Universal Destinations & Experiences

The company, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, operates Universal theme parks and resort properties around the world. Universal Destinations & Experiences is widely known for its wide range of attractions, themed lands, and other experiences that draw inspiration from popular classic and modern pop culture icons and intellectual properties in various media, both from NBCUniversal and third-party companies across all Universal parks.


It started as a touring attraction in the 1910s at the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City near Los Angeles, California, and in 1964 turned into a Universal Studios Hollywood theme park destination, where guests can look behind the scenes of motion pictures and television programs, produced by Universal Pictures and occasionally others, and ride the attraction based on the world's favorite feature films and television shows. The popularity of Universal Studios Hollywood had led Universal to build parks in Florida and overseas.


In 2017, approximately 49,458,000 guests visited Universal Studios theme parks, making it the third-largest amusement park operator in the world.^[6] It is a major competitor of Cedar Fair, Disney Experiences, Six Flags, United Parks & Resorts, LEGOLAND, Herschend Family Entertainment, Parques Reunidos/Palace Entertainment, and Merlin Entertainments. In August 2020, a report released by Deutsche Bank revealed that Universal Orlando had surpassed Walt Disney World in total attendance in the first months after both resorts reopened during the global COVID-19 pandemic. This came after Universal reopened its parks in June 2020 and Walt Disney World reopened in July 2020 with capacity modifications, according to the report.^[7]


On March 8, 2023, Universal Parks and Resorts CEO Mark Woodbury announced that they would be rebranding the division to "Universal Destinations and Experiences".^[8]