Tokyo Disneyland Overtakes Original Disneyland in Visitors

[SzczerbiakManiac]

from the LA Times:

With a surge in theme park attendance in Asia, Tokyo Disneyland has surpassed Disneyland in Anaheim as the second-most-popular theme park in the world.

Attendance at Tokyo Disneyland jumped 15.9% in 2013 to 17.2 million visitors, surpassing the original Disneyland, which had tepid growth of 1.5% to 16.2 million visitors, according to an annual estimate from Aecom, a Los Angeles consulting firm.

The world's most popular theme park remained Disney's Magic Kingdom in Florida, with 18.6 million visitors in 2013, up 6% from 2012, according to Aecom.

Overall, theme-park attendance in North America grew 2.7% in 2013, according to an annual estimate by the Themed Entertainment Assn., a trade group for designers and artists.

Most theme-park operators don't disclose attendance numbers but concede that Aecom's estimates are very accurate.

The most dramatic growth in attendance came at theme parks in Asia. In addition to the 15.9% attendance boost at Tokyo Disneyland, the report estimates an 11.3% increase in attendance at Tokyo Disney Sea, a 4.1% increase at Universal Studios Japan, a 10.4% increase at Hong Kong Disneyland and a 15.9% jump at Lotte World South Korea.

In Southern California, Disneyland remained the most popular theme park, followed by Disney California Adventure, which hosted 8.5 million visitors, up 9.5% from 2012. The report attributed the growth to the popularity of the park's Cars Land attraction, which opened in June, 2012.

Universal Studios Hollywood had 6.1 million visitors, a 4% increase, the report said.

Meanwhile, attendance dropped 5% at SeaWorld Orlando and 3% at SeaWorld San Diego as those parks grappled with criticism from animal-rights groups over the treatment of the killer whales used in daily shows. SeaWorld has attributed the decline to a hike in entrance fees last year.

[RStar]

Si Disneyland had a 1.5% increase as DCA had a 9.5% increase beause of the makeover. I guess they did canbalize their attendance a little by shiffting them from one park to the other.

And Seaworld blames the drop in attendance to the price hike. All of the other theme parks had a price hike and yet attendance increased. Yah, right. It was the price hike....

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by RStar

And Seaworld blames the drop in attendance to the price hike. All of the other theme parks had a price hike and yet attendance increased. Yah, right. It was the price hike....

Sounds a bit fishy.

And here is another fun bit of spin:

Originally Posted by SeaWorld Exec

Businessweek quoted SeaWorld chief executive James Atchison telling investors last week, “Having a couple fewer bodies in the park is also good for our ratings and the experience as well, and we save operating cost.”

They should do well in the long term with that philosophy.

[RStar]

Originally Posted by Moonliner

Sounds a bit fishy.

And here is another fun bit of spin:



They should do well in the long term with that philosophy.

Yes, because having dead people lying around can be a real downer.