Walt Disney World Is Still The Theme Park Attendance King, But Recent Numbers Have Me Worried

by

Although many companies create theme parks, Disney and Universal are the most well-known and dominate the industry. Walt Disney World, in particular, is the largest theme park resort globally, and recent data confirms just how massive it has become.

I just dug into the Themed Entertainment Industry’s latest Global Experience Index for 2024, and it’s packed with attendance figures for theme parks worldwide. As expected, Disney World is still king of the hill, but honestly, their continued dominance is starting to give me a little pause. I’m starting to wonder what it will take to shake things up.

Magic Kingdom Is Still The World’s Most Popular Theme Park In The World

Magic Kingdom remains the world’s most visited theme park. In 2024, it welcomed almost 18 million guests. Disney parks dominate the top spots, with Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland also ranking among the five most popular. Universal Studios Japan is the only park breaking up Disney’s hold on the top rankings.

The recent theme park attendance figures aren’t much of a surprise. Universal Orlando’s parks experienced a slight decrease in visitors for the second year in a row, likely because people were waiting to visit after the new Epic Universe park opened. Aside from that, most of the other top 25 theme parks saw small increases in attendance, and Walt Disney World’s four parks collectively welcomed almost 50 million guests.

Walt Disney World’s Minor Gains Have Me Curious

Although the large decrease in visitors to Universal Parks and Universal Studios Hollywood is a key finding in this year’s report, I’m even more interested in another trend it reveals.

Following the pandemic, when all theme parks temporarily closed—some for over a year—attendance numbers generally rose sharply starting in 2020. However, in 2024, Disney’s U.S. parks (Walt Disney World and Disneyland) experienced only slight gains in visitors. Epcot was the only park to see an increase of more than one percent.

It appears park attendance is starting to stabilize, which is normal over time. Eventually, most people who want to visit Disney World and can afford it will be going as frequently as they desire. However, current attendance is still about 15% lower than it was in 2019. While visits may have reached a steady level, they’ve done so with significantly fewer guests than before the pandemic.

Disney World’s Lower Attendance Could Ultimately Mean Higher Prices

Look, it’s not that Disney wants fewer visitors, exactly. They’ve been pretty upfront about focusing just as much on how much each guest spends as on how many guests come through the gates. And honestly, that makes sense – people tend to spend more when the parks aren’t packed. So, from a business perspective, a slightly less crowded park with bigger spending could actually be more profitable for Disney. It’s a bit cynical, maybe, but it explains a lot of their recent decisions.

These figures might just show the results of recent changes taking effect. Disney parks and resorts had a very profitable 2024, even though fewer people visited. However, that’s concerning. The company will likely respond to the drop in visitors by either trying to attract more people, or, more probably, by raising prices even further.

If Disney’s current approach of maximizing profit per guest is successful, the parks could become less crowded over time. However, this likely means prices will continue to rise. While a less crowded park offers a better experience, it will also become increasingly expensive to visit, leading many people to go less often or stop going altogether.

Read More

2025-10-28 00:09