The 14% increase was "artificial" based on adjusted numbers for 2003 from Amusement Business. When you look at 2003's original estimates, Universal actually saw a decline in 2004 as well, but supposedly the "newer" numbers were more in line with actual figures in Universal's portfolio, so I won't disagree with them much.
Either way, any gain in 2004 was wiped out in 2005. Officially, Universal dropped a whopping 11% in attendance in 2005, 2.5% more than what AB had estimated, which they actually blamed on gas prices in addition to WDW's celebration. Gas prices didn't keep visitors from flocking to WDW, and if Universal wants to continue being a strong competitor they need to look inwards before blaming outside factors...its what Disney did with DCA's performance from day 1. Fortunately, it looks like Iger and crew finally have the guts to publicly admit its lackluster performance and some big changes for the park are in place which is what DCA needed to help increase its attendance. Even the new Monster's Inc. attraction and Hollywood backlot spruce-up seem to be helping already. The total attendance now for both parks at UO combined is only 1.8 million more than what Universal Studios pulled in by itself in 1998 before IOA opened. Unfortunately, that isn't good no matter what spin you put on it. With nothing big for 2006 or probably even 2007 by the looks of it, UO may very well continue to struggle in the upcoming years. The new Suess attraction, originally scheduled for the park's opening, will be nice when it finally opens this summer, but it probably won't bring many new visitors to the parks.
