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Phyllis Brown
Professor Steingold
ENC1102
4 February 2024
Proposal for Literacy Research
1. Proposed Research Questions
a. How can determining Disney World’s most popular ride aid in developing new
ones?
b. What impact does the public’s opinion on themes have on rides?
2. Title
“Rollercoaster Development: Determining popular rides’ influence”
3. Statement of significance
This is important to know for major companies such as Disney World because it can help
determine what their customers want. Engineers and designers can develop a new attraction
around the features people love and are willing to spend money on to ride. More sales from
people and tourists will increase the revenue. Other researchers should care about this because
new rides are being developed all the time and knowing what influences decisions in the process,
such as the most popular ride, is interesting to know. Disney imagineers can use this information
to create new thrilling rides that people love.
4. Review of literature
I used secondary research to determine Disney World’s most popular rides and many of
them agreed with each other. As of summer 2023, the top five in order are Splash Mountain,
Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, It’s a Small World, and Star Wars Rise of the Resistance. This
was determined by researchers who collected data on each of the ride’s number of monthly
searches, hashtags on Instagram, and Tripadvisor ratings (Winner; MagicGuides; Erbentraut).
When analyzing these rides, I found that three out of them were in Magic Kingdom and the
remaining two were in Hollywood Studios. Additionally, four out of five were created between
1966 and 1994. This shows that many of Disney’s customers prefer Magic Kingdom and
Hollywood Studios rides compared to any other parks. Interestingly, the rides that are liked the
most were older and created before 2000. Disney employees who are designing can use this
information to construct new rides that they think will be thrilling to people. Nostalgia, classic
rides, and older themes appear to be the biggest attraction. Engineers could try to make rides
based on older Disney movies in response to these findings.
Disney Imagineers put a lot of effort into the process of creating a new ride. Not only do
they need to construct the track but also must create an immersive environment. The design
process alone is always evolving and refining but most importantly, they constantly prioritize
guest experience (Walt Disney Imagineering). Determining what customers want is one of the
basic needs of any business. My research will provide some helpful information about guest
preferences, common features, and the public’s opinion of different attractions. Incorporating
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these into the development of new rides can greatly improve customer experience, which is
important to Disney imagineers.
There are many engineers who need to conduct research to obtain the necessary
information required to complete a project. My work will contribute data and key elements that
will help future theme park developers improve their designs. Additionally, I will show how the
public’s opinion on themes can influence a ride. For example, in May of 2023 Splash Mountain
was closed and will be turned re-themed to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Originally it was based on
a song called “Song of the South,” which many people complained about because of racist
southern depictions and allusions (Baxter).
Many sources from the summer of 2023 have determined that Splash Mountain, Tower of
Terror, Space Mountain, it’s a Small World, and Star Wars Rise of the Resistance are the top five
most popular Disney rides. However, more recent articles, in 2024, have acknowledged a few
other rides with growing popularity such as The Flight of Passage, Tron, Pirates of the
Caribbean, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and Expedition Everest (Earnshaw;
“Ranking Every Ride at Walt Disney World [2024]”; “Top 8 Magic Kingdom Rides and
Attractions – Walt Disney World”). A few of these were developed within the past few years
which would change the theory that people preferred nostalgic, classic themed rides.
5. Research design/description of study
I am considering conducting a survey to determine the favorite rides of people under 25. I
will make it online through Google Forms, so it is easily accessible to the participants. I will
most likely ask people on campus, friends, and family for convenience to fill it out; around 25 to
50 people should be a good number. The questions will be regarding the person’s favorite ride,
why it’s their favorite, and features they enjoy. I could also take the top 5 most popular Disney
rides and have participants rank them.
I can use this data by comparing different features of the rides such as speed, darkness,
loops, backwards, sound effects, etc. I could even go further and compare the different themes
and popularity of the movies the rides are based on.
6. Timeline
I want to have the research paper almost done 3/8 and halfway done around 2/19. The
bibliography will be done 2/23 and finalized 3/3. The proposal needs to be made by 2/4. I think
getting the survey done and finding 3 solid sources within the next week or two would be ideal.
Then I’ll start writing once I get those sorted out.
7. References
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.
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Erbentraut, Joe. “The Most Popular Disney World Ride Is Actually Shut Down Right Now.”
Thrillist, 12 June 2023, www.thrillist.com/news/nation/most-popular-disney-world-rides-
ranked-magicguides. 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.
“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.
Appendix
1. Survey Questions
a. Rank the following rides based on which is your favorite 1-5. 1 being most
favorite and 5 being least favorite. Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Space
Mountain, It’s a Small World, and Star Wars Rise of the Resistance.
b. Why is the ride in place 1 your favorite?
c. What are your top 3 favorite features of ride: dark, water, drops, upside down,
fast, slow, 3D, loops, backwards, etc.?