Disney Park Bucks Trend

Most North American theme parks had fewer visitors in 2003, with the notable exception of Walt Disney Co.’s California Adventure in Anaheim, which saw a 13% rise, an industry journal said Friday.

Disney’s Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and Tokyo Disneyland were No. 1 and No. 2 worldwide, respectively, in visitors for a second year. But neither saw much change from a year earlier, with 14 million at the Magic Kingdom and 13.2 million in Japan, Amusement Business estimated.

Disney, the world’s largest theme park operator, did not comment on the magazine’s attendance estimates.

But Disney theme parks chief Jay Rasulo said in a statement that attendance was improving slowly, consistent with the company’s position that a recovery would be gradual as the economy improved and global travel concerns fell.

“We have now seen several months of consistent but moderate growth in our domestic parks -- both among international and domestic guests,” Rasulo said, adding that the company was putting in new attractions.

“We are not waiting for a rebound,” he said.

California Adventure opened a number of new attractions, such as the Aladdin theater production, and was heavily promoted. The park opened to anemic attendance in 2001 but saw a 13% rise to 5.3 million visitors in 2003.

Among the top-10 U.S. parks, rival Vivendi Universal’s Universal Studios Hollywood saw the biggest drop in attendance: 12% to 4.6 million. Most of the top-50 parks posted declines.

Disney’s Epcot center attendance took off late in the year with the launch of its Mission: Space ride. Visits rose 4% to 8.6 million at the Disney World park, the magazine said.

Other Southern California amusement parks with attendance in the top 20: 13th, SeaWorld California in San Diego, 4 million visitors, unchanged; 14th, Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, 3.4 million, down 4%; 19th, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, 3 million, down 2%.