2017 TEA Theme Park Attendance report

[rteetz]

https://www.wdwmagic.com/other/walt...al-attractions-attendance-report-for-2017.htm

Big jump for Animal Kingdom with Pandora opening.

Theme Park Groups Worldwide

• Walt Disney Attractions +6.8% 150,014,000
• Merlin Entertainment Group +7.8% 66,000,000
• Universal Parks and Resorts +4.4% 49,458,000
• Six Flags Inc. +2.3% 30,789,000
• Seaworld Parks and Entertainment -5.5% 20,800,000

Top Theme Parks Worldwide
1. Magic Kingdom +.3% 20,450,000
2. Disneyland +2.0% 18,300,000
3. Tokyo Disneyland +.4% 16,600,000
4. Universal Studios Japan +3.0% 14,935,000
5. Tokyo DisneySea +.3% 13,500,000
6. Animal Kingdom +15.3% 12,500,000
7. Epcot +4.2% 12,200,000
8. Shanghai Disneyland +96.4% 11,000,000
9. Hollywood Studios -0.5% 10,722,000
10. Universal Studios Orlando +2.0% 10,198,000
11. Chimelong Ocean Kingdom +15.5% 9,788,000
12. Disneyland Paris +15.0% 9,660,000
13. California Adventure +3.0% 9,574,000
14. Islands of Adventure +2.0% 5,549,000
15. Universal Studios Hollywood +12.0% 9,056,000
18. Hong Kong Disneyland +1.6% 6,200,000
22. Walt Disney Studios Paris +4.6% 5,200,000
25. Universal Singapore +2.9% 4,220,000

Top Water Parks Worldwide
1. Chimelong Water Park +6.0% 2,690,000
2. Typhoon Lagoon -5.0% 2,163,000
4. Blizzard Beach -7.0% 1,945,000
6. Volcano Bay NEW 1,500,000

The TEA forecasts that by 2020 China will be the largest theme park market in the world.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

And in total the 4 main WDW parks increased by 4% to 55,872,000 - so looks like Pandora did help increase total visitors, not just shift the same number away from the other parks

Interesting that AK had a higher total than EPCOT and also that DHS only lost 0.5% ... should see that reverse this year with Toy Story Land opening and if the others stay flat I think Disney would be quite happy


Also see both Disney Water parks went down a bit - I assume some (at least) shifting to checking out Volcano Bay. Both Disney water parks still had nearly double that of Volcano Bay, though Volcano Bay only opened in May, so extrapolating that out would put it pretty even with the others

 

[tlmadden73]

Wow . .definitely shows how much a "new land" with only two new rides can draw guests to an attraction-lite park. That is a huge boost for AK considering it still has very few attractions (rides and shows). I guess the nighttime hours and night shows helped that boost too.

I doubt the boost to DHS will be that big even with Toy Story Land ..at least until SWGE opens.

I imagine Epcot will be the park to be skipped/avoided for the next few years.

 

[Tigger's ally]

The amazing number there to me is Hollywood studios only showing a .5 drop. 2017 was quite frankly a horrible time to visit there IMO. Was at the world twice during 2017 and spent a grand total of maybe two hours at HS. Tells me that Disney planners were downright genius to come up with the firework show for that park.

 

[rteetz]

Wow . .definitely shows how much a "new land" with only two new rides can draw guests to an attraction-lite park. That is a huge boost for AK considering it still has very few attractions (rides and shows). I guess the nighttime hours and night shows helped that boost too.

I doubt the boost to DHS will be that big even with Toy Story Land ..at least until SWGE opens.

I imagine Epcot will be the park to be skipped/avoided for the next few years.

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if Epcot falls to fourth in terms of WDW parks in the next couple years before attractions open there.

 

[BigRed98]

I’m surprised that Hollywood Studios beat out Universal Studios Orlando. It’s by a slim margin but still.

 

[rteetz]

The amazing number there to me is Hollywood studios only showing a .5 drop. 2017 was quite frankly a horrible time to visit there IMO. Was at the world twice during 2017 and spent a grand total of maybe two hours at HS. Tells me that Disney planners were downright genius to come up with the firework show for that park.

That and other entertainment such as the holiday stuff to draw people in.

 

[tlmadden73]

I’m surprised that Hollywood Studios beat out Universal Studios Orlando. It’s by a slim margin but still.

Even without a lot of rides, it still had a lot to do, especially for newcomers who were already going on a Disney vacation and didn't know better. DHS has gotten a lot of traffic just from "we have Star Wars stuff" they did well to limp the park along when they probably SHOULD have given a free hopper to/from Epcot with your entry due to the severe lack of stuff to do there.

I went to DHS in 2017, just for the Star Wars stuff (Launch Bay) because we missed it in 2015. But, for us, the Launch Bay, Meet and Greets, Stormtrooper march and Star Wars stage show was enough "new" stuff -- even though it wasn't a "ride" attraction. But if you weren't a Star Wars fan, not much to do there.

