WDW Theme Park Attendance UP in 2018

BradyBzLyn...Mo · May 22, 2019

Probably not a surprise to regular visitors that went to WDW last year...

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TEA and AECOM Release 2018 Theme Park Attendance Statistics, Magic Kingdom is World’s Most Visited Park

May 22, 2019

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Matthew Soberman

It’s a big day for lovers of attendance figures. The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and AECOM’s Economics practice have released the 2018 Theme Index and Museum Index, featuring the ranking of annual attendance for theme parks worldwide for 2018, and once again, Disney Parks are leading the way.

Walt Disney Attractions were ranked the number one theme park group in terms of attendance, with 157,311,000 visitors worldwide in 2018, a 4.9% increase over 2017. And unsurprisingly, every Disney park was listed in the rankings of the top 25 most visited amusement/theme parks worldwide.

The Magic Kingdom was the world’s most visited theme park in 2018, with 20,859,000 visitors entering its gates in 2018 (a 2.0% increase), while Disney’s Animal Kingdom experienced the biggest growth for a Disney park at 10.0%, bolstered by the first full year of operations of Pandora – The World of Avatar. Elsewhere, Disney’s Hollywood Studios had a growth of 5.0%, thanks to the opening of Toy Story Land. The rest of the rankings for Disney parks were as follows, along with their increase from 2017:

1 – Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort – 20,859,000 visitors (2.0% increase)
2 – Disneyland, Disneyland Resort – 18,666,000 visitors (2.0% increase)
3 – Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Resort – 17,907,000 visitors (7.9% increase)
4 – Tokyo DisneySea, Tokyo Disney Resort – 14,651,000 visitors (8.5% increase)
6 – Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort – 13,750,000 visitors (10.0% increase)
7 – Epcot, Walt Disney World Resort – 12,444,000 visitors (2.0% increase)
8 – Shanghai Disneyland, Shanghai Disney Resort – 11,800,000 (7.3% increase)
9 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World Resort – 11,258,000 (5.0% increase)
12 – Disney California Adventure, Disneyland Resort – 9,861,000 visitors (3.0% increase)
13 – Disneyland Park, Disneyland Paris – 9,843,000 visitors (1.9% increase)
16 – Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort – 6,700,000 visitors (8.1% increase)
23 – Walt Disney Studios Park, Disneyland Paris – 5,298,000 visitors (1.9% increase)

Meanwhile, in the water park rankings, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach continued to hold strong, ranking second and third in the worldwide rankings, respectively. Typhoon Lagoon had 2,271,000 visitors in 2018 (a 5.0% increase over 2018), while Blizzard Beach had 2,003,000 visitors (a 3.0% increase over 2018).

With Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge just days away from opening at Disneyland, and just a few months from opening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, these numbers are likely to increase again in the 2019 report. And with new lands themed to Marvel, Frozen, and Zootopia, and many more new attractions on the horizon at Disney parks around the world, expect to see Disney on top of these rankings for years to come.