The all-time combined attendance of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure likely surpassed 1 billion visitors in early 2025 and would have done so sooner if not for the COVID-19 pandemic that shuttered Disney’s Anaheim theme parks for more than a year.
The Disneyland resort welcomed its 1 billionth visitor in February based on estimates from publicly available attendance figures.
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Tracking attendance numbers used to be a Disneyland tradition — with the park proudly issuing annual tallies.
Today, annual attendance counts are estimated by theme park industry publications and organizations.
Amusement Business published the 2005 theme park attendance figures before the industry magazine closed after 111 years in operation.
TEA/AECOM has published annual theme park attendance figures since 2006, with the latest numbers available through 2023. The 2024 TEA Global Attractions Attendance Report is expected to be released in September.
Disneyland no longer publicly announces attendance figures.
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Disneyland once regularly boasted about major attendance milestones — reaching 100 million visitors in 1971, 200 million in 1981, 300 million in 1989, 400 million in 1997 and 500 million in 2004.
Bill Trow of Australia was the 500 millionth visitor to pass through the Disneyland front gate at 10:16 a.m. on Jan. 8, 2004. Trow helped Mickey Mouse update the Disneyland population sign over the train station to 500 million and was rewarded with lifetime passes to the park for his family, a VIP tour of Disneyland and a stay in a suite at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel.
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The Disneyland population sign was last updated in 2013 to 650 million — which is likely off by more than 150 million today.
Disneyland attendance has grown by 307.3 million visitors from 2004 through 2023, according to the latest attendance estimates available from TEA/AECOM.
Disney California Adventure has welcomed 161.5 million visitors from the 2001 park opening through 2023, according to Amusement Business and TEA/AECOM estimates.
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All totaled, the Disneyland resort has had an estimated 968.8 million visitors at Disneyland and DCA combined through 2023.
The Disneyland resort would have reached an estimated 996.5 million visitors by the end of 2024 if attendance numbers remained unchanged from 2023.
That’s awfully close to 1 billion — especially with an estimated 2.3 million guests visiting the resort every month.
The 1 billionth visitor to the Disneyland resort would have walked through the gates of Disneyland or DCA on Feb. 15 based on an estimated daily attendance of 75,890 guests for both parks.
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The Disneyland resort could have reached the 1 billion mark sooner if Disneyland returned to past attendance peaks or DCA continued to set attendance records in 2024.
Disneyland and DCA welcomed a combined 27.7 million visitors in 2023, according to TEA/AECOM estimates.
Disneyland’s 2023 attendance numbers were still more than 1 million visitors behind the 2019 peak before the COVID-19 pandemic closed Disney’s Anaheim theme parks in March 2020 for more than a year.
Disney California Adventure reached an all-time attendance record of 10 million visitors in 2023, according to TEA/AECOM estimates.
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Disney CEO Bob Iger said the Disneyland resort has reached “almost 30 million” in annual attendance during a speech at the park on July 17 — the park’s 70th anniversary.
An increase of nearly 2.75 million visitors per year at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure could mean the Disneyland resort passed the 1 billion visitor mark in 2024.