Niles: Attendance numbers show challenges remain for Disneyland and other theme parks

The latest attendance numbers show that the theme park industry still has yet to recover from the pandemic. The Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM last week dropped its 2023 Theme Index report — the industry’s most widely accepted estimate of attendance at the world’s top theme and amusement parks.

Once again, Disney dominated the industry. But the real story lies in comparing this year’s numbers with those from 2019 — the last year before pandemic lockdowns disrupted the global economy.