2012 Themed Entertainment Association park attendance figures show increase over 2011

[RandomPrincess]

I'm surprised that AK has a higher attendance than DHS. DHS has two major events (Star Wars Wknds, Osborne Christmas Lights) that I thought would boost it up

Just think what the numbers would be with out those two events.

 

[Sneezy62]

So for Orlando we have:

IOA +4.0%
SWF +3.0%
USF +2.5%
MK +2.3%
EP +2.2
DAK +2.2%
DHS +2.2%

overall Orlando tourism +2.2%

 

[GLaDOS]

I'm surprised that AK has a higher attendance than DHS. DHS has two major events (Star Wars Wknds, Osborne Christmas Lights) that I thought would boost it up

That's because the TEA numbers have a really dumb way of being collected. Only the first park you visit counts. Therefore someone can go to DAK and finish in 3 hours, hop to DHS and stay there for 6, and that attendance is counted against DAK.

DAK is the least attended WDW park, the TEA way of gathering data just doesn't reflect that.

 

[RandomPrincess]

That's because the TEA numbers have a really dumb way of being collected. Only the first park you visit counts. Therefore someone can go to DAK and finish in 3 hours, hope to DHS and stay there for 6, and that attendance is counted against DAK.

DAK is the least attended WDW park, the TEA way of gathering data just doesn't reflect that.

That's a silly method. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Taylor]

So is it safe to say that the huge increases for UNI is over until the Potter expansion happens?

 

[GLaDOS]

So is it safe to say that the huge increases for UNI is over until the Potter expansion happens?

I'd expect a significant jump at USF for 2013. Transformers alone gave Universal Hollywood a 15% increase in 2012. I don't know if it will have the same affect in Orlando, but I think it will still be sizable.

 

[twebber55]

I'd expect a significant jump at USF for 2013. Transformers alone gave Universal Hollywood a 15% increase in 2012. I don't know if it will have the same affect in Orlando, but I think it will still be sizable.

totally agree...look for USF to get a pretty big boost next year and a gigantic boost for 2014

 

[Animaniac93-98]

That's because the TEA numbers have a really dumb way of being collected. Only the first park you visit counts. Therefore someone can go to DAK and finish in 3 hours, hop to DHS and stay there for 6, and that attendance is counted against DAK.

DAK is the least attended WDW park, the TEA way of gathering data just doesn't reflect that.

According to Al Lutz, this is how Disney does it too. So if you visit DCA first to grab a fastpass for RSR and then go to Disneyland, it only counts as a DCA attendence figure. This is why there is a decline in Disneyland attendence this year.

 

[twebber55]

i really think its the only way to do it...i shouldnt count as two people in one day..its not the greatest way to do it but probably the best

 

[Taylor]

I'd expect a significant jump at USF for 2013. Transformers alone gave Universal Hollywood a 15% increase in 2012. I don't know if it will have the same affect in Orlando, but I think it will still be sizable.

I don't think it will be a 15% jump but I do agree that it will go up due to Transformers. It also depends on how well the attraction is marketed which shouldn't be a problem UNI is pretty good with marketing new attractions.

 

[twebber55]

I don't think it will be a 15% jump but I do agree that it will go up due to Transformers. It also depends on how well the attraction is marketed which shouldn't be a problem UNI is pretty good with marketing new attractions.

yeah i look for a 6to8% jump for USF and then a 15to20% after HP2 opens
along with the JP addition i look for Universal Orlando Resort to be around 17-18 million total by 2016

 

[GLaDOS]

I don't think it will be a 15% jump but I do agree that it will go up due to Transformers. It also depends on how well the attraction is marketed which shouldn't be a problem UNI is pretty good with marketing new attractions.

Marketing is all over the place in Orlando, and they've been putting Transformers in their national TV commercials, so I think they'll be pretty solid.

 

[disney fan 13]

I'm suprised Uni is still growing at that rate. (Especially IOA) though I expect much larger gains in the coming years because of potter/ TF/ JP/KZ etc...

