For even the most tuned-in Imagineering aficionado, Shanghai Disneyland tends to feel really, really far away. At least until “Disney Abu Dhabi” manifests, Shanghai Disneyland is probably the farthest of Disney’s six global resorts both geographically and figuratively for most of us. Many readers here (inherently, a very deep Disney Parks fan, I think) probably have the quiet sense that they’re unlikely to ever actually visit Shanghai Disneyland in their lifetimes.
So for the really casual Disney Parks fan, it’s probably fair to say that the goings-on of Shanghai Disneyland are something akin to “palace intrigue;” things that they might see on YouTube, but not necessarily attractions they ever expect to see up close and with their own eyes. In fact, as the E-Ticket wonders of Shanghai Disneyland made their way online, the median response to each basically amounted to: “Bring that to Disney World!”
And to be fair, the benefits of Shanghai’s innovation have already manifested in Disney’s U.S. parks in big and small ways – not the least of which being the cloning of the Modern Marvel: TRON Lightcycle Power Run in Florida, and the alleged adaptation of the park’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Sunken Treasure ride system for an upcoming AVATAR attraction at Disney California Adventure.
But despite its compelling glimpse into what a post-Wizarding-World Disney Park’s land lineup can look like it just may be that Shanghai’s most talked-about addition is the 2023 opening of the land of “Zootopia”… Sure, this “Living Land” based on the 2016 film is a perfectly lovely project worth examination in its own right, but what’s made Zootopia a major talking point for fans is whether or not this land should come stateside… and if so, whether or not the park that seems its most obvious home might just be the worst place to bring Zootopia to life… Let’s dig into the paradox…
It’s one of the most anticipated data drops in all of theme park nerd-dom… Every year, the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) partners with a consulting firm called AECOM to compile an annual report on the ups and downs of theme parks, waterparks, museums, and other “thematic” experiences from the year prior. (Supporting Members of Park Lore can read our broad strokes summary of industry trends gleaned from 2022 and 2023 in dedicated Extra Features!)
Though renamed from its previous title (the Theme Index Report) this year’s 2024 Global Experience Index continues to be an annual publication of note for theme park fans in particular, and – as always – is worth an in-depth read. It’s filled with the highs and lows, global contexts, and stories that permeated theme park news in the year prior. But most importantly… it also contains a ranking and roll-up of the year’s theme park attendance.
To be clear, most theme park operators do not disclose their parks’ attendance, and even if they speak in broad generalities, totals, or percentages at investor calls, they almost never divulge specific attendance figures for specific parks… However, it’s known that many operators do work with AECOM to come up with fairly accurate figures since it’s in the best interest of their share price, financial disclosures, and year-upon-year narratives that their attendance be discussed vaguely, but honestly.
As far as industry observers are concerned, TEA / AECOM’s October report is as good as a lock on last year’s attendance numbers, providing (as always) a captivating quantitative estimate that offers some compelling trends and talking points to the community… This year, the global rankings of the top eight parks are unchanged from 2023, with only slight increases at each:
Magic Kingdom (17.8 million, +.7%)
Disneyland Park (17.3 million, +.5%)
Universal Studios Japan (16 million, no change)
Tokyo Disneyland (15.1 million, +2.6%)
Shanghai Disneyland (14.7 million, +5%)
Chimelong Ocean Kingdom (12.6 million, +.9%)
Tokyo DisneySea (12.6 million, +2.9%)
EPCOT (12.1 million, +1.3%)
It’s not really a surprise that the ranking of these eight is unchanged from 2023. These parks are highly stable, built-out destinations. (There are obviously two exceptions. Chimelong Ocean Kingdom is a relatively new park buoyed by the same kind of growing middle class in China that spurred Shanghai Disneyland and Universal Studios Beijing; EPCOT has been in the “top eight” for two straight years, but will inevitably rejoin the continuous rotation of Disney World’s auxiliary parks soon enough.)
