SANDUSKY, Ohio – Attendance at Cedar Point declined nearly 72% in 2020, according to a new report that quantifies the dramatic impact of the coronavirus pandemic across the amusement park industry.
Other parks experienced an even steeper drop-off, according to the annual report issued by the Themed Entertainment Association and the economics practice of AECOM, which ranks Cedar Point 15th for attendance.
Cedar Point spokesman Tony Clark said the park does not release attendance figures and declined to comment on the report’s estimate.
Nationwide, attendance figures in 2020 were highly correlated to government restrictions in place during the pandemic. Parks in California, for example, experienced bigger attendance declines than those in Florida, largely due to more government restrictions.
Overall, the top 20 North American theme parks saw an average attendance decline of 72%, according to the report, which bases estimates on information from park operators, historical data, financial reports, the banking industry and tourism organizations.
In Ohio, both Cedar Point and Kings Island delayed their openings until July 2020 due to government restrictions, and even after opening, the parks limited attendance for the rest of the year.
For the first time in a decade, attendance at Kings Island surpassed visitation at Cedar Point in 2020, according to the report. Industry consultant Dennis Speigel attributed Kings Island’s higher attendance to the park’s reliance on a local visitor base, while Cedar Point is more of a destination park that requires guests to travel. Kings Island also introduced a new roller coaster, Orion, in 2020.
Speigel, the CEO of International Theme Park Services in Cincinnati, suggested taking 2020 numbers and “throwing them out the window.”
Most parks, including Cedar Point, are rebounding strongly in 2021, at least during the second half of the year, he said.
“It looks like we’re going to have one of the strongest falls we’ve ever had,” said Speigel. Some parks could see 2021 attendance numbers that are close to 2019 numbers, he added.
Here’s a list of the top-attended North American amusement parks in 2020, along with the percentage decline from 2019, according to the TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index.
1. Disney World’s Magic Kingdom (Florida), 6.94 million, down 67%
2. Disney World’s Animal Kingdom (Florida), 4.17 million, down 70%
3. Universal Studios Florida, 4.1 million, down 63%
4. Disney World’s Epcot (Florida), 4.04 million, down 68%
5. Universal’s Islands of Adventure (Florida), 4.01 million, down 68%
6. Disney World’s Hollywood Studios (Florida), 3.68 million, down 68%
7. Disneyland Park (California), 3.67 million, down 80%
8. Disney California Adventure, 1.92 million, down 81%
9. Hersheypark (Pennsylvania), 1.72 million, down 49%
10. Kings Island (Ohio), 1.63 million, down 53%
11. SeaWorld Orlando (Florida), 1.6 million, down 66%
12. Universal Studios Hollywood (California), 1.3 million, down 86%
13. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (Florida), 1.29 million, down 69%
14. SeaWorld San Diego (California), 1.14 million, down 70%
15. Cedar Point (Ohio), 1.02 million, down 72%
16. Knott’s Berry Farm (California), 811,000, down 81%
17. Six Flags Magic Mountain (California), 686,000, down 81%
18. Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey), 598,000, down 83%
Note: Canada’s Wonderland (Ontario) and Six Flags Great America (Illinois) were omitted from the list because they didn’t open in 2020.
Read more:
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