While most of Southern California’s theme park market quietly shed nearly a million visitors, Disneyland held its ground — and then some. The Themed Entertainment Association’s 2025 Global Experience Index estimated that the world’s top 25 parks recorded 245.4 million visits combined, down just 0.2% from the year before. Inside those flat global numbers, the regional story is sharper: Disneyland Resort gained visitors while Universal Studios Hollywood dropped 8%. For anyone comparing Southern California parks before booking, that gap deserves a hard look.
Disneyland Stayed Near the Top. Universal Slipped.
Two parks, one region — and two completely different stories in 2025.
Disneyland Park drew an estimated 17.4 million visitors in 2025, up 0.4% year over year, according to the TEA report — ranking No. 2 worldwide, behind only Walt Disney World‘s Magic Kingdom. Disney California Adventure added an estimated 10.1 million, also up 0.4%. Combined, the Disneyland Resort accounted for roughly 27.5 million estimated visits — a figure calculated from the two individual park totals, not a separately reported TEA number.
Universal Studios Hollywood tells a different story. An estimated 8 million visitors in 2025. Down 8% from 2024. That’s approximately 700,000 fewer guests than the previous year.
The rest of Southern California tracked closer to Universal’s direction:
- Knott’s Berry Farm: approximately 4.3 million estimated visitors, down 4.2%
- Six Flags Magic Mountain: approximately 3.2 million, down 4%
- Southern California overall: down roughly 1.9%, or about 919,000 estimated visits lost
- Five North American parks recorded attendance increases in 2025: Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Dollywood, Hersheypark, and Universal Epic Universe
The TEA report cited several headwinds affecting North American attendance — LA-area wildfires, weather disruptions, a weaker Canadian dollar, softer Canadian travel, and tariff-related tensions. Universal had no major new anchor attraction opening in California; Universal Epic Universe launched in Orlando. Disneyland nevertheless posted modest gains while Southern California attendance declined overall. That’s the kind of brand gravity that draws an estimated 17.4 million people year after year — the attendance equivalent of a blockbuster that never leaves theaters.
The TEA’s 2025 Global Experience Index cited weather disruptions, Los Angeles-area wildfires, softer Canadian travel, tariff-related tensions, and a weaker Canadian dollar as factors affecting North American attendance.
What the Numbers Mean If You’re Planning a Trip
Disneyland’s crowd levels didn’t ease in 2025 — the estimated figures confirm they held firm.
Disneyland remains the dominant single park in Southern California by more than a 2:1 margin — an estimated 17.4 million versus Universal’s 8 million estimated visitors, according to the TEA report. Those Disneyland numbers didn’t thin out in 2025. If avoiding peak density is part of the plan, this data offers no easy comfort on either end.
Only five North American parks recorded growth at all in 2025. Two of them — Disneyland and Disney California Adventure — are adjacent parks within the same Anaheim resort complex, a telling sign of where the region’s demand held strongest.