Image: Universal
Meanwhile, some parks shuffle their ranking for the next batch of the top 15…
9. Disney’s Hollywood Studios (10.3 million, +.3%) (up from spot 10 in 2023) 10. Disneyland Paris (10.2 million, –1.8%) (down from spot 9 in 2023) 11. Disney California Adventure (10 million, +.5%) (up from spot 12 in 2023) 12. Universal Studios Beijing (9.7 million, +8.6%) (up from spot 15 in 2023) 13. Universal Studios Florida (9.5 million, –2.6%) (no ranking change) 14. Universal Islands of Adventure (9.45 million, –5.5%) (down from spot 11 in 2023) 15. Disney’s Animal Kingdom (8.8 million, +.3%) (up from spot 16 in 2023)
Which brings us to some big picture takeaways that these numbers suggest…
1. Universal Orlando hopes this is the darkness before the dawn
Image: Universal
Fans of the underdog story had a lot of excitement this time two years ago when the big news in the 2022 rankings was the jaw-dropping suggestion that Universal Orlando might have done the impossible and used the pandemic as a one-shot to the moon. In 2022, Universal Islands of Adventure ranked as the fifth most-attended theme park on Earth, beating out EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom and essentially ranking among the vaunted “Castle Parks.” (Universal Studios Florida didn’t do much worse – it was seventh!)
Last year’s attendance estimates, meanwhile, suggested that the boon was short-lived. Both Universal Orlando parks were estimated to have lost attendance to the tune of 9% in 2023, falling to 11th and 13th in the ranks, respectively. Obviously, that’s a devastating blow for parks that had otherwise tracked upward trajectory for years and even seemed to have come out the other side of the pandemic right back on track and even stronger than before – something no Walt Disney World park even approached.
According to 2024 estimates, that slide continues, with Islands shedding 5.5% from its attendance year-over-year, and Universal Studios Florida decreasing by 2.6%. Those are better losses than the massive drop-off in 2023, but still worrying for a resort whose substantial investment and pervasive internal narrative over the last few years has been predicated entirely upon the presumption that Universal finally had the gravity to change tourism in Central Florida.
Obviously, Universal’s explanation here would be that 2024 was a year of guests delaying vacations in anticipation of the crescendo of that growth spurt: the 2025 opening of Universal Epic Universe. But very much like Ant-Man: Quantumania, these results have to have even the most resilient Comcast executive wondering if their inherited theme park division has the limitless potential and infallible trjactory that made a third theme park seem so obvious a few years ago… Speaking of which…
2. Speculation around Epic Universe’s impact is beginning…
It’s worth remembering that Epic Universe didn’t open until May 2025, meaning that we wouldn’t expect to see any data from or impact of the new park’s attendance until the next edition of the TEA / AECOM Experience Index is published in fall 2026… But even that will only represent a year with six operating months for Epic Universe (and artificially limited by excluding “Park Hopping” and Annual Passholders, at that), so don’t expect Epic to debut anywhere within the top 15 next year.
Frankly, it won’t be until late 2027 (when TEA / AECOM publishes 2026 data) that we begin to get a complete picture of Epic Universe’s affect on Central Florida. As to what that effect will be? On one end of the spectrum, Universal would very much like if Epic Universe would be the project bright and loud enough to finally establish Universal Orlando into a self-contained, “bubbled,” multi-day resort destination. In Universal’s dream scenario, a family would land in MCO without Disney World being on their itinerary at all, hunkering down at a Universal hotel with a Park-to-Park ticket, resulting in all three of Universal’s theme parks seeing continued growth in attendance.
Image: Universal
On the other hand, Disney is probably crossing their fingers that Epic’s effect will be what some industry observers have warned about since the park’s announcement: that it’ll “cannibalize” the resort’s other two parks. That would mean that rather than adding a day to their overall vacation to visit Epic Universe, guests would simply replace an existing day – probably a visit to Universal Studios Florida. That would be trouble indeed, resulting in Universal attracting no more guests overall; just spreading them more thinly across three parks instead of two. Gulp. No wonder earth is already moving on major projects for both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure…
By the way, even if the latter scenario comes to pass, the 2024 data suggests that Disney isn’t exactly in the clear… If guests do end up replacing a day to visit Epic Universe, it could very well be a Disney park that drops off the itinerary… It looks likely that one Disney Park will fall out of the top fifteen entirely, and data reveals that rumors of flatlining attendance may be more than myth… Read on…
Telling the story of Disney and Universal’s theme parks isn’t easy. Some of these are parks have lifetimes now measured in decades, generations, or human lifespans. Like people, their stories are full of growth, change, “phases,” mistakes, reversals, triumphs – and often, core pieces of their identities that tend to stick around for their whole lives even as they change and arrange around them.
I call these diagrams LANDLINES – timelines of the lands that have come and gone from each of these parks. My hope is that these “zoomed out” views of the spaces inside of these parks will provide yet another lens to tell their stories; ways for even us diehard fans to somehow see the parks a little differently. I hope you enjoy.
Special Features are typically available exclusively for those who support this evolving theme park history project with a monthly Membership.It’s been unlocked for a limited time, but if you enjoy what you read, consider becoming a Park Lore Member for as little as $2 / month!
