SeaWorld Orlando’s Parent Reports Attendance Down 4.7% in Q3 as International Visits Fall
United Parks & Resorts reports company-wide figures for its 13 parks — it does not break out SeaWorld Orlando. Company-wide Q3 attendance fell 4.7% to about 6.5 million as international visitation declined, while pass sales rose almost 8%.
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TOURIST NEWS · SEAWORLD’S PARENT COMPANY
United Parks & Resorts reports company-wide figures for all 13 of its parks. It does not break out SeaWorld Orlando, and no figure in this story is an Orlando-only number.
United Parks & Resorts, the Orlando-based parent of SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica and Discovery Cove, says attendance across its 13 parks fell 4.7 percent in the third quarter to about 6.5 million visits — a decline the company attributes to unfavourable weather, calendar effects, a planned pullback in promotional admissions, and, notably for this region, a decline in international visitation.
The quarter, in the company’s numbers
Third-quarter revenue was $506.5 million, down 1.1 percent from the same quarter in 2025, with net income of $80.0 million, down 10.5 percent, and adjusted EBITDA of $205.1 million, down 5.1 percent. Guests spent more once inside: total revenue per capita rose 3.8 percent to $78.29, admission per capita rose 3.4 percent to $40.90, and in-park per capita spending set a record at $37.39, up 4.4 percent.
For the first nine months of the year, company-wide attendance was 15.7 million, down 4.1 percent; revenue was $1,268.1 million, down 1.6 percent; and net income was $109.2 million, down 28.8 percent.
Chief executive Marc Swanson pointed to a deliberate reduction in promotional admissions — more than 100,000 visits — among headwinds the company put at roughly 325,000 visits in the quarter.
Why it matters on International Drive
The international-visitation softness United Parks describes is the same headwind showing up in the region’s airport and visitor data — it is the demand side of the tourism economy that Orange County’s tourist tax, and thousands of I-Drive jobs, depend on. SeaWorld Orlando is one of the corridor’s major employers, and its parent is headquartered here.
The local counter-signal is in the pass base: third-quarter total pass sales rose almost 8 percent, and the company says its 2027-specific pass base was up more than 15 percent as of October 31. Passholders are disproportionately locals — the residents who fill the parks in the shoulder weeks when international and fly-in traffic thins.
Looking ahead, the company’s release lists SEAQuest: Legends of the Deep among its 2027 attractions for SeaWorld Orlando.
More from this desk: the Tourist News hub, our Tourism coverage, and Orange County Tourist Tax: Commissioners Approve More Than $780 Million in Visitor-Funded Projects.
Sources & notes
- United Parks & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: PRKS), third-quarter and first-nine-months 2026 results, PR Newswire, November 5, 2026. All figures are company-wide across the company’s 13 parks; the company does not publish a SeaWorld Orlando breakout, and this story does not present any company figure as an Orlando figure.
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