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Phyllis Brown

Professor Steingold

ENC 1102

26 March 2024

Determining Disney World’s Popular Rides to Aid Development

1. Intro

Disney World rollercoasters are beloved by anyone who pays a visit to one of the four

theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. There is a long

process and a tremendous amount of effort that is required to fully construct a new ride. One

essential part at the core of its creation is guest experience. Typically, Disney rides are inspired

by a certain movie or theme which determines their features. For example, Pirates of the

Caribbean is a dark water ride and Rock n Rollercoaster is fast with loops. The theme or story of

the ride can be essential to guest experience and popularity.

Popularity can be based on the theme, features, and sensations used in ride development.

Engineers and designers need to create ideas that the public would love. This can be difficult

without being able to tell what people want in a ride. Figuring out the most popular rides at

Disney World, including popular parks and features, can help accomplish this. When conducting

secondary research, there were not many scholarly journals on the topic and many online articles

did not provide much evidence for their claims. So, the topic has not been thoroughly researched

and therefore has a few gaps.

Two websites I found were MagicGuides and ESPN which both used the same

information from MagicGuides researchers’ project to rank Disney’s most popular rides. This
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used Instagram hashtags, Tripadvisor ratings, and monthly search volume to determine the top

fifteen rides overall and the most popular rides in each US State. The top five rides in order were

Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, It’s a Small World, and Star Wars: Rise of

the Resistance. Interestingly, Splash Mountain was the favorite ride in forty-nine out of fifty US

States. The only state that did not think Splash Mountain was the best ride was Florida. Instead,

the favorite was Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, and Splash Mountain was not even in

the top three (MagicGuides Staff, Winner). These websites were the only ones published that

used credible data to support the ranking of rides whereas most other ones did not explain how

the rankings were concluded.

For later context, the audience should know that the ride, Splash Mountain, was closed on

May 31, 2023 to be rebranded as Tiana’s Bayou based on the movie The Princess and the Frog

(Baxter). The ride was based on a film from 1946 called Song of the South which featured racial

stereotypes and themes. The basis of the film is white children who have slaves are told African

American stories by Uncle Remus (McShane). The author makes a point to include quotes from

the NAACP and CEO Bob Iger agreeing the theme of Splash Mountain is racially

discriminating. “Walter White, the former executive secretary of the NAACP, said the film

‘helps to perpetuate a dangerously glorified picture of slavery’” (McShane). This was the main

reason for controversy and ultimately why Splash Mountain was shut down and is now being

redesigned.

Disney Imagineers are constantly innovating to design an immersive environment for

people. They need to conduct research to obtain specific information on their project. When

conducting secondary research there were not many sources with concrete data backing up the

main claims of the publication (Experience by Design). For example, websites ranking the

popularity of Disney World rides specifically used methods of opinion to determine the overall
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ranks. I aim to contribute to the research community to improve future developers in their

designs. I am conducting my research to find out how determining Disney World’s most popular

ride can aid in developing new ones. Additionally, I will look at how the public’s opinion on

themes can influence a ride.

2. Methods

This data was collected by using an online survey via Microsoft Forms. Participants were

selected by using convenience sampling which was easiest and quickest to collect. However, it

limited the participants to mainly University of Central Florida students which could potentially

result in a bias towards younger people in Florida rather than the whole population. Overall, I

received fifty-nine responses to the survey questions. This was a realistic number that I expected

to collect; it is not a very large number, but it is enough to give me a good idea of people’s

favorite Disney World rides.

Information regarding the participants’ favorite ride and ride preferences were included.

First, they were asked to consent to their responses being used in my research. Then they were

asked about their age and if they had visited any other theme parks other than Disney. Next,

participants were asked to rank the four Disney World parks and the five rides It’s a Small

World, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, and Tower of

Terror. As well as to explain why the ride in place one was their favorite and if they had another

ride they loved that was not in the list of five. My reasoning for asking if they had a favorite ride

not on the list of five, was because many other sites I found listed rides as favorites other than the

five. This will allow a variety of different rides, not just the ones I found from MagicGuides.

Lastly, they picked their favorite three ride features and asked if they had any knowledge of the

closing of Splash Mountain. The reasoning for asking about Splash Mountain is because it was
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the most popular ride overall and in forty-nine out of fifty states according to MagicGuides. This

limits the responses to only the closure of Splash Mountain and not any other rides’ closure.

