Top 10 Amusement/Theme Park Chains Worldwide The corporations are ranked by attendance for park visitation only: hotel, retail and other attractions owned by company not included. All Palace Entertainment, Disney, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Universal Studios, Paramount, Tussauds, and Busch figures are estimates.
1. Walt Disney Attractions
Estimated 2003 Attendance: 96.96 million
Blizzard Beach at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 1,600,000
Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 7,870,733
Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 7,305,600
Disney's California Adventure, Anaheim, Calif. 5,311,000
Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif. 12,720,000
Disneyland Paris, Marne-La-Vallee, France 1 10,230,000
Walt Disney Studios, Marne-La-Vallee, France 1 2,200,000
EPCOT at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 8,620,768
Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 14,044,000
Tokyo (Japan) Disneyland 2 13,188,000
Tokyo (Japan) DisneySea 2 12,174,000
Typhoon Lagoon at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla. 1,700,000
2. Six Flags Inc.
Estimated 2003 Attendance: 48.17 million
American Adventure, Marietta, Ga. 175,000
Bellewaerde, Ypres, Belgium 760,000
Enchanted Village, Federal Way, Wash. 825,000
Frontier City, Oklahoma City, Okla. 470,000
Great Escape, Lake George, N.Y. 750,000
Laronde, Montreal 1,275,000
Six Flags America, Largo, Md. 1,425,000
Six Flags AstroWorld (incorporating WaterWorld), Houston 1,700,000
Six Flags Belgium, Brussels, Belgium 1,200,000
Six Flags Darien Lake, Darien Center, N.Y. 1,460,000
Six Flags Elitch Gardens, Denver 1,350,000
Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio 1,700,000
Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, N.J. 3,150,000
Six Flags Great America, Gurnee, Ill. 2,575,000
Six Flags Holland, Flevoland, The Netherlands 1,100,000
Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Valencia, Calif. 350,000
Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Jackson, N.J. 460,000
Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Arlington, Texas 560,000
Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, Louisville 1,000,000
Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, Calif. 3,050,000
Six Flags Marine World, Vallejo, Calif. 3 1,725,000
Six Flags Mexico, Mexico City 2,450,000
Six Flags New England, Agawam, Mass. 1,750,000
Six Flags New Orleans (formerly Jazzland) 3 1,000,000
Six Flags Over Georgia, Atlanta 4 2,100,000
Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington 5 2,600,000
Six Flags Splashtown, Houston 400,000
Six Flags St. Louis, Mo. 1,675,000
Six Flags White Water, Marietta, Ga. 500,000
Six Flags Wild Safari Animal Park, Jackson, N.J. 1,000,000
Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure, Aurora, Ohio 2,000,000
Walibi Aquitaine, Agen, France 290,000
Walibi Rhone Alps, Lyon, France 450,000
Walibi Schtroumpf, Metz, France 375,000
Warner Bros. Movie World, Bottrop, Germany 1,750,000
Warner Bros. Movie World, Madrid, Spain 6 1,500,000
Waterworld USA, Sacramento, Calif. 320,000
Waterworld USA, Concord, Calif. 305,000
White Water Bay, Oklahoma City, Okla. 275,000
Wyandot Lake, Powell, Ohio 370,000
3. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS RECREATION GROUP
Estimated 2003 Attendance: 31.04 million
Universal's Mediterrania, Solou, Spain 7 3,040,000
Universal's Costa Caribe at Mediterrannia, Solou, Spain 7 450,000
Universal Studios at Universal Orlando 8 6,850,000
Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, Calif. 4,576,000
Universal Studios Japan, Osaka 9 8,811,000
Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando 8 6,070,000
Wet'n Wild, Orlando 1,250,000
