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Universal’s Islands of Adventure wins Theme Park Insider – best theme park award

Orlando theme parks fared very well in this year’s Theme Park Insider Awards, scoring victories in three of the four categories.

For the second consecutive year, Universal’s Islands of Adventure won best theme park.

Star Tours at Disney’s Hollywood Studios was named best new attraction.

Epcot’s Bistro de Paris earned the best theme park restaurant for the second year in a row.

The Theme Park Insider Awards are based on average reader ratings on www.themeparkinsider.com over the past 12 months.

No doubt Wizarding World of Harry Potter contributed to IOA getting top reviews.

Busch Gardens in Tampa was a runner-up for best theme park. Cheetah Hunt, the new coaster at Busch Gardens, fell just short of the best new attraction prize.

In the restaurant category, multiple winner Mythos at Islands of Adventure, and Epcot’s Via Napoli were runners-up.

Universal’s Portofino Bay and Disney World’s Beach Club Resort were voted runners-up in the hotel division by the website’s readers.

Yet another reason we love Orlando!

Enjoy!

Bill Cowie

Universal Orlando earned a company record $92 million in profit last year, more than twice what it made the previous year, the parent company reported Friday.

In advance of its fourth-quarter 2007 earnings report, which is to be filed next month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Universal City Development Partners also announced that combined total attendance for its Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure theme parks was up 3 percent in 2007.

The company reported that Universal’s per-capita spending by visitors was up 6 percent last year compared with 2006. In addition to the theme parks, Universal Orlando operates the CityWalk entertainment district and is the site for three resort hotels.

For the previous year, 2006, the company had reported profit of about $42 million, combined paid attendance of 10.5 million and a total turnstile count of 11.2 million.

A 3 percent gate boost for 2007 would make it the first year since 2004 that the parks had an annual attendance increase.

In November, Universal reported that summer crowds in the third quarter were strong enough to overcome slight attendance declines that the parks had sustained during the first half of the year. That pushed Universal’s annual attendance, through the first nine months, 2 percent ahead of the 2006 pace. So Universal apparently posted an attendance gain in the fourth quarter, too, to achieve a final, 3 percent annual increase.