WDW Theme Park Attendance

[cba]

I read an article that WDW had the most theme park attendance in the world, and I was kinda surprised it had more than Disneyland, sice it's been around longer, or maybe it was the most attendance in the past few years. Just sharing something everyone knows, yippie. Sorry for wasting your time.
Here's the link to the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amusement_park_attendance_figures
Sorry again.

 

[captainkidd]

The Magic Kingdom has been the #1 most visited theme park in the world for many years. Though I have yet to go to Disneyland, I'd say this has nothing to do with quality (and surely not quantity) and more to do with WDW being the most popular vacation destination in the world on a whole.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

I think the size and proximity to population are the reasons WDW has the higher attendance. I don't want to get another "which is better" conversation going.

**Edit**

 

[cba]

I think the size alone in the reason WDW has the higher attendance.

I agree, I've never been to Disneyland, but there's only a big park (Disneyland Park) and a miniature park (DCA). I feel that Disneyland park is a little squished, while WDW is much more spread out. But there isn't a better one, so if there's a "which is better fight", I'll do my best to try and stop it.

 

[Dad 2 M & M]

You ought to try DL! We've only been once, and will go again. It will be in our rotation, but maybe once every 3-5 years. It is nice to experience the common attractions that differ slightly, as well as those that are specific to each park. Plenty of other things to do in SoCal (or Cal in general).

 

[luv]

I always wanted to go to DL, but Orlando just had more to offer me.

4 Disney parks, 2 Uni parks, Sea World & Discovery Cove, Gatorland and a host of tourist crap all over the area. Throw in a drive to Busch Gardens, KSC, Legoland...there is just so much to do in Orlando.

And it was a cheaper flight or shorter drive.

Those were my reasons.

I still plan to go to California one day.

 

[WED99]

At California right now visiting Disneyland. WDW's size is the reason it has higher attendance. People want to go to 6 parks on their trip not 2. But DL is my all time favorite, some thing just feels different....

 

[Californian Elitist]

California is a vacation destination, the DLR is one of the attractions. Quite different for Florida and WDW. Nothing wrong between the two, just different.

Disneyland is only behind by one million. Regarding the four parks vs two, DLR has as many attractions in two parks as WDW has in four, believe it or not, if we don't count the water parks.

 

[GoofGoof]

I read an article that WDW had the most theme park attendance in the world, and I was kinda surprised it had more than Disneyland, sice it's been around longer, or maybe it was the most attendance in the past few years. Just sharing something everyone knows, yippie. Sorry for wasting your time.
Here's the link to the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amusement_park_attendance_figures
Sorry again.

If you combine the WDW parks together the number is huge. More than double the next largest which is Tokyo's 2 parks - until next year when DCA and DL will probably jump ahead of them. However, part of that is due to the way tickets are sold. Attendance at DHS and AK and probably EPCOT too is artificially boosted by people who are already at WDW for a longer stay and bought 5 or 7 day passes. Guests at WDW Generally tend to stay a lot longer.

California is a vacation destination, the DLR is one of the attractions. Quite different for Florida and WDW. Nothing wrong between the two, just different.

To be fair, there is quite a bit to do in FL without WDW. FL would still be a huge vacation destination even without the mouse. That being said, for me personally, I would choose CA hands down to visit over FL (Disney parks excluded). I love the SD area all the way up through Anaheim. Southern CA is on my very short list of places my wife would actually be willing to move to if I ever had to move for work. I could live without going back to LA and Hollywood, but it is definitely worth seeing and doing the tourist things and was definitely a top destination for people watching. Never been to SF and Northern CA. We always wanted to get out there, but just never got around to it. It's on my list of things to do. Does Sacramento count as CA? I prefer to stick to the coast (the drive through the desert to Vegas was pretty interesting though).

 

[lazyboy97o]

Tokyo Disneyland, as a single park, was for years the clear and reigning king, with numbers only now being seen by the Magic Kingdom. Attendance dropped off when Tokyo DisneySEA opened and unlike Walt Disney World where people are shuffled around and manipulated so that time is lost but "Magic" remains, Tokyo Disney Resort does not allow park hopping for the first two days. These attendance counts also do not reflect unique visits, revenue per guest, overall revenue or quality of product/experience.

