Disney and Legoland Lure More Visitors While SeaWorld Attendance Drops
- Animal Kingdom resort got boost from "Avatar"-themed land
- Disney’s two-year-old Shanghai resort also doubled attendance
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
Attendance for the world’s top 10 theme-park operators climbed 8.6 percent last year, almost double the rate of 2016, thanks to new attractions and growth in Asia.
Visitors to parks run by industry leader Walt Disney Co. rose 6.8 percent to 150 million worldwide. Merlin Entertainments Plc, the No. 2 operator and owner of Legoland, saw attendance climb 7.8 percent to 66 million, and third-ranked Universal Studios delivered a 4.4 percent bump to 49.5 million. At SeaWorld Entertainment, which is ranked ninth among its peers and still coping with a backlash by animal activists, attendance fell 5.5 percent to 20.8 million, according to data released Thursday by the Themed Entertainment Association and consulting firm Aecom.