The Museum - Visit or Not ?
When tourists visit Orlando and Kissimmee area of Florida, particularly with children, the main attractions of Disney are the first thing on their minds.
After a few days of big lines in parks and tired of all-day activities, tourists think of a place to relax, particularly on the beach.
Since the closest beach to Orlando is Cocoa Beach, many tourists choose the area for relaxation with many great hotels around.
While driving on the main A1A, it is hard to miss the 12-foot-tall tinman inviting visitors to check out the recently opened The Wizard of Oz Museum.
I am sure the first thing that pops up is a curiosity about what the museum can show and tell you about the Wizard of Oz that you do not know. In the back of your mind, you think about seeing the movie multiple times, even remember some saying from the film, or have seen the Ruby slippers at the Smithsonian Museum.
You might even get curious why the Wizard Museum here in Florida needs to be in Kansas.
Your curiosity grows, and before checking in, you check Google or TripAdvisor reviews to get a general idea about the museum.
The search results with the number of reviews and ranking score shocks you since average visitors do not expect the museum to have 4.9 stars on Google and five stars on Trip Advisor.
Visitors jump into reading reviews, which are mostly five stars. They might read a couple but then decide that maybe a time to read a few negatives to get a whole picture of the museum.
After reading a few, they noticed that most complaints are not recent and are usually over a year old. Mostly complaining about the price of admission, that the museum experience has nothing to do with the movie and an insufficient number of movie props on display.
Visitors usually start to wonder what the price is, and what about this museum that causes over 99% of reviews to be five stars?
Visitors start to think that maybe it is a fake review, which is possible to get, but over a thousand usually clears their doubts.
Not 100% sold on checking the museum, visitors visit the website for additional details. Visitors usually watch a sample video to get an idea of the museum experience and realize that the movie they loved watching is only a minor portion of the Oz Universe.
Additional Immersive Experiences for the Wizard of Oz, Van Gogh, or James Webb Space images make them realize that it is something unique and unusual that they could not experience at home.
Learning that the price of admission is $30 for adults, visitors make decisions either visit or not. Visitors sometimes check online prices for other Immersive experiences in the USA and quickly realize that people pay over $50 for the Immersive experiences.
A final decision is determining the value of the experience and if it is worth it.
Let me suggest a few things to help with your visitation decision.
- If your only interest is in the MGM movie, you better save money. You will not hear songs or watch the film on a monster screen at the museum since we feel that you can do that at home for free and save money.
- If you are interested in seeing the original props used in the movie, taking photos with life-size Oz characters, learning the history behind what caused the production of MGM movie, looking at Oz and movie-related memorabilia, and experiencing the Immersive experience that most visitors have not experienced, then the museum is for you.
- Lastly, we feel that the price of admission plays an enormous factor in the review. If visitors perceive that they did not receive value for the money, it would propagate to ranking, and the museum would never be able to maintain such a high score.