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Credit: Edited by Inside the MagicThe Theme Park industry has finally found its never-never land again, according to a recently published study from the Themed Entertainment Association.
After a wild ride of starts and stops throughout the pandemic, the global Theme Park industry in 2021 witnessed a dramatic increase in visitors. That is the good news. The not-so-good information for overall attendance was that it was still well below the global figures for 2019.
What Changed In The Theme Park Industry In 2021?
2021 was a banner year financially for the Theme Park industry despite not being able to eclipse the 2019 mark in visitors. The total attendance of the top 25 amusement parks globally was 141.35 million in 2021, greater than 70% from 2020. One hundred forty million plus people may sound like a ton of Guests. Still, the industry generally likes to see a quarter of a billion people in attendance annually at Theme Parks worldwide to gain a healthy profit.
Theme parks emphasized their local markets to build up a loyal and lucrative base of repeat visitors for 2021. In specific ways, the pandemic strengthened theme parks as regional destinations. It provided Guests with an affordable, nostalgic, and safe outdoor alternative to destinations that didn’t require as much traveling.
Annual membership passes also played a vital role in the industry’s rebound. Almost every central Theme Park took pandemic closures as an opportunity to rethink and re-engineer their approach to season passes.
Some Theme Park firms, such as Six Flags, offered customers steep discounts on their pass program to entice people to return to the parks. On the other hand, The Walt Disney Company completely revamped its Annual Pass program and raised its gate fees in the process. Universal Orlando offered a ticket and passed deals targeting Florida residents to compensate for the lack of international traffic.
The emphasis on Annual Pass sales was very effective. For example, SeaWorld Entertainment saw a 10% drop in general attendance from 2019 to 2021, but their season pass base was only down 3% for the same time frame.
The industry’s dependence on Intellectual Property (IP) has also expanded. Historically was has become a big staple for major Park attractions. IP is emerging in other forms of entertainment like family entertainment centers, waterparks, cafes, and hotels.
Following the successful 2019 debut of the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge-themed area at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts, The Walt Disney Company debuted the Avengers Campus at California Adventure in 2021, with planned campuses opening in Disneyland Paris for 2022 and Disneyland Hong Kong in 2023.
IP is becoming increasingly important in connecting with and creating Theme Park experiences. Consumers have strong connections with IPs that transcend continents.
Super Nintendo World opened at Universal Studios Japan in 2021 to rave reviews and will be replicated at its Hollywood and future Epic Universe parks. The Park also opened the DreamWorks Destination attraction, where Guests can meet and interact with DreamWorks characters. Universal Studios Hollywood opened the Thea-awarded Secret Life of Pets dark ride, which was ready in 2020 but held until more favorable operating conditions. That Park saw a 323% increase over 2020.
The best performer in 2021 appears to be Universal Orlando Resort. Based on the published results, its parks passed three of the Walt Disney World Resort theme parks. It looks like Universal’s success was at the expense of SeaWorld Orlando, which lost share to its fellow theme Park Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, last year.
What Can We Expect From The Amusement Park Industry Moving Forward?
International attendance, a significant contribution to attendance for many amusement parks in the past, has yet to recover fully. Until mid-2022, complicated COVID testing requirements made international travel to many places very difficult, including the United States.
According to Visit Orlando, international traffic made up 9% of visitors in 2019; in 2021, it was just 4%. Not surprisingly, combined domestic and international travel to Orlando in 2021 was at 78% of 2019 levels, which aligns with attendance percentage reporting from central Florida’s theme parks.
International traffic is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2023. However, a strengthening US dollar makes travel more expensive for overseas visitors planning to visit the parks in the United States.
Like many items in the last few years, theme parks have not been immune to inflation. Gate tickets have certainly gone up in price. Despite a smaller number of visitors, the spending per person at Disney Parks in the United States increased by 17%, for example.
It’s now less about how many people amusement Park companies can pack into the parks but how much money each person will spend while there, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Themed Entertainment Association report, many other Theme Park operators also claimed they had seen substantial gains in per-capita spending.
Financial reports indicated dramatic increases in per capita spending at 19 of the top 20 North American parks. The increase was partly due to pent-up demand from Park closures during the pandemic, increased savings from lower travel and entertainment costs during the lockdown, and inflation.
But the parks have also figured out how to increase revenues: they adjusted their pricing, promoted advance ticket sales, and offered new and elevated merchandise and food options. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the Walt Disney World Resort debuted Genie+. This automated app provides personalized itineraries for Guests, effectively replacing the Resort’s free FastPass program with a tiered system that offers a base level of complimentary services and paid premium access for additional benefits.
This trend is probably the most significant from an operational standpoint. Increased spending will generate revenue growth, allowing parks to invest in new attractions and experiences that keep visitors returning. Whether increased spending represents an ongoing evolution in consumer behavior or just a side-effect of recovering from a pandemic might not matter because these parks have weathered the perfect storm and have become savvy at giving Guests what they want.
