Congrats to Magic Kingdom!!

[BuckeyeBama]

You do realize that McDonald's makes more money than any other restaurant? Isn't that your point? Doesn't MK make more money than any other park therefore they must be better?

Maybe I misunderstood.

And you are comparing McDonald's to 5 star restaurants. Really?

 

[bcrook]

Trust me - Disney does not care about polls like this. They care about people willing to pay to enter their parks. A lot more people pay to enter MK than IoA. That is the only measure of success in this industry.

Maybe this would explain why Epcot has slipped to #16.

I just took a Disney annual pass survey asking me about how much value I get out of my pass. I gave it very low marks. But two or three times I was asked in the survey if I thought Disney only cared about money, if I thought Disney was greedy, if I thought Disney was keeping the parks up to date.

If they are asking those questions of their pass holders, they might find the trip advisor results useful.

 

[larryz]

I agree that that is really weird. Why in the world would that park beat virtually any other?

"Coat-tail" effect from MK and AK...

 

[WillAustin]

Maybe this would explain why Epcot has slipped to #16.

Absolutely.

We took a really long survey last week at DHS about all aspects of the park and our vacation. I wonder if it matters.

 

[Planogirl]

And you are comparing McDonald's to 5 star restaurants. Really?

No, I'm not. I'm speaking from an economic view only but my intention isn't to argue about that. Plus it appears that I misunderstood what was being said so I won't press it.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Maybe this would explain why Epcot has slipped to #16.

I just took a Disney annual pass survey asking me about how much value I get out of my pass. I gave it very low marks. But two or three times I was asked in the survey if I thought Disney only cared about money, if I thought Disney was greedy, if I thought Disney was keeping the parks up to date.

If they are asking those questions of their pass holders, they might find the trip advisor results useful.

See, they know that you are a customer - and a repeat customer. They have no idea who voted on this poll. I would wager a huge sum that many of the people who voted in that poll have never been to WDW. Why would/should Disney care that someone who loved Dollywood and has never been to another park other than Dollywood ranked Dollywood higher than MK, and how would anyone know better.

A poll like this is only helpful if everyone who has voted has been to every park listed in the poll. Otherwise it is worthless.

 

[Jon84]

The data behind this poll is meaningless. There is no way they can keep data quality up. The volume of visitors per year for each park will not be accurately represented therefore distorting any ranking based upon review positivity.

If they could say 1 million people went to every park on the list, and ranked them in order after, then it would work alot better, but that is impossible.

 

[WillAustin]

A poll like this is only helpful if everyone who has voted has been to every park listed in the poll. Otherwise it is worthless.

That's like saying customer satisfaction ratings and awards for products and companies are only valid if everyone who rated them also used every competing product as well. That can never happen but it doesn't invalidate or discredit the results.

 

[bcrook]

See, they know that you are a customer - and a repeat customer. They have no idea who voted on this poll. I would wager a huge sum that many of the people who voted in that poll have never been to WDW. Why would/should Disney care that someone who loved Dollywood and has never been to another park other than Dollywood ranked Dollywood higher than MK, and how would anyone know better.

A poll like this is only helpful if everyone who has voted has been to every park listed in the poll. Otherwise it is worthless.

I'm not buying it. Tripadvisor is a big deal. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney uses these rankings to their benefit. The fact that DHS ranked 5 is a good sign for them. Also their hotels did well in the Family category with Art of Animation, Old Key West, Bay Lake Towers, Wilderness Lodge and Port Orleans ranking. As I said, restaurants at WDW and DLR are using the feedback from customers.

And this is an opinion poll. Not scientific. It's like the MTV Movie Awards. Nobody wants to finish poorly. It is fun. The Tripadvisor award release are slick. I have read through all the categories and I have made notes where to travel. If nothing else Millions of people are being exposed to new places to travel that isn't Disney.

I think Disney is in flux. They do have an image problem (especially with the steep price increases). The poll matters.

But, I would think they would be thrilled with where MK, DHS, and DAK (a park in transition) are... The red flag is the once amazing Epcot.


And I estimate "only" 10,000,000 unique customers a year go to WDW. A LOT more people DON'T go to WDW theme parks. So it makes sense to me that the other parks would still represent.

Plus if you want more scientific based award... look at the Golden Ticket annual theme park awards. They were similar to TA.

 

[bcrook]

The data behind this poll is meaningless. There is no way they can keep data quality up. The volume of visitors per year for each park will not be accurately represented therefore distorting any ranking based upon review positivity.

If they could say 1 million people went to every park on the list, and ranked them in order after, then it would work alot better, but that is impossible.

Its not meaningless. It is based on millions of reviews written last year by Tripadvisor customers. If anything it would represent trends based on the most current data. If mostly new customers did the ratings, then it makes sense that Epcot did so poorly. There isn't much to do there anymore and with FP+ you can't even ride both major rides.

DHS has a significant bump from Star Wars Weekends I am sure, and maybe Frozen (I don't know when the voting cut-off was... And I don't know when Frozenmania kicked off in DHS).

It may not be scientific, but the information is meaningful. It would make no sense for a large corporation to ignore it. I am a big Disney Fan, I have already spent 10 days on property this year, and I have 5 more planned in October. But when I read those polls and see all those other cool parks, I am now considering them. Where before, I never considered them.

If I want to go to the best water parks, Apparently I need to go to the Middle East!

 

[Jon84]

And this is an opinion poll. .

Is it?

I thought it was based around the number of positive reviews against each park over a certain time frame?

