Maggie Spivey

Adam Padgett
English 102
March 1st, 2016
Annotated Bibliography
Inquiry Question: What makes Disney different from other amusement park and does this make
Disney superior?
Proposed Thesis: Disney is unique from other companies in the hospitality industry because
Disney revolves their service around any and every customer who enters the gates of their park
and by doing this their level of service is deemed higher than other amusement parks.

Comment [AP1]: Proof read a little closer.

Comment [AP2]: I still get the sense that you began with
your thesis and retro-wrote your inquiry.

About- The Walt Disney Company. N.p., n.d. Web.

This source gives information about Disneys management team, leadership, mission, and
explaining exactly what they do and who they are involved with. Every piece of
information included on the page is formatted in a way to exude the quality of Disney.
This is a biased source because the information is coming directly from the company it is
discussing so they can alter or format the information to persuade the audience. The
information is up-to-date; it says it was last updated in 2016. The source is a popular
commercial magazine versus a peer reviewed academic journal so the source is less
credible than a peer reviewed essay would be. The information would be useful in my
paper because it gives information directly from Disney about their mission and it would
be valuable to know how they want to present their company to their audience.
Bartkowiak, Matthew J. "Behind The Behind The Scenes Of Disney World: Meeting The
Need For Insider Knowledge." Journal Of Popular Culture 45.5 (2012): 943-959.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Feb. 2016.
This source addresses how Disney deals with customers that set out to unveil the real
Disney world. In response to these customers and to improve the experience of other

Comment [AP3]: Is it a popular commercial magazine?

Seems like in-house content to me, which allows it very
limited credibility, right?

customers, Disney world has created behind the scenes tours. Disney has structured their
theme parks in a transparent way so nobody can question their operations. Bartkowiak
says, Disney has capitalized astutely on the ardent fan, the curious and potential critics
with the introduction of a capital-driven plan to give those searching for an insiders
knowledge of the park a means to an end. This source is a peer reviewed, academic
journal and without information about to author I cannot say whether he, as an author, is
a credible source; however, he includes an extensive works cited. This academic journal
was written in 2012, so it includes recent information. Bartkowiak addresses the counter
argument that even with these behind the scenes tours there is still information that is
kept from the fans and critics regarding character identities, specific details about cast
member duties, etc. Bartkowiak pulls information from a plethora of sources so the
article is pretty balanced and formatted in more of a presentation than an argument,

Comment [AP4]: Okay, but its still arguing something,

right?

therefore leading me to believe that the source is not biased. The source discusses the
efforts that Disney has made to please even the skeptical customers which is important
information to use for comparison of other companies.

Comment [AP5]: I feel like you could do a rhetorical

analysis of the hospitality of Disney. Thatd be interesting.

Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web.

This article summarizes all of the monetary and statistical evidence that supports that
Walt Disney is one of the most valuable brands. The main claim of this article is that
Disney has built a valuable brand. Forbes based their ratings based on profit, sales,
employees, market value, assets, etc. Forbes is a coveted news reporting magazine and is
extremely credible. This source is considered a popular commercial magazine however
it is not truly formatted as an article. This ranking was posted in 2015 and the data used
to determine this ranking was all recent so this is a prevalent source. Due to the

Comment [AP6]: How do you mean coveted?

Comment [AP7]: Hyphenate

Comment [AP8]: You are commenting on the format,

but Im not sure what you mean? Like how the paragraphs
are arranged on the page?

credibility of the source I have also come to the conclusion that the source is unbiased.
This directly supports the success of Disney compared to other companies in the same
industry which would be extremely useful in my paper.
Free, Miles. "Walt Disney World: A Model For Precision Manufacturing." Production
Machining 7.5 (2007): 17-19. Business Source Complete. Web. 9 Feb. 2016.
This sources main claim was that Disney has implemented at least 5 practices that can
help perfect the manufacturing process of a business. The article lists these 5 practices
and gives a detailed description of the practice and how it improves the business. The 5
practices the article discusses are standard work is an in-control process, employees are
called cast members because they are always on, controlled processes require
ongoing improvement for them to continue to satisfy customers, attention to details
should be a way of life, and committing to the message is as important as the message
itself. This article is a peer-reviewed source that looks as if it were printed in a
hospitality textbook or magazine. The article was written by Miles Free, the Director of
Industry Research and Business Intelligence for the Precision Machine Products
Association. I do not have any prior knowledge about this association but based on the
copyright information included at the bottom of the article and the works cited it seems to
be a credible source. The author does favor Disneys accomplishments and believes that
these practices have helped Disneys level of success.
Lillestol, Tayllor, Dallen J. Timothy, and Rebekka Goodman. "Competitive Strategies In The US
Theme Park Industry: A Popular Media Perspective." International Journal Of Culture,
Tourism & Hospitality Research 9.3 (2015): 225-240. Hospitality & Tourism Complete.
Web.
This source compared the different competitive strategies based on popular media articles
that both Universal Studios and Walt Disney World implemented as the two largest

amusements parks in Florida. The main claim of this source is that the competitive
strategies used among large amusement parks such as Disney and Universal are strategies
of value, uniqueness, niche markets, innovation, variety, quality, currency, and
convenience. This source was a peer reviewed academic journal that was found on the
USC library database. This will be important information to be able to support or counter
argue my proposed thesis. This source only cited one other source that the information
was collected from, so the information could be biased. This article was written by three
college students, so it is not necessary credible, however the fact that this article was peer
reviewed means that the information included in the article is credible. The article was
written in 2015, so the information is up-to-date. This source is relevant to my paper
because it compares two of the largest and most well known theme-parks.
Weinstein, Raymond M. "Disneyland And Coney Island: Reflections On The Evolution Of The
Modern Amusement Park." Journal Of Popular Culture 26.1 (1992): 131- 164. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.
Weinstein discusses how Disney compares to other well known amusement parks such as
Coney Island. Weinstein says, from the start, the Disney organization made every effort
to disassociate itself from all other amusement parks of the day, to sell its creation as
something entirely new and different, to credit itself with being far better than Coney
Island. I acquired this source from the library database. The article was written by
Raymond Weinstein and has been peer reviewed which makes this source credible. This
article presents facts vs. opinions on the matter and the data has been collected from a
variety of sources. However, the downside of the article is that the information is dated.
The article was published in 1992, but this information included in this article deals with
Disney when they were building Disneyland so the information is current for the topic.

This would be a valuable source in my essay because I can use Coney Island as another
amusement park to compare Disneys marketing and management styles.

Maggie,
I think this is a fascinating topic here. I really feel like Ive learned something new by
reading through your annotations. You proved good summaries that allow your reader
access to your research so far. Im still not too sure about your thesis. So a question I
have is: why is this important? If youre argument is that Disney is wonderful, whats the
point in pointing this out? What does this do to further the discussion of hospitality in
other words. Who is your audience? Try to figure these ideas out and your paper will
have a much clearer sense of a direction. Looking forward to the final product!