Shanghai Happy Valley, a veteran local theme park that has been operating for nearly 16 years, welcomed over one million visitors during the two-month summer season. On its busiest day, daily attendance rose by 65% year-on-year.
At Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, the two on-site hotels performed remarkably well: in August, they achieved an average occupancy rate of 95.74%, nearly fully booked every day. The park’s Ultraman-themed hotel, developed in partnership with an international IP, saw all 105 rooms in extremely high demand, requiring weekend bookings at least a week in advance.
Turning to international IP-driven theme parks: while Disney rarely discloses attendance figures, the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) reported in August 2024 that Shanghai Disneyland attracted 14 million visitors in 2023. This ranked it fifth globally and made it the most visited and popular theme park in China.
Shanghai Legoland, which opened in early July, staged a “comeback” after initial skepticism. Beginning August 25, in the final week of the summer season, the park experienced a surge in visitors thanks to ticket discounts and half-price dining offers, leading to several consecutive days of sold-out admissions.
Looking globally, it becomes clear that Shanghai’s theme parks are far from “oversupplied.”
Tokyo, Japan, with only one-third of Shanghai’s land area, hosts two Disney parks—Disneyland and DisneySea—alongside other renowned attractions such as the Harry Potter Studio Tour and Sanrio Puroland.
Dubai, with a population of just over 3.7 million and only 61% of Shanghai’s land area, showcases its extravagance with the colossal Dubai Parks project. Built at a cost of USD 27.4 billion, it encompasses Hollywood-inspired Motiongate, Bollywood Parks, Legoland, a water park, and a themed village with 31 hotel clusters and 100 theaters. The built-up zone alone stretches over 10 kilometers.
In addition, Dubai is home to IMG Worlds of Adventure, Atlantis Aquaventure Waterpark, and Wild Wadi Waterpark, making it a favored global family destination. Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi—just over 100 kilometers away—announced plans to build a Disney park, a move that will also indirectly benefit Dubai.
Compared with these renowned destinations, Shanghai’s advantages are no less compelling. Its convenient transportation, large population, and comprehensive service infrastructure can fully support large-scale projects. More importantly, the reach of Shanghai’s theme parks extends well beyond the 200 million middle- and high-income residents of the Yangtze River Delta and domestic travelers, with their appeal to international tourists also on the rise.
South Korean, Japanese, and Thai tourists flocked to Shanghai Disneyland late last year, Hong Kong visitors traveled to Legoland this summer, and foreign guests watched Peking Opera-themed ski shows at Yaoxue Snow World—all demonstrating how theme parks have become powerful magnets for inbound tourism.
Both domestic and international experience show that theme park clustering is not “involution,” but a collective force—transforming cities into top national and global tourism destinations and securing a stronger share in the international tourism market.
