2023 marked the global end of Covid-19 restrictions, as governments ended travel quarantines and restrictive operating guidelines. Many facilities around the world, eager to return to a sense of normalcy, lured guests in with new attractions or exhibitions, incentives for repeat visitation, and special events. Many were successful, and the top 25 attended theme parks around the world collectively increased attendance by an impressive 23% over 2022's figures.

The largest jumps in year-over-year figures (78%) came out of parks in China, which saw the most restrictive operating environment throughout nearly all of 2022. The Americas saw a small 3% increase, with some major parks in the Orlando area slightly down – the result of soft demand for international travel to the United States. Europe remained relatively strong, with a 5% increase driven largely by parks that have invested in more expansive resort offerings.

Details of these dynamics and more can be found in the 2023 TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index, presented by Storyland Studios, the definitive resource of attendance information on the world's most-visited theme parks, water parks, and museums, now in its 18th annual edition. This annual, calendar-year study is produced in collaboration with the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and the Economics practice at AECOM.

THE AMERICAS - THEME PARKS AND WATER PARKS

In the Americas, many of the parks that did relatively poorly in 2022 outperformed this year and others that did exceedingly well last year had more tepid results in 2023. A large part of this correlation can be tied to when facilities unveiled new capital projects.

"The wave of post-pandemic pent-up demand has essentially ended," stated Francisco Refuerzo, an economist with AECOM. "Parks that quickly returned to the time-tested method of constant reinvestment to continue to attract guests tended to perform better."

Top 20 Amusement/Theme Parks in North America
2023 Rank	Park & Location	% Change 2022-2023	2023	2022	2021
1	Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Lake Buena Vista, FL	3.4%	17,720,000	17,133,000	12,691,000
2	Disneyland Park Anaheim, CA	2.2%	17,250,000	16,881,000	8,573,000
3	Epcot at Walt Disney World Lake Buena Vista, FL	19.8%	11,980,000	10,000,000	7,752,000
4	Disney's Hollywood Studios Lake Buena Vista, FL	-5.5%	10,300,000	10,900,000	8,589,000
5	Universal's Islands of Adventure Orlando, FL	-9.3%	10,000,000	11,025,000	9,077,000
6	Disney's California Adventure Anaheim, CA	11.1%	10,000,000	9,000,000	4,977,000
7	Univeral Studios Florida Orlando, FL	-9.3%	9,750,000	10,750,000	8,987,000
8	Universal Studios Hollywood Universal City, CA	15.0%	9,660,000	8,400,000	5,505,000
9	Disney's Animal Kingdom Lake Buena Vista	-2.8%	8,770,000	9,027,000	7,194,000
10	SeaWorld Orlando Orlando, FL	-2.5%	4,342,000	4,454,000	3,051,000
11	Knott's Berry Farm Buena Park, CA	8.4%	4,228,000	3,899,000	3,681,000
12	Cedar Point Sandusky, OH	17.6%	4,050,000	3,444,000	3,327,000
13	Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Tampa, FL	-1.3%	4,000,000	4,051,000	3,210,000
14	Seaworld San Diego San Diego, CA	13.8%	3,990,000	3,507,000	2,800,000
15	Kings Island Kings Island, OH	4.4%	3,488,000	3,340,000	3,181,000
16	Six Flags Magic Mountain Valencia, CA	13.6%	3,400,000	2,993,000	3,047,000
17	Hershey Park Hershey, PA	3.0%	3,321,000	3,223,000	3,012,000
18	Canada's Wonderland Maple, ON, Canada	-14.2%	3,232,000	3,768,000	587,000
19	Six Flags Great America Gurnee, IL	18.3%	3,000,000	2,535,000	2,675,000
20	Six Flags Grand Adventure Jackson, NJ	16.1%	2,500,000	2,153,000	2,913,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE		3.2%	144,981,000	140,483,000	104,829,000

Top 20 Water Parks in North America
2023 Rank	Park & Location	% Change 2022-2023	2023	2022	2021
1	Typhoon Lagoon at Walt Disney World Lake Buena Vista, FL	-0.9%	1,898	1,915,000	–
2	Universal Volcano Bay Orlando, FL	-2.7%	1,800,000	1,850,000	1,691,000
3	Aquatica Orlando, FL	-7.2%	1,437,000	1,548,000	1,147,000
4	Schlitterbahn New Braunfels, TX	-1.4%	933,000	946,000	888,000
5	Water Country USA Williamsburg, VA	4.1%	736,000	707,000	700,000
6	Aquatica San Antonio San Antonio, TX	3.0%	650,000	631,000	586,000
7	Adventure Island Tampa, FL	0.6%	640,000	636,000	593,000
8	Knott's Soak City Buena Park, CA	-3.3%	580,000	636,000	593,000
9	Schlitterbahn Galveston, TX	0.0%	539,000	539,000	402,000
10	Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Arlington, TX	22.7%	476,000	388,000	377,000
11	Six Flags Hurricane Harbor New Jersey Jackson, NJ	5.6%	450,000	426,000	448,000
12	Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Phoenix Glendale, AZ	41.5%0	450,000	318,000	309,000
13	Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Los Angeles Valencia, CA	10.0%	440,000	400,000	309,000
14	Zoombezi Bay Powell, OH	3.0%	411,000	399,000	373,000
15	Cedar Point Shores Sandusky, OH	-1.2%	400,000	405,000	402,000
16	Dollywood's Splash Country Pigeon Forge, TN	3.0%	379,000	368,000	281,000
17	Six Flags White Water Atlanta Marietta, GA	6.6%	373,000	350,000	368,000
18	Camelbeach Tannersville, PA	-1.9%	366,000	373,000	225,000
19	Discovery Cove Orlando, FL	-0.3%	363,000	364,000	340,000
20	Typhoon Texas Waterpark Katy, TX	-1.9%	357,000	364,000	340,000
TOP 20 TOTAL ATTENDANCE		8.5%	13,678,000	12,607,000	--