TEA 2016 Attendance Report

Nimbus · 1 Jun 17, 06:22 PM

The TEA (Themed Entertainment Association) attendance report for 2016 is now out. You can read it here:

teaconnect/images/fil...719_170601.pdf

Interestingly, this shows that the attendance at the Florida Disney parks fell last year (2016) compared to the previous year (2015). This is the first time this has happened for quite a while. Admittedly, the drop is only small - around 0.6% on average - but indicates that last year the Disney parks were ever so slightly less busy than in 2015.

Conversely, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure continued to gain more guests last year compared to previous years. They increased their attendance by around 5% or so. That might explain why their ticket prices rose slightly more than Disney's (percentage-wise).

Sadly, Seaworld's attendance continues to drop (by 8%). As does attendance at Disneyland Paris (14% drop for the main park but strangely less than 2% for WDS).

So, not so good news for Disney and Seaworld. Good news for Universal.

Leyfy · 1 Jun 17, 06:31 PM

Interesting to read. Nice to see Alton Towers had an increase in attendance on last year.

Off to Disneyland Paris in a few weeks on a school trip - not been in July (it's over a weekend) so will be interesting to see how it compares to the May half term.

Gerddon · 1 Jun 17, 06:36 PM

Wow, that's disappointing for seaworld. I loved the park when we were there and can't wait to go back. Do you think it's an animal rights issue that's hitting their crowds or the lack of famous franchises and characters to hang their rides on.

Nimbus · 1 Jun 17, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by Gerddon

Wow, that's disappointing for seaworld. I loved the park when we were there and can't wait to go back. Do you think it's an animal rights issue that's hitting their crowds or the lack of famous franchises and characters to hang their rides on.

It is most likely due to the bad publicity they've had in recent years.

Nimbus · 1 Jun 17, 07:58 PM

Some other interesting facts...

Overall attendance changes from 2009 to 2016:
Universal Studios = +90.6%
Walt Disney World = +13.1%
SeaWorld Orlando = -24.1%

Universal has seen huge increases in its attendance in the last 7 years.

Guest · 1 Jun 17, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by Gerddon

Wow, that's disappointing for seaworld. I loved the park when we were there and can't wait to go back. Do you think it's an animal rights issue that's hitting their crowds or the lack of famous franchises and characters to hang their rides on.

I'd say increased awareness of animal rights issues has had an impact. We're first time visitors to Orlando this year and have chosen not to visit Seaworld for that reason.

Picklepuppy · 1 Jun 17, 08:19 PM

I love seaworld! It's one of our favourite parks, I'm so excited to take my daughter there and have lunch with Shamu! I hope attendance picks up for seaworld!

Guest · 1 Jun 17, 09:30 PM

There will always be a hardcore audience for this sort of thing, but the general trend will be slowly decreasing numbers. That hardcore audience won't sustain Seaworld as a business...it's looking like they need to adapt their offer to reflect what the crowds want.

Alien · 14 Jul 17, 07:42 AM

Bob Iger recently was quoted that their profits are rising and less attendance mean better experience for people who attend the park. It was really crazy busy at some point, I wonder if they had a policy to try to make more money out of less customers.

We enjoyed our 2016 Trip a lot more than out 2014 for sure.

Also now Disney Springs is destination. This could potentially mean people opting for less park days too

1 Jun 17, 09:30 PM	#8
	1 Jun 17, 09:30 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	There will always be a hardcore audience for this sort of thing, but the general trend will be slowly decreasing numbers. That hardcore audience won't sustain Seaworld as a business...it's looking like they need to adapt their offer to reflect what the crowds want.