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2002 was the third best season ever for the North American amusement industry. 2000 was the industry's best year, with 2001 the industry's second best year. For the worldwide market, 2002 was a record year in Central America, South America and Asia. Europe saw a slight decline in 2002 from 2001, which was Europe's best year. |
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| Source: AMUSEMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE, 12-23-02 | ||||||
| TOP 50 WORLD-WIDE (2002) | Top 50 World-Wide (2001) | |||||
| RANK | PARK | ATTENDANCE | COMMENTS | |||
| '02 | '01 | Location | ||||
| 1 | 2 | WALT DISNEY WORLD MAGIC
KINGDOM Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA |
14.044.800 | The Magic Kingdom was down 5% this year due to a drop in attendance from the UK and Latin America. | ||
| 2 | 1 | TOKYO
DISNEYLAND Tokyo, Japan |
13.000.000 | Typically the world's most popular theme park, this is the first time in 15 years that Tokyo Disneyland has not been at the top of the list. Decline in attendance (down from 18.000.000) due mainly to cannibalism from Tokyo DisneySea's first full season. | ||
| 3 | 3 | DISNEYLAND PARK Anaheim, CA, USA |
12.720.000 | Balancing out from cannibalism from California Adventure and new marketing campaign based on Disneyland as the original Disney park, where the "magic" began. | ||
| 4 | 20 | TOKYO
DISNEYSEA Tokyo, Japan (Opened 09-08-01) |
12.000.000 | First full year of operation (open only 3 months last year), Tokyo DisneySea has set records for the industry as the park that hit the 10.000.000 mark the fastest, and the park with the highest ever first full year attendance. | ||
| 5 | 4 | DISNEYLAND PARIS Marne-La-Vallee, France |
10.300.000 | Down about 2.000.000 guests as new gate, Walt Disney Studios, cannibalizes guests. | ||
| 6 | 5 | EVERLAND Kyonggi-Do, South Korea |
9.335.000 | Consistently South Korea's strongest park. | ||
| 7 | 10 | LOTTE WORLD Seoul, South Korea |
9.100.000 | The strong year for Asian parks showed greatest at Lotte World, with a jump in attendance of almost 2.000.000 guests. | ||
| 8 | 6 | WALT DISNEY WORLD EPCOT
CENTER Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA |
8.289.000 | Down 8%, showing the biggest drop in attendance of all Walt Disney World parks. | ||
| 9 | 8 | WALT DISNEY WORLD DISNEY-MGM
STUDIOS Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA |
8.031.360 | Down 4% due to drop in UK and Latin American market. Park hosted the 100 Years of Magic Celebration, honoring the 100 year anniversary of Walt Disney's birth. | ||
| 10 | 7 | UNIVERSAL
STUDIOS JAPAN Osaka, Japan (Opened 03-31-01) |
8.010.000 | First full year (open 9 months of last year). Attendance down slightly from last year, even though last year was a shorter season. Still Universal's most successful park. | ||
| 11 | 9 | WALT DISNEY
WORLD ANIMAL KINGDOM Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA |
7.305.586 | Down 6% due to drop in Florida tourism from major European and South American markets. | ||
| 12 | 11 | UNIVERSAL
ORLANDO - UNIVERSAL STUDIOS Orlando, FL, USA |
6.852.600 | Down 6% due to drop in Florida tourism. Popular Halloween Horror Nights re-located to sister park, Islands of Adventure. | ||
| 13 | 12 | BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH Blackpool, England |
6.400.000 | Coming off record year. Down 100.000 guests. | ||
| 14 | 13 | UNIVERSAL
ORLANDO - ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE Orlando, FL, USA |
6.072.000 | Up 10% with Halloween Horror Nights re-located to this park from sister park, Universal Studios. | ||
| 15 | 17 | UNIVERSAL
STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD Universal City, CA, USA |
5.200.000 | Up 10%. Strong local advertising and heavy discounting attracted California residents. | ||
| 16 | 15 | YOKOHAMA
HAKKEIJIMA SEA PARADISE Yokohama, Japan |
5.065.400 | Up slightly from 2001. | ||
| 17 | 14 | SEAWORLD
FLORIDA Orlando, FL, USA |
5.000.000 | Highest ranking Busch property on list, survived well from local market, even though Florida tourism suffered. Down only slightly from 2001. | ||
| 18 | 16 | DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE Anaheim, CA, USA (Opened 02-08-01) |