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I feel bad for DCA, since so many previous 'estimates' were predicting much higher numbers for the park. Maybe in 2013 the numbers will continue to rise significantly since it'll be the first full year with Cars Land? I wouldn't think TEA's data collection method is drastically skewing DCA's attendance, since so many people choose to start their day with Cars Land and RSR.

Either way, I wish WDW's attendance numbers were flatter. Not that I want to see WDW struggling, but 2% gains don't feel warranted for any of the parks (except maybe MK, and even that's a stretch). We all know TDO has been acting complacent over the last few years, and I'd hate to see them stall further because attendance is okay right now.

 

[twebber55]

i look for DCA to be around 25% for next years numbers given it will have the luxury of a full year..similar to what we saw with HP at IOA 30% for 2010 (6months) 30% for 2011

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'm surprised that AK has a higher attendance than DHS. DHS has two major events (Star Wars Wknds, Osborne Christmas Lights) that I thought would boost it up

Why are you surprised? It's been this way for a few years now.

That's a silly method. Thanks for the explanation.

The practice was established by Walt Disney World in 1982.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Quick number crunching....

MK's average, daily attendance for 2012 would have been 48,000. This is before New Fantasyland opened.

Others:

Epcot - 30,000.
DAK - 27,000.
DHS - 27,000.

While we look at a lack of growth in the parks, especially at Dak/DHS still being under 30k/day, they're still above UOR.

IOA - 21,800.
UOR - 17,000.

 

[WDWFigment]

I feel bad for DCA, since so many previous 'estimates' were predicting much higher numbers for the park. Maybe in 2013 the numbers will continue to rise significantly since it'll be the first full year with Cars Land? I wouldn't think TEA's data collection method is drastically skewing DCA's attendance, since so many people choose to start their day with Cars Land and RSR.

Either way, I wish WDW's attendance numbers were flatter. Not that I want to see WDW struggling, but 2% gains don't feel warranted for any of the parks (except maybe MK, and even that's a stretch). We all know TDO has been acting complacent over the last few years, and I'd hate to see them stall further because attendance is okay right now.

I dunno, if I were Disneyland Resort, I'd be pretty happy with a 22.6% gain at the second gate with only a 1.1% decrease at the main gate. That's a huge increase with very little cannibalization. And the growth occurred in mostly the second half of the year, since the first 5.5 months of the year, DCA was still torn up (remember the temporary entrance behind Soarin'?).

I also see it as significant because it shows that while small additions in DCA (World of Color, TSMM, Mermaid) moved the needle a tad, big budget tent-pole expansion is what it took to see significant growth. Disney should see that and realize that's the right course of action to take at WDW, too, if they want similar results.

Also significant is that Disneyland Resort doesn't feel significantly more crowded than it did before Cars Land opened. The back corner is packed near RSR, but the parks have done a great job of absorbing the crowds. Even over Memorial Day, the parks were fine...

 

[asianway]

I dunno, if I were Disneyland Resort, I'd be pretty happy with a 22.6% gain at the second gate with only a 1.1% decrease at the main gate. That's a huge increase with very little cannibalization. And the growth occurred in mostly the second half of the year, since the first 5.5 months of the year, DCA was still torn up (remember the temporary entrance behind Soarin'?).

I also see it as significant because it shows that while small additions in DCA (World of Color, TSMM, Mermaid) moved the needle a tad, big budget tent-pole expansion is what it took to see significant growth. Disney should see that and realize that's the right course of action to take at WDW, too, if they want similar results.

Also significant is that Disneyland Resort doesn't feel significantly more crowded than it did before Cars Land opened. The back corner is packed near RSR, but the parks have done a great job of absorbing the crowds. Even over Memorial Day, the parks were fine...

Heres something to think about - how much did DCA cannibalize WDW? Im sure some people skipped FL this year as a result.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Oh yeah, here's the link if anyone is interested. 2012 Report