While attendance at the top 25 theme parks worldwide increased 2.4% from 2023, North American parks remained relatively flat, showing a minor decline of 0.3%. This reflects a normalization of post-pandemic recovery patterns, and when combined with earnings reports, indicates a trend of operators focusing on revenue optimization rather than pure volume growth.

Within the U.S., Florida kept its position as the hub of theme park activity with 76.4 million visitors across eight parks. California ranked second, with 47.9 million guests for six parks. Once again, Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom topped the chart with 17.8 million visitors, but the major news story of 2024 was the corporate merger of Six Flags and Cedar Fair, creating the largest regional park operator in the Americas. The merger represented broader industry consolidation trends, as operators sought scale advantages in procurement, technology investment, and operational efficiency.

Here is how Amusement and Theme Parks fared in North America during 2024:

Top 20 Amusement/Theme Parks in North America
2024 Rank	Park & Location	% Change 2023-2024	2024	2023	2022	2021
1	Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Lake Buena Vista, FL	0.7%	17,836,000	17,720,000	17,133,000	12,691,000
2	Disneyland Park Anaheim, CA	0.5%	17,337,000	17,250,000	16,881,000	8,573,000
3	Epcot at Walt Disney World Lake Buena Vista, FL	1.3%	12,133,000	11,980,000	10,000,000	7,752,000
4	Disney's Hollywood Studios Lake Buena Vista, FL	0.3%	10,333,000	10,300,000	10,900,000	8,589,000
5	Disney's California Adventure Anaheim, CA	0.5%	10,050,000	10,000,000	9,000,000	4,977,000
6	Univeral Studios Florida Orlando, FL	-2.6%	9,500,000	9,750,000	10,750,000	8,987,000
7	Universal's Islands of Adventure Orlando, FL	-5.5%	9,450,000	10,000,000	11,025,000	9,077,000
8	Disney's Animal Kingdom Lake Buena Vista	0.3%	8,800,000	8,770,000	9,027,000	7,194,000
9	Universal Studios Hollywood Universal City, CA	-9.9%	8,700,000	9,660,000	8,400,000	5,505,000
10	Knott's Berry Farm Buena Park, CA	6.5%	4,503,000	4,228,000	3,899,000	3,681,000
11	SeaWorld Orlando Orlando, FL	0.1%	4,347,000	4,342,000	4,454,000	3,051,000
12	Seaworld San Diego San Diego, CA	0.8%	4,022,000	3,990,000	3,507,000	2,800,000
13	Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Tampa, FL	-0.6%	3,975,000	4,000,000	4,051,000	3,210,000
14	Cedar Point Sandusky, OH	5.0%	3,780,000	3,600,000	3,444,000	3,327,000
15	Kings Island Mason, OH	5.0%	3,465,000	3,300,000	3,340,000	3,181,000
16	Six Flags Magic Mountain Valencia, CA	0.5%	3,317,000	3,300,000	2,993,000	3,047,000
17	Canada's Wonderland Vaughan, ON, Canada	1.0%	3,264,000	3,232,000	3,768,000	587,000
18	Dollywood Pigeon Forge, TN	0.8%	3,144,000	3,121,000	––	––
19	Six Flags Great America Gurnee, IL	5.0%	3,045,000	2,900,000	2,535,000	2,675,000
20	Hershey Park Hershey, PA	0.0%	3,000,000	3,000,000	3,223,000	3,012,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE		-0.3%	144,001,000	144,443,000	140,483,000	104,829,000

Source: TEA Global Experience Index ^TM 2024