--- description: In the theme park wars, 2014 was a clear victory for Universal and a drag for SeaWorld. title: SeaWorld Is Struggling to Keep People Visiting image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ea9ec77142a006f/698852cccd1bba06e86fb9f4/gettyimages-117097482.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tourism](/tag/tourism/) ## Tourism Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # SeaWorld Is Struggling to Keep People Visiting by [Ben Geier / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Ben Geier / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 3, 2015 3:07 PM CUT  A general view of the atmosphere at the premiere of Sea World San Diego's "Turtle: The Incredible Journey" on June 21, 2011 in San Diego, California. A general view of the atmosphere at the premiere of Sea World San Diego's "Turtle: The Incredible Journey" on June 21, 2011 in San Diego, California.Jerod Harris—Getty Images by [Ben Geier / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Ben Geier / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 3, 2015 3:07 PM CUT In the theme park wars, 2014 was a clear victory for Universal and a drag for SeaWorld, with Disney coming up somewhere in between. Let’s be clear: Disney World is still the biggest dog in the fight, attracting 70.9% of all theme park visits in 2014 — but that’s down from 73.3% in 2013, reports the [Orlando _Sentinel_](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-theme-park-attendance-2014-20150603-story.html "undefined"). Disney’s market share was bitten into by Universal, which had a 22.6% share in 2014 compared with 19.3% in 2013, largely driven by the opening of the second outpost of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. Plus, plenty of people who came to experience the world of the Boy Wizard also bought tickets to Universal’s other park, Islands of Adventure, where the first Harry Potter area is still operating. There’s a “Hogwart’s Express” train connected the two parks, which can only be ridden if visitors have tickets to both parks. SeaWorld, meanwhile, had market share of just 6.5%, down from 7.4%. The aquatic-themed park had its own problems to deal with, as negative publicity regarding its treatment of animals may still be hurting it at the gates. The Orlando theme park market in general had a good year, with total visits increasing 6% to 72.6 million. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3907247/seaworld-disney-universal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3907247/seaworld-disney-universal/"},"headline":"SeaWorld Is Struggling to Keep People Visiting","datePublished":"2015-06-03T15:07:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:52:14.969Z","description":"While Universal is riding that Harry Potter high","url":"https://time.com/3907247/seaworld-disney-universal/","keywords":["Tourism","Harry Potter","Disney World","Theme Parks","SeaWorld","Universal","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ea9ec77142a006f/698852cccd1bba06e86fb9f4/gettyimages-117097482.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Geier / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ea9ec77142a006f/698852cccd1bba06e86fb9f4/gettyimages-117097482.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Premiere Of Sea World San Diego's \"Turtle: The Incredible Journey\"","caption":"Premiere Of Sea World San Diego's \"Turtle: The Incredible Journey\"","creditText":"Jerod Harris—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/tourism/","name":"Tourism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3907247/seaworld-disney-universal/","name":"SeaWorld Is Struggling to Keep People Visiting"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"SeaWorld Launches Ad Campaign To Repair Damaged Image","description":"SeaWorld's new ad campaign comes after its negative portrayal in the documentary \"Blackfish\" and allegations levied by animal rights groups.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/JHzhb2bu/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-24T16:15:19.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JHzhb2bu.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3907247/seaworld-disney-universal/","duration":"PT1M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3907247/seaworld-disney-universal/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```