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TEA Theme Park Attendance Report Released

The Themed Entertainment Association(TEA) and Economics at AECOM have released their joint publication, the TEA/AECOM 2010 Theme Index today. The chief statistics are the estimated attendance numbers for the major theme parks world wide. 2010 was generally a good year with many of the destination theme parks experiencing strong growth. Disney theme park attendance was a mixed bag in 2010, however.

There were some notable exceptions to the growth. Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT all declined slightly. Only Disney’s Animal Kingdom showed any growth continuing it’s trend from last year when it passed DHS for the first time for third place among Disney’s four Orlando parks.

The two Tokyo Disney parks had great years in 2010, but that will no doubt be offset by the quake caused problems in 2011. We wish them luck!

The Disneyland Paris parks continue to struggle. Struggles with the union, reports of poor maintenance in the parks, and depressed economies in Europe are no doubt to blame. Meanwhile Hong Kong Disneyland showed that if you invest, they will come. Hopefully that’s a good trend for the future.

Speaking of investment in attractions, the Original Disneyland, with no new attractions, saw only minor growth, but California Adventure saw a decent improvement. That’s odd considering the park was undergoing a lot of construction at the time and lost its parades. However, the night time is the right time as ElecTRONica and World of Color draws them in after dark. So that growth probably included a lot of park hoppers.

The two SeaWorld parks both lost big. A lot of SeaWorld Florida’s decrease can be attributed to guests heading to Universal Orlando to catch the boy wonder. However, there was also the bad press received when a killer whale trainer was killed in an accident and the parks were still transitioning away from being a ‘Free as in Beer’ property to a Conservation based property. They seemed to be sleep walking through much of 2009 and 2010. Thankfully, the parks appear to have come out of that slumber recently. And Busch Gardens Tampa did show some strength.

The real winner, of course, was Universal Studios. Islands of Adventure showed 30%+ growth for the year and Harry Potter was only open for about 2/3rds of it. The boy wizard also lifted Universal Studios Florida. In Hollywood King Kong 360 3-D opened, but I’m not sure that explains the huge growth. I have to wonder if they got a little boost from the boy wizard too. That must have made for some disappointed tourists.

Attendance in M, Growth or Loss in Percentage, Name, Location
16.97 M -1.5% Magic Kingdom, Orlando, FL
15.98 M +0.5% Disneyland, Anaheim, CA
14.45 M +5.9% Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo, Japan
12.66 M +5.5% Tokyo DisneySea, Tokyo, Japan
10.83 M -1.5% EPCOT, Orlando, FL
10.50 M -2.6% Disneyland Paris, Marne-la-Vallee, Fran ce
9.87 M +1.0% Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Kissimmee, FL
9.60 M -1.0% Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Orlando, FL
8.16 M +2.0% Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan
6.88 M +11.6% Everland, South Korea
6.29 M +3.0% Disney California Adventure, Anaheim, CA
5.95 M +30.2% Islands of Adventure, Orlando FL
5.93 M +6.1% Universal Studios, Orlando FL
5.55 M +22.4% Lotte World, Seoul, South Korea
5.20 M +13.0% Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong
5.10 M -12.1% SeaWorld Florida, Orlando, FL
5.10 M +6.3% Ocean Park, Hong Kong
5.04 M +26.0% Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, CA
4.50 M -2.6% Walt Disney Studios, Marne-la-Vallee, France
4.47 M -5.0% Nagashima Spa Land, Kuwana Japan
4.25 M 0.0 Europa Park, Rust Germany
4.20 M +2.4% Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Tampa FL
4.02 M -6.0% Yokohama Sea Paradise, Japan
4.00 M 0.0% De Efteling, The Netherlands
3.80 M -9.5% SeaWorld California, San Diego, CA

The full press release is below the jump:

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Tokyo Disneyland to reopen this Friday, April 15th

Tokyo Disneyland Resort has announced that one of its two themeparks will reopen for guests starting April 15th. Tokyo Disneyland, the original park will reopen this Friday. From what I’ve read, this is a welcome move by both cast members, who have been living on… Read More »Tokyo Disneyland to reopen this Friday, April 15th

Tokyo Disneyland moves toward re-opening

Update: Ikspiari re-opened today. That’s a mall area that’s essentially the Tokyo Disney Downtown Disney equivalent.

There’s still no date announced yet, but Tokyo Disney Resort has started moving toward a re-opening date for its resort hotels and theme parks. Their website still says a decision will be made soon, but many of the international cast that were sent home have been asked to return and restart rehearsals.

Even as the performers head back to Tokyo, more stories of what it was like to experience the quake are making into the news. Eva, a parade performer, was in the rehearsal hall when it struck, while Bethany was at home in her apartment.

While no official date for re-opening has been announced, April 1st was rumored to see at least one of the parks open. At this point that seems unlikely, but who knows. Many of the furloughed employees are receiving 60% of their pay while the park is closed.

Also, below the cut is another video showing some scary moments during the quake inside Tokyo DisneySea.

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Tokyo Disneyland – New Video of Damage to Neighborhood, Performer

New video has just been uploaded that shows recent footage of damage to the neighborhood near Tokyo Disney Resort. This car is driving right by the resort, see the Cirque Du Soliel building go by on the right early in the clip. Then look to the side of the road and cracks in the road. Sometimes the ground has shifted by a couple of feet. That whole area will need new paving, new power lines, new street lights, bus stops, etc.

This, of course, is nothing compared to what the Tsunami ravaged sections of Japan have experienced. But it does shed some light on how soon we might expect any of the Tokyo Disney hotels or Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea to reopen.

There’s still quite a lot of clean up to do.

Here’s video of a local news station interviewing a Tokyo Disney performer upon her return to the US. There’s also a few shots of the damage done to her apartment and neighorhood:

Below the jump is new video from inside Tokyo Disney Sea taken just before and after the quake:

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Disney resumes some activity in Japan

The Walt Disney Company announced that it will be returning some operations to Japan for administrative and Disney Store roles. This is seen as the first move to resume film, themepark, and store operations. No word on when the Disney Stores themselves will re-open, and… Read More »Disney resumes some activity in Japan

Disney suspends all operations in Tokyo

The Walt Disney Company just announced that they have suspended all administrative and Disney store related operations in Tokyo, Japan. “Our top priority is the well-being of our employees and their families during this challenging time and we will continue to closely monitor the situation… Read More »Disney suspends all operations in Tokyo

When Should Tokyo Disneyland Reopen?

Events in Japan continue to teeter on the edge of disaster. Whether you’re a villager in Northeastern Japan whose every day is a fight for the basic necessities of survival in a post-tsunami zone or a resident of Fukushima or nearby cities (including Tokyo) where… Read More »When Should Tokyo Disneyland Reopen?