4. The importance of licensing

The third Universal property that excelled last year was Universal Studios Hollywood. While it lacked the power of Potter, the West Coast theme park did have something else going for it: Minions. Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem became the latest popular attraction at one of Universal’s theme parks to debut elsewhere. They’re also planning the same behavior with their own Potter area, and Simpsons Land just debuted. Universal believes that the key to their spectacular growth in recent years is their focus on popular licenses. The facts support their thinking, too.

Universal Studios Florida only claimed 5.5 million in attendance in 2009, while Islands of Adventure managed 4.6 million. Fast forward to the 2014 data, and the numbers tell the story. Universal Studios Florida enjoyed almost 8.3 million visits while Islands of Adventure claimed 8.1 million. So, the twin Orlando parks spiked from under 10.2 million in combined attendance prior to the debut of its Harry Potter, Transformers, Despicable Me, and Simpsons attractions to 16.4 million in 2014. We are discussing a 61 percent gain in only four years. That’s how seminal licensing is to Universal Studios attendance.

An argument can be made that the same thing is happening at Magic Kingdom. After all, the 2014 Walt Disney World marketing campaign was predicated upon the introduction of a new ride. Does Seven Dwarfs Mine Train really deserve that much credit? It’s up for debate, since the company actually grew more in 2013 than 2014. Still, the reality is that Magic Kingdom is the theme park world’s largest and longest example of the power of licensed characters. The Seven Dwarfs are merely the latest example.  

5. The have-nots

While there is no theme park scale of balance that requires attendance at some parks to go down while others go up, 2014 felt that way for the mini-majors. Six Flags Inc. and Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, two of the seven largest theme park corporations in the world, have experienced virtually no growth since 2008. That year, the Six Flags properties claimed 25.3 million visits. Contrast those numbers to 25.6 million in 2014. If you want to use the economic collapse as an explanation, consider that Six Flags managed 26.1 million guests last year.

Cedar Fair is no different. They increased from 22.7 million in 2008 to 23.3 million last year, but they’re still down from 23.5 million in 2013. There’s almost no point in discussing SeaWorld’s decline again after evaluating its financial struggles last week. Suffice to say that its two iconic properties in Orlando and San Diego suffered the worst drops of any major park, falling 8 percent and 12 percent, respectively. In North America, the gap between Disney and Universal theme parks versus the middle tier ones is growing more dramatic each year. 2014 reinforced that more than any recent attendance report.

6. Asian ascension

Even after flat growth from 2013 to 2014, Tokyo’s two Disney parks, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea remain two of the four most popular theme park destinations in the world and three out of five once we factor in Universal Studios Japan. The popular of such attractions in Japan is nothing new. What’s changed is the overall depth of theme park options in Asia.

There were already mainstays such as Lotte World and Everland in South Korea and Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park Hong Kong in China. Now, the marketplace has exploded in recent years with entries such as Songcheng Park in Hanghzou, China, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Hengqin, China, OCT East and Window of the World in Shenzhen, China, and China Dinosaurs Park in Changhzou, China. These parks are all enjoying explosive growth as the Chinese population enjoys their newfound disposable income. Chimelong didn’t even exist at the start of 2014, yet it still debuted in 20th place with 5.5 million guests, a better total than longtime stalwarts SeaWorld Orlando or Europa-Park managed.

In 2010, OCT Parks China was the only major player in the theme park industry. They finished eighth among amusement park corporations with regards to attendance. In 2014, they have moved up to fourth place. Meanwhile, Chimelong Group, Songcheng Worldwide, Fantawild Group, and Haichang Group all exploded over the past few years. All of them but Haichang have a legitimate chance to surpass SeaWorld AND Cedar Fair in terms of total park traffic in 2015. If you’re a self-respecting theme park tourist with a hefty travel budget, you simply HAVE to start weighing your options in the eastern hemisphere.