If 6 million people visited you last year, you might think that’s a lot of guests, but if you were a theme park, you’d be bummed.
The global theme park industry began to recover in 2021 after a devastating pandemic year of shutdowns and dramatically reduced attendance. Overall attendance was just over half (56%) compared with 2019.
Total attendance of the top 25 theme parks worldwide was 141.35 million in 2021, a 70% increase over 2020, according to a new report by the Themed Entertainment Association. That may sound like a lot, but 70% of practically nothing isn’t much when you’re an industry that relies on more than a quarter of a billion people a year to ride your rides, stay in your hotel rooms and eat your hot dogs.
But theme parks are happy places, and they look to the positive side of things—they’re open, and people are coming back. Many parks took advantage of their down time to invest in improvements and find ways to increase revenues.
Like most things, theme parks have gotten more expensive--Disney (DIS) raised prices on entry fees, hotel rooms, food and merchandise. Despite lower attendance, per-capita spending at U.S. Disney parks increased by 17%. It’s now less about how many visitors they can pack in, but how much money each person will spend while they are there, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many other parks also reported substantial gains in per-capita spending, the Themed Entertainment Association report says.
The year 2020 will forever be an asterisk for theme park attendance data. This year’s attendance report ranks the parks based on 2019 attendance and includes the past three years. A few notable points in the report:
- The speed of recovery was mostly influenced by the degree of government restrictions, the success of vaccine rollouts, and general consumer confidence levels.
- Challenges like labor shortages, supply chain issues, and inflation continue, but the industry appears poised for comeback in 2022 and 2023.
- Pent-up demand and reduced worries about covid during the summer of 2021 helped the U.S. to outperform every other market. North American parks fared well with a 136% increase in attendance over 2020, while China saw only a 25% increase, due to strict lockdowns, quarantines, and travel restrictions.
Waterparks also improved significantly from 2020 and even approached 2019 attendance levels.
These are the 25 busiest theme parks in the world, followed by the five busiest waterparks in the U.S.
1. Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: 12.7 million (+82% from 2020-2021)
- 2020 attendance: 6.9 million
- 2019 attendance: 21 million
The parks are ranked based on their 2019 attendance figures.
Matt Stroshane/Disney Parks via Getty Images
2. Disneyland Park
Anaheim, Calif.
- 2021 attendance: 8.6 million (+133% from 2020-2021)
- 2020 attendance: 3.7 million
- 2019 attendance: 18.7 million
3. Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo
- 2021 attendance: 6.3 million (+51%)
- 2020 attendance: 4.2 million
- 2019 attendance: 17.9 million
4. Tokyo DisneySea
Tokyo
- 2021 attendance: 5.8 million (+71%)
- 2020 attendance: 3.4 million
- 2019 attendance: 4.7 million
5. Universal Studios Japan
Osaka, Japan
- 2021 attendance: 5.5 million (+12%)
- 2020 attendance: 4.9 million
- 2019 attendance: 14.5 million
Shutterstock
6. Disney's Animal Kingdom At Walt Disney World
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: 7.2 million (+73%)
- 2020 attendance: 4.2 million
- 2019 attendance: 13.9 million
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7. Epcot At Walt Disney World
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: 7.8 million (+92%)
- 2020 attendance: 4 million
- 2019 attendance: 12.4 million
8. Chimelong Ocean Kingdom
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
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: 8.6 million (+134%)
- 2020 attendance: 3.7 million
- 2019 attendance: 11.5 million
Jedi94/Wikipedia
10. Shanghai Disneyland
Shanghai
- 2021 attendance: 8.5 million (+54%)
- 2020 attendance: 5.5 million
- 2019 attendance: 11.2 million
Disney
11. Universal Studios Florida
Orlando, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: 9 million (+119%)
- 2020 attendance: 4.1 million
- 2019 attendance: 10.9 million
Universal
12. Universal’s Islands of Adventure
Orlando, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: 9 million (+127%)
- 2020 attendance: 4 million
- 2019 attendance: 10.4 million
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13. Disney California Adventure Park
Anaheim, Calif.
- 2021 attendance: 5 million (+159%)
- 2020 attendance: 1.9 million
- 2019 attendance: 9.9 million
14. Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris
Marne-La-Vallee, France
- 2021 attendance: 3.5 million (+34%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.6 million
- 2019 attendance: 9.7 million
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15. Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal City, Calif.
- 2021 attendance: 5.5 million (+324%)
- 2020 attendance: 1.3 million
- 2019 attendance: 9.1 million
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16. Everland
Seoul, South Korea
- 2021 attendance: 3.7 million (+34%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.8 million
- 2019 attendance: 6.6 million
17. Lotte World
Seoul, South Korea
- 2021 attendance: 2.5 million (+58%)
- 2020 attendance: 1.6 million
- 2019 attendance: 6 million
18. Nagashima Spa Land
Kuwana, Japan
- 2021 attendance: 3.6 million (+50%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.4 million
- 2019 attendance: 6 million
19. Europa-Park
Rust, Germany
- 2021 attendance: 3 million (+20%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.5 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.6 million
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20. Ocean Park
Hong Kong
- 2021 attendance: 1.4 million (-36%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.2 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.7 million
21. Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong
- 2021 attendance: 2.8 million (+65%)
- 2020 attendance: 1.7 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.7 million
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22. De Efteling
Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands
- 2021 attendance: 3.3 million (+14%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.9 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.3 million
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23. Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris
Marne-La-Vallee, France
- 2021 attendance: 1.9 million (+34%)
- 2020 attendance: 1.4 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.2 million
Disney
24. Oct Happy Valley
Beijing
- 2021 attendance: 4.9 million (+25%)
- 2020 attendance: 4 million
- 2019 attendance: 5.2 million
25. Chimelong Paradise
Guangzhou, China
- 2021 attendance: 3.9 million (+45%)
- 2020 attendance: 2.7 million
- 2019 attendance: 4.9 million
JaJaWa/Wikipedia
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
Orlando, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: closed
- 2020 attendance: closed
- 2019 attendance: 2.25 million
Disney's Typhoon Lagoon reopened Jan. 2, 2022, after being closed almost two years due to the pandemic.
elisfkc from Orlando, FL, US/Wikipedia
2. Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park at Walt Disney World Resort
Orlando, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: 1.2 million
- 2020 attendance: 316,000
- 2019 attendance: 1.98 million
3. Universal's Volcano Bay
Orlando, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: 1.69 million
- 2020 attendance: 551,000
- 2019 attendance: 1.81 million
4. Aquatica
Orlando, Fla.
- 2021 attendance: 1.15 million
- 2020 attendance: 528,000
- 2019 attendance: 1.53 million
5. Schlitterbahn
New Braunfels, Texas
- 2021 attendance: 888,000
- 2020 attendance: 451,000
- 2019 attendance: 996,000
Schlitterbahn
