Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of: <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2014/06/03/annual-theme-park-attendance-report-released/" target="_blank"><b>6/3/14: Annual Theme Park Attendance Report Released</b></a>
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Those numbers are rigged. TDL is consistently busier than the MK on any given day I have been to when conpared to any given day I have been in the Magic Kingdom. So someone at Disney is either counting multiday pass visits as single entries or simply passing dollar bills under the table to make this look like it is.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance "TDL is consistently busier than the MK on any given day I have been to when conpared to any given day I have been in the Magic Kingdom." That sounds scientific and a spot on, accurate measurement!
Originally Posted By RoadTrip WDW is insanely crowded during Christmas-New Years, Spring Break, and the summer. Does TDL also have peaks like that?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "TDL is consistently busier than the MK on any given day I have been to when conpared to any given day I have been in the Magic Kingdom." >>That sounds scientific and a spot on, accurate measurement! << Exactly what I was thinking! Isn't the MK bigger than TDL? It sure seemed like it to me.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt 16.2 million people went to DL last year? Sheesh, no wonder the place feels so fricking packed all the time. What's the biggest year DL has ever had?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I guess I'll also point out that even with all the additions and fan hype about Universal's Orlando resort "giving Disney a run for their money" its attendance numbers tell a completely different story. Even with increases last year (and a sizeable one at USO) its two park combined attendance is still less than the total attendance of MK. On another note, poor DLRP.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Actually, Tokyo Disneyland is slightly larger: TDL: 115 acres WDW's MK:107 acres
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I'm pretty sure I know why the MK seems more crowded... huge number of Humvee sized strollers. I hear that in Japan people actually expect 5-year-olds to WALK!!!
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>>WDW is insanely crowded during Christmas-New Years, Spring Break, and the summer. Does TDL also have peaks like that?<<< Yes, TDR does have those times when even I avoid going simply because it would be like dealing with crowds that are worst than what you see at the MK on those peak times you mentioned above. AVOID TDL during: -New Years Holidays -Golden week in May, -Summer vacation (July- August) -Some holidays in November -third week of december and New year's eve. All other days, TDL can easily pack 50,000 plus guests due to it's aggressive SPECIAL EVENT schedules which usually last 6-8 weeks, and offer incentives for local visitors and APers to travel to the park. Those are: The new year holidays in early January, Spring event like the current Easter Wonderland, summer month programs like the immensely popular water shows on the castle, Disney's Halloween , and Christmas Fantasy events. And keep in mind that unlike the MK park, these special events in TDL usually change or get major entertainment revisions, so every year there new decor, differences in shows and lots of unique collectible merchandise, which is another reason why fans flock the parks in Japan. I also see that Universal Studios Japan and Lotte World in Seoul KOREA also rank favorable, simply because those parks acknowledge the quality and know how of OLC with TDL and copy TDR to the core, which is why USJ has great stuff like the state of the art Starlight Parade, or why Lotte World has rides that are similar in technology to stuff like the INDY ride in DLR...with great attention to details in queue and ride scenes.. But you don't have to take it from me, or even question my comments. Just go to all the other fanboy sites here like Micechat, MouseInfo etc etc.. and read what those who are in the know about Tokyo Disneyland are saying about these numbers....
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Why does it matter? Let's say the numbers are rigged and TDL gets more visitors than the MK. So what?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>I'm pretty sure I know why the MK seems more crowded... huge number of Humvee sized strollers. I hear that in Japan people actually expect 5-year-olds to WALK!!!<< Also, the walkways in TDL (especially the hub) are designed for much larger crowds than MK's walkways, making them more manageable in large crowds. While it leads to some wide open charmless spaces, it's also entirely practical for the huge crowds they get Just take a look at the Google Maps image of TDL, which shows people in the hub waiting for the parade. While people certainly wait for parades in MK, it's nothing like the crowds seen here, on what I would assume is a typical day (check out the crowds along the entire parade route; it's really quite impressive): <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://tinyurl.com/lfj9u5f">http://tinyurl.com/lfj9u5f</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Why does it matter? Let's say the numbers are rigged and TDL gets more visitors than the MK. So what?<< Given that these numbers are considered to be the industry standard, it would be nice if they actually reflected what's going on in the industry. It's seemed for years (about a decade or so) that WDW has been doing some creative accounting to get MK's numbers to the top so they can proclaim that they have the most popular theme park in the world. People in the US don't really care about theme parks in other countries, but if WDW has bragging rights over them, then it's important Even though it has more attractions than any of the others, MK is my least favorite WDW park by a long shot. I realize that there are some classic attractions there, and a lot of people think WDW is only the castle park, but it's still kind of baffling to me that WDW thinks that they can pass those numbers off as realistic. I'm sure that the attendance is in the ~16M range; why do they feel the need to inflate it beyond that?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "People in the US don't really care about theme parks in other countries, but if WDW has bragging rights over them, then it's important" We go through this season of nitpicking over which of the the two parks are on top every year when the TEA attendance data is released. Even if TDL is the most attended park Disney still comes up the winner, so what difference does it make? Is it because the TDL uber fans want bragging rights? Or are people suggesting that the TEA figures are so twisted that Knott's Berry Farm or some other place way down the list could actually be the world's number one theme park?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Even if TDL is the most attended park Disney still comes up the winner, so what difference does it make?<< Technically, Disney doesn't own TDL, so they wouldn't really be the winner. Although far-fetched, I would guess that it's a huge part of the reason that they push MK so much I don't know why they do it, but there was a marked change in the mid-00's when MK's numbers were suddenly higher than TDL's. I would guess it's mostly a change in how they count the hard ticket events like for Christmas and Halloween (effectively giving the park 2 sets of attendance data for the same day), but the growth doesn't seem to match the anecdotal evidence in recent years
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Technically, Disney doesn't own TDL, so they wouldn't really be the winner." But it's still their park in the sense that they maintain control over the brand. Without Disney there'd be no TDLR period. I assume that under their agreement OLC can't, for example, rip out Fantasyland and build a land wholly concocted and branded by OLC and still call the place TDL. Other than ownership it is a *Disney* park. OAN, Disney does collect revenue from the resort's operations. "I don't know why they do it, but there was a marked change in the mid-00's when MK's numbers were suddenly higher than TDL's." It could be any number of things including a change in how the TEA collects information on WDW. Everyone in the industry knows and accepts that the numbers are estimates and for all we know the MK's real numbers are even higher than what the TEA is reporting.
Originally Posted By darcy-becker Am I missing something here. How could Disney be inflating their numbers when they don't even release them. These numbers are an estimate be the TEA.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Because some people are suspicious that Disney has some kind of influence on the association.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 WDW has been a destination for people from many countries for many, many years. People who are not huge Disney geeks like us are far more likely to have heard about WDW than TDL. It is also probably why WDW has higher numbers than Universal, even given the new Harry Potter stuff- Universal is relatively new and does not have the same international appeal. For sheer cost purposes, it is generally less expensive for people from Europe, South and Central America, and anywhere in the US or Canada to fly to WDW than to Tokyo. The hotel rooms are also more expensive in TDL.
