Close enough that the amusement and themed entertainment industries take them seriously.
Those are demographics, often free-spending demographics, you don't see much in WDW.
It is interesting. However, I would caution us from assuming the EZ-Answer reply that Disneyland is only a little, tiny locals-only park that certainly never compares favorably with the MASSIVE Magic Kingdom Park.
The truth is that Disneyland in Anaheim, California is the favorite theme park for 20 Million Southern Californians, but it is also a world-famous tourist destination in its own right. And it's been that way since the 1950's, and likely won't be changing that attendance-mix anytime soon.
There's a reason there are 20,000 hotel rooms just in Anaheim alone, many within walking distance of the park. That's also why your hear so many Australian accents while waiting in line, and see all those gaggles of very polite Japanese Office Ladies buying up every Duffy item in sight, and Taiwanese and Korean tour groups being led by the dozens into Pirates of the Caribbean by their flag-waving guides. Not to mention all those nice folks from Washington, Oregon and British Columbia in their expensive Columbia Sportswear outfits but very, very pale legs and arms!
And there's also the key fact that while Disneyland is geographically smaller than the sprawling Magic Kingdom, it packs in about 15 more rides and an extra major entertainment spectacular that the Magic Kingdom lacks. Of those 15 additional rides Disneyland has, four of them are major headliner E Tickets; the Indiana Jones Adventure, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Star Tours, and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Disneyland is a park that literally has rides stacked on top of other rides (Alice In Wonderland caterpillar-cars travelling over Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Monorail zooming over Autopia freeways and Submarine caverns, Splash Mountain logs whizzing by docking Davy Crockett Canoes and a passing Sailing Ship Columbia, etc.),
Disneyland also has multiple layers of nighttime entertainment smooshed in next to each other, scheduled within minutes of each other; the nightly summertime swing dancing orchestra at Plaza Gardens pausing to clear the dancefloor for the nightly Magical fireworks out in the Central Plaza next to Frontierland as it fills as the lobby area for the second Fantasmic! performance of the night on the Rivers of America.
To claim that Magic Kingdom Park is the primary global Disney theme park experience, while Disneyland simply acts as weekend hangout for a few hundred thousand Annual Passholders living between Ventura and San Clemente is a really massive over-simplification of the reality of both parks.
But... there's also something to the fact that for the last seven or eight years Disneyland has really polished its crown as the Flagship of the Disney properties, and done nothing but improve, add, burnish, and expand its already fabulous offerings. At the same time that WDW management took a noticeably different tack with their Magic Kingdom Park, to the point where the vaunted FLE doesn't add anything capacity-wise, but simply replaces lost ride count in a one-for-one swap. The results of that are showing up in the annual attendance rankings, to be sure.
lol
It is interesting. However, I would caution us from assuming the EZ-Answer reply that Disneyland is only a little, tiny locals-only park that certainly never compares favorably with the MASSIVE Magic Kingdom Park.
The truth is that Disneyland in Anaheim, California is the favorite theme park for 20 Million Southern Californians, but it is also a world-famous tourist destination in its own right. And it's been that way since the 1950's, and likely won't be changing that attendance-mix anytime soon.
There's a reason there are 20,000 hotel rooms just in Anaheim alone, many within walking distance of the park. That's also why your hear so many Australian accents while waiting in line, and see all those gaggles of very polite Japanese Office Ladies buying up every Duffy item in sight, and Taiwanese and Korean tour groups being led by the dozens into Pirates of the Caribbean by their flag-waving guides. Not to mention all those nice folks from Washington, Oregon and British Columbia in their expensive Columbia Sportswear outfits but very, very pale legs and arms!