The Top 25 Theme Parks Based on Attendance
The Themed Entertainment Association also reported its top 25 list of the most attended theme parks in 2021. Below is the list of the complete 25 lists most attended theme parks worldwide:
1. Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort
Location: Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: 12.7 million (+82% from 2020-2021)
- 2020 attendance: 6.9 million
- 2019 attendance: 21 million
2. Disneyland Park
Location: Anaheim, Calif., USA
- 2021 attendance: 8.6 million (+133% from 2020-2021)
- 2020 attendance: 3.7 million
- 2019 attendance: 18.7 million
3. Tokyo Disneyland
Location: Tokyo, Japan
- 2021 attendance: 6.3 million (+51%)
- 2020 attendance: 4.2 million
- 2019 attendance: 17.9 million
4. Tokyo DisneySea
Location: Tokyo, Japan
- 2021 attendance: 5.8 million (+71%)
- 2020 attendance: 3.4 million
- 2019 attendance: 4.7 million
5. Universal Studios Japan
Location: Osaka, Japan
- 2021 attendance: 5.5 million (+12%)
- 2020 attendance: 4.9 million
- 2019 attendance: 14.5 million
6. Disney’s Animal Kingdom At Walt Disney World
Location: Lake Buena Vista, Fla., USA
- 2021 attendance: 7.2 million (+73%)
- 2020 attendance: 4.2 million
- 2019 attendance: 13.9 million
7. EPCOT At Walt Disney World
Location: Lake Buena Vista, Fla., USA
- 2021 attendance: 7.8 million (+92%)
- 2020 attendance: 4 million
- 2019 attendance: 12.4 million
8. Chimelong Ocean Kingdom
Location: Hengqin, China
- 2021 attendance: 7.5 million (+55%)
- 2020 attendance: 4.8 million
- 2019 attendance: 11.7 million
9. Disney’s Hollywood Studios At Walt Disney World
Location: Lake Buena Vista, Fla., USA
- 2021 attendance: 8.6 million (+134%)
- 2020 attendance: 3.7 million
- 2019 attendance: 11.5 million
10. Shanghai Disneyland
Location: Shanghai, China
- 2021 attendance: 8.5 million (+54%)
- 2020 attendance: 5.5 million
- 2019 attendance: 11.2 million
11. Universal Studios Florida
Location: Orlando, Fla., USA
- 2021 attendance: 9 million (+119%)
- 2020 attendance: 4.1 million
- 2019 attendance: 10.9 million
12. Universal’s Islands of Adventure
Location: Orlando, Fla., USA
- 2021 attendance: 9 million (+127%)
- 2020 attendance: 4 million
- 2019 attendance: 10.4 million
13. Disney California Adventure Park
Location: Anaheim, Calif., USA
- 2021 attendance: 5 million (+159%)
- 2020 attendance: 1.9 million
- 2019 attendance: 9.9 million
14. Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris
Location: Marne-La-Vallee, France
- 2021 attendance: 3.5 million (+34%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.6 million
- 2019 attendance: 9.7 million
15. Universal Studios Hollywood
Location: Universal City, Calif., USA
- 2021 attendance: 5.5 million (+324%)
- 2020 attendance: 1.3 million
- 2019 attendance: 9.1 million
16. Everland
Location: Seoul, South Korea
- 2021 attendance: 3.7 million (+34%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.8 million
- 2019 attendance: 6.6 million
17. Lotte World
Location: Seoul, South Korea
- 2021 attendance: 2.5 million (+58%)
- 2020 attendance: 1.6 million
- 2019 attendance: 6 million
18. Nagashima Spa Land
Location: Kuwana, Japan
- 2021 attendance: 3.6 million (+50%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.4 million
- 2019 attendance: 6 million
19. Europa-Park
Location: Rust, Germany
- 2021 attendance: 3 million (+20%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.5 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.6 million
20. Ocean Park
Location: Hong Kong
- 2021 attendance: 1.4 million (-36%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.2 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.7 million
21. Hong Kong Disneyland
Location: Hong Kong
- 2021 attendance: 2.8 million (+65%)
- 2020 attendance: 1.7 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.7 million
22. De Efteling
Location: Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands
- 2021 attendance: 3.3 million (+14%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.9 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.3 million
23. Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris
Location: Marne-La-Vallee, France
- 2021 attendance: 1.9 million (+34%)
- 2020 attendance: 1.4 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.2 million
24. Oct Happy Valley
Location: Beijing, China
- 2021 attendance: 4.9 million (+25%)
- 2020 attendance: 4 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.2 million
25. Chimelong Paradise
Location: Guangzhou, China
- 2021 attendance: 3.9 million (+45%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.7 million
- 2019 attendance: 4.9 million
Top Water Parks in North America
Here are the top five water parks in North America, in order of 2019 attendance.
1. Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park
Location: Orlando, Fla., USA
- 2021 attendance: closed
- 2020 attendance: closed
- 2019 attendance: 2.25 million
Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon reopened on January 2, 2022, after being closed for almost two years due to the pandemic.
2. Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park at Walt Disney World Resort
Location: Orlando, Fla., USA
- 2021 attendance: 1.2 million
- 2020 attendance: 316,000
- 2019 attendance: 1.98 million
3. Universal’s Volcano Bay
Location: Orlando, Fla., USA
- 2021 attendance: 1.69 million
- 2020 attendance: 551,000
- 2019 attendance: 1.81 million
4. Aquatica
Location: Orlando, Fla., USA
- 2021 attendance: 1.15 million
- 2020 attendance: 528,000
- 2019 attendance: 1.53 million
5. Schlitterbahn
Location: New Braunfels, Texas, USA
- 2021 attendance: 888,000
- 2020 attendance: 451,000
- 2019 attendance: 996,000
The Theme Park industry continues to recover from the pandemic, and operators have learned from this experience by emphasizing operational efficiencies more to squeeze out extra profits for their shareholders. Innovative will continue to be the main component within the industry, and those who don’t invest in their theme parks will, unfortunately, be at a disadvantage.
How many Theme Parks on the top 25 list have you attended? Please let us know what your favorite Theme Park is.