Why Universal Studios Hollywood attendance dropped nearly 10%

The attendance bounce that Super Mario and company gave Universal Studios Hollywood with the opening of Super Nintendo World evaporated like a fleeting high score in a video game as the movie theme park suffered an agonizing loss in the latest industry rankings.

Attendance at Universal Studios Hollywood fell back to Earth in 2024 after the opening of Super Nintendo World brought more than a million extra visitors to the theme park in 2023.

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The Themed Entertainment Association released its annual Global Experience Index for 2024 on Thursday, Oct. 23 that serves as the definitive attendance rankings for the theme park industry.

Universal Studios Hollywood’s 2024 attendance was down 9.9% – the biggest loser among the Top 20 North American parks on the TEA Index.

Attendance dropped from 9.7 million in 2023 to 8.7 million in 2024 at Universal Studios Hollywood, according to the 2024 TEA Index.

Mario, Luigi and their pals helped Universal reach an all-time attendance high in 2023 by adding 1.3 million visitors to the park and boosting attendance 15%, according to the TEA Index.

Universal was able to recover from the COVID-19 attendance lows with the introduction of the Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash dark ride in 2021. By 2022, the park had gained back more than 90% of its pre-pandemic attendance.

Universal’s 2024 attendance remains behind pre-pandemic heights when 9.2 million visited the park in 2019.

Overall travel spending in California increased 3% in 2024 with international visitors spending up 16.4% compared to the year before, according to Visit California.

Super Nintendo World officially debuted at Universal Studios Hollywood in February 2023 after a soft opening in January.

Universal Studios Hollywood got a more compact version of the Super Nintendo World that officially opened at Universal Studios Japan in 2021. The new Universal Epic Universe in Florida opened its own version of the video game themed land in May.

Universal Studios Hollywood’s attendance isn’t expected to skyrocket in 2025 without a major new attraction or themed land – unless the new Fan Fest Nights after-hours event significantly boosts traffic.

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The new Fast & Furious Hollywood Drift coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in 2026 could be a different story – bringing a high-speed outdoor coaster to the park for the first time.