Theme Park Research Articles

Trans-spatial narratives of Disney Imagineering in the society of explorers and adventurers

ABSTRACT The Society of Explorers and Adventurers (S.E.A.) is a trans-spatial narrative found in the Walt Disney Company theme parks that extends the storytelling of these parks with a connected narrative across global locations. Elements of S.E.A. appear in Disney’s parks in California, Florida, Tokyo, Paris, Shanghai, and Hong Kong and tie together these far-flung places and their different cultures and languages together with a story one cannot find in Disney’s film and television offerings. By performing a close reading of S.E.A. themed attractions, we can understand how the fictional organization’s four tenets (Adventure, Romance, Discovery, and Innovation) are representative of the theme park as an experiential medium. Ultimately, S.E.A. is an autobiography of Imagineering’s creative milieu and its role in developing the theme park as a cultural practice and medium.

Head tilt in 6 Ankole-Watusi cattle (Bos taurus ankole) with chronic exudative cornual sinusitis.

Ankole-Watusi cattle, Bos taurus ankole, have a unique wide-based horn structure with a large communication to the frontal sinus compared to other cattle breeds. A total of 6 cases of cornual sinusitis presented at the Toronto Zoo and Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge® and Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park with a head tilt. Clinically, 4 of the 6 cases had concurrent otitis at the time of initial clinical observation. Medical management was the standard across all cases with limited surgical success in 2 cases. Due to intractable and progressive clinical signs despite treatment attempts, euthanasia and postmortem examinations were performed. All animals had gross and histologic evidence of cornual sinusitis with massive mucoid exudate in either 1 or both horns. Fluid accumulation and sinusitis within the cornual sinus should be considered a differential diagnosis in Ankole-Watusi cattle with a head tilt.

A Study on Estimating Theme Park Attendance Using the AdaBoost Algorithm Based on Weather Information from the Korea Meteorological Administration Web

The purpose of this study is to propose an efficient machine learning model based on five years of data for Seoul Grand Park in Republic of Korea, depending on the weather and day characteristics, and to increase its effectiveness as a strategic foundation for national theme park management and marketing. To this end, the AdaBoost model, which reflects the characteristics of the weather and the day of the week, was recently compared with the actual number of visitors and the predicted number of visitors to analyze the accuracy. The analysis showed 30 days of abnormal cases, and the overall annual distribution was found to show similar patterns. Abnormal cases required details of wind speed, average relative humidity, and fine dust concentration for weather information, and it was derived that more accurate predictions would be possible considering variables such as group visitors, new events, and unofficial holidays.

Comparing Google reviews and TripAdvisor to help researchers select the more appropriate information source

Purpose The purpose of this research is to identify not only the potential but also the limitations of Google reviews compared to TripAdvisor that may help researchers select the more appropriate information source. Design/methodology/approach The 10 most visited museums and theme parks in Europe were selected for this study. A total of 23,756 theme park reviews and 22,750 museum reviews were extracted from Google and TripAdvisor in November 2022 using the Octoparse tool. In a second round of data collection, reviews on Easter week 2023 were collected for the same destinations. Findings TripAdvisor offers a more comprehensive and accessible source of information compared to Google. However, the findings clearly indicate that Google has greater potential to accumulate reviews. The data also confirms that destinations tend to have higher ratings on Google than on TripAdvisor. Practical implications The research identifies a critical limitation in Google’s review system – a cap of 1,140 viewable and downloadable reviews per destination – posing a significant hindrance to researchers. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study providing a reasoned explanation for the limited scientific literature in tourism that uses Google reviews as a database. It offers a balanced comparison between TripAdvisor and Google that allows researchers to make a more reasoned decision regarding which information source to use depending on the study focus, the method and the data to be collected.

