Were you one of the 157.3 million people who visited a Disney theme park during 2018? Even if you weren’t, that number scares you, right? When you visit the park, you don’t want to feel lost in the shuffle or trapped in a crowd.
You may wonder how big those crowds will be. I’m going to do some math today to reveal what the average day is like at Disney theme parks around the world. It’ll help you appreciate the disparity in park traffic at various locations and also hopefully demonstrate how remarkable cast member customer service is. Here’s what the average attendance is at Disney theme parks around the world.
Walt Disney World
Image: DisneyThe Themed Entertainment Association suggests that 58.3 million guests visited Walt Disney World in calendar 2018. Stating the situation differently, 99 million guests attended all other Disney theme parks while 58.3 million went straight to the Most Magical Place on Earth.
With all due respect to Disneyland, from a park traffic perspective, it’s clear where the capitol of the Disney empire is. How does the split break down among the four parks? Read on…
Magic Kingdom
Image: DisneyI don’t know enough superlatives to hurl them at Magic Kingdom. The park is worthy of any that you know, though. It’s THE dominant theme park in the world, claiming annual attendance of 20.859 million. No other place on the planet gained more than 18.666 million during 2018. Friends, when you’re almost 12 percent ahead of your next competitor, you’re not in a serious competition.
The downside for you as a theme park tourist is that Magic Kingdom’s usually teeming with bodies. The park averages daily attendance of 57,148. As a point of comparison, the 2020 Olympics are in Tokyo, and the host stadium for the opening and closing night ceremonies is National Olympic Stadium, which is currently being rebuilt.
The original version of this facility could hold 57,343, which means that it could host every Magic Kingdom guest on an average day…but not an above-average one.
Despite the vast swaths of park traffic, the smart hub-and-spoke park design mostly keeps the crowds manageable. Only on the busiest days will you feel like Magic Kingdom is mobbed.
Epcot
Image: DisneyBefore the opening of Pandora – The World of Avatar, Epcot was the second-most crowded gate at Walt Disney World. Even though it’s slipped to third, attendance has increased by more than one million annual guests over the past five years.
On a given day, you’re likely to find 34,093 guests at Epcot. It’s the seventh-most trafficked theme park on planet Earth, yet the difference is 23,250 daily visits less than Magic Kingdom. To put that into perspective, that gap is roughly 8.48 million annual visits, which is almost as much as the 15th most popular theme park on the planet receives annually. Magic Kingdom is dominant, my friends.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Image: DisneyHere’s the analysis that will seem dated in a year. Hollywood Studios is currently the least visited gate at Walt Disney World. Its 2018 attendance of 11.258 million represents “only” 30,848 daily visits. Somehow, this park is both the ninth-most popular one on the planet but the worst performer at Disney’s Orlando campus.
When next year’s numbers get released, the stats will jump dramatically. I’ve already hinted at the Pandora Effect at Walt Disney World. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will be like that, only magnitudes of higher more. By calendar 2020, there’s a real chance that Epcot is the least crowded Disney theme park.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Image: DisneyFor many years, the difference in daily traffic at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios was negligible. The two parks finished within 100,000 of one another in annual theme park attendance from 2010-2016. That’s like 274 people per day!
What changed? You already know the answer. It’s the Pandora Effect. The unprecedented immersion at this themed land boosted demand at Animal Kingdom in a way that had never happened before at a Disney theme park.
In 2016, Animal Kingdom averaged 29,709 daily visits. That total increased to 34,247 in 2017, a time when I should point out that Avatar wasn’t open the entire year.
2018 represents the first full year of operation at Pandora. During this timeframe, Animal Kingdom attendance surged to 37,671. Yes, 7,962 more theme park tourists visit Animal Kingdom today because of The World of Avatar. It’s single-handedly responsible for the park’s 26.8 percent attendance boost.
Those of you who prefer an emptier park should feel quite bitter about this. Animal Kingdom’s easily the most spacious of the four Walt Disney World gates. Combined with its low traffic through the middle of 2017, it was an ideal place to visit before Pandora. Now, it’s the second-most popular theme park in Orlando…and sixth in the world!
Disneyland Resort
Image: DisneyWhen Disney planned to make a bigger Disneyland, they couldn’t have possibly predicted how the situation would unfold. Then-CEO Michael Eisner cut too many corners along the way, causing guests to vent repeatedly about the lackluster quality of the new themed land. Almost 20 years later, the situation hasn’t changed much, as you’re about to see.
Disneyland
Image: DisneyI previously mentioned the gap between Magic Kingdom and the second-most-popular theme park in the world. What I didn’t say at the time was that the other place is Disneyland.
Yes, the original theme park is still wildly popular. The trade-off is that Walt Disney famously couldn’t buy all of the land that he wanted, causing the Happiest Place on Earth to feel a lot more crowded.