 

[Californian Elitist]

To be fair, there is quite a bit to do in FL without WDW. FL would still be a huge vacation destination even without the mouse. That being said, for me personally, I would choose CA hands down to visit over FL (Disney parks excluded). I love the SD area all the way up through Anaheim. Southern CA is on my very short list of places my wife would actually be willing to move to if I ever had to move for work. I could live without going back to LA and Hollywood, but it is definitely worth seeing and doing the tourist things and was definitely a top destination for people watching. Never been to SF and Northern CA. We always wanted to get out there, but just never got around to it. It's on my list of things to do. Does Sacramento count as CA? I prefer to stick to the coast (the drive through the desert to Vegas was pretty interesting though).

Oh, of course! You can go anywhere for a vacation, if you wanted to. I'm just saying California is known throughout the world for certain cities, like Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Diego, San Francisco, etc.. Not to mention the different landmarks. The first things I think of when Florida is mentioned are theme parks and Cocoa Beach. Miami, too. I wouldn't put Florida up there with California.

Sacramento is Northern California. Not too far from Frisco and Oakland.

 

[GoofGoof]

Oh, of course! You can go anywhere for a vacation, if you wanted to. I'm just saying California is known throughout the world for certain cities, like Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Diego, San Francisco, etc.. Not to mention the different landmarks. The first things I think of when Florida is mentioned are theme parks and Cocoa Beach. Miami, too. I wouldn't put Florida up there with California.

Sacramento is Northern California. Not too far from Frisco and Oakland.

I think FL tops the list of states for international tourism, but a large chunk of that probably is related to WDW and the Orlando theme park industry. I agree that generally when I think of going to CA I don't immediately think of DL. I was only in Sacramento for work with little time to do anything fun so I probably didn't give it a fair shot.

Florida has some of the best beaches in the country too. The gulf coast is pretty great. Naples, Ft Myers, Sanibel and Captiva. All great beaches with good shopping, resorts and golf. The keys are almost like their own state with a very mellow almost Caribbean feel, but still part of FL. The Everglades are something to see. Swamp boats and crazy people wrestling alligators. Miami is not really my cup of tea, but has all of the entertainment and nightlife of any major city and of course all of the bad stuff that goes along with that too. Daytona and Ft Lauderdale are popular tourist areas as well. Now that the space shuttle program is finished I'm not sure what they are doing at Cape Canaveral anymore, but seeing a shuttle launch was pretty cool. My point is there are tons of tourist areas outside of Orlando.

On the flip side there are also plenty of old people and golf courses and for some reason when a kid goes missing and it becomes major national news it always seems to be in FL. Not sure what's up with that. CA weather is so much better than FL and in my opinion the food is much better. I love avocados and I swear they find ways to incorporate avocado and salsa in almost anything imaginable. Even the fast food is superior. We don't have in and out burger or Carl's Jr on the East coast or Jack in the Box anymore and the Mexican choices are too many to list. As cool as the Everglades and beaches are to see CA has far superior natural attractions.

 

[GoofGoof]

Tokyo Disneyland, as a single park, was for years the clear and reigning king, with numbers only now being seen by the Magic Kingdom. Attendance dropped off when Tokyo DisneySEA opened and unlike Walt Disney World where people are shuffled around and manipulated so that time is lost but "Magic" remains, Tokyo Disney Resort does not allow park hopping for the first two days. These attendance counts also do not reflect unique visits, revenue per guest, overall revenue or quality of product/experience.

I guess they are still getting over the nuclear problems too. Tourism in Japan in general was hurt a lot. I agree that raw attendance numbers do not correlate to quality of the park or experience.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I think FL tops the list of states for international tourism, but a large chunk of that probably is related to WDW and the Orlando theme park industry. I agree that generally when I think of going to CA I don't immediately think of DL. I was only in Sacramento for work with little time to do anything fun so I probably didn't give it a fair shot.

