Disney Parks Increase Market Share
Propelled by the 50th-anniversary promotion of its flagship Disneyland theme park, Walt Disney Co. increased its share of the North American theme park market this year.
All six U.S. Disney theme parks logged gains in attendance, with Disneyland growing the most of any of the major North American attractions, according to estimates released Monday by trade journal Amusement Business and consulting firm Economics Research Associates.
About 14.5 million visitors passed through Disneyland’s gate, an 8.5% jump from 2004, the trade journal said. Only its Orlando, Fla., cousin Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World had greater attendance, with 16.1 million visitors, a 6.5% gain.
Disney’s California Adventure, Disneyland’s younger sibling in Anaheim, was the nation’s seventh-busiest park, logging 5.8 million visitors, a 3.6% rise.
Universal Studios Hollywood drew 4.7 million visitors, 6% fewer than last year. Its sister parks in Florida also lost attendance.
Mostly because of Burbank-based Disney, attendance at North America’s 50 most popular amusement parks rose 4.2% to an estimated 176 million visitors in 2005.
“Throughout the lean years following 9/11, Disney continued to invest at a heavy pace in its parks as it anticipated this turnaround in the market,” said James Zoltak, editor of Amusement Business.
In Anaheim, for example, Disneyland opened a completely rebuilt Space Mountain roller coaster, added a “Toy Story”-themed Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride and unveiled its most elaborate fireworks display.
During the last month, a “Monsters, Inc.”-themed ride quietly opened at California Adventure and will be heavily promoted in the new year. Disney also has opened or will open new rides at each of its Florida parks this year and next.
When tourism rebounded this year, both in terms of international travelers coming to the United States and Americans traveling to domestic destinations, that investment in new attractions paid off for Disney, Zoltak said.
And while Universal and some other parks recorded lower attendance, the growth in tourism and investment in new attractions helped some rivals register gains. SeaWorld San Diego nudged up 2.5% to 4.1 million and Six Flags Magic Mountain rose 5% to 2.8 million. Overall, Six Flags, which poured millions of dollars into new rides at its parks nationwide, posted a 5.7% increase.
Disney also juiced its attendance with heavy spending on both coasts for its 50th-anniversary celebration. Disney, however, declined to comment on the attendance estimates except to confirm that the numbers were up.
“My guess is that Disneyland’s numbers were even higher,” said Al Lutz, who maintains the MiceAge fan website.
Crowds of 60,000 to 80,000 on some days have prompted Disney to put up signs directing visitors to the California Adventure park, which fronts Disneyland. That in turn, Lutz said, has pushed the smaller park’s attendance figures higher.
Attendance at Knott’s Berry Farm, which is within view of one of the towers of the Disneyland hotel, fell 3% to just less than 3.5%.
“A lot of that decline comes from Disney cannibalizing” other parks’ business this year, said Lance Hart, who operates the Screamscape amusement park information site.
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Most popular parks
The 10 best-attended North American amusement parks in 2005
*--* Est. 2005 Change Attendance from Park (millions) 2004 Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Orlando 16.1 +6.5% Disneyland Anaheim 14.5 +8.5 Epcot at Walt Disney World Orlando 9.9 +5.5 Disney-MGM Studios Orlando 8.6 +5.0 Disney’s Animal Kingdom Orlando 8.2 +5.0 Universal Studios Orlando 6.1 +8.5 Disney’s California Adventure Anaheim 5.8 +3.6 Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando 5.8 -8.5 SeaWorld Orlando 5.6 +0.2 Universal Studios Universal City 4.7 -6.0
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Sources: Amusement Business, Economics Research Associates