And there's also the key fact that while Disneyland is geographically smaller than the sprawling Magic Kingdom, it packs in about 15 more rides and an extra major entertainment spectacular that the Magic Kingdom lacks. Of those 15 additional rides Disneyland has, four of them are major headliner E Tickets; the Indiana Jones Adventure, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Star Tours, and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Disneyland is a park that literally has rides stacked on top of other rides (Alice In Wonderland caterpillar-cars travelling over Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Monorail zooming over Autopia freeways and Submarine caverns, Splash Mountain logs whizzing by docking Davy Crockett Canoes and a passing Sailing Ship Columbia, etc.),
Disneyland also has multiple layers of nighttime entertainment smooshed in next to each other, scheduled within minutes of each other; the nightly summertime swing dancing orchestra at Plaza Gardens pausing to clear the dancefloor for the nightly Magical fireworks out in the Central Plaza next to Frontierland as it fills as the lobby area for the second Fantasmic! performance of the night on the Rivers of America.
To claim that Magic Kingdom Park is the primary global Disney theme park experience, while Disneyland simply acts as weekend hangout for a few hundred thousand Annual Passholders living between Ventura and San Clemente is a really massive over-simplification of the reality of both parks.
But... there's also something to the fact that for the last seven or eight years Disneyland has really polished its crown as the Flagship of the Disney properties, and done nothing but improve, add, burnish, and expand its already fabulous offerings. At the same time that WDW management took a noticeably different tack with their Magic Kingdom Park, to the point where the vaunted FLE doesn't add anything capacity-wise, but simply replaces lost ride count in a one-for-one swap. The results of that are showing up in the annual attendance rankings, to be sure.
To point, yes. But the folks at Disneyland are EXPERTS at crowd management. It's amazing, really. The place flows, almost like a living, breathing thing. I've spent the whole last week in a very crowded DL, but I've ridden tons of rides, gotten where I wanted to go and saw what I wanted to see.
Another factor that I think REALLY helps DL is that there's not a ton of fastpass rides. There are a handful... But not many. That means you don't have thousands of FP holders clogging up walkways, too. Plus the lines for non- FP rides constantly move.
A perfect example of their skill at crowd management was after the fireworks. We walked from the hub out of the park at a slow constant pace, not having to stand still at all, as the crowd followed directions of cast members. My wife and I commented that at WDW, we've never had an experience like that.
Side note: X2 at Magic Mountain is AMAZING!!!!
I was being sarcastic when I wrote the "locals" part and in fact during our recent visit in Oct 2010 to the DLR it was very obvious that a large percentage of the people around me were not Southern Californians ... I think the excuse may have been more valid in the past but it is not the true picture today.. TDO probably reads on these forums the "Disneyland has better this and that becuase they have to for the "locals" but TDO at WDW does not cuz of blah blah" and figures we are so stupid as a community that we will eternally swallow that garbage especially when we spoonfeed it to ourselves!...
I hope I am not coming off as a butthead...I just wish they would bury this "Locals" arguement in the new HM graveyard!
I agree with you completely.
What constantly baffles me, and a concept that only seems to be intensifying on both coasts in recent years, is why WDW has purposely gone down such a different path than Disneyland has. The differences have become glaring, and the two American properties are really getting further and further apart when it comes to regular operating strategy and daily offerings.
And unfortunately for WDW, it's not a concept that is at all flattering to the Florida property and parks there. It's just getting weird.
I agree with you completely.
What constantly baffles me, and a concept that only seems to be intensifying on both coasts in recent years, is why WDW has purposely gone down such a different path than Disneyland has. The differences have become glaring, and the two American properties are really getting further and further apart when it comes to regular operating strategy and daily offerings.
And unfortunately for WDW, it's not a concept that is at all flattering to the Florida property and parks there. It's just getting weird.
There shouldn't be any but. Yes, IoA's attendance has been free falling for a while namely due to getting stale and tired but any way you slice it, an attraction that manages to draw a 30% increase in attendance in only half a year should have the competition worrying that they might have the power to influence attendance like that over longer periods of time. It's an impressive achievement and that isn't even taking into account merchandising profits that surely made UO some big bucks.
