Disney Outranks Every U.S. Landmark on Instagram

If you could get your picture taken anywhere in the United States, where would you choose?

Every day, millions of people answer this question by posting their favorite images on social media.

These posts became time capsules of our favorite moments in life, ones we can look back and remember wistfully.

Each day, I receive notifications that are reminders of what I was doing several years ago on a certain date.

Many of my most treasured memories occurred at Disney theme parks, and I know I’m not alone.

According to some recent research, Disney Outranks Every U.S. Landmark on Instagram.

Even more impressively, three of the most popular Instagram locations are at Disney theme parks.

Let’s discuss why fans cannot get enough of Insta-worthy Disney photos.

About the Poll

Covers.com just researched the 20 most Instagrammed places in the United States.

During their investigation, one thing became clear. Disney towers above all other options.

As James Bisson, the Editor-in-Chef at Covers, discovered, Disney theme parks dominate the list.

Specifically, Disney holds down the top two listings on this chart and three of the top six.

In other words, all things being equal, people would rather be taking pictures at Disney.

Who could blame them? Disneyland and Walt Disney World have earned their reputation throughout the decades.

These are, by definition, The Happiest and Most Magical Places on Earth.

Still, tourists can visit thousands of marvelous places in America, which makes this list so fascinating.

As Bisson points out, “Disneyland and Walt Disney World dominate the field with tens of millions of tagged posts, while the Big Apple squeezes five separate entries into the top 20.”

So, no matter what your answer may be, the data is quite clear about where folks like to take pictures.

Disney Dominates

Disney theme parks and New York comprise 40 percent of the overall top 20!

Of course, I’m being polite to mention New York in the same breath as Disney.

Based on the data, there’s no comparison between The Big Apple and Disney theme parks.

Bisson and his staff tracked 8.47 million Instagram posts taken at Central Park in New York.

That’s an incomprehensibly large number of photos, isn’t it? Well, Disney crushes that total.

Instagram users posted a whopping 31.1 million pictures at Walt Disney World.

That’s good enough for second on the list, but first place goes to Disney’s original theme park.

Disneyland guests published 34.4 million photos, which means a total of 65.5 million Disney posts.

That’s roughly a factor of eight higher than Central Park, one of the most famous tourist spots in the world.

You may wonder which Disney World park features the most Instagrammed photos.

Well, honestly, you probably don’t worry, as you’re like me and presume it’s Magic Kingdom.

That is NOT the case! According to the list, EPCOT (!) finishes sixth with 5.3 million.

How good is that? Well, it positions EPCOT squarely between Yosemite National Park and the Grand Canyon.

Yes, more people post EPCOT pictures than the Grand Canyon on Instagram! That one stunned me.

Notably, no other theme park in the United States earns a spot on this list.

The closest thing on the top 20 is Las Vegas, which Disney at least marginally views as a competitor.

Most of the other entrants are predictable, highly desirable photo ops like the White House, the Statue of Liberty, and Times Square.

So, for Disney to do so well on this list is definitely a shocker.

Why Do Disney Experiences Resonate on Instagram?

MickeyBlog had a few questions about these results, so we spoke with Covers about the data.

Shing Mon Chung thoughtfully answered our top three questions, the first of which is obvious.

Why do Disney experiences resonate on Instagram? According to the Covers expert:

“Disney excels at something Instagram rewards more than anything else: instantly recognizable imagery.

“From the pastel stretch of Main Street U.S.A. to the neon glow of Tomorrowland, the parks are engineered for spectacle.

“You can point your camera at Sleeping Beauty Castle, a parade float, or even the pattern on a lamppost, and people know exactly where you are.

“Very few places in the country offer that level of built-in iconography. There’s also the emotional side.

“A lot of the 34.4 million Disneyland posts are ‘first time seeing the castle’ reactions, fireworks moments, character hugs, and family traditions.

“Add hashtags like #disneyland, #disneylandpark, and #disneylandcalifornia, each with millions of uses, and you can see how those moments keep stacking up.”

That does make a lot of sense. I know that Disney pictures comprise most of my photo library.

Why Disneyland?

MickeyBlog also wondered about why Disneyland finished ahead of Walt Disney World.

After all, the latter resort hosts twice as many theme parks and garners more attendance.

According to Covers:

“Disneyland is compact in a way that works in its favor.

“A guest can go from the Partners statue to the castle to Fantasyland to Galaxy’s Edge in minutes and hit several of the park’s most-photographed angles in a single stroll.

“It produces a high volume of high-recognition images without much effort from the guest.

“There’s also the ‘original park’ factor.

“Disneyland has almost 70 years of nostalgia built into its bricks, and that shows up in posting behavior.

“People want the classic castle shot, the golden-hour selfie, the Main Street fireworks panorama.

“Even with Disney World’s enormous footprint (25,000 acres and 31.13 million posts) Disneyland’s density of iconic visuals gives it a slight edge on Instagram.”

I know that the topic of Disneyland versus Disney World is divisive, even among MickeyBlog’s staff.

So, this strikes me as a reasonable explanation.

What Elevates EPCOT?

Still, the thing that fascinates me the most is why EPCOT outperforms the other Disney World parks.

Anecdotally, that’s not the case in my family, and I’m notorious for being the EPCOT fanatic in the family.

Shing Mon Chung explained the rationale behind this tourist behavior:

“Spaceship Earth is the main reason.

“It’s one of the most photogenic structures on any Disney property, making it a perfect sphere with texture that catches light at every hour of the day.

“At certain hours, it looks like a sci-fi movie poster. At night, the lighting gives it deep purples and blues that fill the frame.

“That alone drives a big share of EPCOT’s 5.3 million Instagram posts under #epcot.

“Then you layer in the World Showcase.

“Eleven different architectural styles, all in a 1.3-mile loop, mean guests can create a travel reel without ever leaving the park.

“Add the festivals and EPCOT becomes a year-round photo machine.”

I gotta say that once the posts are broken down like that, they make sense.

Don’t you happily post images of all the foods and drinks you order during a festival?

Similarly, have you EVER visited EPCOT without taking a picture of Spaceship Earth?

Right. Nobody does that. So, it definitely explains why EPCOT is the most Insta-worthy Disney World park.

Overall, I don’t think anyone should be surprised by Disneyland and Disney World finishing at the top.

The shock is in the dramatic difference between those parks and everything else on the list.

People could take twice as many pictures at Central Park this year, and it still wouldn’t be close!

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Feature Photo: Disney