Theme park attendance in North America in 2022 was up 32% at the largest attractions, with Magic Kingdom topping the list, according to the annual report released by the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM.
Magic Kingdom, which continued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney World last year, had 17.13 million visitors in 2022, an increase of 35%, the report said.
Although TEA estimated park attendance for ’22, it did not re-rank its overall lists, maintaining the order from 2019 for the third consecutive year due to COVID factors. But from the raw numbers provided, Magic Kingdom would be No. 1 worldwide.
Disneyland of Anaheim, California, would be second on the North American and global lists with 16.89 million visitors, a 97 percent increase.
Universal’s Islands of Adventure would be third on the North America list with 11.02 million visitors, an increase of 21%. IOA would be the only theme park in the top 10 list to surpass its 2019 attendance mark, which the report considers the pre-pandemic attractions peak. Neighboring Universal Studios Florida had 10.75 million visitors in 2022, an increase of 20%.
Walt Disney World’s other three theme parks had boosts of at least 25% each, according to the report. Hollywood Studios welcomed 10.9 million people (up 27%); Epcot had 10 million visitors (up 29%); and Animal Kingdom saw 9.03 million guests (up 25%) in 2022.
SeaWorld Orlando’s attendance was up 6%, finishing with 4.45 million visitors last year. That would appear to put the park in the top 10 list for North America in 2022, with sister park Busch Gardens Tampa Bay close next at 4.05 million, an increase of 7%.
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The top 20 amusement parks in the U.S. had 140.5 million visitors last year, according to the report, an increase of 32%.
“The major theme park hub of Orlando was able to achieve huge gains in attendance mostly due to the strength of the domestic market, with many major operators noting international and group business had not fully bounced back until the end of 2022,” Francisco Refuerzo, a senior analyst for AECOM Economics, wrote in the report.
“In 2022, operators became laser-focused on improving the guest experience, learning that they were able to achieve or surpass pre-pandemic revenues even with reduced attendance levels, and realizing that in an increasingly competitive entertainment landscape, high-quality and memorable guest experiences are going to drive future demand,” he said.
Major additions to Orlando theme parks last year included Ice Breaker roller coaster at SeaWorld and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride at Epcot. Other attractions reopened after pandemic-related closures, including “Fantasmic” and the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the Festival of Fantasy parade at Magic Kingdom.
The North American water park list for 2022 is complicated by Walt Disney World’s practice of having only one of its attractions in operation at a time since the resort reopened from its pandemic shutdown in 2020. Typhoon Lagoon had 1.92 million visitors last year but wasn’t open in 2021, according to the report, while Blizzard Beach, closed for the bulk of 2022, took in 101,000 people.
Second-most on the water park list was Universal’s Volcano Bay with 1.85 million visitors (up 9%), followed by Aquatica, SeaWorld’s water park, with 1.55 million, an increase of 35%.
The report also looks at museums. The top draw worldwide was Paris’ Louvre with 7.72 million visitors. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art leads the North American list with 3.21 million.
The TEA/AECOM index draws upon statistics from the operators, financial reports, historical numbers, local tourism organizations and professional estimates “where necessary,” the report says. The entire report, which includes data for each year since 2019, is available at teaconnect.org.
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