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Disney’s Animal Kingdom 

Image: DisneyFor many years, the difference in daily traffic at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios was negligible. The two parks finished within 100,000 of one another in annual theme park attendance from 2010-2016. That’s like 274 people per day!

What changed? You already know the answer. It’s the Pandora Effect. The unprecedented immersion at this themed land boosted demand at Animal Kingdom in a way that had never happened before at a Disney theme park.

In 2016, Animal Kingdom averaged 29,709 daily visits. That total increased to 34,247 in 2017, a time when I should point out that Avatar wasn’t open the entire year.

2018 represents the first full year of operation at Pandora. During this timeframe, Animal Kingdom attendance surged to 37,671. Yes, 7,962 more theme park tourists visit Animal Kingdom today because of The World of Avatar. It’s single-handedly responsible for the park’s 26.8 percent attendance boost.

Those of you who prefer an emptier park should feel quite bitter about this. Animal Kingdom’s easily the most spacious of the four Walt Disney World gates. Combined with its low traffic through the middle of 2017, it was an ideal place to visit before Pandora. Now, it’s the second-most popular theme park in Orlando…and sixth in the world!

Disneyland Resort

Image: DisneyWhen Disney planned to make a bigger Disneyland, they couldn’t have possibly predicted how the situation would unfold. Then-CEO Michael Eisner cut too many corners along the way, causing guests to vent repeatedly about the lackluster quality of the new themed land. Almost 20 years later, the situation hasn’t changed much, as you’re about to see.

Disneyland

Image: DisneyI previously mentioned the gap between Magic Kingdom and the second-most-popular theme park in the world. What I didn't say at the time was that the other place is Disneyland.

Yes, the original theme park is still wildly popular. The trade-off is that Walt Disney famously couldn’t buy all of the land that he wanted, causing the Happiest Place on Earth to feel a lot more crowded.

On a daily basis, you’ll find an average of 51,140 guests at Disneyland. While Magic Kingdom receives more daily traffic, guests have 27 more acres of space. In terms of population per acre, Magic Kingdom’s at 534 people. Disneyland’s not much better at 602 guests per acre. So, both are wildly popular and extremely crowded. 

Disney California Adventure

Image: DisneyThe situation is embarrassingly different at Disney California Adventure. Locals comprise the majority of park guests at Disneyland Resort, and they clearly favor one gate over the other.

During 2018, only 9.843 million guests walked through the turnstiles at DCA. Only 27,016 guests visit DCA on an average day. That's barely half of Disneyland, a fantastic stat given the fact that the two gates share an entrance area.

This gap speaks to the disparity that I mentioned earlier. Disney fans know which park was the first and maybe still the best, just like they know which one was a cynical cash-grab attempt.

International theme parks

Image: DisneyThe global numbers follow a similar trend. The first gate at a Disney park always does better than its successors, even when they're better.

Tokyo Disney Resort

Image: DisneyThe best example is at Tokyo Disney Resort, home to the third- and four-most popular theme parks in the world. Even though many theme park analysts believe that Tokyo DisneySea is possibly the most fabulous place in the world, its traffic falls behind its predecessor.

Tokyo Disneyland earned 17.907 million visits in 2018, a number approaching Disneyland’s. That total averages to 49,060 daily guests. Tokyo DisneySea’s numbers are 14.651 million or 40,140 daily. Yes, almost 9,000 more guests visit Tokyo Disneyland even though the consensus opinion is that Tokyo DisneySea is better.

 
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