NEW WDW 2006 Attendance Figures!

DisneyYorkian74

Active Member
Original Poster
The new TEA & ERA end of year theme park attendance report was finally released today and shows the numbers for the year of 2006.

1.MAGIC KINGDOM at Walt Disney World 16,640,000 3.0%

2.DISNEYLAND, Anaheim, Calfornia 14,730,000 1.2%

3.EPCOT at Walt Disney World 10,460,000 5.5%

4.DISNEY MGM STUDIOS at Walt Disney World 9,100,000 5.0%

5.DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM 8,910,000 8.6%

6.UNIVERSAL STUDIOS 6,000,000 1.2%

7.DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE 5,950,000 2.1%

8.SEAWORLD FLORIDA, Orlando, Florida 5,740,000 2.5%

9.ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE 5,300,000 -4.8%

10.UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD 4,700,000 0.0%

WDW seems to have made the most gains out of the top 10 list and Animal Kingdom saw the largest percentage change with an 8.6% increase in attendance mostly thanks to the opening of Expedition Everest.

I have to admit that I'm surprised that it didn't overtake MGM to become the 3rd most popular park in WDW.

To read the entire report, Click: http://www.connectingindustry.com/pdfs/TEA-ERAAttendance06.pdf
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
very interesting...thanks for posting. 2006 was a good year for Disney! They may finally have the top 6 spots by next year...
 

CTXRover

Well-Known Member
Thanks!

I must say that TEA-ERA did a phenomenal job analyzing the attendance. I'm thrilled that they took over what AB left behind. Very nice tables from every imaginable perspective.

The few things I thought were noteworthy were the increases at MGM and AK. AK's increase was obvious given Everest, but I'm very surprised that MGM did as well as it did last year and prevented AK from taking the 3rd spot at WDW. However, WDW has done an excellent job keeping its three parks outside the MK within 1.5 million of each other. AK has come a long way. It is now where Epcot was a few years ago.

Also noteworthy were the decrease at IOA and increase at DCA, allowing DCA to take over what was once considered the next great theme park to look for inspiration. IOA needs to add something fast to stop this freefall. Obviously the rumored Harry Potter land may help, but I'm not even sure how far that will go.

I'm also incredibly surprised by how poorly Walt Disney Studios Paris is doing. I know it is the black eye in Disney's theme park properties and its small size limits the size of a substantial crowd from ever entering, but I never realized it only attracted 2.2 million visitors a year. Hoepfully the massive placemaking project going on at WDSP can help make it a decent sister park to DLP, which seems to be doing well attendance wise (I don't know if it increased or decreased from last year).

THanks again for the great find!! Also, way to go Disney...112.5 million visitors total visited Disney theme parks worldwide. Very impressive!
 

DisneyYorkian74

Active Member
Original Poster
Also noteworthy were the decrease at IOA and increase at DCA, allowing DCA to take over what was once considered the next great theme park to look for inspiration. IOA needs to add something fast to stop this freefall. Obviously the rumored Harry Potter land may help, but I'm not even sure how far that will go.

I now find it funny when I or another person says that DCA is a "struggling park" and receives low attendance; when for the past 2 years, IoA has gone below DCA in terms of attendance and nobody really considers IoA as a "struggling" or "failure" park.
 

CTXRover

Well-Known Member
I now find it funny when I or another person says that DCA is a "struggling park" and receives low attendance; when for the past 2 years, IoA has gone below DCA in terms of attendance and nobody really considers IoA as a "struggling" or "failure" park.

Yea, I still don't know if I'd agree that DCA is a failure of a park either. It has obviously had its growing pains and continues to need attention to improve, but the difference is that it is getting that attention. IOA started out of the gate as a great park. DCA started out of the gate struggling, both creatively and in attendance. The difference is the paths each of these parks took. IOA has remained stagnant since it opened with nothing new opening and areas that have seen better days. Something major is rumored for IOA and we will have to see what effect, if it comes to fruition, that will have, if any, on the park. DCA continues to expand, enhance and add new attractions. It is still 'struggling' in that it needs to attract more than less than half of what its sister park across the street is able to attract, but it is getting there. I think it is doing well. It physically can't reach DL's numbers because of its size at this point anyway, but maybe someday it will get more comparable.
 

PintoColvig

Active Member
I'm curious to know how much Epcot's consistent operating hours skews its attendance figures, especially in the off-season. Epcot is always open to 9 p.m. or later whereas AK and DS and even MK often close earlier at certain times of the year. Surely there are quite few people who park hop over to Epcot for a few evening hours. Not hating on Epcot but just wondering. :shrug:
 

DisneyYorkian74

Active Member
Original Poster
I'm curious to know how much Epcot's consistent operating hours skews its attendance figures, especially in the off-season. Epcot is always open to 9 p.m. or later whereas AK and DS and even MK often close earlier at certain times of the year. Surely there are quite few people who park hop over to Epcot for a few evening hours. Not hating on Epcot but just wondering. :shrug:

Some say that the first park a guest enters during a day is the only park that will receive another number added to its total.

But if it's not done that way; it would explain why Animal Kingdom receives less than MGM due to its closing early.
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
I would bet this is how they did this--the numbers are close to what they've been in the past, and it was always the case that the first park you entered was where your admission counted. On average, it all evens out, I think (better than nighttime). Everyone wants to see the fireworks at MGM, Epcot, and MGM, so the only data that may be skewed upward would be AK, but it's probably negligible. This is the best method to use.
 

djmatthews

Well-Known Member
5.DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM 8,910,000 8.6%

I'm not sure if the increases in attendance is purely down to E:E but I bet it's a massive contributing factor

To all those Disney pencil pushers out there, it proves that if you speculate you accumulate. Attractions such as Chester & Hester will not draw a big crowed, E:E will. Remember that E:E opened in early April too!

I'm hoping we are seeing a new chapter in theme park development worldwide, there are some good projects happening right now.
 

DonaldDoleWhip

Well-Known Member
And Epcot passed the 10 million mark!



EDIT: Don't forget about U.S. waterparks (page 10 of the article)!

1.TYPHOON LAGOON at Walt Disney World 2,050,000 +6.6%

2.BLIZZARD BEACH at Walt Disney World 1,880,000 +5.4%

3.WET 'N WILD in Orlando, Florida 1,340,000 flat

4.SCHLITTERBAHN in New Braunfels, Texas 880,000 -4.7%

The article shows Top 15 water parks. But Disney is on top anyway.
 

I-4Warrior

New Member
I'm thrilled to see the success of WDW in 2006. I also think the big reason that AK hasn't surpassed MGM is because of the three big bumps during the year that attendance really spikes upward: Star Wars Weekends, ESPN Weekend, and ABC Soap Weekend.

I know that mentioning them is considered a sin, but it's crazy to see what's gone on with Universal. No gain for the Cali park. A slight increase for UO (probably because Halloween Horror Nights was exclusive to UO instead of splitting it with IOA). But seeing the drop at IOA is kind of scary. I guess that's what happens when a park is nearing a decade old, AND YOU DON'T ADD ONE NEW ATTRACTION! :brick:
 

JimboJones123

Well-Known Member
I'm surprised AK isn't more? It seemed MUCH busier this year. Nemo will also make it skyrocket this year. If they ever do get night hours, watch out Epcot. Esp if they get 2-3 TS!
 

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