2011 theme park attendance released.

[Figment632]

http://thedisneyblog.com/2012/05/30/tea-releases-top-25-theme-parks-for-2011/

 

[dopey2]

Thanks for the interesting post.

 

[Figment632]

I can't believe DCA drew more people than USO!

 

[anthony2k7]

I can't believe DCA drew more people than USO!

why not? everyone was at IOA lol

seriously though, I'm not surprised, USO has kinda been neglected badly in recent years, other than that appalling simpsons ride. They really should have just refreshed the ride as BTTF.

notice USJ being the highest universal park..... they've still got BTTF

 

[lockedoutlogic]

The real surprise is the weak EPCOT number...

that is shocking...but perhaps reflective of how stale the park has gotten and the failures of the "modernization" of Future World that was bungled from 1998-on and that they have done little to inject any new blood into the world showcase other than selling every square inch of it for weddings/conventions (including to me).

And people just miss the Tapestry of Nations.


But again, where's the threat from Potterville?

2 million less than the weak 1/2 parks? nowhere near the dominant pirate/princess juggernaut?

anyone want to revisit the "disney has to respond" line of thinking again?

though i do have to admit...i though disney's numbers would have grown more last year...perhaps this year they will get a significant bump...as booking predictions seem to indicate so far.


Ironically, if IOA gets lots of new business (as has been incorrectly suggested on the boards) because of Marvel Movies....then the checks will get so big that Willow can take bubble baths in liquid gold and Cast Member Bob can light his cigars with T-bills...lol...it's GOOD to be the Mouseking.

 

[anthony2k7]

But again, where's the threat from Potterville?

2 million less than the weak 1/2 parks? nowhere near the dominant pirate/princess juggernaut?

anyone want to revisit the "disney has to respond" line of thinking again?

hmm but whats the capacity of IOA vs Epcot etc?

Without doing much research, to me IOA feels much smaller, with less TS restaurants, less shops, no hugely expensive night time show... ?

 

[Figment632]

The real surprise is the weak EPCOT number...

that is shocking...but perhaps reflective of how stale the park has gotten and the failures of the "modernization" of Future World that was bungled from 1998-on and that they have done little to inject any new blood into the world showcase other than selling every square inch of it for weddings/conventions (including to me).

And people just miss the Tapestry of Nations.


But again, where's the threat from Potterville?

2 million less than the weak 1/2 parks? nowhere near the dominant pirate/princess juggernaut?

anyone want to revisit the "disney has to respond" line of thinking again?

though i do have to admit...i though disney's numbers would have grown more last year...perhaps this year they will get a significant bump...as booking predictions seem to indicate so far.


Ironically, if IOA gets lots of new business (as has been incorrectly suggested on the boards) because of Marvel Movies....then the checks will get so big that Willow can take bubble baths in liquid gold and Cast Member Bob can light his cigars with T-bills...lol...it's GOOD to be the Mouseking.

I'm not surpised FW is a disaster and there has been nothing new since 2005.

 

[Figment632]

hmm but whats the capacity of IOA vs Epcot etc?

Without doing much research, to me IOA feels much smaller, with less TS restaurants, less shops, no hugely expensive night time show... ?

Epcots capacity has deminished greatly over the years.

 

[ChrisFL]

1. Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom – 17.1M / 17.0M
2. Disneyland – 16.1M / 16.0M
3. Tokyo Disneyland – 14.0M / 14.5M
4. Tokyo DisneySea – 12.0M / 12.6M
5. Disneyland Paris – 11.0M / 10.5M +1
6. EPCOT – 10.8M / 10.8M -1
7. Disney’s Animal Kingdom – 9.8M / 9.7M
8. Disney’s Hollywood Studios – 9.7M / 9.6M
9. Universal Studios Japan – 8.5M / 8.2M
10. Universal’s Islands of Adventure – 7.7M / 6.0M +2

I think Tokyo's numbers are amazing considering they were closed for over 1 month after the disasters they had. They're usually competing for the top spot in attendance.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

hmm but whats the capacity of IOA vs Epcot etc?