Florida has some of the best beaches in the country too. The gulf coast is pretty great. Naples, Ft Myers, Sanibel and Captiva. All great beaches with good shopping, resorts and golf. The keys are almost like their own state with a very mellow almost Caribbean feel, but still part of FL. The Everglades are something to see. Swamp boats and crazy people wrestling alligators. Miami is not really my cup of tea, but has all of the entertainment and nightlife of any major city and of course all of the bad stuff that goes along with that too. Daytona and Ft Lauderdale are popular tourist areas as well. Now that the space shuttle program is finished I'm not sure what they are doing at Cape Canaveral anymore, but seeing a shuttle launch was pretty cool. My point is there are tons of tourist areas outside of Orlando.

On the flip side there are also plenty of old people and golf courses and for some reason when a kid goes missing and it becomes major national news it always seems to be in FL. Not sure what's up with that. CA weather is so much better than FL and in my opinion the food is much better. I love avocados and I swear they find ways to incorporate avocado and salsa in almost anything imaginable. Even the fast food is superior. We don't have in and out burger or Carl's Jr on the East coast or Jack in the Box anymore and the Mexican choices are too many to list. As cool as the Everglades and beaches are to see CA has far superior natural attractions.

I wasn't saying CA receives more tourists. I was saying California has more things to do

I really don't like Jack in the Box but a lot of Easterners do. I don't know why. Everything else, I agree with In-N-Out is my absolute favorite.

 

[Trekkie101]

I know International Guests aren't the biggest share of WDW traffic, however from my UK perspective at least, WDW/Orlando is a lot more International Guest friendly. For example Flydrive (Flight, Hotel, Car) packages in Orlando are a lot cheaper than anything I can find in California.

Also even the way Disney does tickets works better, a 14 day ultimate ticket (hopping, parks, water parks) is £239. Where as in California the best I can find is a 5 day ticket, or take the jump to Annual Pass. ($600?) So around £300 but obviously just for the two parks.

That said inclusive of flights a week at Disneyland Paris can cost around $1100 for onsite Hotels, Parks and Flights, again a pretty good deal.

 

[Disneykidder]

I think every true Disney fan needs to hit DL at least once in their lifetime. There's something about walking through the castle knowing that Walt made that same walk many times... (Please don't kill me for saying that...)

Sorry, back to the topic at hand. I agree that it has something to do with the size of the place. It doesn't take long to do and most families I have spoken to do not want to go there just for a couple of days. We will def. go back to DL but when our kiddies are older and can sustain a longer plane ride. It has been a while since we have been to DL but it was great.

 

[GoofGoof]

I wasn't saying CA receives more tourists. I was saying California has more things to do

I really don't like Jack in the Box but a lot of Easterners do. I don't know why. Everything else, I agree with In-N-Out is my absolute favorite.

Do they still have the breakfast jack? Everything else is lame.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Do they still have the breakfast jack? Everything else is lame.

Hhhmm... Breakfast Jack? Doesn't sound familiar. Do you remember what came on it?

BTW, I'd love to visit some Florida beaches!

 

[GoofGoof]

Hhhmm... Breakfast Jack? Doesn't sound familiar. Do you remember what came on it?

BTW, I'd love to visit some Florida beaches!

I think it was a fried egg, cheese and Canadian bacon or maybe ham on a burger bun. Basically an egg McMuffin on a burger bun, but it just tasted better than an egg McMuffin. We haven't had jack in the box around here in years, maybe the 80s, so it could be long gone from the menu and I may be remembering it as tasting better than it did.

If you pick a FL beach I highly recommend the gulf coast. The gulf of Mexico is always warm and has very few waves so you can just float out in a raft with your beverage of choice and enjoy the sunshine. You can get some great fresh caught fish at many local restaurants too.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I think it was a fried egg, cheese and Canadian bacon or maybe ham on a burger bun. Basically an egg McMuffin on a burger bun, but it just tasted better than an egg McMuffin. We haven't had jack in the box around here in years, maybe the 80s, so it could be long gone from the menu and I may be remembering it as tasting better than it did.

If you pick a FL beach I highly recommend the gulf coast. The gulf of Mexico is always warm and has very few waves so you can just float out in a raft with your beverage of choice and enjoy the sunshine. You can get some great fresh caught fish at many local restaurants too.

Oh ok. They still have a sandwich like that but it's not called the Breakfast Jack. I'll admit their breakfast is good. I go there for breakfast, and it's served all day, so that's good.

The Gulf sounds good to me