Risk Analysis of Financing Structure in Theme Park Industry and Optimization Using Blockchain Finance -- Based on Shanghai Disney Company

Abstract: In recent years, with the passing of the epidemic period, the theme park industry has rapidly developed and heated up. On the basis of favorable development conditions, the financing model of theme parks will become a key consideration factor for ensuring their sustainable development, that is, how to ensure sufficient capital injection. This research mainly studies the risk analysis of the existing financing structure of the theme park industry, as well as how to further optimize the structure and whether new technology blockchain technology can be applied to it. Through this study, business managers will further understand the shortcomings and risks of the current theme park financing model, how to optimize it in the future, and how to combine new technologies such as blockchain in supply chains to gain competitiveness in complex market environments. This research uses a combination of case analysis and data analysis to select Shanghai Disneyland as the target object. The capital data in its annual report is analyzed, as well as companies that use new technologies in their financing structure as case studies. This research analyzes the shortcomings and risks of the existing financing structure of Disneyland, proposes new financing models that will benefit the future development of Disney Company, and combines blockchain technology to propose new plans.

Reconceptualizing the dark ride experience using first-hand experience: Including the visitor's perspective

Dark rides embody a noteworthy phenomenon in theme park destinations and beyond, serving as a textbook example of structured experiences. They therefore offer valuable insights for knowledge development on structured experiences in the broader realm of tourism and leisure experiences. Despite various conceptualizations of the dark ride experience, the visitor's perspective has been largely overseen. Through qualitative interviews we explored 16 distinct dark rides, unveiling key constituent components of their experience and identifying contributing factors. Results indicate that dark rides are primarily appreciated for their ability to generate here-and-now experiences, characterized by imagery, imagery-based states, and emotions. However, visitors may inadvertently shift their focus to internal thoughts and cognitions based on motivation, opportunity, and ability-related switch factors, risking mental disengagement.

Sinicizing China’s World Muslim City: Spatial Politics, National Narratives, and Ethnoreligious Assimilation in the PRC

Abstract The nation-state is as much a narrative and ideational project as it is a spatial-territorial one. In the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping’s calls to “revitalize” China’s traditional culture, “Sinicize” religions, and “rejuvenate” the Chinese nation reflect a broader effort to reframe the national narrative and strengthen Communist Party control. This article examines the implications of Xi’s revisionist nationalism for China’s fifty-five minority nationalities, in particular the Hui, one of ten Muslim minority groups. It does so by analyzing the rise and demise of World Muslim City (WMC), a development project in western China that mobilized Hui identity and traditions for economic and diplomatic purposes. WMC was facilitated by a multicultural national narrative and by a fragmented authoritarian political system that for many years fostered policy improvisation, and deviation, at the local level. Its suspension underscores the increasingly anti-Muslim, anti-religious tenor of PRC policy, as evidenced by the Sinicization campaign that was a proximate cause of WMC’s demise. Its demise also highlights ongoing efforts to reassert CCP control over government, business, and the Party’s own rank-and-file. The fate of WMC furthermore reveals the spatial dimensions of Sinicization, and of Chinese cultural governance past and present. To paraphrase theorist Henri Lefebvre, Sinicization entails “spatial practices” that impose Xi-ist “representations of space” on lived “representational spaces,” from mosques and businesses to theme parks and luxury resorts.

Financial Development of Disney: Analyzing Box Office Revenue, Derivative Products, and Audience Demographics

Disney is known around the world for its unique animated films, theme parks and classic characters. Through continuous innovation and development, Disney has combined The traditional art of animation with modern technology to create many classic animated films such as "The Lion King," "Frozen" and "Beauty and the Beast."This paper explores Disney's success factors in terms of box office revenue, derivative products, and audience demographiAnalyzingzing relevant literature and it summarizes how Disney has solidified its leading position in the global entertainment industry through high-grossing films, a wide range of derivative products, and precise market positioning. The study reveals that Disney's continuous innovation and market adaptation, including the introduction of new content and diverse products, have successfully attracted audiences of all ages. The paper also provides recommendations for further enhancing Disney's market position and audience engagement, such as investing in original content, emphasizing diversity and inclusivity, and expanding digital and interactive experiences.