Well everyone, here we are again – and this time, at Disney’s Animal Kingdom!
By nature of reading this, you’re probably not new to Park Lore. But just in case, I’ll briefly explain. Park Lore is all about seeing the theme parks we know through new and different lenses. Since I started organizing my years of piecemeal freelance work in 2020, I’ve amassed a collection of totally ad-free, in-depth histories of beloved theme park attractions, never-built lands, closed classics, and more, increasingly interspersed with niche theme park art projects, over a hundred hand-drawn ride layouts, and a real favorite of mine – “armchair Imagineered” theme park build-outs.
It’s one of the most anticipated data drops in all of theme park nerd-dom… Every year, the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) partners with a consulting firm called AECOM to compile an annual report on the ups and downs of theme parks, waterparks, museums, and other “thematic” experiences from the year prior. (If you haven’t yet, check out our coverage of the significant takeaways from the 2022 Report here.)
This year’s result – the 2023 Global Attractions Attendance Report – is a fascinating document that theme park fans should dive into in depth. It’s filled with the highs and lows, global contexts, and stories that permeated theme park news in the year prior. But most importantly… it also contains a ranking and roll-up of the year’s theme park attendance.
Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.
This article and hundreds more are available for Gold and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!
If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Gold and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.
Ah, the “Disney Bubble”… The invisible – but very real – iridescent dome that hovers over Walt Disney World and Disneyland is a thing of legend. Once you’re inside the “Disney Bubble,” the real world seems very, very far away. But over the last several years, we’ve seen disappointing and distressing moves at Disney that…
Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.
This article and hundreds more are available for Gold and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!
If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Gold and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.
“Here you leave today and enter the worlds of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.” Since 1955, those words have welcomed guests into Disneyland, and their spirit pervades Disney theme parks across the globe. Filled with artistry, history, and memories, each of them is, in some ways, alive, with its own unique personality.
At Park Lore, I’ve been working on a very, very niche personal art project that I’m excited to finally share: a look at the histories and personalities of the theme parks we love… as told by their pathways. Made possible by the support of Park Lore members, each of the hand-drawn illustrations you’ll find below is part mathematical model, part artistic abstraction; colorful lines that would be meaningless to most, but that can be mapped with memories for some! I sure hope they connect with you and inspire you to see each park’s story in a new light…
By now, we all know the story – in the 2010 wake of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it was clear that the theme park industry had been changed forever. The age of the “Living Land” had arrived, and theme park operators raced to choose, purchase, or license the biggest intellectual properties they could find in (or out of) their home-grown studio catalogs.
As the story goes, seeing guests line up for shops and restaurants in Universal’s Hogsmeade lit a fire under Disney that had not been seen in decades. The first Disney-distributed Marvel film was still a year away; the company’s purchase of Lucasfilm, two years away. So there, sensing a seismic shift to the business, Disney looked around for something – anything! – Potter-sized to bring to its parks. And in 2010, nothing was bigger than Avatar.
Stories in the Extra Features and Special Features collections of Park Lore are all about connections – they’re the threads that interlace between the Lost Legends, Declassified Disasters, Modern Marvels, and Possibilitylands you’ll find in our Main Collections. In other words, these features are for people who really want to dig deep.
This article and hundreds more are available for Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members who help support this ad-free, clickbait-free, quality-over-quantity collection with a monthly membership. Park Lore Members can access more than a hundred Member-exclusive articles, unlock rare concept art and construction photos in every story, stream audio across the site, tune into podcast exclusives, and receive an annual member card and merch in the mail!
If you choose to join Park Lore’s community of Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members, you’ll instantly unlock this story (and of course, a lot more). You can learn more about joining and supporting Park Lore (and browse all the available Extras and Special Features) in the “Memberships & Perks” menu above. If you can’t afford a Pass, please contact us; we’ll make some magic happen.
It wasn’t too long ago that a theme park attraction was lifeless without Audio-Animatronics. In fact, the number and complexity of these robotic animated figures was often proportional to a ride’s budget and success! Put simply: if you wanted to blow audiences away, animatronics figures were the way to do it.
Theme parks are living creatures. Sure, they grow and change and “will never be complete…” But even more, they’re made of complex systems and elements all working together so effortlessly, you may not even realize they’re working at all. Berms act as skin, insulating parks from the sights of the outside world; intuitive layouts are a skeleton, giving the park structure; pathways act as veins and arteries, pulsing guests instead of blood; restrooms are… Well…
