While the theme park industry encompasses a great deal more than just Disney and Universal, it’s impossible to discuss anything about the industry without including the two global behemoths. Walt Disney World specifically is quite simply the largest theme park resort in the world, and we now have new numbers to back up just how big the vacation kingdom really is.
The Themed Entertainment Industry released its Global Experience Index for 2024 recently, and with it comes the attendance numbers for every theme park in the world. It once again confirmed Disney World’s dominance in the industry, but there is one thing about that dominance I am a little concerned about.
Magic Kingdom Is Still The World’s Most Popular Theme Park In The World
Based on the attendance numbers, Magic Kingdom is, once again, the most popular theme park in the world. The single park saw nearly 18 million visitors in 2024, and Disney Parks account for four of the top five parks by attendance. Disneyland is at number two, Tokyo Disneyland at number four, and Shanghai Disneyland at number five. Only Universal Studios Japan at number three keeps it from being a clean sweep.
The numbers aren’t really anything new or surprising. While Universal Orlando’s two parks saw a minor attendance dip for the second year, following a couple years of strong growth for Universal, after this was likely due to guests holding off to visit the resort this year after Epic Universe opened. Other than that, nearly every other theme park in the top 25 saw minor gains in attendance, and Walt Disney World itself saw total attendance of nearly 50 million across its four parks.
Walt Disney World’s Minor Gains Have Me Curious
While the significant drops for Universal Parks, Universal Studios Hollywood also saw a significant attendance drop compared to 2023, might be the most obvious thing in this year’s report, there’s something else I see that am far more curious about.
In the years since the global pandemic, which saw every theme park in the world closed for a time, and some closed for more than a year, we have obviously seen major jumps in attendance every year since 2020. However, in 2024 Disney’s domestic parks at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort all saw very small increases. Only Epcot saw an increase over one percent.
This would seem to indicate a sort of leveling off for the parks. That’s to be expected at some point. Eventually you’re going to reach a point where everybody who wants to go to Disney World, who can afford to go to Disney World, is making the trip as often as they want to. However, Walt Disney World attendance is still down about 15% compared to where it was in 2019. It seems that while Disney World attendance may have plateaued, it’s done so with far fewer people than pre-pandemic.
Disney World’s Lower Attendance Could Ultimately Mean Higher Prices
Now this isn’t inherently a bad thing. Disney made it clear even before the pandemic that it was as concerned with per capita spending, the amount guests spend in the park, as it was with attendance. And generally speaking people spend more money in less crowded parks, so there’s an incentive for Disney to keep attendance down if the people who do come spend more.
These numbers could simply be an example of that process reaching fruition. Disney Experiences had record revenue and profit in 2024, so its still making money despite attendance being down. But then that’s what worries me. Whatever the reason for the attendance drop, the response will either be an attempt to boost attendance, or, more likely even higher prices.
If the strategy is working, and Disney is making more with fewer guests, the parks may ultimately become less crowded. But that means the regular Disney Parks price increases will only continue to happen. There is an upside, an arguably better experience when you visit Disney Parks because they’re not as crowded as they once were, but for many this will ultimately mean visiting the parks becomes a less frequent affair, and for more and more it will simply become out of reach entirely as prices increase.