All week, we have been previewing some of the most anticipated new attractions at theme parks around the world in 2019. But will those new rides and shows — some based on the world's most popular entertainment franchises — entice fans to visit parks more often in the new year?
We won't know how successful the class of 2019 will be for the theme park industry until several months from now. But you probably already have some idea about your own travel plans for next year. So, to get another sneak peek about the year ahead, we'd like to ask you to share those plans with us.
Are you planning to visit theme parks next year more often, about the same number of times, or less often than you did in 2018? Are you planning on sticking with the same parks you visited this year, or are you going to add some new parks into the mix that you did not visit in 2018?
Disney and Universal — which between then have all of the top 10 most-attended theme parks in the world (and 14 of the top 15), are coming on strong in 2019, with new attractions based on their biggest franchises: Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Jurassic World. Regional parks also are dropping some attractive new rides, including new launch coasters at Six Flags parks in Los Angeles and Chicago, plus a re-themed rapids ride at Knott's Berry Farm — the one non-Disney, non-Universal theme park in America's top 10 most popular parks.
Six Flags and other regional theme parks continue to price their annual passes and ongoing membership programs aggressively, trying to push casual fans into becoming frequent visitors. But rising annual pass and variable-date prices, coupled with expanded blockout dates, might balance attendance at Disney's theme parks. And who knows what the weather will bring in 2019? If we get more record heat and devastating storms in theme park markets in 2019, not even great new attractions might help attendance continue to grow.
But, for now, let's start with your plans.
If there is something that has caught your eye for 2019, please share that with us in the comments. Or, if there is a specific reason why you won't be visiting as much next year, we'd like to hear that, too. Whatever your plans, we wish you the very best in 2019 and thank you for spending time with us here in the Theme Park Insider community.
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We've just booked a September trip to Orlando - in part because of the potential for diminished crowds in the lead-up to Galaxy's Edge. (Yeah, I'm sure Disney will run some promotion or other to keep the turnstiles swinging. But I doubt it'll still get anywhere close to the mayhem that follows.)
Planning a late summer trip to California for the first time at Disneyland and Galaxy’s Edge. Hope to do Universal Hollywood and Knott’s too. Hope it isn’t a disaster.
Might chang up my HHN Orlando trip and do two days instead 3 or 4 since last year was kind of miserable outside the great house line up. Hope to Hagrid’s Coaster and Runaway Railroad too.
I'll most likely get to all the majors in California at least once in 2019 (Knott's and SFMM probably much more than once), but beyond the west coast I've got two big theme park-centric trips planned for next year...
Texas: This is coming up in March and will include the three main Texas parks (SWSA, SFFT, SFOT), as well as a couple conveniently located small parks.
Missouri: I'm still working on planning for this one, but it will likely be in July and will include SDC, SFStL, WOF, and perhaps one additional park in a neighboring state.
I'm also looking into two or three weekend trips that will not be theme park oriented, but may have the opportunity to spend a day at a local park. By my estimation, I'll be visiting roughly the same number of parks in 2019 as I did in 2018, but they will be spread out over several smaller trips rather than a couple large ones, and a majority of those outside California will be new to me.
At the end of last year I bought an old house and had it renovated and updated. This year the garden got an extreme makeover. So the coming years I will visit Efteling and Kasteeltuinen Arcen (I live in Arcen and it's a castle with many beautiful gardens) and save money for when Universal Orlando opens it's Fantastic Worlds. The plan is a 2 month visit.
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I've got an AP to Disneyland... and only made it twice this year, so I definitely need to make some more visits to get my money's worth before it expires.