupancy rate topped 73 percent — a 15 percent jump from the same time period in 2016, according to STR, a Tennessee-based research company.

For every big tourist group who canceled plans or every vacationer who cut a trip short, Irma evacuees came in to take their places, said Becca Bides, a spokeswoman at Visit Orlando, who added some hotels offered discounts.

And now, the parks are open again.

Small mounds of dirt from trees removed by the Haunted Mansion ride provided Thursday some of the only evidence left behind of Irma’s damage at Magic Kingdom.

But several visitors said the parks were less crowded. A popular Magic Kingdom roller coaster that might take more than an hour to ride without a Fastpass required only a 35-minute wait.

The drop-off in attendance could last a week or two as Floridians stay preoccupied with cleaning up debris and focusing on getting back to normal rather than riding roller coasters, said Bob Boyd, a theme-parks analyst at Pacific Asset Management.

For parks such as SeaWorld — which already has struggling attendance — or Legoland Florida, it will be particularly challenging since those parks depend significantly on local visitors, he said.

Special promotions will likely pop up to encourage people to return, Smith said.

Already, SeaWorld offered a “buy one, get one free” deal for Floridians good through Sunday.

Hurricanes can create a more lasting impact, with people perhaps delaying booking trips to Disney and other parks for several months, said Dennis Speigel, an Ohio-based theme-parks consultant.

“It creates a discomfort of leaving your comfort zone and going somewhere else,” he said. “My prediction is Halloween in Florida will be down compared to last year.”

The financial hit could have been significantly worse if the hurricane had not struck during September, a typically sluggish month for family visits before Halloween festivities reach full swing.

New numbers on salestax revenue and official hotel occupancy rates for the region could take several weeks to provide more evidence on how the theme parks fared. Until then, the exact economic impact is difficult to gauge, some said.

Disney, Universal and SeaWorld might disclose more details later to investors in late October and November for their quarterly earnings reports.

Speigel estimated Disney’s shortfall could reach $100 million for Irma.

Investors would likely be forgiving of any losses, considering the hurricane as a one-time event, Boyd said.

“This is a cost of doing business in Florida,” he said.

One of the visitors who decided against canceling her recent trip to Disney World and Universal Studios was bride-to-be Jessica Johnson.

Johnson, a 26-year-old barber from Dallas, worried her flight would not stay on schedule for her bachelorette party.

“I was stressed about it bad,” Johnson said.

Last-minute, she found out her flight was on time and she vacationed Thursday in Magic Kingdom.

Above all, she was thankful a year’s worth of planning for her trip wasn’t in vain. grusson@ orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5470