Hi Thrill Seekers,
One thing that always puts me off about using my phone in parks is the data roaming fee’s. Wouldn’t it be great if all theme parks offered free Wifi… but the Parks are there to make money I hear you say, what would the benefit?
Well today Facebook released their review of 2013, its their annual look at what’s been popular. They include most talked about topics, top life events and the most popular Check-Ins. Below is Facebook’s top 10 most checked in locations in the U.S.
Top Check-Ins in the U.S.
1. Disneyland & Disney California Adventure (Anaheim, CA)
2. Times Square (New York, NY)
3. Epcot – Walt Disney World (Lake Buena Vista, FL)
4. Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, CA)
5. AT&T Park (San Francisco, CA)
6. Rangers Ballpark (Arlington, TX)
7. Universal Studios Hollywood (Universal City, CA)
8. Fenway Park (Boston, MA)
9. MGM Grand Hotel & Casino (Las Vegas, NV)
10. Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo (Houston, TX)
As you can see Disney hold the number 1 spot and the number 3 spot. Universal’s California park snatches the number 7 spot. Although I can’t find any hard figures on how many check-ins this relates to I think we can safely say its in the millions.
When we take a look at the top 25 Worldwide check-ins Disney comes out even stronger, claiming 4 spots Disneyland in Anaheim, California, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland.
So what?
As I’m sure you know, when you check-in using Facebook its shared on your timeline for all your friends to see, along with a check-in you’ll probably chuck on a photo or two of you having an amazing time. Its the best advertising a theme park can get and its free!
Now imagine how much social sharing, check-ins, photo’s uploaded and people being tagged a theme park could get if they offered free Wifi… The cost to offer it would pay for itself. Now I’m sure the big bosses at Disney, Universal and SeaWorld know this already, so what’s the hold up?
Well it could be that they’re busy, prioritising Magic Plus and opening a new Wizarding World takes time and plenty of cash however I’ve been to all of these parks and I’ve seen the Wifi connections already built in! Perhaps for now the theme parks don’t see a good return on investment but surely it can only be a matter of time before theme parks go the same way as hotels?
Smiles included…
Jamie
