How Many Disney Parks Are There in the World? [2023]

Disney is one of the largest companies in the world, with an enormous influence on global entertainment, travel, and recreation. One of their best-known and most popular products is their theme parks. But how many Disney Parks are there in the world right now?

Worldwide, there are 12 Disney theme parks. Let’s look at where they are, how Disney themes and brands them, and more.

How Many Disney Parks Are There in the United States?

Disney is first and foremost an American company, and its parks first opened in southern California and then spread to central Florida.

California

There are two Disney theme parks in California: Disneyland and California Adventure. How many Disneylands are there? Technically, there are five worldwide, but the one in California is the original. It opened in 1955, and Walt Disney himself built it. 

As the original park, Disneyland follows Walt’s dream to build a family-friendly, quality theme park that gives guests an immersive experience. That basic model has been the foundation of every park opened worldwide by the Disney company since. If you’ve never visited a Disney park, there’s nothing quite like watching the sunset over the castle before the epic nightly fireworks show!

Disneyland features Sleeping Beauty’s castle as the centerpiece and has nine themed lands organized in a spoke-like layout around it. Those lands, including Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Tomorrowland, are replicated in most Disneyland parks globally.

California Adventure opened in 2001. Of all the parks, it is most loosely themed. It consists of eight lands, most of which are themed to particular Disney or Pixar film franchises, including A Bug’s Land, Cars Land, and Hollywood Land.

Florida

The most extensive collection of Disney theme parks in the world is in Walt Disney World in central Florida, located outside of the city of Orlando. Disney owns a massive amount of land and property in this region, which the company began swallowing up in the 1960s.

How many Disney theme parks are there in Florida? There are four: Magic Kingdom (opened in 1971), EPCOT (1982), Disney’s Hollywood Studios (1989), and Disney’s Animal Kingdom (1998).

Walt Disney designed the Magic Kingdom to be a replica of Disneyland with the same nine lands around Cinderella’s Castle. Hollywood Studios has attractions that deal with movies, TV, and entertainment. Animal Kingdom is most similar to a zoo, showcasing animals from around the world. 

EPCOT’s theme is a bit harder to describe than the other three parks. Disney wanted to showcase the best of human achievement, so there is a World’s Fair-type area (the World Showcase) and Future World, which is currently undergoing a massive remodel.

How Many Disney Parks Are There in Asia?

With market research revealing a vast number of tourists to Disney parks from Asia, the Disney Company decided to bring the magic to them, beginning in the 1980s.

Tokyo

Tokyo Disneyland was the fourth Disney park to open and the company’s first overseas theme park venture in 1983. Presently, Disney has two theme parks in Tokyo: Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea, which opened in 2001. 

Tokyo Disneyland is very much like its predecessors in the US. Disney Sea is somewhat similar to Animal Kingdom, as it has some things in common with an aquarium. But it is so much more, with seven lands for the seven seas and attractions themed to the wonders and legends of the oceans.

Hong Kong

Following the success of the parks in Japan, Disney parks came to Hong Kong in 2005, with the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland.

Like the other Disneylands around the world, it has several lands and many similar attractions around its own Castle of Magical Dreams. However, the lands are different from the others, featuring Toy Story Land, Grizzly Gulch, and others. 

Shanghai

The most recent park opening for the Disney company is Shanghai Disneyland, which debuted in 2016. Once again, Disney built it to be very similar to the other Disneylands. It features lands like Gardens of Imagination, Treasure Cove, and Mickey Avenue.

How Many Disney Parks Are There in Europe?

Disney owns and operates two theme parks in Europe, both located about 20 miles from the center of Paris: Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios Park. Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, and Walt Disney Studios Park followed a decade later in 2002. 

Disneyland Paris is very similar to the original Disneyland and Magic Kingdom. Walt Disney Studios Park is somewhat like Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida or California Adventure, as it has lands and attractions that feature some of Disney and Pixar’s most popular films.

Other Global Disney “Properties”

In addition to its theme parks, Disney owns resorts and has a presence in vacation destinations worldwide. Let’s quickly take a look at these.

Other Disney Resorts

Disney owns and operates three resorts that are not attached to theme parks. These are Disney’s Aulani Resort outside of Honolulu, Hawaii, Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort in South Carolina, and Disney’s Vero Beach Resort in Florida.

Disney Cruise Line

Disney also owns five cruise ships: Dream, Fantasy, Magic, Wish, and Wonder. They sail to destinations in the Americas and the Caribbean, Europe, and Hawaii.

Adventures by Disney

Finally, Disney has their own travel company called Adventures by Disney. This arm of the company takes guests on exciting expeditions to locations on six continents. 

Will Disney Open More Theme Parks?

At the time of this writing, Disney has not officially announced any plans to build a new theme park. What’s more, it has been more than half a decade since the last one opened, which represents a significant slowing down since the 1990s and 2000s. 

Instead, Disney seems to have transitioned its focus to expanding and improving its current fleet of theme parks around the world. Many parks have received new lands (such as the Star Wars lands in Disneyland in Anaheim and Hollywood Studios in Florida). 

Conclusion – How Many Disney Parks Are There In The World

Every single Disney park worldwide is currently slated to receive new attractions over the next several years. That means that we can continue to count on Disney parks to offer the latest and greatest ride technology. 

For the time being, though, the number of Disney Parks in the world will remain twelve.