SeaWorld Entertainment on Tuesday warned that attendance at its theme parks plunged within the second quarter — and blamed the summer heat wave for keeping visitors away.
The Orlando Fla.-based company — which has a portfolio that features SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Sesame Place — said 6.1 million guests visited its amusement parks
That’s down from 6.3 million within the previous quarter, which the report attributed to “antagonistic weather,” likely referencing triple-digit temperatures scorching swaths of the country.
The decrease in foot traffic has brought revenues down with it.
SeaWorld Entertainment forecast it’ll usher in between $494 million and $497 million when the corporate releases second-quarter earnings report by Aug. 8.
The estimates mean profits will tank a minimum of $7.8 million in comparison with Q1, when SeaWorld’s parent company enjoyed $504.8 million in revenues.
Once costs are subtracted, the theme park will take home between $85 million and $88 million — down from $116.6 million the previous quarter.
“The decline in net income is primarily because of a rise in interest expense as well as a discount in total revenues,” the preliminary report concluded.
![SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. -- the parent company behind SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Sesame Place -- saw a decrease in foot traffic and revenue in Q2, which it attributed to](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000016188962.jpg?w=1024)
SeaWorld’s stock dipped nearly 2% to $54.43.
Representatives for the corporate declined to comment further on the preliminary earnings report.
Walt Disney Co. — America’s largest theme-park operator — as well as Universal Studios owner Comcast Corp. have also seen wait times get shorter as foot traffic has waned.
At Walt Disney World and Disneyland, visitors have reportedly shied away from the Mouse House’s Orlando, Fla., hub because of exorbitant ticket prices.
In November, Disney jacked up ticket prices to all 4 of its theme parks.
The fee of entering Magic Kingdom nearly doubled, with the bottom price for a one-day ticket in Orlando location running for anywhere between $124 and $189 depending on date and demand.
Epcot’s ticket was hiked to between $114 and $179, while Disney’s Hollywood Studios costs $124 to $179. Disney’s Animal Kingdom was the one park to maintain its current price range at $109 to $159.
Three of Disney World’s annual passes — the Incredi-Pass, Sorcerer and Pirate — also got a price increase amid surging demand.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has pushed back on reports of worrisome drops in Disney World’s attendance, claiming that foot traffic is down because of adverse comparisons with 2020, when Florida’s lax COVID restrictions sparked an unusual boom on the theme park.
![A one-day ticket to SeaWorld in Orlando is $99.99 -- less than Disney's single-day tickets, which soar above $100.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000016189136.jpg?w=698)
Similar increases were seen at Disney’s Anaheim, Calif.’s Disneyland, where single-day ticket prices were raised by as much as 10%.
For reference, a one-day ticket to SeaWorld in Orlando — which has seven coasters, a waterpark, zoo and aquarium — costs $99.99.
Meanwhile, a ticket to Busch Gardens in Virginia — SeaWorld Entertainment’s amusement featuring eight roller coasters — is $84.99.
And Pennsylvania’s Sesame Place will cost visitors just $54.99 for someday.