Disney Operated 8 of the 10 Most Visited Theme Parks Worldwide in 2023

In case there was any doubt: Disney has cornered the market on theme park entertainment globally.

According to the 2023 Theme Index Report, which was released on Thursday, Disney was the operator behind eight of the top 10 most-visited theme parks around the world last year.

The report, issued by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and AECOM Economics & Advisory, ranks the world’s top 25 theme parks, which combined attracted a whopping 244.6 million visitors in 2023. That’s an increase of 23 percent from one year earlier when global attendance was 198.7 million.

Looking just at Disney, its theme parks hosted 142 million visitors in 2023. Coming in second place in terms of sheer number of visitors is China’s Fantawild Group, whose parks attracted 85 million people.

Rounding out the top three is Merlin Entertainments with 62 million visitors to its parks in 2023.

The Disney amusement parks that landed in the top 10 globally include:

• Magic Kingdom Theme Park at Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
• Disneyland Park, Anaheim, California
• Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo , Japan
• Shanghai Disneyland, Shanghai, China
• Tokyo Disneysea, Tokyo, Japan 
• Epcot at Wal Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
• Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris, France
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
  
  

The other theme parks that made it into the top 10 globally for 2023 were Universal Studios Japan and Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China.

It should come as no surprise, given that it operates so many top-ranked parks, that Disney is overall the top amusement park operator worldwide, according to the report. The full list of the top 10 amusement park operators includes:

• Disney Experiences
• Fantawild Group
• Merlin Entertainments Group
• Universal Destinations & Experiences
• Chimelong Group
• Happy Valley Group China
• Cedar Fair Entertainment Company
• Six Flags Inc
• United Parks & Resorts
• Parques Reunidos

 

Also noteworthy, Disney’s parks and experiences division was the company’s most lucrative division for 2023. It raked in $32.6 billion in revenue.

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