Does Theme Park Size Matter? 

Theming definitely helps the walking through theme parks feel more pleasant. Heck, it doesn't even need to be elaborate theming. Gardens and fountains are just nice to walk around, especially compared to blank construction walls. The biggest problem with Epcot was scale. They closed the entire center of the park, rather than work on it in sections. That meant having to loop around the entire perimeter of that half of the park, rather than have direct cut-throughs. Not to mention having that area be under construction for over five years...

@@ThemeParchiveremind me again how long it took from breaking ground to opening day for Disneyland? Asking for a friend

Correct, those kinds of nighttime shows were not counted. Part of the reason is that some parks only run those shows seasonally, so it was easier to exclude them all rather than decide on a case by case basis what should or shouldn't count. Also, those shows use existing park infrastructure, whereas the kinds of shows we counted use their own infrastructure. To that end, Fantasmic! at Disneyland doesn't count, because it's performed and viewed along the Rivers of America, but Fantasmic! at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando would count, because it has its own dedicated amphitheater. In the same way, street performers weren't counted. Again, some parks have them daily; others seasonally. Sometimes even within a single park, street performers and character meet-ups can vary day to day. So counting these kinds of things wasn't feasible. To you point though, these kinds of shows and street performers are very much an essential part of the park experience. These attractions per acre calculations were meant to represent a generalized idea of how space is utilized in parks, and not represent any "real" endorsement or criticism of a particular park.