TEA Releases Top 25 Theme Parks for 2011

It’s that time of the year again when the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) releases its report that ranks the top 25 theme parks globally based on attendance. Definitely a few surprises, but it’s no surprise that the biggest mover is Universal Orlando Resort’s Islands of Adventure adding over 1.7 million new guests due to the addition of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Top 25 Theme Parks Based on Attendance (2011/2010) plus Change In Ranking (if any)

1 Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom – 17.1M / 17.0M
2 Disneyland – 16.1M / 16.0M
3 Tokyo Disneyland – 14.0M / 14.5M
4 Tokyo DisneySea – 12.0M / 12.6M
5 Disneyland Paris – 11.0M / 10.5M +1
6 EPCOT – 10.8M / 10.8M -1
7 Disney’s Animal Kingdom – 9.8M / 9.7M
8 Disney’s Hollywood Studios – 9.7M / 9.6M
9 Universal Studios Japan – 8.5M / 8.2M
10 Universal’s Islands of Adventure – 7.7M / 6.0M +2
11 Lotte World, Seoul, South Korea – 7.6M / 5.5M +2
12 Ocean Park, Hong Kong – 7.0M / 5.4M+5
13 Everland, Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea – 6.6M / 6.9M -3
14 Disney California Adventure – 6.3M / 6.3M -3
15 Universal Studios Florida – 6.0M / 6.0M -2
16 Hong Kong Disneyland – 5.9M / 5.2M -1
17 Nagashima Spa Land, Kuwana, Japan – 5.8M / 4.5M +3
18 SeaWorld Orlando – 5.2M / 5.1M -2
19 Universal Studios Hollywood – 5.1M / 5.0M -1
20 Walt Disney Studios Paris – 4.7M / 4.5M -1
21 Europa Park – 4.5M / 4.3M
22 SeaWorld San Diego – 4.3M / 3.8M +3
23 Busch Gardens Tampa – 4.3M / 4.2M -1
24 De Eftleing –  4.1M / 4.0M
25 Tivoli Gardens – 4.0M / 3.7M

First thing to note is that just because your attendance went up doesn’t mean someone else isn’t going up faster. Look at Hong Kong Disneyland that rose .7 Million, but Ocean Park, it’s across town rival, grew by 1.6M, more than twice HKDL. Not a good sign for the park, although I’m sure they’ll take any growth.

EPCOT falling out of the top 5 is a bit of a shocker. On the other hand, Tokyo Disneyland’ did amazing only losing .5 million even with the Earthquake and Tsunami impact on the economy and closing the park for more than a month. Another pleasant surprise is to see Disneyland Paris on the rise.

Generally speaking the state of the global theme park industry is improving. The primary driver in growth is Asia, but USA based parks are also seeing some strong numbers.

Keep in mind that these numbers are estimates as most parks don’t give out attendance numbers. But TEA is the acknowledged standard. Read the whole report for more insight into the theme park global economy.