However, I wanted to know specifically about the ride because of its popularity and to see if the

participants thought the same.

3. Results

3.1 Ages and Visiting Other Theme Parks

The majority of participants were between the ages of eighteen to twenty years old (Fig. 1) and

had been to other theme parks before besides Disney World. Some of the other parks visited

were Busch Gardens, Universal, Six Flags, Sea World, and Fun Spot. This shows the data will

reflect the opinions of young adults. Additionally, they have gone to a wide variety of different

parks so, they have a lot of experience with rides and know what their favorite types are.

3.2 Most Popular Disney Park

Participants ranked the Disney World theme parks one to four, one being most favorite

and four being least favorite. Epcot turned out to be the most popular with 35.7% of participants

putting it in first place. Second place was Hollywood Studios with 33.3%, third was Magic

Kingdom with 21.4%, and last was Animal Kingdom with only 11.1% (Fig. 2). Epcot was the

most popular, it has the World Showcase consisting of many major international cultures such as

Italy, France, China, Japan, America, Mexico, Morocco, and Germany. Additionally, it has the

well known Spaceship Earth located int the big ball at the entrance and many other rides in the

World Discovery, World Celebration, and World Nature areas of the park.

3.3 Most Popular Ride

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The next question in the survey was asking participants to rank It’s a Small World,

Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Tower of Terror from

one to five. Space Mountain had 30.5% put it in first place, Star Wars had 25.4%, Tower of

Terror had 16.9%, and Splash Mountain and It’s a Small World both had 15.3%. Space

Mountain is an incredibly popular ride among young people, only 3.4% put it in last place (Fig.

3). Space Mountain is a fast dark ride with music and no loops or going backwards. The

participants also explained why the ride in first place was their favorite. Many said it was

thrilling, fast, and nostalgic and they thought it was a great experience, had a good theme, and

had exciting drops. Keep in mind this was not specifically for Space Mountain, but for all the

rides. These explanations show what people genuinely enjoy and look for when they go on an

attraction.

One significant question was asking participants to state their favorite ride if it was not

listed before. This is important to include so participants have the opportunity to list their

absolute favorite Disney World ride whether it was from the list of five or a different one. The

most repeated ride people chose was Guardians of the Galaxy. Rock n Roller Coaster, Flight of

Passage, Pirates of the Caribbean, Slinky Dog Dash, Carousel of Progress, Spaceship Earth, and

The Great Movie Ride were also mentioned, but not nearly as much as Guardians of the Galaxy.

These results coincide with the results from MagicGuides that determined Guardians of the

Galaxy Cosmic Rewind was the most popular ride in Florida.

3.4 Top Ride Features

Not only was the reasoning for choosing their favorite ride asked, but also their favorite features

of rides. The top four ride features were fast, steep drops, darkness, and upside down which

composed about 80.79% of the total selections (Fig. 4). People loved the most exciting and
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adrenaline inducing ride features. This makes sense when it is put together with the other data.

The most popular ride was Space Mountain and their reasoning for picking their favorite ride

was because it was thrilling and fast with exciting drops. Around 11.86% of the selections

showed that people enjoyed going backwards and water rides.

3.5 Opinions on the Decision to Rebrand Splash Mountain

The data collected about Splash Mountain from the fifty-nine participants was interesting.

Eighteen said they had not heard about Splash Mountain being closed and transformed into

Tiana’s Bayou while forty-one of them said they did. In many explanations for why they thought

it was shut down, people mentioned the theme being controversial. Sixteen of the participants

expressed they agreed with the rebranding and loved that The Princess and the Frog was

becoming a ride. The major controversy about the ride was because of the racist storyline of the

film Song of the South that is shown throughout the ride. Some participants thought younger

audiences do not know the meaning behind the ride, since Song of the South is such an old film

and kids would not miss it. Additionally, a few mentioned that the new ride will bring more

attention, publicity, and cash flow to the company. Eleven of the responses expressed they did

not agree with rebranding Splash Mountain. Most said that the ride was nostalgic, and it made

them feel sad to never be able to ride it again. People even stated that it was one of their favorite

Disney rides. The decision to get rid of it was unnecessary and simply catered to those who

opposed older societal ideas, such as the deep south. One person made a point to say that it was a

“cheap cop-out" for inclusivity. They explain by using the recent Little Mermaid live action

movie and how instead of creating a new story to achieve inclusivity, they just replace a white

red-head mermaid for a black actress. Same with Splash Mountain, they just remodel an old ride

rather than creating something unique for Princess and the Frog. Many participants did not have

a strong opinion on the topic. Fourteen of them made comments on the rebranding but expressed
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no opinion on whether they thought it was a beneficial decision or not. They said that Tiana

having her own ride was a great idea and why they thought it was shut down. They had similar

reasoning to the other participants: racist, outdated, controversial, and less popular than Princess

and the Frog.

