Disney Parks Annual Attendance History

[donsullivan]

I've been accumulating attendance data on the Disney Parks and many others for a long time now and over the last few days, I finally closed a couple of data gaps on a few parks back into the 70's and 60's. Now that I was able to fill in those data gaps I thought I would share for those interested. For me, this is a topic that has always fascinated me, especially getting away from the year-over-year data view and looking at longer term trends which tells a much more interesting story.

I'll be updating all of this data in a few weeks when TEA releases the numbers for 2017 which are usually available in early June. I'll try to update in place here and edit the thread title to reflect when the changes have been added.

If you find any data that is factually inaccurate, please share the correct data so I can update accordingly.

Data Sources:
- Since 1999, the data for all parks was direct from the Amusement Business and the TEA Annual Theme Park Attendance Reports.
- Tokyo Disney Resort data came direct from published reports from Oriental Land Company. The TDR data matches what was reported by Amusement Business and TEA.
- Data for the years before 1999 were derived from a minimum of 2 different data sources I found over the course of a decade of research and compilation. I tried to be sure I always had at least 2 sources for the data before 1999 when there wasn't a common industry source like TEA.


Chart 1- Combined total attendance of all parks at each individual resort property for the last 25 years.

Chart 2- Walt Disney World Resort totals since the property opened in 1971

Chart 3- Disneyland Resort totals since the property opened in 1955

Chart 4- Tokyo Disney Resort since the property opened in 1983

Chart 5- Disneyland Paris Resort since the property opened in 1992

Chart 6- Hong Kong Disneyland since the property opened in 2006

 

[winstongator]

Would you be willing to share your sources or numbers on the early figures for WDW? The site that I used to go to for it seems to have been lost to the ether.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing. Ahhh, I recall the years from 2002 to 2005 at WDW so fondly. That was when standby queues were tolerable.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Why was there a dip in attendance from 2000 to 2005 at WDW? This doesn't happen anywhere else. I was there in 2002. Not sure what the reasons would be though. The recession was bad in 2008 and it didn't take a dip. But in 2000 it does.

And another thing, Disneyland Paris, that just hasn't progressed attendance-wise the way I am sure they had hoped.

 

[thomas998]

Why was there a dip in attendance from 2000 to 2005 at WDW? This doesn't happen anywhere else. I was there in 2002. Not sure what the reasons would be though. The recession was bad in 2008 and it didn't take a dip. But in 2000 it does.

And another thing, Disneyland Paris, that just hasn't progressed attendance-wise the way I am sure they had hoped.

WDW is not just a destination for America it is also reliant on customers from outside the US. So you have to look at the economies of the countries where most foreign guests reside. Also realize that 9/11 had an impact on travel, airlines were impacted as was travel. Also throw in that the dot com bubble burst somewhere around 2000. Lots of little things culminated in a downturn that lasted longer than most people realize.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

WDW is not just a destination for America it is also reliant on customers from outside the US. So you have to look at the economies of the countries where most foreign guests reside. Also realize that 9/11 had an impact on travel, airlines were impacted as was travel. Also throw in that the dot com bubble burst somewhere around 2000. Lots of little things culminated in a downturn that lasted longer than most people realize.

I was factoring in 9/11, and especially with WDW there is more reliance on foreign travelers coming there as opposed to Disneyland which has more locals. So that is likely the biggest reason, I agree.

 

[TalkToEthan]

I think Hong Kong opened in 2005, right? Not 2006. I seem to remember hundreds trying to jump fences in chaotic fashion upon opening.

 

[TalkToEthan]

The Japanese appetite for Disney is off the charts.

Japan has 1/3 the population of US with super few outside tourists going to their Disney parks and yet it has posted some staggering figures with Disneyland and Sea over those years.

 

[JoeCamel]

The Japanese appetite for Disney is off the charts.

Japan has 1/3 the population of US with super few outside tourists going to their Disney parks and yet it has posted some staggering figures with Disneyland and Sea over those years.

They want quality

 

[TalkToEthan]

They want quality

Yes, yes they do.

