JoshC. Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 Attendance figures for parks around the world for last year have been revealed - http://www.teaconnect.org/pdf/TEAAECOM2013.pdf For people interested, the European figures are on Page 27. Merlin park's to feature in the Top 20: -Gardaland; 2.7million (8th) -Alton Towers; 2.5million (9th) -Legoland Windsor; 2.05million (10th) -Thorpe Park; 2million (11th) -Legoland Billund; 1.8million (12th) -Chessington; 1.5million (17th) -Heide Park; 1.4million (19th) Chessington had the biggest jump in attendance, going up over 15% (though I'd be interested how satisfied guests were with their experiences...), and Thorpe rose 11% (I guess that's what happens after a bad year and a big change in target market). Some interesting figures all in all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC! Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 It seems that even though it was Alton Towers big year with The Smiler, in terms of pulling more guests in then the year before, CWOA and Thorpe annihilated Towers with Towers 4.2% increase! European top 3 was In this order Disneyland, Europa Park and Walt Disney Studios. With Disneyland now 6th most visited park on the planet and Europa for the first time in the top 20 at 20th in terms of attendance. Merlin overall did well as well retaining their 2nd spot: 1: WALT DISNEY ATTRACTIONS Change: 4.8% 2013: 132,549,000 2012: 126,479,000 2: MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS GROUP Change: 10.7% 2013: 59,800,000 2012: 54,000,000 3: UNIVERSAL PARKS AND RESORTS Change: 5.3% 2013: 36,360,000 2012: 34,515,000 Merlin seem to be doing very well for themselves!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted June 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 (edited) To be fair, Thorpe had a bad year in 2012, so it's easier in a way for them to get a bigger percentage increase in visitors. Chessington is a weird one, since it seesaws out of the Top 20 (it was in there a couple of years ago; in response to SCB below ), but Zufari probably had big pulling power. Smiler would have brought in guests, but since Alton are consistently in how many guests they could physically get through, it's not surprise they didn't get as big an increase as the other two. Merlin seem to be in quite an unchallenged second for the time being... Edited June 3, 2014 by JoshC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 I think what everyone's waiting for is how long until Magic Kingdom reaches 20 million guests in a season! The bad publicity for SeaWorld hasn't done them any good with all their parks in the top 20 having less visitors than in 2012 whilst Disney and Universal grew nicely (especially Universal Studios Florida in trying to combat the Harry Potter effect at Islands). Both the French Disney parks lost visitors compared to 2012 whilst the Merlin ones all rose unlike in 2012 where they all decreased bar Legoland from what I remember. Great to finally see Chessington in the top 20 European parks which I don't think it's ever featured in! And Thorpe returning to the 2 million figure. But only 100, 000 extra guests at Towers, not brilliant considering Smiler opened (but maybe it's unreliability and late opening caused this and Swarm did lead to a decrease of guests at Thorpe when you look at investment alongside guest numbers). All in all quite interesting but Asia is the one to watch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC! Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 I think what everyone's waiting for is how long until Magic Kingdom reaches 20 million guests in a season! The bad publicity for SeaWorld hasn't done them any good with all their parks in the top 20 having less visitors than in 2012 whilst Disney and Universal grew nicely (especially Universal Studios Florida in trying to combat the Harry Potter effect at Islands). Both the French Disney parks lost visitors compared to 2012 whilst the Merlin ones all rose unlike in 2012 where they all decreased bar Legoland from what I remember. Great to finally see Chessington in the top 20 European parks which I don't think it's ever featured in! And Thorpe returning to the 2 million figure. But only 100, 000 extra guests at Towers, not brilliant considering Smiler opened (but maybe it's unreliability and late opening caused this and Swarm did lead to a decrease of guests at Thorpe when you look at investment alongside guest numbers). All in all quite interesting but Asia is the one to watch! Who knows maybe brave it backwards and X were good for thorpe after all OldFarmerDean 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Does this maybe, possibly mean that seeing as the whole "the public will only buy into gimmicks/USP" concept seems to have fallen flat on its face with both the Swarm and now the Smiler, Varney and co will finally try investing in a genuinely fun, thrilling rollercoaster. Cough woodie... Answer: Probably not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Looking at it Towers' 4.2% increase for The Smiler is actually better than that seen in 2010 for Thirteen which was 3.8%, but really I think Towers attendance stays relatively static generally. New attractions will give that boost, but it mainly encourages those that have been in the past to return. Parks like Thorpe and Chessington in their locality have more alternatives, so are more susceptible to fluctuations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 I'm gonna bump this thread rather than create a new one but the figures for 2014 have been released:  http://www.teaconnect.org/images/files/TEA_103_49736_150603.pdf  Europe on page 55.  