Animal Kingdom overtakes Epcot

darrelljon

Active Member
Original Poster
Not sure if this has been posted before as figures from 2017 (published May 2018) show Animal Kingdom has for the first time overtaken Epcot attendance figures topping twelve million annually. The two Kingdom parks are now the most popular. Not sure if this reflects badly on Epcot? Or if people have lost interest in the theme especially since the lost focus on the future or community in this era.
 

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
Not sure if this reflects badly on Epcot? Or if people have lost interest in the theme especially since the lost focus on the future or community in this era.
It's probably more that the Park has lost interest in the theme and lost focus on the future or community. Neither of them are explored well in the park at the moment, it's a mess.

That said, overall I'm sure this has more to do with Pandora than anything. But Epcot losing its footing as a theme park certainly doesn't help anything.
 

joshjoned

Active Member
It may do briefly but Rataouille isn't a great ride. Having been on the Paris one I won't be rushing to Epcot to try the new one.

That said I'd have Epcot as my number 2 park so if it's quieter its fine by me!

I just think Epcot has the benefit of being part of the original two parks (along with MK), and with a little added boost, will be back at it's #2 spot it occupied for years.

Plus it's also getting a new space themed restaurant too.
 

rortoni

New Member
I've lots of good memories at Epcot. Still one of my favorites. But I know a bunch of people who skips Epcot just to spend the day and money at outlet malls. So sad.
 

Nottamus

Well-Known Member
Of course, dropping from #1 to #4 means that only 11.5 million people will be in line in front of you for Fish & Chips.

I will always have Epcot as #1. So many great memories there, and more made every trip. AK too. (#2 for us) The addition of Pandora no doubt, is the reason for attendance spike. Those wait times are crazy for FOP.
 

UpAllNight

Well-Known Member
They’re moving too slow in giving Epcot the attention it needs, which says a lot with 2 e tickets and 2 new restaurants under construction.
 

eliza61nyc

Well-Known Member
It may do briefly but Rataouille isn't a great ride. Having been on the Paris one I won't be rushing to Epcot to try the new one.

That said I'd have Epcot as my number 2 park so if it's quieter its fine by me!

But most folks I dare say will not have that comparison. Most folk here are not fans of the frozen ride in Epcot yet it's pretty popular.
LOL, I'm sort of to the point of "if you build it, they will come" with the mouseworld.
 

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Surely the excitement and favorability of FoP and the hype of Avatarland as a whole has driven up the numbers. Still surprised me that the multi- event driven EP lagged behind. EP was still buzy enough on our last trip that it felt more crowded than past visits wed made.
 

SirWillow

Well-Known Member
If they can get Future World refocused, I think Epcot can come back pretty easily. But it's in such sad shape right now that it doesn't surprise me at all that it's fallen behind. What says a lot is that it's below Hollywood Studios, which in many ways is in even a worse mess, at least until SWGE opens later this year. And that's with all of the festivals they have at it in an attempt to prop up the attendance.

The new additions will help some- I think the space restaurant fits great, and even though it doesn't fit at all with the park GOG will likely be extremely popular. Ratatouille is a fantastic fit in France, and for many will make it feel like there is something to do in World Showcase. I have to disagree with Andrew Appleby above- I thought Ratatouille was a great ride, so very much Disney, and I think it's going to be a huge hit.

But even with all of those, I still think they need to fix Innoventions/ Communicore, which just gives you a head dead space right in the middle of the park when you first come in- a terrible first impression. Many other areas also need obvious help and improvement, the front half of the park needs a refocus and theme that ties it together, and for most families I think they're wanting to see another ride of some sort in World Showcase, somewhere around Italy, Germany, or the large space between Germany and China. I don't see it recapturing #2 until those issues are addressed.
 

joshjoned

Active Member
If they can get Future World refocused, I think Epcot can come back pretty easily. But it's in such sad shape right now that it doesn't surprise me at all that it's fallen behind. What says a lot is that it's below Hollywood Studios, which in many ways is in even a worse mess, at least until SWGE opens later this year. And that's with all of the festivals they have at it in an attempt to prop up the attendance.

