Attendance at Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and other Southern California theme parks has not quite reached pre-pandemic levels despite crowds and lines that might make visitors think otherwise.
Southern California theme park attendance in 2022 nearly bounced back to pre-pandemic 2019 crowd levels, according to a new report from the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM.
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Southern California attendance in 2022 (90% vs. 2019) was on par with U.S. theme parks (88% vs. 2019) and well ahead of parks worldwide (79% vs. 2019) compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to the TEA/AECOM report.
Disneyland’s 16.9 million visitors in 2022 was 90% of the 18.7 million that came to the park in 2019, according to the TEA/AECOM report. Disney California Adventure did slightly better at 91% — tallying 9 million visitors in 2022 compared to 9.9 million in 2019.
Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott’s Berry Farm did slightly better than the Disney parks — each reaching 92% of 2019 attendance levels in 2022. SeaWorld San Diego (89% vs. 2019) and Six Flags Magic Mountain (85% vs. 2019) did slightly worse than the Disney standard bearer.
Universal saw attendance reach 8.4 million visitors in 2022 compared with 9.2 million in 2019. Attendance in 2022 at Knott’s (3.9 million), SeaWorld (3.5 million) and Magic Mountain (3 million) fell just short of pre-pandemic levels.
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Southern California theme parks were forced to close in March 2020 due to COVID-19 health concerns as the pandemic shuttered businesses and curtailed social life around the globe.
Disneyland and DCA reopened in April 2021 after a yearlong pandemic closure. State-mandated attendance capacity restrictions were lifted in June 2021 at California theme parks, but the Disney parks have continued to require reservations as a way…
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