Evaluation of Çankırı and Iğdır salt caves within the scope of health and recreation tourism

With the increasing popularity of healing methods involving salt, the importance of salt mines has grown significantly over time. Today, as salt therapy (Speleotherapy) becomes more widespread, salt caves in many countries around the world have begun to transform into salt therapy centers. Salt caves in Spain (Cardona), Belarus (Soliharsk), Romania (Slanic, Salina Turda, and Praid), Poland (Wieliczka), Pakistan (Khewra), Germany (Berchtesgaden), Azerbaijan (Nakhchivan), and Turkey (Çankırı and Iğdır Tuzluca) are used for therapeutic purposes. Particularly, Çankırı Salt Cave and Iğdır Tuzluca Salt Cave are important resources in Turkey that can be evaluated within the scope of health tourism. In this study, a literature review, official website analysis, and on-site observations were conducted. In the literature review, previous research on the subject was examined. Through website analysis, the spatial units and recreational activities of the salt caves were identified. The spatial units and recreational activities of each salt cave were determined using the collected data. Subsequently, on-site observations were made by visiting the salt caves in Çankırı and Iğdır. During these observations, the spatial units within the salt caves were visited and photographed individually. Then, the data obtained from the literature, official website analyses, and on-site observations were combined. Finally, the characteristics of all the examined caves were tabulated, and based on the created table, the caves were evaluated. As a result of the evaluation, the Cardona Salt Mine in Spain stands out for its historical and cultural activities; the Nakhchivan in Azerbaijan, Soligorsk in Belarus, Slanic and Praid Salt Mines in Romania are treatment centers offering salt therapy services; the Salina Turda Salt Mine in Romania is an underground theme park; the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland, Khewra Salt Mine in Pakistan, and Berchtesgaden Salt Mine in Germany are primarily used for recreational purposes; while the developing Çankırı and Iğdır Tuzluca Salt Mines in Turkey are also noted for their recreational use.

The Effect of 7P Marketing Strategy and Lifestyle on Customer Loyalty at Shanghai Disneyland, China

Shanghai Disneyland is a successful theme park that combines Disney magic with Chinese culture. Effective marketing strategies are crucial to influencing customer behavior and cognition. The 7P framework is widely used in marketing campaigns, and customer lifestyles significantly shape preferences and decisions. This study explores the impact of Shanghai Disneyland’s marketing strategy and customer lifestyle on customer loyalty, using data collected from an online questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS. The results show that marketing strategies and lifestyles influence customer loyalty, providing valuable insights into the park’s marketing strategy. Keywords: 7Ps marketing strategy, Shanghai Disneyland, life style, customer loyalty

Play as a phenomenon and metaphor of the park

The article analyses the works of Dutch philosopher Johan Huizinga, who identified four distinctive features of play – free participation, creation of one’s own world, limited time of play, and order, as well as the works of French sociologist R. Caillois, who reduced the diversity of play to four types – competition, simulation, chance and vertigo. Creative concepts of parks are studied as an embodiment of alternative reality and integrity of the play in contrast to the experience of social development dissonance, identity crisis and lack of aesthetic harmony. The authors study the characteristics of the context of the play: the correlation between the rational and irrational, the limited material space, the presence of characters and rules, paraphernalia and performance as opposed to everyday life. Examples of realisation of playing practices in parks are given. Actualisation of the play in the modern entertainment industry is considered through the lens of theme parks.

Project management analysis-based on Shanghai Disney

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the project management strategies employed during the development of Shanghai Disneyland. It utilizes three key analytical tools: PESTLE, SWOT, and Fishbone Diagram, to assess various aspects of the project. The PESTLE analysis evaluates the external environment, including political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors, which influenced the park's successful completion. The SWOT analysis identifies the project's internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as the external opportunities and threats it faced. Additionally, the Fishbone Diagram highlights critical challenges, such as financing, technology, and localization, that contributed to delays in project progress. The findings of this study demonstrate how effective project management, supported by government partnerships and market demand, facilitated Shanghai Disneyland's establishment as a globally significant theme park. However, the paper also underscores the importance of addressing localization and financial sustainability to ensure long-term success. The analysis provides valuable insights into managing large-scale, culturally complex projects.

