IOA gets massive 30.2% annual attendance increase in 2010!

[Harry Potter]

Official figures released today. USF was also 6.1% up from 2009.

2010:

Islands of Adventure 5.95m
Universal Studios Florida 5.93m

So we can thank, erm, Harry Potter for these figures. But it also shows that IOA is now NOT the second park at UOR, now people come to IOA and perhaps do USF as well while they're there.

Disney lost attendance in all 4 of it's Orlando parks, but still dominate the charts. Interestingly SeaWorld Orlando's 2010 figures dropped by a whopping 12.1%. I think SWO is in trouble, the third year in a row they have dropped in attendance. If people come to Orlando, then they choose UOR over SWO on their "non-Disney days". I don't see that as much of a compliment, as a UOR fan, but it is worrying for SWO fans.

I think UOR will be content to hover around the 6m mark for a couple of years, and they will be confident that any expansion to WWoHP will bring in even further guests. 7.5m must be the midterm target (after WWoHP phase 2).

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/

 

[DOOM1001]

Yeah I saw the whole report and I'm not overly surprised by any of the numbers.The whole Potter thing at IOA has to be considered as the most succesful project ever at a theme park,I still think it's overhyped,overhyped but still a great addition the park badly needed.It is amazing that USF only gained 6% though.Disney's overall drop has to do with the recession and yes Universal stealing some guests for a couple of days.Sea World's drop probably has some to do with the trainers death and just less days to go around as people try to fit in days at Disney and Universal.The opening of the Grand Reef at Discovery Cove might bring in some more guests this year to Sea World and Aquatica.

 

[phamton]

Wonderful news! Thanks for posting the link.

 

[damo]

Considering that the Wizarding World was only open for half a year, that is especially impressive.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

Seaworld is indeed in trouble. The marketing for Seaworld is bad and they didn't get in front of bad PR.

As a matter if fact, when most people think of Seaworld, all they think about are folks swimming with dolphins and killer whales doing tricks. To most people, it's an overgrown aquarium.

For instance, I live in Georgia, a mere 6 hours away. Orlando is the biggest vacation spot for people that I know. And I know of no one that went to Seaworld the past 5 years. No one. When people talk of Seaworld, they talk about going when they were kids. And they are all 30 and over!

But the spike in attendance was expected in UO. So was the decrease in attendance at WDW. But if you look at the numbers for this year, you will see something very important because this year's numbers are the numbers that are sustainable over time. So what you do is look at 2011 numbers vs. 2009, and that will be your sustainable growth.

 

[rpbert1]

This is great news for Universal, and not so good for SW.
We love SW as well, and always manage a few days there, hopefully it will pick up attendance after the death last year, and new safety measures in operation. it has IMHO so much to offer .