Agreement with Rebranding Frequency Theme

Agreed 16 Thought the rebranding was a
good idea that solved the
problem of controversies
about the ride and its racism
Disagreed 11 Thought it was a classic
Disney ride and the
rebranding was unnecessary
Undecisive 14 Talked about the closure and
rebranding but were not clear
on their agreement

After collecting the data, the survey automatically generated charts based on the answers

from multiple choice and ranking questions which can be found in the appendix. I put the long

responses to what participants thought about Splash Mountain being shut down and rebranded to

Tiana’s Bayou in a spreadsheet and coded them based on if the person agreed, disagreed, or did

not state their agreement with the decision with green, red, and black font color. This is shown

below. I analyzed them and organized the information to be included in my results.

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Figure 5 – Coded Raw Data on Excel

4. Discussion

Now that all the information and data has been laid out, I will remind the audience that I am

trying to find out how determining Disney World’s most popular ride can aid in developing new

ones and what impact the public’s opinion on themes has on rides. Theme parks are a massive

industry and the development of the ride within the park is an essential part. Knowing what

people want on a ride and what types are the most popular can help in the design process.

Two things I want to address are that Epcot was the most popular Disney World Park and Space

Mountain was the most popular ride according to the survey. These results contradict the results

from MagicGuides which said Splash Mountain was the number one ride. These two rides are

very different from one another besides the fact they are both located in Magic Kingdom. Space

Mountain is a speeding dark ride with short drops while Splash Mountain is a slow water ride

with short drops and a large steep drop. Even the themes of the two rides are contrasting. So how

could two drastically different rides be competing for the top spot?

An explanation for this could be that people in Florida have different preferences than the entire

population. This is proven by MagicGuides’ data showing Splash Mountain is the most popular

ride in all US States except Florida which has Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind as the

top ride and Space Mountain as the second. From my survey, Space Mountain was the overall

favorite and many people mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy as well. People in Florida go to

Disney World more often than those out of state simply because of the location and expenses.

So, their frequent visits give them enough experience to have a better idea of what the “best”

rides are. The data from both sources strongly supports that Guardians of the Galaxy and Space

Mountain is the most popular among Floridians.

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Splash Mountain was a classic Disney ride however it had its issues. In our current society we

promote equality, freedom, and diversity and certain topics, such as southern plantations during

the time of slavery, do not fit into that standard, so they are rejected. Sensitive themes can often

cause conflict and chaos between people with different opinions. Typically, a company's job is to

meet the needs and wants of customers, which is what Disney had to do. There had been so much

controversy on the theme of racism on the ride that it impacted the ride tremendously. This just

shows the importance of having good social responsibility and the public’s opinion regarding

themes of attractions.

Disney engineers and designers must keep the theme and experience of the ride in mind when

creating or rebranding rides. The development process is detailed, and each step can alter the

entire project. Imagineers have an inspiration, a concept, parameters, refined designs, production

stages, and constructions they need to complete before they provide people with a magical

experience. Determining the most popular ride can aid in the inspiration and concept phases of

the development process. Based on the data I have gathered I think a fast dark ride based on a

popular movie will attract the most customers. People also enjoy having drops and engaging

surroundings like lights and sounds during the ride. Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind

was opened within the last two years, so it is a recent ride with new technology. Taking a

combination of all these features can help design an amazingly popular new ride.

Determining the most popular Disney World ride can be very useful for other researchers,

engineers, and designers who require information on developing new rides. It can aid them in

deciding what features and themes people love. Most Disney themes are socially acceptable in

modern times, but certain older themes, such as Song of the South, that include sensitive topics

should be avoided to result in the least amount of controversy. Rides not only have to be

immersive and thrilling, but also align with social and political middle ground. I think the
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application of this research would be interesting. Designers teleport people to another world just

in a ride that is dark, fast, and has various drops. The effort and details that go into production

would be significant.

