Social Media in Amusement Parks
Welcome back! As we’ve discovered, social media has impacted the world in a lot of different aspects. So far, we’ve looked at how it has effected personal life, corporate life, the news networks, the music industry, the way we eat, and the way we travel. Today, we will be looking at how it has affected places like amusement parks: Disney World, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios.
Now that we can reach all that we need to know at our finger tips, amusement parks have used this to their advantage. Amusement parks have been using social media as a way of advertising and communicating with their guests to track visits and get feedback about their visits.
First let’s look at Disney World. Disney World uses their Instagram to advertise new products, like drinks, and advertise events that are going on at the park. They also use their Instagram to post content related to their park to drive more customers in. Now, I am not an avid visitor of Disney World, but I have been before. And I do sometimes look at their social media accounts to see what kinds of things they are doing and how it is different from what Universal Studios is doing.
For the most part, all the parks use their social media accounts for the same reasons. They all want to advertise new products and promotions, post related content to drive customers in, and they use their social media accounts to get feedback from customers and track visits.
Another thing that Disney World does that is a little different, is they have an application for mobile devices. This mobile app allows users to receive information about the park, resorts, and plan their vacations. This app is called the My Disney Experience Mobile App. I personally have not used this app. However, it does seem to be efficient and be something that avid Disney goers would want to use and take part in. The app also lists wait times for rides and allows users to purchase and use fast passes on their mobile devices to make things for convenient.
Universal Studios also uses social media to enhance their customer experience. The Universal Orlando Resort Facebook page is one of their main pages. On their Facebook page, they link to all other social media accounts, like their Instagram and YouTube accounts. This Facebook page is used to post photos and videos of rides and promotions, advertise events using Facebook events, and they even have a community page where people can post about their visit and what they did during their time at Universal Studios Orlando.
I have spent a lot of time at Universal Studios Orlando. My parents and I have had annual passes since I was 10 years old. I have been able to watch Universal change and develop right in front of my eyes, as well as watch their social media accounts develop and grow over time. I have also been able to experience, first hand, their development of apps and such to enhance the experience even more.
Recently, Universal Orlando has developed an app that is similar to the Disney World app, The Universal Orlando App. This app allows users to access maps of the parks, ride wait times, and even check in at certain rides that require check in. One of the newest rides, The Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, requires check in and that can be completed before you even get to the ride through the app. They also update the app to match whatever events are going on at their parks. For example, when Halloween Horror Nights is occurring, the map will show where each haunted house is and how long the wait is for the house.
This app has made many things easier for visiting customers. If the app would have been developed when I was younger, my family definitely would have utilized it a little bit more because that was when we were more concerned about riding as many rides as we could. Being able to check the wait times on our mobile devices would have been extremely beneficial for us then, but now we mainly go to Universal for relaxation and only ride the rides we want to ride.
SeaWorld has also taken part in the development of social media to enhance the experience of their visitors. Although I am not the biggest fan of SeaWorld and what they do there, they have social media accounts that cannot be overlooked. Their Facebook page is a great account to follow if you are interested in seeing adorable aquatic animals and learning about events and food specials.
SeaWorld also has a mobile application for visitors to download to enhance the experience at their park. This app is called the SeaWorld Discovery Guide. This app is used in a similar way as the Disney and Universal Apps. There is a map to the park and show times. Their app isn’t as developed as Disney and Universal where you can check in to rides, but I’m sure they will be catching up soon.
It is safe to say that as social media develops more and more, amusement parks will continue to develop on the advertising and technological experience as well. Do you have a favorite amusement park? If so, do you use their app and follow their social media accounts? What do you think of them and how do you utilize them? Comment below and like and share this post if you enjoyed it! See ya next time!
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