[Ryan C.]

Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure said Friday that attendance for 2009 totaled 9.3 million, a 12 percent drop from 2008’s 10.6 million attendees.

The bright spot in Friday’s report from the theme park giant was that attendance drops for the last quarter of 2009 were not as severe as the first nine months, down to 2.3 million attendees from 2.4 million in the year-ago period, a drop of 4 percent.

Universal is owned by General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal and the Blackstone Group. The theme park expects to announce next Thursday the opening date for its new Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

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[Winkster]

I guess this shouldn't come as a huge surprised. I think Universal's visitor numbers have been falling for a while and, considering the recession we're just (hopefully) emerging from, I guess nobody could have hoped for much better.

It'd be interesting to see how WDW's attendance figures compare, especially considering that (as far as I know) Universal do not have the budget-saving value resorts that Disney have.

[Mickey Crazy]

Originally Posted by Winkster

It'd be interesting to see how WDW's attendance figures compare, especially considering that (as far as I know) Universal do not have the budget-saving value resorts that Disney have.

I was thinking the same thing. I was wondering if the recession has hurt the parks in any way.

[Sofia's Dad]

I am sure the fallen econony has done some damage to the parks as it has done with the housing market, Restaurants, car dealers etc. To help the situation , when advertising rates, the person should not be paying overly for everything else to make up for the lower rate. In other words pay more for clothes, food, unexpected taxes and fee's. I do not think (and i hope Im wrong) the the economy is going to spring up the way we would like. Therefore if we are in the same economic situation within the next 2 or even 6 years people will not go to the parks. Family, a roof over your head and food are much more important than entertainment.