All the parks in Europe (bar the two Disney Paris ones) have seen growth (I am surprised by Asterix's 11% growth), Merlin's lot are still within the same position holding a steady level with Legoland (Windsor) having the highest growth...  Merlin still second to Disney, with Universal playing catch up... Be interesting to see Universal's figures when they've opened Potterland California, though it probably won't make too big a difference, since it's the same stuff as Florida... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Users Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Those figures are crazy but congrats Universal and Liseberg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Things to note since looking at the table (mostly Europe, USA & overall) 1/ Magic Kingdom has seen noticeable rise in guest levels and judging by the way things are going I expect it to reach or exceed 20 million this year 2/ Tokyo and California Disney have also seen some slight increases (Cali more so than Tokyo but is still 3rd place). I wonder how big the 60th anniversaries will have at the park this year? 3/ Universal has seen the biggest growth in terms of park operators with 10% although Merlin have seen a steady increase with 5%. Disney also increased but only by a percent or so although it is a much bigger company than the formers. 4/ Parque Warner, Asterix, Liseberg and two other park's I haven't heard of gained the biggest growth in 2014, the highest by 25% 5/ Legoland Windsor saw the biggest growth in UK theme parks reaching 2.2 million guests which is astounding since the only new attractions last year were a new play area and rethemed log flume (however I do wonder if the Lego Movie had a role in this) 6/ Alton Towers is still the most visited UK park with just under 2.6 million guests only 375k more than Lego and still holds it's 9th place position. Could we see Legoland stealing that crown any time soon I wonder? 7/ Thorpe saw a modest 5% increase (presumably making ABL a success) and was beaten by legoland by just 100k. 8/ Chessington reached 17th and saw the second highest increase of guests at UK parks increasing by 6.7% gaining 1.6 million guests and only narrowly missing out to futoroscope & Asterix, judging by its steadily increasing numbers it'll be interesting to see where it ends up next year. 9/ All the park's in Europe experienced positive growth except for Disney 10/ Disneyland Park attendance was down by nearly 5% last year which is now 9th busiest worldwide (6th in 2013) however is still the most visited park in Europe by 4 million guests. 11/ Walt Disney Studios saw further decline by nearly 5% too, gaining just over 4 million guests last year. Having fallen to 3rd place in 2013, the park has fallen even further now to 5th now behind Tivoli Gardens & Efteling as well. Judging by this year's refurbishments and the even more severe ones next year, I can only see DLP spiralling further down the leader board which is a shame. Whilst Disneyland park will probably still come first when the 2015 ones come out, could we see WDS slip back to 6th or even 7th? Who knows 12/ Europa Park saw a small increase reaching 5 Million guests a year, could we ever see this place ever get the top spot? 13/ Efteling came 4th and with this year's major addition I wouldn't be surprised if it reaches 3rd next time. Quite interesting results this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Legoland and Thorpe Park are respectively quite close to Alton Towers when you look at the grand scheme of things in terms of attendance figures; I wouldn't be surprised if both Thorpe Park and Legoland catch up to, or overtake, Alton Towers in terms of annual attendance this year, especially after the smiler accident, likely to put a lot of the general public off visiting. It's clear that UK parks are becoming more popular year upon year, however I wouldn't be surprised if we see a slight drop in attendance this year, especially at Alton Towers due to the accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 These really have to be taken with a pinch of salt as Thorpe did not have 2 million visitors in 2013. More like 1.8... They more just show the trends and guesstimates from data released. I don't think Thorpe or Lego will naturally catch up to Towers, they don't have the infrastructure for those sort of numbers. Towers might fall closer to them though. Â Merlin always going on about catching the mouse, Disney are surely untouchable especially with another park opening in a few years. They should be more wary of being rolled over by the globe of Universal (again though, difficult as Uni's parks can't make up 25 million between them). Uni are opening that small thing in Moscow though and then the massive park in Beijing plus Potter in Hollywood. Was more interesting to see how Universal Japan has topped Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom for the first time and both Orlando parks being similar attendance wise for once (and not miles from the less visited Disney parks in Orlando). Â Another bad year for Disney Paris with the other European parks seeming to gain brilliantly! Europa is starting to become a ridiculously strong contender! Â Shame about SeaWorld Orlando though. First time they've been sub 5 million in a long long time. Hopefully Mako, the new CEO and direction will put the park on the positive path once again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 The UK Merlin figures are not published. Alton Towers was far nearer 3m last year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Gonna restore this topic to life as it's the general one...  