Download the report here: 2011 TEA/AECOM theme park industry attendance report

via Theme Park Insider

Kings Island came in at #15 in North America, with an increase in attendance from 2010 - curiously, the same amount as Cedar Point (rounded to the nearest thousand): 3,143,000. Cedar Fair also did well overall, with an increase in attendance to 23.4m (from 22.8 in 2010).

Goodbye, recession.

I am a little confused at how our now Soak City or Holiday World's Splashin' Safari did not make the water park list, but Soak City at CP did?

Kings Island numbers include Soak City/Boomerang Bay.

This alone proves to us why CF invests more in KI, CP, and CW. Makes sense.

These are not official numbers. Many parks do not release their numbers.

Yes, it's true that most parks don't release actual attendance numbers. However, TEA seems to be the only organization that publishes an industry wide report like this, so it ends up being pretty much accepted as the source (well, at least as far as the media is concerned...)

The 29% increase at IOA is amazing. Assuming that each of those additional guests brought in an additional $50 in revenue (probably a conservative number when you consider admission, retail, F&B ) that would mean "Potterland" resulted in roughly $87M first year ROI. That's incredible...no wonder Comcast has seemed to jump on the theme park bandwagon of late.

I thought it interesting that not only did Zoombezi Bay (@ the Columbus Zoo) finish in the top 20 of U.S. waterparks (#19), but that it finished so close in attendance to Soak City @ CP (#18).

"Official" (or even accurate) or not, I always find the TEA report to be interesting reading!

Zoombezi Bay is only going to keep rising on the list. Its connected to the countrys No.1 zoo,therefore it attracts visitors from all over let alone all of central ohio.

Interesting, BGW was the only park to loose attendance last year. That surprises me....

I am a little confused at how our now Soak City or Holiday World's Splashin' Safari did not make the water park list, but Soak City at CP did?

Pretty sure that the water parks list is made up of water parks that are a separate gate. Therefore, as stated above, Boomerang Bays numbers from last year would be included in Kings Islands numbers and not as a stand alone water park.

I am kind of surprised to see Kings Island and Cedar Point listed as the same attendance figures (p. 22 and 23). I wonder if Cedar Fair gives an average for all of their parks???

Interesting, BGW was the only park to loose attendance last year. That surprises me....

CERTAINLY not the only park to lose attendance, even if it's the only one in the top 20 to do so. Epcot and SeaWorld Texas had no change at all according to these estimates. Keep in mind that Busch Gardens Williamsburg was severely impacted by Hurricane Irene, which devastated the Chesapeake Bay area and saw water levels rise 8 - 9 feet. Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. were all separately declared in a state of emergency. I believe it closed both parks (Busch Gardens and Water Country, U.S.A.) for a full week during the end of August, and even when it re-opened, many citizens were still evacuated.

Also remember that Busch Gardens Williamsburg had made clear fairly early on that a new roller coaster would make its way to the park in 2012, and announcements or construction early on in the season can sometimes make people decide to delay their trip.

By the way, Verbolten is easily my new number one roller coaster that I've ridden. Easily.

Report updated. See:

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/25780-tea-and-aecom-publish-global-theme-park-attendance-numbers-for-2011/page__pid__467532#entry467532

Cedar Fair announces record 2Q 2012 attendance/revenue: Link.