Strangely out of say 20 to 25 times I talked to Japanese tourists at WDW they uniformly could not understand/agree with me that what they have in Tokyo is far supreme. They think I am fortunate to have access to WDW as a home resort whereas I think they are the ones who got it the best of all Disney destinations.

【I leave room for some kind of translation or cultural misunderstanding but at face value they all think WDW is superior.....to my sheer dismay at the absurdity of such a position】

 

[JoeCamel]

Yes, yes they do.

Strangely out of say 20 to 25 times I talked to Japanese tourists at WDW they uniformly could not understand/agree with me that what they have in Tokyo is far supreme. They think I am fortunate to have access to WDW as a home resort whereas I think they are the ones who got it the best of all Disney destinations.

【I leave room for some kind of translation or cultural misunderstanding but at face value they all think WDW is superior.....to my sheer dismay at the absurdity of such a position】

Maybe they are just a very polite people

 

[Lilofan]

Yes, yes they do.

Strangely out of say 20 to 25 times I talked to Japanese tourists at WDW they uniformly could not understand/agree with me that what they have in Tokyo is far supreme. They think I am fortunate to have access to WDW as a home resort whereas I think they are the ones who got it the best of all Disney destinations.

【I leave room for some kind of translation or cultural misunderstanding but at face value they all think WDW is superior.....to my sheer dismay at the absurdity of such a position】

One item is park cleanliness. Comparing TDL and MK is like day and night.

 

[TalkToEthan]

Maybe they are just a very polite people

Yes, that crossed my mind a few times over; I wonder if they, by default, think that there is a risk of offending me since WDW is my "home resort".

I just don't know. If indeed politeness is the phenomena at play then ironically I would be hoping to see honesty or candor rather than fear of offending. We're talking about Disney of course- a compnay in which I have no ownership interst in nor I work at unlike as if the stakes were personal like my family/friends or actual home I live in.

 

[TalkToEthan]

One item is park cleanliness. Comparing TDL and MK is like day and night.

Night and day may come across as hyperbole to some readers but the difference among say Paris and USA Disney vs Tokyo astounds.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

Going back several comments ago, there are obviously a ton of things that go into the attendance dip from 2000-2005 at WDW as already mentioned, but I find it curious that there is an almost identical bump at TDL at the exact same time. I'm guessing there was an overreaction to the terrorist attacks in the U.S. that lasted for years after. We really didn't understand how 9/11 happened in the U.S., but imagine what people from other countries were thinking with what they saw on their TV screens. I'm guessing there was a fair amount of fear overseas about traveling to the U.S., so I'll bet most people who normally would travel to WDW in those years decided to travel to Japan instead. That's just a hunch based on the data, but it'd be really interesting if someone who lived overseas could weigh in on this how people in other countries felt about travel to the U.S. following 9/11.

Strangely out of say 20 to 25 times I talked to Japanese tourists at WDW they uniformly could not understand/agree with me that what they have in Tokyo is far supreme. They think I am fortunate to have access to WDW as a home resort whereas I think they are the ones who got it the best of all Disney destinations.

【I leave room for some kind of translation or cultural misunderstanding but at face value they all think WDW is superior.....to my sheer dismay at the absurdity of such a position】

One item is park cleanliness. Comparing TDL and MK is like day and night.

I've never been to TDL, but I'm going to guess that they are referring to TDL vs WDW, not TDL to MK. TDL might or might not be superior to MK, but with the totality of Epcot, AK, and HS, and add in a couple of golf courses, and lots of other places to visit in the area, and going to WDW is really the better destination. TDL might be a better park than MK, I can't judge that, but just looking at maps, from a standpoint of just pure size, TDL+TDS have 236 acres of land versus 25,000 acres for WDW. I realize not all that land is developed, but let's just look at the parks alone:

