2019 Theme Park attendance figures

[Pickle Rick]

I think it’s really hard to compare the two. Rise didn’t open until December and Hagrid’s opened in June.

in DL's case, Rise opened like 9 months later.

 

[rteetz]

in DL's case, Rise opened like 9 months later.

And isn’t counted in this because it opened in 2020 there.

 

[dlavender]

After posting earlier in the News thread, I looked at a few other TEA reports. Here are the attendance bumps at Orlando parks in the year they opened new lands (all opened in their respective summers between June -August):

Hogsmeade - IoA (2010): +30%
Diagon Alley - USO (2014): +17%
Pandora - AK (2017): +16%
Toy Story Land - DHS (2018): +5%
Galaxy’s Edge - DHS (2019): +2%

Although there are plenty of variables to try and explain differences (and not just that RotR hadn’t opened), the fact that Galaxy’s Edge generated a fraction of the attendance increases of comparable lands is still somewhat shocking.

It is shocking.

I still think that not going OT with it was the biggest mistake.

Good for universal. IMO those parks still have a ways to go but they are slowly picking up the pace.

I'm kind of shocked that the disney water parks posted higher attendance than Volcano bay.

 

[dlavender]

Meant to add, with the new Theme Park, and the addition of the JP coaster, Uni is going to continue its ascent.

Great for us as TP enthusiasts.

 

[Jrb1979]

While Disney sees attendance increase every year, I do find it odd that new attractions don't seem to do much to see a big jump in attendance. Other parks add new attractions and for the most part get a big boost in attendance from them.

Not saying it to make Disney look bad just wondering why that is. Anyone have an idea why?

 

[BrianL]

While Disney sees attendance increase every year, I do find it odd that new attractions don't seem to do much to see a big jump in attendance. Other parks add new attractions and for the most part get a big boost in attendance from them.

Not saying it to make Disney look bad just wondering why that is. Anyone have an idea why?

Well, one thing is that Disney arleady has the highest attendance in general - people are coming with or without new attractions. That's why you don't see as big of a percentage boost.

 

[dlavender]

While Disney sees attendance increase every year, I do find it odd that new attractions don't seem to do much to see a big jump in attendance. Other parks add new attractions and for the most part get a big boost in attendance from them.

Not saying it to make Disney look bad just wondering why that is. Anyone have an idea why?

Disney wants to increase the other 3 (parks that aren't called MK).

They've done a good job with AK in that regard as evidenced by the results.

I also think that the new additions just weren't game changing enough to drive crowds to HS. I don't have any studies with me to back this up, but with the cost of parks I think it may take more to get someone to go to more than 2 parks or to skip say MK and hit up HS instead. Or to get a non Disney fan to pony up and go to HS. I'll say it again, SW:GE just missed the mark, definitely wasn't enough to get enough people from those two groups to go through the gates.

 

[BrianL]

Disney wants to increase the other 3 (parks that aren't called MK).

They've done a good job with AK in that regard as evidenced by the results.

I also think that the new additions just weren't game changing enough to drive crowds to HS. I don't have any studies with me to back this up, but with the cost of parks I think it may take more to get someone to go to more than 2 parks or to skip say MK and hit up HS instead. Or to get a non Disney fan to pony up and go to HS. I'll say it again, SW:GE just missed the mark, definitely wasn't enough to get enough people from those two groups to go through the gates.

I think a lot of peopel were waiting for Rise of the Resistance - and by all accounts that is the ride that can be a top-tier attraction. It was barely opened by the end of 2019. This year of course is a nightmare scenario, but I think it would've seen a surge at HS this spring/summer were it not for the pandemic.

 

[dlavender]

I think a lot of peopel were waiting for Rise of the Resistance - and by all accounts that is the ride that can be a top-tier attraction. It was barely opened by the end of 2019. This year of course is a nightmare scenario, but I think it would've seen a surge at HS this spring/summer were it not for the pandemic.

We will never know.

I personally still think that if done differently, they would have seen a larger increase even with the late opening of Rise.

It's fun to debate but we won't ever actually know.

I just think of how most of us expected crazy crowds just due to the name. It should have had an impact that wasn't felt. The reasons are debatable, though.

 

[OSUZorba]

After posting earlier in the News thread, I looked at a few other TEA reports. Here are the attendance bumps at Orlando parks in the year they opened new lands (all opened in their respective summers between June -August):

Hogsmeade - IoA (2010): +30%
Diagon Alley - USO (2014): +17%
Pandora - AK (2017): +16%
Toy Story Land - DHS (2018): +5%
Galaxy’s Edge - DHS (2019): +2%

Although there are plenty of variables to try and explain differences (and not just that RotR hadn’t opened), the fact that Galaxy’s Edge generated a fraction of the attendance increases of comparable lands is still somewhat shocking.