On a daily basis, you’ll find an average of 51,140 guests at Disneyland. While Magic Kingdom receives more daily traffic, guests have 27 more acres of space. In terms of population per acre, Magic Kingdom’s at 534 people. Disneyland’s not much better at 602 guests per acre. So, both are wildly popular and extremely crowded.
Disney California Adventure
Image: DisneyThe situation is embarrassingly different at Disney California Adventure. Locals comprise the majority of park guests at Disneyland Resort, and they clearly favor one gate over the other.
During 2018, only 9.843 million guests walked through the turnstiles at DCA. Only 27,016 guests visit DCA on an average day. That’s barely half of Disneyland, a fantastic stat given the fact that the two gates share an entrance area.
This gap speaks to the disparity that I mentioned earlier. Disney fans know which park was the first and maybe still the best, just like they know which one was a cynical cash-grab attempt.
International theme parks
Image: DisneyThe global numbers follow a similar trend. The first gate at a Disney park always does better than its successors, even when they’re better.
Tokyo Disney Resort
Image: DisneyThe best example is at Tokyo Disney Resort, home to the third- and four-most popular theme parks in the world. Even though many theme park analysts believe that Tokyo DisneySea is possibly the most fabulous place in the world, its traffic falls behind its predecessor.
Tokyo Disneyland earned 17.907 million visits in 2018, a number approaching Disneyland’s. That total averages to 49,060 daily guests. Tokyo DisneySea’s numbers are 14.651 million or 40,140 daily. Yes, almost 9,000 more guests visit Tokyo Disneyland even though the consensus opinion is that Tokyo DisneySea is better.
Disneyland Paris
Image: DisneyThe Disneyland model applies to its namesake theme park in France as well. As you’re about to see, one gate is night-and-day more popular than the other.
Disneyland Park
Image: DisneyFor all of the negative headlines written about it over the years, Disneyland Park is the most successful paid tourist destination in Europe, a continent that’s kind of known for its marvelous travel options.
In 2018, 9.843 million guests entered Disneyland Park, an average of 26,967 daily visitors. So, it’s almost identical to Disney California Adventure in attendance, separated by only 18,000 guests for the entire year or less than 50 per day!
Walt Disney Studios Park, on the other hand, is the worst performer out of all Disney theme parks. Only 5.298 million guests visited this gate during 2018. That’s a paltry 14,515 in daily attendance. If you want an empty Disney theme park, here’s the place to go!
Walt Disney Studios Park does so poorly that it barely cracks the top 25 theme parks in the world, finishing in an un-Disney-like 23rd. It earns only 53.8 percent of the traffic of Disneyland Park, a similar split to the 52.8 percent gap at DCA/Disneyland in California.
Disney fans will not abide a lesser theme park, my friends. And this factoid explains why both DCA and Walt Disney Studios Park will get more rides based on Disney intellectual property in coming years.
China
Image: DisneyThe two Chinese Disney parks are in the purest form of competition with one another. The cities of Hong Kong and Shanghai aren’t the best of friends, and each one wants bragging rights about its park. Alas, this one’s a blowout.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Image: DisneyThis park debuted all the way back in 2005. At the time, it was an impressive endeavor that required a business relationship between Disney and the city of Hong Kong, the latter of which is technically the co-owner of the park.
The problem is that Michael Eisner still had influence during the construction, and he pulled a DCA here. Hong Kong Disneyland (HKD) cut corners across the board, straight down to its castle. They’re actually remodeling it as we speak because Shanghai Disneyland’s is better. That’s not a joke.
Due to the lackluster quality of this park, its attendance has been a flat line for years now. During 2006, its first full year of operation, HKD claimed attendance of 5.2 million. For 2016, the number was 6.1 million, which isn’t the trend-line that anybody wants.
During 2018, HKD earned 6.7 million visits. That’s less than either 2014 or 2015 and tied with 2013. Suffice to say that Disney’s Chinese fans feel like the repeat value at HKD is questionable. Still, that’s an average of 18,356 guests per day, which isn’t bad. It’s just not…
Shanghai Disneyland
Image: DisneyWhile you may feel like you’ve been hearing about Tron Lightcycle Power Run and the Shanghai version of Pirates of the Caribbean forever now, 2017 marked the park’s first full year of operation.
During the part of 2016 that it was open, Shanghai Disneyland earned a stellar 5.6 million guests and then 11 million during 2017. Its 2018 total was even better at 11.8 million, which is an average of 32,329 guests. You can imagine how much they rub that in Hong Kong’s nose.
Overall, Shanghai Disneyland is already the eighth-most trafficked theme park in the world, slotting conveniently between Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Overall, Disney claims eight out of the top nine theme parks in terms of attendance, and so Universal Studios Japan should feel extremely good about its fifth-place position.
To a larger point about all of these stats, I want you to think about the magic of Disney. Even though it dominates the theme park industry in a rare and profound way, cast members somehow make you feel like you’re the only customer in the world that matters to them. It’s a remarkable testament to the greatness of Disney customer service (and company training policies).
