The document analyzes the Magic Kingdom theme park and recommends changes to the FastPass+ system. It finds that Magic Kingdom has seen record attendance in recent years, reaching over 20 million visitors in 2018, making it the most visited theme park globally. However, rising crowds have led to longer wait times, especially with the current FastPass+ system splitting queues. The report recommends Disney evaluate FastPass+ within two years to lower wait times and increase customer satisfaction, such as by limiting FastPasses or excluding certain rides, to accommodate increasing attendance levels.

1. Page 1
A Market Analysis for
Magic Kingdom
Alec Swan
Full Sail University
Project & Portfolio II: Business and Marketing
15th December 2019

2. Page 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This analysis report is for the Magic Kingdom a theme park under the Walt Disney
company and focuses on the current success of the Magic Kingdom and the effects record
crowds and the current FastPass+ system is having on ride wait times. An overview of The Walt
Disney Companies’ current financials, attendance records, and average wait times per ride are
provided. Recommendations on how the Magic Kingdom could decrease wait times at the park
by changing the current FastPass+ system to accommodate the rising crowds and increase
customer satisfaction.

3. Page 3
OBJECTIVE
This report was constructed to help the Magic Kingdom keep up with the rising
popularity and overcrowding of the park. All of the information in this report was collected to
show that with the success of the Magic Kingdom and the current level of crowds they need to
look at the current FastPass+ system and figure out a new way to combat long wait times and
increase customer satisfaction.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The information in this report was mostly gathered using external, secondary information
that was sourced from the internet and from an online database. This research was gathered
during the month of December 2019 and all of the financial data was current the day it was
collected. Most of the key financial information was found but average ride wait times are
estimates from third party sources and from personal knowledge.
RESEARCH AND KEY FINDINGS
For people who want the carefree life of feeling like a kid again, Magic Kingdom is a one
of a kind theme park that offers unique rides, shows, and character experiences featured in its six
different themed lands. People who visit this
happy place called Magic Kingdom are able to
leave their worries behind to become a kid
again and will leave with memories that will
last a lifetime.
Financially the parent company of the
Magic Kingdom Castle

4. Page 4
Magic Kingdom, The Walt Disney, company is doing extremely well. Currently its stock is
trading at $146.38 and has increased by 35% over the past five years. When compared to the
NASDAQ in this same period of 5 years the Walt Disney Company has not been above the
NASDAQ average since 2016. Currently, the Walt Disney Company is considerably lower with
a 27% difference compared to the NASDAQ average (Walt, 2019). The Magic Kingdom itself
had an amazing year in 2018 as it was the most visited theme park globally with an attendance of
20,859,00 million people. The Magic Kingdom has seen an increase of 2.2% percent of visitors
since 2016 (AECOM, 2018).
The Orlando Market where the Magic Kingdom is located is one of the most visited
places in the United States. In 2018, Orlando had a record 75 million people making it the most
visited destination in the United States. The economy in Orlando is on the rise with estimates
that over the next ten years job growth will be 51.0% which is higher than the US average of
33.5%. With many people making Orlando their destination of choice the Magic Kingdom is
seeing a record number of visitors that is increasing year over year (Cordeiro, 2019).
As yearly visitors rise in Orlando so does the yearly attendance at the Magic Kingdom. In
2018 Magic Kingdom alone had over 20.5 million guests making it the most crowded park to
date (AECOM, 2018). Arguably the biggest complaints guests have are how crowded Magic
Kingdom is and the wait times for the rides. Many of these complaints are found through social
media on Twitter and Facebook. On an average level, day for Magic Kingdom guests can
anticipate waiting around one to two hours for the main attractions such as 7 Dwarfs Mine Train,
Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pans Flight, Space Mountain,
and Splash Mountain (Magic, 2019)