Especially considering TSL got 5% over half a year and at least some of the 2% last year was likely still a result of TSL.

Even with Rise closed, there is no way Disney was happy with 0 at DL and probably very close to 0 marginally at DHS.

 

[CastAStone]

We all remember September when just no one showed up, right? And Disney had 1000 reasons why but what clearly happened was they scared regular families away? These numbers shouldn’t be surprising.

 

[OppR2nist]

Keep in mind also that SWGE opened the same weekend that a hurricane was blowing in (that ultimately missed). I was there, and the lines of people cancelling their vacations to avoid the Dorian were longer than the line at Flight of Passage. When we got to the park on the morning of our HS day, the place was eerily quiet.

 

[OSUZorba]

We all remember September when just no one showed up, right? And Disney had 1000 reasons why but what clearly happened was they scared regular families away? These numbers shouldn’t be surprising.

I agree they probably scared away some people with fear of lines, but that didn't seem to hurt USO even with the reports of "10 hour lines."

I think part of it is, for Disney to really move the needle much they have to convince someone to add another park day to their vacation. Did they really do enough to make DHS a two day park for a lot of people? I'm not sure.

I think Pandora was enough to get 2 and 3 day people to go to AK instead of another park or to get them to add another day. AK also extended their hours and added a night show.

And as @CastAStone they massively increased prices which also damped demand.

 

[rteetz]

https://www.ocregister.com/why-disn...wars-land-isnt-a-bust-despite-flat-attendance

 

[dlavender]

https://www.ocregister.com/why-disn...wars-land-isnt-a-bust-despite-flat-attendance

Sounds like Disney wrote that article.

They built it to keep attendance flat?

Boasting about $200 lightsabers?

I don’t agree that they didn’t want a massive surge. I know some people do believe that they want attendance to decrease or remain flat, but am not of that camp.

 

[rteetz]

Sounds like Disney wrote that article.

They built it to keep attendance flat?

Boasting about $200 lightsabers?

I don’t agree that they didn’t want a massive surge. I know some people do believe that they want attendance to decrease or remain flat, but am not of that camp.

I think in the case of DL they would like their AP base to decrease. They want more vacationers and more people spending the big bucks. SWGE is a breeding ground for spending.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think in the case of DL they would like their AP base to decrease. They want more vacationers and more people spending the big bucks. SWGE is a breeding ground for spending.

I agree with most of what you said. Yes they want more vacationers but they didn't flock to Disney for SWGE either.

Its strange to me that Disney fans will stay away cause of fear of large crowds. Yet most other US parks are the opposite. Universal saw a boost from Hagrids and no one had issues standing in a 10 hr line for it. Kings Island just opened their new coaster a few weeks ago and had a 4.5 hr wait for it.

What I do find odd is the lack of excitement and interest in construction updates on new attractions. At Universal many are going crazy over the Jurrasic Park coaster. I would have thought Disney fans would be doing the same for Tron.

 

[rteetz]

I agree with most of what you said. Yes they want more vacationers but they didn't flock to Disney for SWGE either.

Its strange to me that Disney fans will stay away cause of fear of large crowds. Yet most other US parks are the opposite. Universal saw a boost from Hagrids and no one had issues standing in a 10 hr line for it. Kings Island just opened their new coaster a few weeks ago and had a 4.5 hr wait for it.

What I do find odd is the lack of excitement and interest in construction updates on new attractions. At Universal many are going crazy over the Jurrasic Park coaster. I would have thought Disney fans would be doing the same for Tron.

I think many are very excited for Tron. In terms of Universal they haven’t even announced that coaster yet so the only ones that are excited for it are the super fans who see the construction on social media.

Disney has such a base already. Like we have said Rise should/would/could have been that but draw but we will never know now for sure.

 

[dlavender]

I think in the case of DL they would like their AP base to decrease. They want more vacationers and more people spending the big bucks. SWGE is a breeding ground for spending.

They would, but they need to create the demand for people to spend the money and come. It didn’t happen. They remained flat.

They want to keep that place packed because that means they can keep raising prices. Flat attendance can lead to smaller price increases. We all know they don’t want that.

 

[rteetz]

They would, but they need to create the demand for people to spend the money and come. It didn’t happen. They remained flat.

They want to keep that place packed because that means they can keep raising prices. Flat attendance can lead to smaller price increases. We all know they don’t want that.

But if guest spending is up overall then things aren’t that bad.