4.700.000 | First full season, California Adventure dropped slightly from 2001. | ||
| +19 | 18 | BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA BAY Tampa Bay, FL, USA |
4.500.000 | Slight drop in attendance, but record year in revenues. | ||
| +19 | +25 | ADVENTUREDOME AT CIRCUS CIRCUS Las Vegas, NV, USA |
4.500.000 | Up 21% with new free admission. | ||
| 21 | 19 | SEAWORLD
CALIFORNIA San Diego, CA, USA |
4.000.000 | Down 2%. Coming off record year, no new attraction this year. | ||
| 22 | +21 | TIVOLI GARDENS Copenhagen, Demark |
3.800.000 | Down slightly from 2001. | ||
| 23 | 23 | KNOTT'S
BERRY FARM Buena Park, CA, USA |
3.624.890 | New coaster, Xcelerator, in July helped recover season that started slowly. Highest ranking Cedar Fair property on list. | ||
| 24 | HUIS
TEN BOSCH Sasebo City, Japan |
3.550.000 | ||||
| 25 | +25 | MOREY'S PIER Wildwood, NJ, USA |
3.400.000 | Attendance even with last year. Revenues hit a record in 2002. | ||
| 26 | +35 | OCEAN
PARK Hong Kong, China |
3.380.000 | |||
| 27 | +31 | EUROPA
PARK Rust, Germany |
3.300.000 | |||
| +28 | +31 | CEDAR
POINT Sandusky, OH, USA |
3.250.000 | Up 5% from 2001. Good weather and new roller coaster, Wicked Twister. | ||
| +28 | 24 | SIX FLAGS GREAT ADVENTURE Jackson, NY, USA |
3.250.000 | Down 8%. No new attraction. Highest Six Flags property on list. | ||
| 30 | 28 | UNIVERSAL'S
MEDITERRANIA (formerly PORT ADVENTURA) Salou, Spain |
3.200.000 | Down slightly from 2001. | ||
| 31 | 27 | PARAMOUNT'S
KINGS ISLAND Kings Island, OH, USA |
3.182.500 | Down 5% from 2001. Rainy spring got park off to a slow start, but new Laura Croft themed attraction helped later in the season. Highest Paramount property on list. | ||
| +32 | 29 | SIX FLAGS
MAGIC MOUNTAIN Valencia, CA, USA |
3.100.000 | No new attraction. Down 3%. X roller coaster plagued with mechanical problems and closed much of season until August. | ||
| +32 | +31 | LISBERG Gothenburg, Sweden |
3.100.000 | |||
| 34 | +31 | EFTELING Kaatsheuvel, The Netherlands |
3.030.000 | |||
| 35 | +35 | SANTA CRUZ BEACH BOARDWALK Santa Cruz, CA, USA |
3.000.000 | Attendance flat with 2001, but revenues up. | ||
| 36 | 30 | SEOUL LAND Kyonggi-Do, South Korea |
2.950.000 | |||
| 37 | 39 | GARDALAND Castelnuovo Del Garda, Italy |
2.900.000 | |||
| 38 | 45 | LA FERIA DE
CHAPULTAPEC Mexico City, Mexico |
2.890.000 | Competition from re-branded Six Flags Mexico hurt last season, but park bounced back this year. | ||
| 39 | 38 | PARAMOUNT'S CANADA'S WONDERLAND Maple, Ontario, Canada |
2.826.250 | New ride helped offset slow start due to wet spring. Down 5%. | ||
| *40 | N/A | WALT
DISNEY STUDIOS PARK Marne-La-Vallee, France |
2.800.000 | Park fell below Disney's expectations of 4.000.000 guests. However, park opened mid-season, and therefore had a short year. | ||
| 41 | 41 | SUZUKA
CIRCUIT Suzuka, Japan |
2.742.600 | Down slightly from 2001. | ||
| 42 | 40 | SIX FLAGS GREAT AMERICA Gurnee, IL, USA |
2.700.000 | No new attraction, down 6%. | ||
| 43 | +35 | SIX FLAGS
OVER TEXAS Arlington, TX, USA |
2.675.000 | Down 10%, no new attraction. Last year's 40th anniversary celebration very successful for park, this year was a natural lag. | ||
| 44 | 46 | HERSHEYPARK Hershey, PA, USA |
2.629.000 | Up 2%. Record year for park. New water-based roller coaster a strong pull. | ||
| 45 | 43 | BUSCH
GARDENS Williamsburg, VA, USA |
2.600.000 | Last year's new Ireland themed section still a strong pull this year. Down only 3%. | ||
| 46 | 44 | SIX FLAGS MEXICO Mexico City, Mexico |
2.525.000 | |||
| 47 | 49 | KNOTT'S
CAMP SNOOPY Bloomington, MN, USA |
2.520.000 | Heavy discounting and co-promoting with sister park, Valleyfair in Shapoke, MN. | ||
| +48 | +21 | NAGASHIMA
SPA LAND Kuwana, Japan |
2.500.000 | Big drop in attendance due to wet year. Location of world's highest roller coaster, Steel Dragon. Down from 3.900.000. | ||
| +48 | N/A | ALTON
TOWERS Staffordshire, England |
2.500.000 | Not on top 50 last year. New coaster, Air, by Bolliger and Mabillard helped attendance. | ||
| +48 | +47 | BAKKEN Klampenborg, Denmark |
2.500.000 | Attendance even with last year. | ||
| * | New Theme Park (Incomplete Season) | Source: AMUSEMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE, 12-23-02 | ||||
| + | Tie | |||||