disney: losing magic in the middle kingdom

Nor is the problem Florida, as Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure has completed its recovery by topping its 2019 attendance number, with Universal Studios Florida, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay all coming close to hitting their pre-pandemic attendance, too. After all, Hollywood Studios did come within about 5% of its pre-pandemic attendance, while on the west coast, the two Disneyland Resort theme parks, which also have Disney's advance reservation limits, welcomed within 8 and 9 percent of their pre-pandemic numbers.

But that alone does not explain the especially poor recovery at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom. Yes, Disney is limiting its theme parks' daily attendance with a mandatory advance reservation system, something that no other major theme parks in the United States continue to do. Walt Disney World's EPCOT and Disney's Animal Kingdom did ever worse by that metric, with EPCOT drawing about 80% of its pre-pandemic attendance, and DAK getting just 65% of its 2019 number last year.ĭisney's Hollywood Studios posted the best recovery performance among the Walt Disney World theme parks, welcoming a reported 10.9 million visitors in 2022 - just 5% off its 2019 attendance. But the Magic Kingdom's 2022 number remained more than 18% below the park's reported attendance in 2019, before the pandemic lockdowns. Magic Kingdom drew a reported 17.13 million visitors in 2022, more than any other theme park in the world.

Disney: losing magic in the middle kingdom