The new additions will help some- I think the space restaurant fits great, and even though it doesn't fit at all with the park GOG will likely be extremely popular. Ratatouille is a fantastic fit in France, and for many will make it feel like there is something to do in World Showcase. I have to disagree with Andrew Appleby above- I thought Ratatouille was a great ride, so very much Disney, and I think it's going to be a huge hit.

But even with all of those, I still think they need to fix Innoventions/ Communicore, which just gives you a head dead space right in the middle of the park when you first come in- a terrible first impression. Many other areas also need obvious help and improvement, the front half of the park needs a refocus and theme that ties it together, and for most families I think they're wanting to see another ride of some sort in World Showcase, somewhere around Italy, Germany, or the large space between Germany and China. I don't see it recapturing #2 until those issues are addressed.

attendance wise Epcot is still well ahead of Hollywood Studios.
 

SirWillow

Well-Known Member
Ok, looking at the rankings on Wikipedia, Epcot is actually #7 overall, and #3 at WDW. The top 10 with 2017 attendance are:
1Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort20,450,000
2Disneyland Park at Disneyland Resort18,300,000
3Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort16,600,000
4Universal Studios Japan14,935,000
5Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disney Resort13,500,000
6Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort12,500,000
7Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort12,200,000
8Shanghai Disneyland Park at Shanghai Disney Resort11,000,000
9Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort10,722,000
10Universal Studios Florida at Universal Orlando Resort10,198,000
 

joshjoned

Active Member
So I misunderstood then, when they said it had dropped to #4. I'm guessing that would include Disneyland in CA then?

Disneyland in CA is #2 after Magic Kingdom. Epcot received something like 12.2 millii visitors in 2017, an improvement over what it saw in 2016. Animal Kingdom, even with the addition of Pandora, didn't beat Epcot by much (i think it was 12.5 mil). With SWGE coming to Studios, it MAY drop to #4, but i'm not even convinced of that. SWGE will increase attendance for all the parks, and once Epcot gets it's new additions in 2021, it will likely be back at #2 IMO.
 

justintheharris

Well-Known Member
Not sure if this has been posted before as figures from 2017 (published May 2018) show Animal Kingdom has for the first time overtaken Epcot attendance figures topping twelve million annually. The two Kingdom parks are now the most popular. Not sure if this reflects badly on Epcot? Or if people have lost interest in the theme especially since the lost focus on the future or community in this era.
I think it reflects very poorly on EPCOT. I think the truth of the matter is EPCOT is dated, has been ignored and is overall just not fun. Yes, it has its fans and plenty of them on this forum. But I only go to EPCOT when I feel guilty for going to the other three parks so much more than EPCOT. Also, the festivals are an attendance gimmick. I have no clue why nobody calls Disney on that. Food and Wine, Festival of the Arts and so on and so forth are all invented to boost EPCOT's attendance. Without those festivals, I have a hard time believing EPCOT could match either park at Universal Orlando Resort in attendance.
 

Damon7777

Well-Known Member
Epcot sorely needs an overhaul.......too bad it's getting passed over.

DCA got one and Studios is getting something promising but EPCOT is being neglected for a an overhaul
 

joshjoned

Active Member
I think it reflects very poorly on EPCOT. I think the truth of the matter is EPCOT is dated, has been ignored and is overall just not fun. Yes, it has its fans and plenty of them on this forum. But I only go to EPCOT when I feel guilty for going to the other three parks so much more than EPCOT. Also, the festivals are an attendance gimmick. I have no clue why nobody calls Disney on that. Food and Wine, Festival of the Arts and so on and so forth are all invented to boost EPCOT's attendance. Without those festivals, I have a hard time believing EPCOT could match either park at Universal Orlando Resort in attendance.

if that's the case, you could argue that mickey's not so scary, and the Merry Christmas party are attendance gimmicks as well. Nothing wrong with attendance gimmicks if people like them.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom