Disney Parks Beat Out For “Best Theme Park in US,” But I Think There’s Something Fishy Here

Over the past couple of years, the national interest in theme parks among the mainstream media world has grown substantially. They are particularly interested in the “Disney vs INSERT ANYTHING HERE” category and are constantly looking for new “controversies” to cover.

At Mickey Visit, we don't generally dive into these battles because they are often overinflated and not typically relevant to those who are interested in visiting the theme parks. We do, of course, cover comparison content from a trip planning perspective, but we try to avoid driving up further controversy where it isn't any. Today, I had to share some thoughts on a recent narrative.

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Disney Theme Parks Beat Out For Best in the United States

A large trip planning platform just released a “study” looking at the “Best of the Best US Theme Parks.” Earlier today, I received a request from a member of the media who was curious about what this ranking meant for Disney. The ranking set up another story in a bit of a David vs. Goliath narrative that is good for reader engagement, where the “underdog” beats out the big company, with the implication that Disney could make improvements to get higher on this list.

While I did take the time to reflect on how there have been changes to the offerings at Walt Disney World that made things like Genie+ more complicated (though we really like Disney World Lightning Lane Multi Pass now) and the shifting parks reservations systems, I realized that this was another story in the “Disney vs INSERT ANYTHING HERE” category once I dove into how this list actually functioned. Let's get into the rankings and then a deeper look at how this study was set up.

That study ranked the top US theme parks in the following order:

1. Dollywood (Pigeon Forge, Tennessee)
2. Disney’s Magic Kingdom (Orlando, Florida)
3. Knoebels Amusement Resort (Elysburg, Pennsylvania)
4. Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Orlando)
5. Universal’s Islands of Adventure (Orlando)
6. Fun Spot America (Kissimmee, Florida)
7. Legoland California (Carlsbad, California)
8. Universal Studios Florida (Orlando)
9. Silver Dollar City (Branson, Missouri)
10. Whale’s Tale Waterpark (Lincoln, New Hampshire)
11. Disneyland Park (Anaheim, California)

Metrics like this are interesting because they paint some of, but not the entire picture. When looking at a study like this, I go directly to the methodology.

Where This Ranking Gets a Little Bit Fishy

Here's how it is described on their website: “The Travelers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best title celebrates the highest level of excellence in travel. It’s awarded to those who receive a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions from the Tripadvisor community over a 12-month period. Out of our 8 million listings, fewer than 1% achieve this milestone.”

In this case, it looks like the study is based on the combination of quantity and quality of reviews, but doesn't seem to guarantee that those stats are the final determination on the listing. The wording on the rankings seems to imply that to get to this level, you need to have “a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions,” but that isn't the final decider on the order.

Going directly to the TripAdvisor overall data, it looks like Magic Kingdom has both a higher overall and a higher raw number of reviews. So, what gives?

Another thing that stuck out to me was that Disneyland in California didn't make this list. I have been to many of the parks on this list, and Disneyland sticks out as the most charming and impressive theme park resort in the United States. This is unquestionably the crown jewel in the Disney Parks portfolio, so it is notable that the TripAdvisor ratings didn't bring that into the list. They have a 17-acre water park with 593 reviews ranked higher than Disneyland which has 28K reviews. That right there should make you realize how subjective this list is. So, who is making the decision on which the top theme parks in the US are? Because it isn't just the TripAdvisor readers.

TripAdvisor probably sees way more interest in this report if it doesn't say something expected, like that Magic Kingdom is the best theme park in the United States. I would not be surprised if they decided to make Dollywood the number one, just in an effort to have articles like this one written about the list.

If this list were presented to me with Dollywood as number one and Disneyland in California as number two, then I would be having a more pointed conversation about rankings and reviews. Similarly, if Disney's Animal Kingdom, which is definitely one of the most beautiful parks when comparing all of the Walt Disney World theme parks, were higher on the list, I would have different thoughts. This list isn't a technical one based on attendance or even on reviews, as it purports to be, and seems to be manipulated in an effort to market TripAdvisor. They need to say something different from “Disney is the best” to drive engagement. I would love to see a ranking of theme parks based on the number of reviews received in the past year x the 5-star weighting received. That would be a great list to spur debates about customer service and guest satisfaction. This list isn't that.

We also put together studies, like our look at the increase of Disneyland prices over the last decade, but we are very careful to be clear on where we got the data and to share any jumps that we have made. This is similar to the transparency that we bring to our Mickey Visit Disney and Universal Crowd Calendars. Unlike others who create crowd calendars, we share exactly where that data is coming from.

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Dollywood is a great small theme park that has many passionate fans who rave about the experience after visiting. The park has actually drawn lots of positive reviews and sentiment from other national studies. There have been instances where it was ranked number one in the United States, but in those cases, it was based on far clearer survey data and specific questions and ranking stats.

Dollywood, owned by singer-songwriter Dolly Parton and the entertainment company Herschend, is located in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. It offers over 50 rides and attractions, craft experiences, Southern-style food, and live entertainment showcasing country, bluegrass, Southern gospel, classic rock ‘n’ roll, and Appalachian music. In addition to its theme park, Dollywood is also home to a water park, two resort hotels, and the Dolly Parton's Stampede Dinner Attraction.

Walt Disney World reaches a massive number of people every single day and still delivers a great vacation experience on an impressive scale. Yes, there are places that it could improve the experience, but I don't think that changing anything would do anything to shift how this list is structured next year. TripAdvisor needs a quote-unquote “underdog” to be at the top of this list so that articles like this one are written.

What do you think? Should Disney be ranked as number one? Which Disney park should be topping the list?

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