The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) has published its annual report on theme park attendance, and Disney has easily secured the crown with eight of the top 25 parks globally and the top five most-visited parks in North America.
But Disney’s not the only name in the game. The numbers tell the story, but the trends behind them are where things get interesting.
According to the newly released 2024 TEA Global Experience Index (published in October 2025, reporting on 2024 performance), the world’s top 25 parks collectively welcomed nearly 246 million guests last year—a 2.4% increase over 2023. Most of that growth came from Asia, where major Chinese parks saw record-breaking attendance, while North America and Western Europe remained comparatively flat.
On the corporate leaderboard, Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products retained its commanding lead with roughly 145 million visitors worldwide, marking a 1.2% year-over-year gain. But, while Disney’s castles still reign supreme, the story of Disney’s global competitors is starting to look a little more crowded at the top.
While it’s not surprising that Disney’s OG castle parks—Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park—placed #1 and #2 for most-visited theme parks in the world (Magic Kingdom at #1 for an impressive 19th year in a row), Disney’s worldwide attendance “only” increased by 1.2% from 143.4 million in 2023 to 145.2 million in 2024.
The top two Disney parks also saw small-ish increases, with Magic Kingdom up 0.7%, from a total attendance of about 17.7 million in 2023 to 17.8 million in 2024, and Disneyland Park up 0.5%, from just over 17.2 million to just over 17.3 million.
Interestingly, Disney parks with lower overall attendance saw more significant jumps:
- Tokyo Disneyland increased 2.6% (14.7 million to 15.1 million)
- Shanghai Disneyland increased 5.0% (14 million to 14.7 million)
- Tokyo DisneySea increased 2.9% (12 million to 12.4 million)
- Epcot increased 1.3% (11.9 million to 12.1 million)
- Hollywood Studios increased 0.3% (10.3 million to 10.33 million)
- California Adventure increased 0.5% (10 million to 10.1 million)
- Animal Kingdom increased 0.3 % (8.7 million to 8.8)
- Hong Kong Disneyland increased 3.3% (7.6 million to 7.9 million)
Sadly, both Disneyland Paris parks decreased in attendance by 1.8%, with the castle park going from 10.4 million to 10.2 million and the studio park dropping from 5.7 million to 5.5 million; however, the study attributed that to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, which lured guests away from the resort during peak summer months… is this a warning for what Anaheim could face when Los Angeles hosts the Games in 2028.
The Bigger Picture: A Shifting Theme Park Landscape
While the TEA report reflects 2024 performance, it already trails the current wave of industry change. Universal’s Epic Universe has opened in Orlando—an expansion so large it will likely rewrite next year’s attendance charts. Add to that Universal’s upcoming regional parks in Texas and the UK (as well as permanent horror experiences in Las Vegas and Chicago), and it’s clear that the brand’s growth trajectory is only accelerating.
At the same time, Disney’s Asian licensees continue to perform strongly, while other global players like Chimelong and OCT are rapidly expanding in China. And closer to home, the Six Flags–Cedar Fair merger signals that U.S. regional parks are uniting into a more formidable competitor.
If Disney wants to maintain its commanding lead, it will need to keep outpacing these challengers—likely by outspending them—to deliver new, headline-grabbing experiences. That’s no small feat as the rest of the field catches up in both technology and geographic reach.
How Will Disney Keep Park Attendance Growing?
Attendance is obviously extremely important to Disney, but with ticket prices going up, they’ll have to rely on new attractions, events, and experiences to keep drawing guests through the gates in ever larger numbers.
Major projects have already been completed—or are nearing completion—at Disney’s international parks, including World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2023, Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea in 2024, and a second World of Frozen opening in 2026 at Disneyland Paris.
You can learn more about the projects at Disneyland Paris here:
UPDATED! We Know What’s Beyond the North Mountain at Disneyland Paris!
Disney is Investing in U.S. Parks
In 2024, Disney announced a massive $60 billion investment across the Disney Experiences portfolio with a big chunk that $60B being spent at the U.S. parks, including the expansion of Avengers Campus and upcoming Coco attraction and Avatar-themed land at California Adventure, plus the new Tropical Americas area at Animal Kingdom, new Monstropolis land at Hollywood Studios, and new Cars- and Villains-themed lands at Magic Kingdom, despite the controversial loss of Rivers of America.
Animal Kingdom
DinoLand U.S.A. is all but extinct as the Tropical Americas area takes its place in Animal Kingdom, with attractions themed to Encanto and Indiana Jones. The final holdout is the Dinosaur attraction, which will permanently close on Feb. 2, 2026.
Since Dinosaur and Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure share the same ride system, vehicles, and track layout, we’re not expecting a monumental change, despite Imagineers promising the new experience “will be different from any other Indiana Jones experience around the world.” This time, we’re told, Indy’s adventure will take riders into a perfectly preserved Maya temple hiding a mythical creature.
The first-ever Encanto-themed attraction will take place inside the family’s Casita where guests embark on a magical (and we’re sure, musical) adventure to Antonio’s room, which has been transformed into a rainforest.
Magic Kingdom
So far, the Cars-themed Frontierland expansion in Magic Kingdom has caused the demolition of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer’s Island, but no vertical construction yet. When complete, the land will include a road-rally style E-Ticket attraction as well as a second family-friendly ride for “smaller racers.”
The villains-themed land “beyond Thunder Mountain” is still in the development phase, but it’s also expected to have two new attractions.
Hollywood Studios
Walt Disney World fans suffered another major loss in the name of progress at Hollywood Studios when Muppet*Vision 3D took its final bow to make way for something new… Monstropolis.
The new Monsters, Inc.-themed land will include a suspended roller coaster that takes riders on an adventure through the Monsters, Inc. door vault.
You can read more about the projects at Walt Disney World here:
UPDATED! New Attractions for Walt Disney World & Shocking Surprises!
While Walt Disney World is actively reshaping its geography at all four parks, Disneyland’s own expansion plans are just starting to take shape…
What’s The Status of DisneylandForward?
While we haven’t seen widespread activity following the approval of DisneylandForward in May 2024 (you may have noticed changes to turning lanes and additional road signs around the resort), the Avengers campus expansion at California Adventure is certainly moving along at a very un-Disney like pace, with show buildings for Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab rapidly taking shape.
Additional pieces of the DisneylandForward puzzle are still waiting to be placed, with construction for the Coco-themed boat ride scheduled for a backstage area behind Incredicoaster and the Avatar-themed land expected to eventually take over the park’s Hollywood Backlot area and tram load/unload area adjacent to the esplanade.
You can read more about the projects at Disneyland here:
BREAKING NEWS: New Attractions and Surprises Announced for Disneyland
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Let’s Hear From You!
Disney may have eight parks in the global top 25, but the story isn’t just about who’s on top—it’s about how fast the rest are catching up. In the end, Disney still wears the crown, but the kingdom looks a lot more crowded than it used to. Universal’s expansion is rewriting the rules, regional parks are joining forces, and Asia’s destinations continue to grow in scale and sophistication. The TEA numbers prove Disney’s dominance—for now—but next year’s report could look very different once Epic Universe and other projects have a full year on the books.
What do you think — can Disney stay on top as the competition closes in, or could the global theme park throne change hands in the not-too-distant future? Let us know in the comments below.