4. ANHEUSER-BUSCH THEME PARKS
Estimated 2003 Attendance: 20.02 million
Adventure Island Waterpark, Tampa 600,000
Busch Gardens, The Old Country, Williamsburg, Va. 2,500,000
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Fla. 4,300,000
Discovery Cove, Orlando 10 276,000
SeaWorld California, San Diego 4,000,000
SeaWorld Florida, Orlando 5,200,000
SeaWorld Texas, San Antonio 1,700,000
Sesame Place, Langhorne, Pa. 780,000
Water Country USA, Williamsburg, Va. 670,000
5. CEDAR FAIR LTD.
Estimated 2003 Attendance: 14.65 million
Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio 3,300,000
Dorney Park/Wildwater Kingdom, Allentown, Pa. 1,400,000
Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, Calif. 3,479,895
Camp Snoopy, Bloomington, Minn. 11 2,469,000
Knott's Soak City USA, Buena Park, Calif. 340,000
Knott's Soak City USA, Chula Visa, Calif . 260,000
Michigan's Adventure, Muskegon 480,000
Knott's Soak City USA, Palm Springs, Calif. 215,000
Oceans of Fun, Kansas City, Mo. 330,000
Soak City at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio 405,000
Valleyfair!, Shakopee, Minn. 1,100,000
Worlds of Fun, Kansas City, Mo. 880,000
6. PARAMOUNT PARKS
Estimated 2003 Attendance: 13.64 million
Paramount Canada's Wonderland, Maple, Ont. 2,628,413
Paramount's Carowinds, Charlotte, N.C. 1,776,000
Paramount's Great America, Santa Clara, Calif. 1,911,000
Paramount's Kings Dominion, Doswell, Va. 2,100,000
Paramount's Kings Island, Kings Island, Ohio 3,277,975
Terra Mitica, Benidorm, Spain 12 1,950,000
7. Palace Entertainment
Estimated 2003 Attendance: 12.38 million
Castle Amusement Park, Riverside, Calif. 510,000
Big Kahuna, Destin, Fla. 230,000
Mountain Creek, Vernon Valley, N.J. 190,000
Raging Waters, San Dimas, Calif. 683,025
Raging Waters, San Jose, Calif. 276,000
Silver Springs, Silver Springs, Fla. 500,000
Splish Splash, Riverhead, N.Y. 420,000
Water Country, Portsmouth, N.H. 360,000
Wet'n Wild Emerald Pointe, Greensboro, N.C. 451,747
Wet'n Wild, Las Vegas 560,000
Wild Waters, Silver Springs, Fla. 200,000
26 FECs/Small Parks in Texas, Fla., Ga.,Calif., N.Y. 8,000,000
8. Grupo Magico Internacional
Estimated 2003 Attendance: 11.38 million
Cici Bogota, Bogota, Colombia 400,000
Cici De Acapulco, Mexico 800,000
Divertido, Mexico City 1,150,000
Divertido, Guadalajara, Mexico 300,000
El Salitre Magico, Bogota, Colombia 1,520,000
La Feria de Chapultepec, Mexico City 2,800,000.
Naucalli Magico, Mexico City 250,000
Perimagico, Mexico City 510,000
Planeta Azul, Mexico City .600,000
Selva Magica, Guadalajara, Mexico 1,950,000
Zoo, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1,100,000
9.The Tussauds Group
Estimated 2003 Attendance: 10 million
Alton Towers, North Staffordshire, England 2,500,000
Chessington (England) World of Adventures 1,200,000
Heide Park, Soltau, Germany 1,300,000
The London Eye, London 13 3,500,000
Thorpe Park, England 1,500,000
10. BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH
Estimated 2003 Attendance: 8.4 million
Blackpool (England) Pleasure Beach 6,200,000
Pleasureland, Southport, England 2,200,000
1. Owns 39% of park, has management contract and merchandising royalties.
2. No equity, owns management contract and merchandising royalties only.
3. No equity, leases from city with option to buy.
4. Owns 25% of park, has management contract.
5. Owns 34% of park, has management contract.
6. Owns 5% of park, has management contract.
7. Owns 37% of park, has management contract.
8. Owns 50% of park, has management contract.
9. Owns 24% of park, has management contract.
10. Park capacity is 1,000 per day.
11. No equity in park, has management contract.
12. No equity, has management contract.
13. Equity partner in wheel, has operations/management contract.
(c) Amusement Business