That's not the same is giving 1 million people a list of x number of parks and making them choose one, or rank them all in order. Which is surely the definition of a poll?

 

[Jon84]

Its not meaningless. It is based on millions of reviews written last year by Tripadvisor customers. If anything it would represent trends based on the most current data. If mostly new customers did the ratings, then it makes sense that Epcot did so poorly. There isn't much to do there anymore and with FP+ you can't even ride both major rides.

DHS has a significant bump from Star Wars Weekends I am sure, and maybe Frozen (I don't know when the voting cut-off was... And I don't know when Frozenmania kicked off in DHS).

It may not be scientific, but the information is meaningful. It would make no sense for a large corporation to ignore it. I am a big Disney Fan, I have already spent 10 days on property this year, and I have 5 more planned in October. But when I read those polls and see all those other cool parks, I am now considering them. Where before, I never considered them.

If I want to go to the best water parks, Apparently I need to go to the Middle East!

But the reviews are not evenly distributed. People often only review something if they are not happy. It does not account for the people that went that were happy but didn't review.

There's a saying in retail that if the customer is not happy, they will tell 10 friends, if they are happy, you are lucky if they tell 1 person.

 

[ArwenMarie]

The red flag is the once amazing Epcot.

I think Epcot is doing fine. It's profit that matters at the end of the day and I think Epcot is raking it in.

 

[bcrook]

Is it?

I thought it was based around the number of positive reviews against each park over a certain time frame?

That's not the same is giving 1 million people a list of x number of parks and making them choose one, or rank them all in order. Which is surely the definition of a poll?

Use whatever word you want. Here is the description:
"Established in 2002, Travelers' Choice awards are the highest honor TripAdvisor can bestow. The only travel industry awards based on millions of reviews and opinions from travelers around the world, these annual awards reflect "the best of the best" for service, quality, and customer satisfaction, from hotels and accommodations to destinations, attractions, and even brands and products.

Travelers' Choice award winners are selected annually based on feedback from millions of TripAdvisor members. Travelers' Choice awards single out not just popular choices, but truly exceptional ones that keep travelers coming back."

It's like AAA, they developed a reward system that people used to use often. I think the TripAdvisor Owl has supplanted AAA in popularity.

 

[bcrook]

But the reviews are not evenly distributed. People often only review something if they are not happy. It does not account for the people that went that were happy but didn't review.

There's a saying in retail that if the customer is not happy, they will tell 10 friends, if they are happy, you are lucky if they tell 1 person.

Once again, you are just making this stuff up. If you go to tripadvisor nearly restaurant, hotel and attraction is top heavy with 4's and 5's. It is rare to find any place with more inferior reviews than positive.

Take a look at the DISboards most hated restaurant Hollywood and Vine.

850 4/5 rankings 150 2/1 rankings with a lot 3s

 

[Jon84]

Once again, you are just making this stuff up. If you go to tripadvisor nearly restaurant, hotel and attraction is top heavy with 4's and 5's. It is rare to find any place with more inferior reviews than positive.

I'm not making it up. It's my opinion. And as an analyst by profession, my bosses would not be happy if I could not substantiate any ranking without the numbers behind it.

What you quoted from TA does not tell tell us how they did it, it merely uses buzz words to make it sound like it was scientific.

If most attractions, hotels etc are 4 and 5s then they must have done something else than an average rating, else they'd all be pretty much 4.5s and rating one to ten not really possible.

There is no way that they read all the reviews, so did they search keywords from the reviews, e.g how many times the words 'Excellent Service' are used?

We'll never know, but in my opinion this ranking is as meaningless as the TEA rankings - massive pinch of salt required.



Interestingly, in the UK rankings, http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravelersChoice-Attractions-cAmusementParks-g186216

#1 Alton Towers - expected.
#2 Peppa Pig World - very popular with the under 5s.
#3 Adventure Island - a park no further than 4 miles from my home.

Thorpe Park, Chessington and Legoland do not feature in the top 10 and are major theme parks in the UK which along with Alton Towers probably take the bulk of UK Theme Park attendance. They also give you much better themes, rides and shows than my local park at #3.

 

[itchin2go]

But the reviews are not evenly distributed. People often only review something if they are not happy. It does not account for the people that went that were happy but didn't review.

There's a saying in retail that if the customer is not happy, they will tell 10 friends, if they are happy, you are lucky if they tell 1 person.

But if that's true, wouldn't it be true for all theme parks, not just Disney ones?

 

[bcrook]

I think Epcot is doing fine. It's profit that matters at the end of the day and I think Epcot is raking it in.

i sure contribute to that!!!

 

[ojeight]

We also have to consider that people are more likely to leave a review for a bad experience than a good experience. Even die hard Disney fans have to admit that last year the Florida parks had a lot for people to complain about with the advent of Magic Bands and My Disney Experience. If you did not plan you could have had a miserable experience.

 

[bcrook]

I'm not making it up. It's my opinion. And as an analyst by profession, my bosses would not be happy if I could not substantiate any ranking without the numbers behind it.

I was referring to the idea that 10:1 people go to Tripadvisor to complain. The numbers don't back that up. Most of the reviews are 10:1 glowing. As in the case of Hollywood & Vine a very lowly rated restaurant on these boards.

I understand that the Tripadvisor awards are not Scientific - that has been said over and over again. It something that is fun to read. It will be read by millions of people. And there is NO Doubt, that Disney would PREFER to sweep the awards or be #1 than to not sweep the awards or come in at #16.

That's all. And I bet the Managers at DHS are happy about these results.