2024 theme park attendance numbers are available and the Magic Kingdom still rules
When It comes to theme park news, getting honest interpretation can be difficult. The competition between Disney World and Universal Orlando has split guests into camps who, somewhat strangely, root against the rival park like they would rival sports teams.
Then there are those driven by political factors who let their beliefs shade their interpretation of the facts. Disney has a slow day and suddenly, the house of mouse is failing. Despite earnings reports that are, to say the least, largely positive, they remain convinced that Disney’s political leanings — or lack thereof — have set the Disney empire upon a castle of sand, just waiting to be washed away in a political tide. Despite earnings reports that are, to say the least, largely positive, they remain convinced that Disney’s political leanings — or lack thereof — have set the Disney empire upon a castle of sand, just waiting to be washed away in a political tide.
What about us here at Hey Orlando? We certainly have our favorites, but we try to view it as Beatles vs Rolling Stones rather than a football rivalry like Tennessee vs Georgia. While a Volunteer would never – or maybe rarely root for a Bulldog – a Beatles fan will certainly listen to the Stones and vice versa. We might prefer one over the other but there is room to love both.
So, when we see attendance numbers like the ones recently released by the Themed Entertainment Association, there’s a natural instinct to wave the flag at Disney’s haters – not legit critics – but haters, and say “nanny, nanny ,boo, boo.” But the right thing to do is look at the numbers and discuss what they mean.
IN THIS ARTICLE
What do the numbers say?
Simply put, Disney remains atop the theme park world with Universal locked in at a strong second.
In 2024, Magic Kingdom in Orlando led all theme parks worldwide with 17.8 million visitors, up .7% from the previous year. Coming in at No. 2? Disneyland with 17.3 million visitors.
Universal Studios Japan, in Osaka is the first non-U.S. park on the list in third place with 16 million visitors followed by Tokyo Disneyland with 15.1 million. Shanghai Disneyland in China rounds out the top five with 14.7 million.
In all, Disney has 9 of the top 15, accounting for 128.7 million guests, which does not include Hong Kong Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris which fall outside the top 15.
Inside the U.S., Disney has the top five parks and six of the top 8.
It’s an impressive showing for an organization that I’ve been consistently told by the internet is going broke.
What do the numbers mean?
Let’s not extrapolate too much. One, they do not yet include Universal Epic Universe which opened in spring of this year. We won’t see Epic’s partial impact until the 2025 numbers are released in 2026, and we won’t know what a full season of Epic Universe looks like until the TEA 2026 numbers are released in the fall of 2027.
However, Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure both saw relatively small step back in visitors year over year. Islands of Adventure saw a 2.65% decrease from 2023 to 2024 with 9.5 million visitors. Universal Studios Florida had a 5.5% drop in attendance to 9,450,000. Is it strange that 50,000 more people went to IOA? I think a little bit since I view them as something of a package deal. But maybe enough people get passes for an odd number of days and don’t visit the two equally.
To what do I attribute Universal’s downtick in attendance? I think it’s mostly the Epic Universe factor. I think some people – roughly 550,000 in Universal Orlando’s case – held back a year so that they could spend their Universal dollars when the new park opened. Not everyone has theme park vacation money every year.
The stranger thing is Universal Studios Hollywood dropped 9.9% year over year. From 9.66 million in 2023 to 8.7 million in 2024. It could be that the Hollywood park’s Super Nintendo World – which opened in early 2023 – provided a boost. Then in 2024, some of that settled back. That’s born out of the fact that 8.4 million visited in 2022.
What does that mean we can expect when we get the 2025 numbers? I think we’ll see significant positive growth in both IOA and Universal Studios Florida, bolstered by guests spending a day or two at Epic and then visiting the other parks. And it’s very likely that many with certain agenda’s will point to Universal significant increase and claim Universal is gaining on Disney but forgetting the previous year’s dip.
It’s a bit like a tide drawing back and surging forward.
Will Universal and Epic Universe catch up with Magic Kingdom?
I will admit that I was a little ignorant about this. I thought – in the days leading up to the opening of Epic Universe – that it might surge into the top of the rankings and challenge Magic Kingdom. Now, I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon.
I – again with some ignorance – thought that Epic would hit the ground running a little bit better, but it appears $7.7 billion doesn’t go as far as it used to. Still, I think Epic has a chance to be the best theme park in Orlando, but I’m not sure it will ever have a chance to catch Magic Kingdom – which has its own massive expansion on the horizon.
When it gets a full year under its belt, Epic will jump into the top 10 and maybe even into the top five. If Epic is averaging roughly 20,000 people a day – which is what I’m seeing estimated online – that amounts to 7.3 million visitors. However, estimates say the park has a theoretical capacity of twice that… I’d hate to see the Harry Potter wait times if the crowds double.
In terms of Universal’s overall Orlando presence vs Disney’s, it’s a little hard to quantify since Disney has the fourth gate and an extra water park, plus so many resorts. Attendance is not going to be a good way to compare the two. You have to go with experience and that’s subjective to each guest.
Is Disney attendance going to be down in 2025?
Maybe? I keep seeing reports that attendance and crowd levels were down through the summer into the fall. However, Disney’s third quarter – ending June 28 – earnings for its domestic parks and experiences were up 22%. It may be that Disney is focusing on a new model – I suspect it is – smaller crowds willing to pay more for a less crowded experience. But I don’t know that a 22% increase comes if you have a significant loss in number of guests. Maybe things have fallen off a cliff since the end of June, but we’ll see.
What about SeaWorld? Are there any other serious players on the theme park scene?
Interestingly, SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Diego finished just outside of the Top 10 at 11th and 12th respectively.
SeaWorld Orlando had 4.3 million guests, a .1% increase year over year. I will be interested to see what Epic Universe does to SeaWorld’s numbers. I don’t think you’re going to see too big a hit for Disney. However, SeaWorld is a little more vulnerable, despite a nice selection of coasters.
In terms of other parks, the California and Florida locations have a significant advantage in that they can be open year-round. Cedar Point, King’s Island and Dollywood are unable to do that. This results in losing out on months of attendance and revenue.
The other big Florida park, Busch Gardens saw a drop in attendance to 3.975 million visitors. It’s possible that Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio – which had a 5% increase to 3.78 million guests surpasses it for 13th place. But we’ll see.
What is the main takeaway from all this?
The theme park world is in a strong position. Driven by competition, park execs are pursuing innovation and improved guest experiences.
But, and this applies to really everything in life, not just theme parks, measured, well-thought response is better than knee jerks and click bait. It is likely at this time next year, you’re going to see a lot of headlines about the charge of Universal and the fall of Disney.
Remember, it’s ok to like them both. You don’t have to be drawn into the horse race aspect of it. In fact, your life will be more enjoyable if you’re not.