5. Conclusion

There were a few limitations of this research and things that could be improved including

selection of participants, survey questions, and secondary data. The method of choosing

participants was convenience sampling, and the group consisted of mainly eighteen- to twenty-

year-olds living in Florida. I believe getting responses from a greater number of people from

around the United States would change the data quite a bit. As for the survey question, I would

suggest changing “If yes, why do you think it was shut down and what do you think about this

decision” to “If yes, why do you think it was shut down? State if you agree or disagree with this

decision and why” because 34% of the responses for this question did not explicitly state their

agreement on the rebranding. Asking to state their agreement should fix this issue and get a

better idea if people thought it was a good idea or not. For the last limitation, I was not able to

find many reliable secondary sources about what the most popular Disney World rides were. The

ones I found varied differently from each other and many did not state how they determined the

rankings, or they were purely the opinion of the author. The opinion of one person wouldn’t give

me a good idea of the entire population so I chose not to include them in my paper.

Future designers and engineers can use my research to aid in their research and development

phases of their next theme park ride project. The genre of popular Disney World rides has not

been thoroughly researched and this can contribute to the community’s conversation as well as

prompt new ones. I would hope it goes as far as inspiring others to conduct their own research
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Appendix

Survey Questions

1. By continuing, you consent to the use of this survey data for ENC 1102. If at any point you do

not want this data to be used, please email the researcher at (UCF email here) as soon as

possible. The data will be finalized by April 8th, 2024 (4/8/24).

2. How old are you?

3. Have you been to other theme parks before other than Disney World?

4. If yes, please list which theme parks you have visited.

5. Rank the following Disney theme parks based on which is your favorite 1-5. 1 being most

favorite and 5 being least favorite.

6. Rank the following rides based on which is your favorite 1-5. 1 being most favorite and 5 being

least favorite.

7. Why is the ride in place 1 your favorite?

8. If your favorite Disney World ride was not mentioned previously, please write its name here. If

your favorite ride was already mentioned put N/A.

9. What are your top 3 favorite features of ride: dark, water, drops, upside down, fast, slow, 3D,

loops, backwards, etc.?

10. Have you heard about Splash Mountain closing and being transformed into Tiana’s Bayou?

11. If yes, why do you think it was shut down and what do you think about this decision?

Figure 1
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Figure 2

Figure 3
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Figure 4

Figure 6
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Works Cited
Baxter, Brittany. “Disney’s Splash Mountain Closed Permanently, Here’s What is Replacing It.”

Disney Dose, 23 Dec. 2023, disneydose.com/princess-and-the-frog-ride-disney-splash-

mountain/#Why_Did_Splash_Mountain_Close. Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.

Earnshaw, Sharlene. “The 20 Best Rides at Disney World for 2024.” Trekaroo, 17 Jan. 2024,

blog.trekaroo.com/best-rides-at-disney-world/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.

“Experience by Design.” Walt Disney Imagineering,

sites.disney.com/waltdisneyimagineering/our-process/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.

MagicGuides Staff. “New Study Reveals Most Popular Rides at Walt Disney World.”

MagicGuides, 27 June 2023, magicguides.com/new-study-popular-rides//. Accessed 25

Jan. 2024.
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McShane, Julianne. “Disney World closed Splash Mountain after allegations of racism. Not

everyone's happy.” NBC News, 24 Jan. 2023, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/disney-

world-closed-splash-mountain-allegations-racism-not-everyones-h-rcna67203. Accessed

14 Feb. 2024.

“Ranking Every Ride at Walt Disney World [2024].” Mouse Hacking, 1 Dec. 2023,

www.mousehacking.com/blog/every-walt-disney-world-ride-ranked. Accessed 25 Jan.

2024.

“Top 8 Magic Kingdom Rides and Attractions – Walt Disney World.” MagicGuides,

magicguides.com/best-magic-kingdom-rides/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.

Winner, Joe. “The Top 15 Most Popular Rides At Disney World.” ESPN, 15 June 2023,

espnswfl.com/listicle/the-top-15-most-popular-rides-at-disney-world/. Accessed 25 Jan.

2024.