Parks around the world are still struggling in the wake of the global pandemic shutdown of theme parks, but things are sure to move steadily forward. New numbers for theme park attendance in 2021 were recently announced, and while that’s good news for everyone, things are looking particularly good for Universal Orlando Resort, as its two theme parks appear to have surpassed three of the four at Walt Disney World, despite From the magical kingdom she was still the hero.
according to 2021 TEA / AECOM Subject Index ReportAnd the The Magic Kingdom has been the most popular theme park in the world, as it has been for decades. In 2021, the park attracted more than 12 million visitors, which is much more than the second park. But this is where things get interesting, because the second park based on live attendance wasn’t another Disney World park, or Disneyland which was, to be fair, still closed for the first four months of 2021, it was the Adventure Islands Global, with more than 9 million visitors.
Universal Orlando’s two resort parks, Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure, attracted about 9 million visitors, with Islands of Adventure attracting a little more, likely due to the opening of the Jurassic World Velocicoaster last year. This places both parks on top of the other three Disney World parks. Epcot and Disney’s Animal Kingdom each received about 7 million guests, while Disney’s Hollywood Studios, likely thanks to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, fared slightly better at 8.5 million.
This is actually pretty huge for Universal Orlando since the two parks each had only about 10 million visitors in 2019, so both are much closer to pre-pandemic numbers than Disney World. But when these parks were receiving 10 million guests, the non-Magic Kingdom parks were receiving 11-13 million, so Universal is making strides not only on its ownership, but compared to the competition. With Universal preparing to open the Epic Universe in the summer of 2025, things may only go up from here.
2021 was still very much the “year of the epidemic,” so it’s impossible to draw many conclusions based on these numbers, but it’s definitely worth watching to see if this pattern continues. The reason may simply be that due to the opening of the Velocicoaster, people are returning to Universal Orlando parks faster than they did at Walt Disney World, which only saw its first big new attraction after the pandemic, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, open earlier this general.
With Guardians opening this year and confirmed Tron: Lightcycle Run in the Magic Kingdom next spring, we may see Disney World attendance jump even more this year and next, and Universal may settle down. But it’s also possible that Universal will continue to grow. This does not mean that Universal will take guests away from Disney World, it is likely that many vacationers will visit all the parks in the area. Ultimately, this may be an indication that the entire industry is moving towards a boom period.
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