(Bloomberg)—Comcast Corp.’s Common Parks & Resorts division is planning two new regional developments in Texas and Nevada to capitalize on the rising recognition of out-of-home leisure.
The corporate plans to construct a family-focused resort aimed particularly at youthful youngsters on 97 acres of land it’s acquired within the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas. It’ll embody rides, reveals and a lodge, in addition to character meet and greets tied to the corporate’s library of movie and TV properties, which embody Minions and Shrek.
The corporate additionally introduced plans for a year-round, horror-focused vacation spot in Las Vegas. At 110,000 sq. toes, it will likely be the anchor tenant in a 20-acre enlargement of Area15, an leisure district that opened in Las Vegas in 2020. The placement, close to the town’s well-known Strip and off of the 15 freeway, already consists of themed eating places and leisure points of interest akin to Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, an immersive artwork expertise.
Common has lengthy supplied seasonal Halloween Horror Nights that appeal to younger adults to its theme parks within the fall. The corporate’s film studio was residence to movies primarily based on basic characters like Frankenstein and Dracula. Extra lately it has carved out a distinct segment working with a brand new era of horror-film producers and administrators akin to Jason Blum, Jordan Peele and James Wan. Content material from each historic and upcoming movies can be featured within the Las Vegas property.
“Horror is not only for Halloween anymore at Common,” Mark Woodbury, chairman of the corporate’s resorts unit, stated in an interview.
Common declined to share the associated fee or projected opening dates for both challenge. The 2 smaller developments are a brand new market section for the corporate, which like its archrival Walt Disney Co., has traditionally targeted on giant vacation spot resorts. Extra cities, each within the US and internationally, may very well be coming.
The theme-park enterprise has been booming lately, as US shoppers return to home resorts with pandemic considerations easing. Park operators have raised ticket costs and utilized know-how akin to on-line ordering to scale back prices. Comcast reported probably the most worthwhile quarter ever at its theme-park unit in October, with earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $819 million on gross sales of $2.06 billion.
The Philadelphia-based cable TV big has been investing closely in its resorts division, which incorporates theme parks in Florida, California, China, Singapore and Japan. A Nintendo-themed land opens subsequent month at its Common Studios Hollywood park in Los Angeles. The corporate can also be constructing a wholly new theme park in Orlando, Florida, a multi-billion-dollar resort referred to as Common’s Epic Universe that’s scheduled to open in 2025.
To contact the creator of this story: Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at [email protected]
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