Statistical Law between Areas and Perimeters Created by a Moving Trajectory

Based on our interest in properties of human movement, we investigated Japanese GPS data, and arrived at the following three observations: (1) there is a strong correlation between the area of polygons created by human movement trajectories and their perimeters; (2) short-distance movement trajectories less than 5 km tend to enclose a large area like a circle; and (3) long-distance movement trajectories over 5 km tend to be straight. We also clarified the following four observations on individual attributes and external factors related to long-distance movements: (1) women tend to travel more linearly than men; (2) linearity is stronger on weekends and national holidays in areas with a large theme park; (3) linearity is weaker on weekends and holidays in areas with many historical tourist attractions; and (4) these variations are created by people visiting such areas. These properties should be incorporated when modeling the movement trajectories of humans.

Assembling tigers, dragons and hells: relational materialist geographies of curated themed spaces

Themed spaces and theme parks constitute of significant human-based desires and linguistic discourses that stabilises/destabilises their social identities and materialities. This paper draws on a relational materialist perspective to examine Singapore’s longstanding themed space, Haw Par Villa, to offer insights into its social and material stability and instabilities. Relational materialism facilitates observations and analysis of interactions of humans and their material worlds on the same ontological plane where human’s agencies are de-centred. Social and material objects are seen to operate in mutually constitutive fashions. The development of a site/theme park and its larger country context are conceptualised here as ‘assemblages’ using DeLanda’s brand of assemblage theory to reveal the operations of human-based ‘desires’ alongside material agencies. Specifically, the desires of the founder and the key discourses related to the founder’s name helped constitute and stabilise the social identity and materiality of the Haw Par Villa through its eventful history of physical destruction, reconstruction, rebranding and reimagining. Despite his eventual non-involvement with Haw Par Villa’s management due to his passing, the founder’s desires and discourses linger on in various forms, resulting in subsequent attempts to rework the identity and materiality of this themed space failing if the attempts are not congruent on some level with the founder’s desires and discourses. This resulted in the failure of first, the state and, subsequently, private endeavours in re-constituting the themed space. In doing so, this paper contributes to a socio-material understanding of the resilience and sustainability of themed spaces.

“Everybody hates a tourist”: la España rural as theme park

ABSTRACT This article will examine ways in which three contemporary artists – the filmmaker José Díaz and the writers Gabi Martínez and Isaac Rosa – engage with la España rural as a would-be theme park. It will argue that pressure from the conventions of the self-discovery documentary (Díaz) or the nonfiction narrative of return to rural roots (Martínez), causes both artists to slip into depoliticized solipsism. Meanwhile, the satirical writer, Isaac Rosa, uses his short story “#SoyMinero” to decry a tendency to frame Spain’s depopulated, postindustrial landscape as a nostalgic iteration of heritage tourism. This paper will examine to what extent such approaches to la España rural, for all their good intentions, can offer anything but a fleeting glimpse of solutions to intractable national problems.

Mitigating the Problem of Local Extinction through Pilot Operation of the Gyeongbuk Theme City: Focusing on a comparative analysis between Kawaba Village and the Bu-Ul-Gyeong megacity†

As of 2023, over half of South Korea's 228 regions face population extinction, despite substantial local government efforts. This study examines why the "Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (Bu-Ul-Gyeong) Megacity" initiative failed to address this issue. By analyzing the successful revitalization of Kawaba village in Japan, which attracted more than 2.5 million tourists, this study proposes an innovative solution tailored to South Korea—the "Gyeongbuk Four Seasons Theme Park." This project aims to revitalize the Gyeongbuk region's economy and reverse population decline, contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 11: "Sustainable Cities and Communities."This study uses a comparative case study methodology to analyze the Bu-Ul-Gyeong Megacity initiative and Kawaba Village. Data collection involved a review of policy documents and academic literature for the former and fieldwork, including interviews and observations, for the latter. The key participants included local government officials and employees in Kawaba Village. Insights from Kawaba were applied to design the "Gyeongbuk Four Seasons Theme Park," which integrates successful elements from Kawaba's model while addressing the shortcomings of the Bu-Ul-Gyeong initiative.The Bu-Ul-Gyeong initiative failed because of a lack of economic revitalization planning, insufficient community engagement, and poor cooperation between governments. Kawaba village succeeded in establishing partnerships, fostering local enterprises, and maintaining effective government communication. These factors are critical in overcoming challenges in regional development.This study proposes the "Gyeongbuk Four Seasons Theme Park," a rotating, seasonal attraction across four cities, emphasizing local specialties and resident participation. This project aims to increase population inflow and establish sustainable agricultural enterprises, contributing to the economic revitalization of the Gyeongbuk region.