Without doing much research, to me IOA feels much smaller, with less TS restaurants, less shops, no hugely expensive night time show... ?

i was referring to MGM and AK...

one of which is smaller than IOA with less to do...the other is huge - with less to do.

compared to EPCOT...IOA's number is impressive.

the point is that WDW is the destination, Uni and the former busch parks are merely rest stops along the highway...as it always has and likely will be.

simple geography will dictate that...as walt's original praise of his swamp as "the blessing of size" will allow disney to steamroll any serious threat from a competitor that could arise in the future...and as the other places are basically walled in...more or less.

but if you take the combined number: WDW has 47 million gate ticks....uni orlando about 14.5

or over 300% advantage.

THAT is the only thing that matters to WDW. they will not counter additions to their competitors because it matters not...in fact, better stuff at uni or sea world equals more tickets sold by Disney.

Why bother?

The point is always what it was: that disney will operate as they want and build as they want...which will be less for "growth" of their offerings and more for maximizing their profit exploitation of what has long since been built.

the numbers always show that its really one horse racing against 2 dogs...but every time something seems to go in universal's favor...the fan hearts take over the control of the hands and say that disney "has to respond"

which they don't....never did...nor ever will.

wishful thinking.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I think Tokyo's numbers are amazing considering they were closed for over 1 month after the disasters they had. They're usually competing for the top spot in attendance.

amazing...and potentially life threatening.

the japanese have done well to try to go about their normal lives....but that island is an environmental catastrophe that isn't covered enough (because the masses are stupid and don't have the attention span to care)

the ukuushima Daiichi meltdown is the second biggest nuclear accident in history by far (i'm actually pro-nuke...but realize that with great power comes great risk...and that sums up nuclear technology to a T)

originally they said that it released 1/10th as much rad as Chernobyl....it was amended months later to 1/5th...further study/ predictions have been guessed at possibly 1/2 as much.

Chernobyl is a dead zone on earth...25 years later...in many ways. Cesium laced clouds at dangerous levels have been detected almost 1000 miles away in eastern europe and siberia. the population around ukuushima is much greater and there could be far worse consequences down the road...

and disney in japan is not really a "safe distance" away...if you look at it objectively.

i'm just saying

ps. apparently the actual spelling of the plant has been deemed a "naughty" word by the spell checker

 

[tjkraz]

the point is that WDW is the destination, Uni and the former busch parks are merely rest stops along the highway...as it always has and likely will be.

Yeah, it kinda looks that way.

Still, a 20% attendance bump for IOA from a reported $250 mil Harry Potter investment is nothing to sneeze at. If memory serves, their park ticket prices also went up dramatically and I'm sure they are making some nice coin on merchandise.

But it does throw a cold bucket of water on the idea that Disney will suffer due to guests sacrificing vacation time to US/IOA. While some Disney regulars may be giving up a day or two to visit the "other" parks, I suspect there are others drawn to town by the likes of WWoHP who are venturing into Lake Buena Vista, too. Win-win.

Most notably I'm disappointed with DCA's flat attendance. Cars Land is undeniably the headliner. However with things like Little Mermaid, World of Color and a lot of general sprucing-up of the park happening in the last couple of years, I had hoped we'd at least see the locals showing more love. Not according to these numbers.

If $1.2 billion at DCA and the $800 M or so they're spending on WDW Fantasyland don't move the needle much, Disney will NEVER spend that sort of dough again.

 

[Mouseaholic!!!]

I am sure the 27 percent increase in attendance at US due to Harry Potter hit a raw nerve in Burbank.

So much for HP being a temporary flash in the pan for a few months.

 

[Hoodie]

I think the jury is still out on the impact of Harry Potter. Since it opened in 2010 and the final movie was released in 2011 (both with much hype), it would be expected that those two years would be huge. What is becoming obvious is that Disney is still the draw with people scheduling separate trips to WWHP. Honestly, I could have told you that a few months ago when I started seeing a ton of ads for Universal/IOA/Harry Potter on TV again. I really hadn't seen much advertising for Harry Potter since the initial blitz for the opening.

I've maintained from the start that the Harry Potter investment was a bit risky for Universal. While I think the books and movies will last a while, we certainly won't see the intense fever that it generated the past few years. Judging the success of WWoHP can't happen until we see the impact that having no new movies or books as advertising. I think this year's numbers will be more indicative of whether Disney needs to respond. (although I really wish these current numbers will light a fire under somebody's rear to do SOMETHING about EPCOT.)

 

[XGrumpy1]

Blackstone made the huge investment in WWHP and then sold the Universal Parks to Comcast.

Since Comcast now owns Universal I bet we are seeing all of those commercials because of Comcast's ownership.

One huge corporate world.