5. Page 5
One of the biggest issues facing longer wait times is the
FastPass+ system that Disney Debut in 2013. Currently, guests
who book and stay at a Disney resort can make FastPass+
reservations 60 days out compared to guests not staying at a
Disney Resort. Guests can make three FastPasses and once they
are used for the day, they can continue to make FastPass+
reservations one at a time (Storey, 2019). With this FastPass+
system, it splits the ride queue into two lines and guests with a
FastPass+ gets priority over a guest in the normal standby line.
This system has increased many of the standby wait times for
many of the rides from anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes given the level of crowdedness that day.
Below in the appendix is a chart showing how the FastPass+ plus system is affecting ride wait
times (Appendix). As you can see a majority of rides see an increase in standby wait times
because of the FastPass+ system. Rides like Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, and Thunder
Mountain all saw between a 5 to 10-minute increase in wait time on an average day (Bloom,
2019).
CONCLUSIONS
With the current financial success of the Walt Disney Company, record yearly visitors in
Orlando, and the Magic Kingdom being the most visited theme park in the world, things are
looking really great for the future of the Magic Kingdom. The continuing increase of guests at
the Magic Kingdom means longer wait times and less time for guests to experience everything at
the park. This problem of overcrowding is only enhanced by the current FastPass+ system and
will only continue to get worse as new rides open and the yearly attendance increases. Looking
FastPass+ Selection

6. Page 6
ahead Disney needs to reevaluate the FastPass+ system as it is only a matter of time before
guests start thinking twice about the cost vs the value of visiting the Magic Kingdom.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the research and conclusions, the biggest challenge going forward for the Magic
Kingdom will be figuring out ways to combat the increasing crowds and wait times at the park.
Disney needs to break away from the current FastPass+ system and find other ways they can
lower ride wait times. By analyzing the Fastpass+ System and the tracking data of guests, they
can create a simpler to use platform that will lower guest wait time and increase satisfaction.
By 2022, the Magic Kingdom should focus heavily on the effects the FastPass+ system is
having on the wait times at the park. To reach this goal within the next two years Disney should
conduct a thorough analysis of wait time data from both FastPass+ and standby lines. By doing
so they can use this data to implement a new system such as limiting the number of Fast Passes a
guest can make, excluding rides from Fastpass+, and Making FastPasses unavailable during peak
seasons. If the Magic Kingdom can utilize the FastPass+ system in a new way that lowers the
wait times for rides it will lead to higher customer satisfaction. With higher customer satisfaction
comes the opportunity for guests to want to visit more than once which means more visitors and
money for Disney.
Going forward, it would be a good idea for the Magic Kingdom to implement testing
phases for the FastPass+ system. This would only further their analysis of the effects of the
FastPass+ system and to see where the FastPasses are working as intended at what rides. Another
analysis report should be done the following year in 2021 to check back in and gather more data
as new rides open at the park and more guests attend.

7. Page 7
REFERENCES
AECOM. (n.d.). Theme Index 2018. Theme Index 2018. Retrieved from
https://www.aecom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Theme-Index-2018-4.pdf
Bloom, S. (2014, April 4). How FastPass Is Affecting Your Wait In Line - An Update -
TouringPlans.com Blog. Retrieved December 18, 2019, from
https://touringplans.com/blog/2014/04/03/how-fastpass-plus-affects-your-wait-update/.
Cordeiro, M. (2019, September 27). A record 75 million people visited Orlando in 2018. Retrieved
December 18, 2019, from https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/05/10/a-record-
75-million-people-visited-orlando-in-2018.
Goeres, K. (2018, March 16). These Are the Disney World Rides With the Craziest Long Lines.
Retrieved December 19, 2019, from https://advance-lexis-
com.oclc.fullsail.edu/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=ea8105e7-2ebd-481a-97f3-
0c297134f135&pddocfullpath=/shared/document/news/urn:contentItem:5PR4-VP91-JCMN-
Y297-00000-00&pddocid=urn:contentItem:5PR4-VP91-JCMN-Y297-00000-
00&pdcontentcomponentid=299488&pdteaserkey=sr0&pditab=allpods&ecomp=sp79k&earg=sr
0&prid=329a689a-45fc-49e1-80da-9c6671d573d5.
Magic Kingdom Crowd Levels. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2019, from
https://touringplans.com/magic-kingdom/crowd-levels.
Storey, K. (2019, October 11). Disney might be ready to finally admit that their current FastPass
system sucks. Retrieved December 18, 2019, from
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/06/17/disney-might-be-ready-to-finally-
admit-that-their-current-fastpass-system-sucks.

8. Page 8
Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS) Stock Price, Quote, History & News. (2019, December 18).
Retrieved December 19, 2019, from https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DIS?p=DIS&.tsrc=fin-srch.
Willingham, C. (n.d.). Courtney Willingham. Retrieved December 19, 2019, from
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2019/06/28/confirmation-fastpass-tiers-at-disneys-hollywood-
studios-are-changing/.

9. Page 9
Appendix