Imaginary Geography of Children’s Books: Adding One More Dimension

This review paper explores the 2022 collection Storybook Worlds Made Real: Essays on the Places Inspired by Children’s Narratives, edited by Kathy Merlock Jackson and Mark I. West. The 18 chapters of the collection cover a range of theme parks and literary playgrounds related to children’s literature, spanning Europe, America, and, to a lesser extent, Asia. The chapters combine historical and theoretical approaches with detailed descriptions of the parks and engaging first-person travel narratives. Inspired by diverse book characters – from German fairy-tale gnomes through Peter Rabbit and Alice to Pippi Longstocking, Moomins, and ubiquitous Harry Potter – numerous theme parks became a fertile ground for discussing many important topics, including children’s imagination, reading encouragement, authenticity, simulation, commercialisation, Americanisation, Disneyfication, and Pottermania.

Theme park rides are Giffen goods

AbstractUsing a unique proprietary data set on the behavior of guests visiting theme parks, I document evidence for Giffen behavior in the demand for theme park rides. On average, when the price of a ride increases, that is, the wait time increases, then the probability of riding it increases. This relationship arises predominantly among demand for the least‐desirable rides, it arises predominantly in the theme parks with the fewest number of substitute rides, and it is robust to controlling for expectations of future wait times and other sensitivity analyses. These patterns are all consistent with Giffen behavior.

Analysis of Factors Influencing Wait Times at Disneyland Resort

This paper aims to enhance the accuracy of wait time predictions and optimize park management at Disneyland, a popular leisure destination facing long wait times for attractions. These wait times adversely affect visitors' immediate experiences and overall evaluations, influencing their willingness to return. These wait times adversely affect visitors' immediate experiences and overall evaluations, influencing their willingness to return. The study employs advanced data analysis and machine learning algorithms to develop high-precision wait time prediction models. Utilizing big data techniques, the research integrates multi-dimensional data, including weather, visitor flow, and historical wait times, to optimize resource allocation and improve operational efficiency. optimize resource allocation and improve operational efficiency and visitor satisfaction. The study further explores the application of these models in other domains such as healthcare, healthcare, and healthcare services. The study further explores the application of these models in other domains such as healthcare and transportation, demonstrating the potential for cross-disciplinary technology transfer to enhance overall service quality and efficiency. The findings underscore the significant impact of big data behavior analysis in theme park management, contributing to the findings underscore the significant impact of big data behavior analysis in theme park management, contributing to increased visitor satisfaction, enhanced competitiveness, and long-term sustainability of the park.

Using geotagged facial expressions to visualize and characterize different demographic groups’ emotion in theme parks

Tourism is an emotional sphere, and researchers focus on emotions to optimize tourism experiences. Tourism studies on emotions mostly ignore differences in emotions across demographic tourist groups by gender and age, thus limiting the understanding of emotions to the explicit characteristics of tourists’ emotions. On the basis of geotagged facial expressions on social media platforms, this study aims to visualize the emotions of groups in scenic spots and then reveal the variations between groups’ emotions within theme parks. By employing a facial recognition algorithm, an emotion distribution graph was proposed to represent groups’ emotions in detail. Some analytical methods were combined to characterize of the emotion distribution of each group. Through a comprehensive comparison, the results suggest that there are unique characteristics of emotion distribution for each group and considerable variations between them. This study helps researchers achieve a deeper understanding of tourists’ emotional differences and enhances the theorization of emotions. This research also highlights the advantages and significant practical implications of our method framework.