TEA figures are out!  http://www.teaconnect.org/images/files/TEA_268_653730_180517.pdf  Europe's ones:   That's a fair old increase for DLP due to the 25th anniversary...  And other important bits:   Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 That Disney increase..Completely overshadows how well Efteling did last year. Â Then again, Grona had a pretty fab year and their eventual B&M invert will only help solidify their numbers in years to come. Â Interesting that Merlin's European parks took a hit last year, despite Heide investing big and Gardaland's over-riding popularity. Yay for Legoland Windsor though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPC Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Gardaland faced various issues last year leading to the decline in visitor numbers. Shaman just didn't have the VR working for the majority of the season so it was a bit of a flop. The poor weather certainly didn't help the park as well JoshC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hethetheth Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 I am impressed at how big the Disneyland Paris increase was. This being said though, it is worth remembering that it recently had a big drop too, so the increase is partially making up for that drop. Â It seems Efteling did well and overtook Tivoli Gardens. Symbolica seems to have worked well. Â The UK is very stagnant it seems. I wonder how Wicker Man changes things next year. Â Out of interest did Blackpool PB appear on the lists at all? I couldn't see it and was curious as to it's yearly attendance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted May 17, 2018 Report Share Posted May 17, 2018 Disneyland Paris’s return to growth is pleasing to see with a 15% increase, especially after years of declining numbers.  Efteling should be mentioned too which received a hefty increase too. Europa continues to increase steadily, which I reckon will pass the 6M rate once Rulantica opens up. Phantasialand and Tivoli are certainly hanging in there.  PA received a slight boost, but I expect they were hoping for better with their second gate. Liseberg had a slight dip, however I know Loki had issues and they will hopefully be up agsin after Valkyria. Grona’s almost 12% increase is astounding. Ikaros May have helped that boost. Looks like Asterix did ok with Pegasus then, 8% is good.  As expected, the Merlin bunch is a mixed bag. LLW had slight growth where it remains the best performing park (at least as the U.K. is concerned). Chessington and Towers had slight but noticeable growths, which shows the Gruffalo was somewhat successful and Towers is steadily recovering from 2015’s events.  It’s curious to see Heide and Garda doing so badly currently. Heide I can see with one of it’s star rides down and competition, but not so sure with Garda though. Thorpe managed to maintain similar gate numbers again, which surprises me given how poor numbers appeared last season. I guess things must’ve improved Fright Nights time.   Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 So European Park attendance figures are released. I am not sure how reliable these are as many people kept saying Thorpe's attendance was majorly down for instance yet here it states a 5.6% increase. Â https://blooloop.com/european-theme-park-attendance-2018/ Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuntman707 Posted May 8, 2019 Report Share Posted May 8, 2019 Wow, Disneyland is just on another level to everyone else in Europe, even compared to Europa Park and Efteling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2019 I'd certainly take Merlin's numbers with a pinch of salt.. Â Efteling's increases are still remarkable tbh and show that there's a very bright future ahead for the park if they get their expansion plans. Â If true, it's good to see Phantasialand stabilising around the 2m mark. Taron has bought that stability back to the park and long may that continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted May 9, 2019 Report Share Posted May 9, 2019 Oh, how I love when people write articles and slap in a graph of data with no sources... Bubbles1 and Mattgwise 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted May 9, 2019 Report Share Posted May 9, 2019 Why is Thorpe in such a state with no investment if guest figures are up?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted May 9, 2019 Report Share Posted May 9, 2019 2 hours ago, Coaster said: Why is Thorpe in such a state with no investment if guest figures are up?? Because you can get an annual pass for £55.  Or spend it on return flights to somewhere like Efteling, Liseberg or Phantasialand.  I am am so pleased to see so many parks with increased attendance last year. Should probably visit Puy Du Fou one day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2019 2 hours ago, Coaster said: Why is Thorpe in such a state with no investment if guest figures are up?? Spoilers: guest figures aren't up. Mattgwise and 2542464 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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