(Image source from: Visitorlando.com)

Florida:

The race of arms decided to build new theme park attractions in Orlando is paying dividends.

A new project report presents that theme park attendance in North America last year was up 2.3 percent, powered by new attractions in Orlando.The Orlando market represents about a third of theme park attendance in North America, according to the report released this week by the Themed Entertainment Association.

Growth was even bigger around the globe. The top 10 biggest theme parks worldwide saw an 8.6 percent attendance increase.

The Orlando theme park companies typically don't release attendance figures.

But the Themed Entertainment Association estimates that Disney's Magic Kingdom in Orlando had 20.5 million visitors, the most of any park in the world.

Disneyland in California had the next highest with an estimated 18.3 million visitors.