The 2018 TEA/AECOM annual attendance report was released this week, and tucked away in the facts and figures are some interesting trends worth paying attention to, especially for fans of Universal Orlando Resort and Walt Disney World.
A quick word on methodology: The statistics cited in the TEA/AECOM report are a combination of self-reported statistics from parks and publicly available financial reports. Though these numbers are great for looking at overall trends, they are no means exact, and are at best, rough estimates of overall attendance at theme parks.
For quick reference, here’s TEA/AECOM’s full list of the top 10 best-attended theme parks in North America in 2018 (as well as percentage change versus 2017)
1 MAGIC KINGDOM Up 2.0% to 20,859,000 from 20,450,000
2 DISNEYLAND PARK Up 2.0% to 18,666,000 from 18,300,000
3 DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM Up 10.0% to 13,750,000 from 12,500,000
4 EPCOT Up 2.0% to 12,444,000 from 12,200,000
5 DISNEY’S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS Up 5.0% to 11,258,000 from 10,722,000
6 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA Up 5.0% to 10,708,000 from 10,198,000
7 DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE Up 3.0% to 9,861,000 from 9,574,000
8 UNIVERSAL’S ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE Up 2.5% to 9,788,000 from 9,549,000
9 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD Up 1.0% to 9,147,000 from 9,056,000
10 SEAWORLD ORLANDO, ORLANDO Up 16.0% to 4,594,000 from 3,962,000
Now, let’s take a deep dive into some of these figures and uncover some interesting trends….
1. Disney’s Animal Kingdom stil riding high on the success of Pandora: The World of Avatar
Image: Disney
Back in 2017 the blockbuster opening of Pandora – The World of Avatar boosted Disney’s Animal Kingdom a massive 15.3% over 2016 and catapulted this park right past Epcot to the #2 spot at Walt Disney World behind the Magic Kingdom. And it looks like this trend continued in 2018, with Disney’s Animal Kingdom still holding the #2 spot in Orlando, growing an additional 10% year over year as guests continued to flood this popular land.
2. Disney’s Hollywood Studios gets a Toy Story Land boost
Image: Disney
It looks like 2018 was a bit of a bounce back year for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, as the park posted a 5% gain last year (after a loss in 2017) likely in large part due to the opening of Toy Story Land last June. Though some have criticized the simplicity and poor upkeep of this land, it looks like this opening helped keep things moving in a positive direction for this park while we’re waiting for the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge later this year.
3. SeaWorld Orlando bounces back in a BIG way
Image: SeaWorld
2017 was a bad year for SeaWorld Orlando, which shed a massive 10% of guests, landing this park outside the top 10 for the first time in over a decade. However, it looks like this park’s ill fortunes are turning around, as SeaWorld Orlando was back in the top 10 in 2018, growing huge 16.0% year over year and attracting 4.6 Million guests over the course of 2018. Hopefully SeaWorld can keep this growth up in the years to come as this park continues to try and bounce back after some really hard years.
4. Universal Studios Florida sees a bump in 2018 while Islands of Adventure (and Universal Studios Hollywood) stay stagnant
Image: Universal Orlando Resort
Though Universal parks have been growing at some really impressive rates thanks to a steady stream of new attractions (as well as the continued popularity of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter), only Universal Studios Florida saw any real growth in 2018, with Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Hollywood essentially staying flat year to year. However, Islands of Adventure is poised to see some big growth in the near future, as the new Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike Adventure is set to open at this park in just a few weeks, and work is continuing on an unannounced Jurassic Park roller coaster, expected to debut in 2020.
This year’s TEA/AECOM theme park attendance report was definitely full of surprises, and we have to say that we were stunned both by the continued growth of Disney’s Animal Kingdom as well as the attendance boost at SeaWorld Orlando. Of course, next year’s attendance report will be even more interesting, as we’ll see how the openings of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios not only boost these parks, but others around them as well!
