The Straits Times reported today that Singapore’s very own Universal Studios has been rated as the ‘Best Amusement Park in Asia’ by Tripadviser, which has, in their own words, “(beaten) the likes of Hong Kong’s Ocean Park, Tokyo Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan”

Here’s the thing. I’ve been to both Universal Studios Singapore (USS) and Tokyo Disneyland and I know that this cannot be the case. Comments by those on the Straits Times’ facebook page and by my friends kinda confirms that the above report is inaccurate, to say the least.

Look. I’m a true pink (IC) 3rd generation Singaporean. I’m happy with accolades that celebrates Singapore and its people. However, this isn’t like Changi Airport where everybody agrees, Singaporeans or otherwise, that it’s one of the best, if not THE best, international airport in the world. Industry awards and actual experience by the people like you and me match. It is good. But for USS to be the best in Asia? Much as I love Singapore, I’d rather not accept an award that has no basis in reality.

This got me thinking. How in the world did it get rated as #1 in Asia?

So at first I thought, hey, maybe they made a mistake and they meant South East Asia, which would mean that USS is the best hands down. No fight. But, they did make comparisons to HK and Japan’s contributions, so clearly that’s not the case.

But then I remembered something: Language.

Think about it:

– Tripadvisor’s crowd seems to be predominantly English
– Singapore’s primary language is English
– Tripadvisor’s ratings would favour those with more reviews (not better, but more)

Makes sense yes? Singapore being a primarily English speaking country would mean that there’s no language barrier for casual English speaking holiday makers, especially families with kids. This would also mean that there would be more reviews on Tripadvisor as a result.

Guess what? I’m might be on to something. Here are the review numbers of some of the top rated amusement parks on Tripadvisor as of 17 July’14. Pay attention to the dates of the earliest recorded reviews too:

#1 Universal Studios, Singapore – 4,837 reviews since 2010
#2 Ocean Park, Hong Kong – 3,628 reviews since 2005
#3 Tokyo DisneySea – 1,564 reviews since 2005
#4 Tokyo DisneyLand – 1,742 reviews since 2005

This puts things into perspective isn’t it?

Universal Studios Singapore has had 4,832 reviews in 4 years while Tokyo DisneyLand’s 1,742 reviews in 9 years.

In other words, USS had almost 3x more reviews in practically less than half the time.

Calculated on a yearly basis, USS gets at about 6x more reviews per year!

And because I’m quite pedantic, I’ve broken down the % of ratings for each location:

#1 Universal Studios, Singapore – 4,837 reviews since 2010
Excellent – 49.1%
Very Good – 36.3%
Average – 11.3%
Poor – 2.3%
Terrible – 1%

#2 Ocean Park, Hong Kong – 3,628 reviews since 2005
Excellent – 48.6%
Very Good – 35.7%
Average – 11.4%
Poor – 2.7%
Terrible – 1.6%

#3 Tokyo DisneySea – 1,564 reviews since 2005
Excellent – 62.7%
Very Good – 28%
Average – 6.5%
Poor – 1.9%
Terrible – 1%

#4 Tokyo DisneyLand – 1,742 reviews since 2005
Excellent – 60%
Very Good – 28%
Average – 7.3%
Poor – 2.5%
Terrible – 2.1%

Again, we can see from this that the reason why Universal Studios Singapore and HK’s Ocean’s Park is top 2 – it’s not because more of those who visited these locations felt like they’re the best, but because they are more popular than the 2 Disney theme parks in Tokyo. Then seeing the number of people who reviewed, you have to wonder, how many actually went to both USS the Tokyo’s Disney.

So, we can conclude a couple of things from here:

– Universal Studios Singapore is NOT the best, but the Most Popular of all amusement parks in Asia
– There are about 20% more ‘Excellent’ ratings for the Japanese theme parks than the ones from HK and SG
– Tripadvisor rankings prioritises popularity over ratings
– Being situated in a primarily English speaking country will effect the number of reviews received on Tripadvisor

Now, the results makes more sense, because it doesn’t contradict the experience of those of us who visited both Universal Studios Singapore and Tokyo’s Disneys. As always, the use of the word ‘best’ can have very subjective meanings. I’ll interpret it as having the ‘best experience’ amongst the different theme parks. Because the reviews are more positively polarised for the Tokyo Disneys, I’ll conclude here that they are best amusement parks in Asia.

Long story short? Universal Studios Singapore won the popularity contest, but in terms of the quality of experience, Tokyo Disney Resort is still the ‘Best Amusement Park in Asia’.