It definitely will be a more "full" day park with Toy Story Land, though that is sorta "forced" by the "Choose only 1" of the land's attractions, but I think we all have our doubts it will be the draw that Pandora was.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if Epcot falls to fourth in terms of WDW parks in the next couple years before attractions open there.

my first reaction was "no way - EPCOT is so big, can handle more people, the festivals, etc." ... but currently DHS is only ~1.5m behind EPCOT and Pandora made AK's attendance jump by 1.65m - so you gotta figure Toy Story Land and (especially) Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge will bring in at least as much if not more

My guess is the gap is largely closed by end of 2019 and then in 2020 DHS goes way past it, and then in 2021 it gets back to closer to even

 

[Hoodie]

I'm a little surprised that DHS held its own. We went twice in 2017 and managed all of DHS in 5 hours - including a sit down meal. Didn't even bother the second trip. It is home of the Star Wars stuff which is probably the only reason it stayed somewhat steady. I think if Galaxy's Edge wasn't scheduled to open so shortly after Toy Story Land, TSL would have a bigger impact. As it stands, while I expect it will definitely increase attendance, I think a lot of people won't do a "TSL" trip. They'll wait a year or so for a TSL/SW:GE trip.

 

[rteetz]

my first reaction was "no way - EPCOT is so big, can handle more people, the festivals, etc." ... but currently DHS is only ~1.5m behind EPCOT and Pandora made AK's attendance jump by 1.65m - so you gotta figure Toy Story Land and (especially) Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge will bring in at least as much if not more

My guess is the gap is largely closed by end of 2019 and then in 2020 DHS goes way past it, and then in 2021 it gets back to closer to even

Star Wars should no doubt bring in a 20% or likely larger increase as people are already planning for it. That will likely increase attendance for the property overall. We also have to look at the fact that 2019 won't have a full year of Star Wars so we will only see a smaller increase in 2019 vs. 2020 where we should see the largest increase. Much like Shanghai had only 5,000,000 in 2016 since it opened in the middle of the year and then in 2017 it had 11,000,000.

 

[rteetz]

I'm a little surprised that DHS held its own. We went twice in 2017 and managed all of DHS in 5 hours - including a sit down meal. Didn't even bother the second trip. It is home of the Star Wars stuff which is probably the only reason it stayed somewhat steady. I think if Galaxy's Edge wasn't scheduled to open so shortly after Toy Story Land, TSL would have a bigger impact. As it stands, while I expect it will definitely increase attendance, I think a lot of people won't do a "TSL" trip. They'll wait a year or so for a TSL/SW:GE trip.

I think part of that is due to park hopping and people already being on property for things like Pandora. Guests thinking oh why not go spend a bit of time at DHS while we are here.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Star Wars should no doubt bring in a 20% or likely larger increase as people are already planning for it. That will likely increase attendance for the property overall. We also have to look at the fact that 2019 won't have a full year of Star Wars so we will only see a smaller increase in 2019 vs. 2020 where we should see the largest increase. Much like Shanghai had only 5,000,000 in 2016 since it opened in the middle of the year and then in 2017 it had 11,000,000.

yeah, this why I figure by end of 2019 they would only catch up to EPCOT as you have a full year of Toy Story and then a few months (maybe) of Star Wars, and then in 2020 it blows past EPCOT

 

[rteetz]

yeah, this why I figure by end of 2019 they would only catch up to EPCOT as you have a full year of Toy Story and then a few months (maybe) of Star Wars, and then in 2020 it blows past EPCOT

One thing is for sure WDW attendance won't be dropping over the next couple years.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

I am most surprised with Epcot's numbers being just behind AK's... especially with the number of attractions that are in need of rehab or have been closed. things like U of E, Journey into Imagination, Wonders of Life, and Innoventions being pretty empty. I would have thought people would have transferred more of their time at Epcot and DHS to AK... We certainly did on our last trip, but we have always been big AK fans.

 

[rteetz]

I am most surprised with Epcot's numbers being just behind AK's... especially with the number of attractions that are in need of rehab or have been closed. things like U of E, Journey into Imagination, Wonders of Life, and Innoventions being pretty empty. I would have thought people would have transferred more of their time at Epcot and DHS to AK... We certainly did on our last trip, but we have always been big AK fans.

The festivals really help Epcot attendance.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

One thing is for sure WDW attendance won't be dropping over the next couple years.

I know - I see a lot of posts on like Facebook about, "when should I go if I want to avoid the crowds from Star Wars Land opening?" .... and there really is not time. Maybe late 2020/early 2021 before Tron or Guardians opens

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I am most surprised with Epcot's numbers being just behind AK's... especially with the number of attractions that are in need of rehab or have been closed. things like U of E, Journey into Imagination, Wonders of Life, and Innoventions being pretty empty. I would have thought people would have transferred more of their time at Epcot and DHS to AK... We certainly did on our last trip, but we have always been big AK fans.

The festivals really help Epcot attendance.

I know due to dining (even without festivals) we often find ourselves doing 2 days at EPCOT ... and even while I have defended DHS as still being a full day park, it's only a 1 day part to us

 

[rteetz]

I know - I see a lot of posts on like Facebook about, "when should I go if I want to avoid the crowds from Star Wars Land opening?" .... and there really is not time. Maybe late 2020/early 2021 before Tron or Guardians opens

Guardians should be opening in that timeframe so like you said there is no good time.

 

[NatureBoyChris]

One thing is for sure WDW attendance won't be dropping over the next couple years.

That's the truth. Unless we see a downturn in the economy.