The 2024 TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index was released this morning, shedding some light on attendance trends at the world’s most popular theme parks, water parks, and more. The TEA attendance report is the industry standard in estimating attendance at the top theme parks and museums worldwide. While the theme parks do not release attendance figures publicly, the TEA index is widely accepted within the industry as having accurate estimates. Before we take a look at this year’s numbers, here’s some context on what has been reported in the past few years.
Coming out of the COVID-19 shutdowns, Universal Orlando started to make up some ground on Disney. Of course, nobody is getting close to Magic Kingdom, but there was some serious competition between Universal Orlando’s two theme parks and the remaining three theme parks at Walt Disney World in terms of raw attendance.
That said, 2023 was a rough year for Universal as each of its theme parks lost roughly 1 million visitors. Here’s a quick overview of attendance at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort through the years.
2021
Magic Kingdom: 12.7 million
Islands of Adventure: 9.1 million
Universal Studios Florida: 8.99 million
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8.6 million
EPCOT: 7.7 million
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 7.2 million
2022
Magic Kingdom: 17.1 million
Universal’s Islands of Adventure: 11 million
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 10.9 million
Universal Studios Florida: 10.75 million
EPCOT: 10 million
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 9 million
2023
Magic Kingdom: 17.7 million
EPCOT: 12 million
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 10.3 million
Islands of Adventure: 10 million
Universal Studios Florida: 9.75 million
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 8.8 million
Now, 2024 attendance estimate figures are out, and the downward trend for Universal Orlando Resort continues. None of the Walt Disney World theme parks lost attendance in 2024. An earlier report from BlogMickey.com, citing other 2024 data, said that attendance was flat at Walt Disney World. This new report from TEA seems to support that earlier data. Here’s a look at how each Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort theme park did in 2024!
2024
Magic Kingdom: 17.85 million
EPCOT: 12.13 million
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 10.33 Million
Universal Studios Florida: 9.5 Million
Universal Islands of Adventure: 9.45 Million
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: 8.8 Million
Magic Kingdom | 17.84 Million (+0.7%)
Magic Kingdom reigns supreme in 2024 as the most visited theme park not only in Orlando, but also in the entire world. Magic Kingdom slightly expanded its margin ahead of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, which recorded some 17.34 million visitors in 2024.
Magic Kingdom has a lot of change on the horizon, with the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island now closed and being demolished to support a Cars-themed expansion of Frontierland called Piston Peak National Park, and an all-new Villains Land.
Magic Kingdom also has a new nighttime parade called Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away that has been well-received by guests. In short, the world’s busiest theme park is looking to fortify its position for decades to comes with a flurry of construction in the next 5 years or so. At this point, it looks like nothing will stop Magic Kingdom from remaining the top theme park in the world for years to come.
EPCOT | 12.13 Million (+1.3%)
EPCOT continues to see gains following years of investment in the theme park. While not always popular with fans, the World Celebration area was completed in 2024, including the CommuniCore Hall festival flex space.
EPCOT continues to enjoy popularity not only thanks to the seasonal festivals, which remain a big draw, but also a robust attraction lineup that includes Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Frozen Ever After, among other classics.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios | 10.33 Million (+0.3%)
A modest gain at Disney’s Hollywood Studios actually continues to position the park lower than 2022 figures. A 0.3% increase in 2024 doesn’t erase a 5.5% decline in 2023.
Just like Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is in a phase of expansion/reimagining. The park is well positioned to reclaim some of the losses in the next 5 years as projects like the Monstropolis reimagining of Muppets Courtyard stand to bring in large attendance numbers toward the end of the 2020s.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom | 8.8 Million (+0.3%)
Disney’s Animal Kingdom also saw a modest gain in 2024, but the theme park is still miles behind the 2019 peak of 13.89 million guests. Animal Kingdom was unable to build upon the success of Pandora – The World of Avatar as Disney slashed park hours and offerings following COVID-19. In fact, Animal Kingdom is still lagging its 2022 attendance figures as the park struggles to find its footing.
Animal Kingdom is in the middle of a reimagining of DinoLand USA that should give the park a much-needed shot in the arm. The dinosaur-themed area is being reimagined into a Tropical Americas land, complete with the first-ever Encanto-themed attraction and a retheming of the DINOSAUR ride into an Indiana Jones ride with a unique storyline.
In the meantime, Animal Kingdom sits in last place in terms of attendance, even when you figure in millions and millions of guests lost by Universal Orlando Resort from 2022-2024. Speaking of Universal, lets take a look at how their theme parks are doing.
Universal Studios Florida | 9.5 Million (-2.6%)
Both Universal Orlando Resort theme parks saw a decline in guests for the second year in a row. This decline came after the 2022 high, where both Universal Orlando theme parks overtook three of the four Walt Disney World theme parks. Now, both theme parks have returned to only being above Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
The Universal Orlando Resort story is a little tougher to nail down, given that the existing theme parks saw little in terms of major expansions as Universal Epic Universe was being built. To that end, both parks sort of limped across the finish line in 2024 as tourists seemingly waited until Summer 2025 to visit after Epic Universe had opened.
Universal Islands of Adventure | 9.45 Million (-5.5%)
Islands of Adventure saw the biggest percentage dip in Orlando at -5.5%. Again, the existing theme parks were likely hurt by guests postponing visits to Universal Orlando until Epic Universe opened. It’s also possible that the high water mark set in 2022 is simply an outlier.
For its part, Universal has claimed that Epic Universe is allowing Universal to gain market share in Orlando. Additionally, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh has said that Epic Universe has had a “minimal impact” on attendance at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure since it opened this Summer.
All of that will make 2025 attendance figures interesting to keep an eye on as the market shifts in Orlando and as Walt Disney World continues to fight back.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!