A report from Themed Entertainment Association and economics practice AECOM reveals attendance numbers for theme parks across the globe in 2015, and Disney continues to dominate. Disney continues to be successful in these reports for a variety of reasons: different destinations across the world, the parks don't target one specific demographic, individual park capacity is expansive, etc. Walt Disney World in Florida is the biggest theme park property for the company, with four theme parks, 2 water parks, several resorts and a newly renovated shopping district. Here are the destination rankings:
Walt Disney Attractions - 137,902,000
Merlin Entertainments Group (Legoland) - 62,900,000
Universal Parks and Resorts - 44,884,000
Oct Parks China - 30,180,000
Six Flags Inc. - 28,557,000
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company - 24,448,000
Chimelong Group - 23,587,000
Fantawild - 23,093,000
Seaworld Parks & Entertainment - 22,471,000
Songcheng Worldwide - 22,338,000
Orlando Parks have been going under extensive amounts of renovations and expansions like Disney's Pandora (Avatar), Star Wars and Toy Story lands, Universal's recent purchase of the Intellectual Property Rights (IP) to Nintendo and Seaworld's development of the Mako rollercoaster.Of the three, Universal saw the biggest spike in attendance at a 11.8% increase. Disney's numbers grew by 2.7% and SeaWorld barely improved-- with a 0.3% increase, possibly still feeling the effects from Blackfish and no longer bringing in new Orcas. As far as individual parks go, Magic Kingdom continues to rise above the competition by ringing in 20.5 million visitors in 2015. Eight Disney destinations placed top ten in this category and all four Florida parks made the top eight. Let's take a look at the numbers:
Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida - 20,492,000
Disneyland, Anaheim, California - 18,278,000
Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo, Japan - 16,600,000
Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan - 13,900,000
Tokyo Disney Sea, Tokyo, Japan - 13,600,000
EPCOT, Walt Disney World, Florida - 11,798,000
Disney's Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida - 10,922,000
Disney's Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World, Florida - 10,828,000
Disneyland Park, Paris, France - 10,360,000
Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida - 9,585,000
Once again, Universal Studios Orlando saw the biggest increase at a rate of 16% in 2015. Despite dropping by 4%, Tokyo Disneyland still did well enough to place third on the list. If you narrow the list down to just U.S. parks, Disney properties hold all of the top 5 spots. As for water parks, both of Disney's unique attractions placed top three on the global list.
Chimelong Water Park, Guangzhou, China - 2,352,000
Typhoon Lagoon, Walt Disney World, Florida - 2,294,000
Blizzard Beach, Walt Disney World, Florida - 2,107,000
Both of Disney's parks saw an identical increase, listed at 5%.
It will be interesting to see how 2016's numbers reflect construction throughout Orlando. The Ultimate I-4 construction project and addition of hotels along the highway will likely play a part in bring even more tourists to the area. With Hollywood Studios undergoing a major refurbishment, those numbers will likely decrease.. but we could see a noticeable improvement at Animal Kingdom where they start their nighttime activities this weekend. As we look even further into the future, Disney will expectedly obliterate all records in 2021 as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Resort. By that time, each park's major expansion will be complete.. driving more traffic than ever.
**These parks do release exact attendance numbers, AECOM uses a formula to estimate the totals.
Check out the full report: AECOM Theme Park Index