TDL = 115 acres
TDS = 121 acres

vs

MK = 105 acres
HS = 135 acres
Epcot = 300 acres
AK = 580 acres

WDW parks are nearly 5x the size of TDL. I'm not saying all that land translates to better "quality" per acre, but there's just a lot more to do in general. That's probably why they think locals to WDW are luckier. Again, just my guess. Given the land discrepancy, there has to be a ton of attractions in WDW that aren't in TDL.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Going back several comments ago, there are obviously a ton of things that go into the attendance dip from 2000-2005 at WDW as already mentioned, but I find it curious that there is an almost identical bump at TDL at the exact same time. I'm guessing there was an overreaction to the terrorist attacks in the U.S. that lasted for years after. We really didn't understand how 9/11 happened in the U.S., but imagine what people from other countries were thinking with what they saw on their TV screens. I'm guessing there was a fair amount of fear overseas about traveling to the U.S., so I'll bet most people who normally would travel to WDW in those years decided to travel to Japan instead. That's just a hunch based on the data, but it'd be really interesting if someone who lived overseas could weigh in on this how people in other countries felt about travel to the U.S. following 9/11.


I've never been to TDL, but I'm going to guess that they are referring to TDL vs WDW, not TDL to MK. TDL might or might not be superior to MK, but with the totality of Epcot, AK, and HS, and add in a couple of golf courses, and lots of other places to visit in the area, and going to WDW is really the better destination. TDL might be a better park than MK, I can't judge that, but just looking at maps, from a standpoint of just pure size, TDL+TDS have 236 acres of land versus 25,000 acres for WDW. I realize not all that land is developed, but let's just look at the parks alone:

TDL = 115 acres
TDS = 121 acres

vs

MK = 105 acres
HS = 135 acres
Epcot = 300 acres
AK = 580 acres

WDW parks are nearly 5x the size of TDL. I'm not saying all that land translates to better "quality" per acre, but there's just a lot more to do in general. That's probably why they think locals to WDW are luckier. Again, just my guess. Given the land discrepancy, there has to be a ton of attractions in WDW that aren't in TDL.

I've been to Tokyo 6-7 times and went to TDL each time. Sure, it's well managed, but it's NOT WDW by any stretch. Smaller, more crowded, different rides (cultural differences), and the food is far worse.

WDW wins by a mile and I even much prefer the Magic Kingdom. DisneySea is cool, but far too crowded and disjointed, IMO.

Also, the primary reason for the cleanliness factor is because Japanese people are flat out cleaner and more respectful to property than Americans (on average).

Japan's subways are cleaner than most American homes. Clean is a culture there. Amazing place.

But WDW is better by miles and even the Japanese know it.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

I've been to Tokyo 6-7 times and went to TDL each time. Sure, it's well managed, but it's NOT WDW by any stretch. Smaller, more crowded, different rides (cultural differences), and the food is far worse.

WDW wins by a mile and I even much prefer the Magic Kingdom. DisneySea is cool, but far too crowded and disjointed, IMO.

Also, the primary reason for the cleanliness factor is because Japanese people are flat out cleaner and more respectful to property than Americans (on average).

Japan's subways are cleaner than most American homes. Clean is a culture there. Amazing place.

But WDW is better by miles and even the Japanese know it.

Ain't this the truth. Americans are slobs, like you said, "on average". I realize that's probably a smaller percentage of people who treat the world like it's their personal trash can, but it happens so much... EVERYWHERE. You could be walking the parks at Disney, driving your local streets, at a store, or just picking up your front yard in the Spring. There is no shortage of seeing people throwing trash out of their car windows, or just trash laying around. Every day... and I mean every day I could go out front of my house and see aluminum cans, coffee cups, wrappers, a fast food bag, [you name it] laying on the street or on my front lawn. I live in a nicer neighborhood with an HOA and very few teenagers, but people are generally so disrespectful. I even found a broken weed bowl on my front lawn by the street.

And what's with the random single shoe in the middle of the street so often? How does that happen?

 

[weegee]

Could you share your data or the sources for chart 2 and 3? I'm writing a paper about attendance in the US parks and TDR, would appreciate it.

 

[TalkToEthan]

. TDL might be a better park than MK,

Might be??
Better to change that to “is”