Globalization's Impact: McDonaldization vs. Disneyfication Comparison

This essay provides a comparative analysis of McDonaldization and Disneyfication, two prominent concepts in sociology that describe the impact of globalization on society. McDonaldization, as defined by George Ritzer, refers to the increasing dominance of fast-food restaurant principles in various aspects of American and global society, emphasizing efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. In contrast, Disneyfication, or Disneyzation, describes the transformation of society to resemble the theme parks of The Walt Disney Company, focusing on theming, merchandising, differentiation of consumption, and emotional labor. The essay highlights both the differences and similarities between the two concepts, exploring how they shape consumer behavior, culture, and the modern social landscape. It draws upon the works of various sociologists to support its arguments and provide a comprehensive understanding of these influential trends.

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The concept of globalization can be viewed in multiple aspects, with the most common
ones being Mcdonalization and Disneyfication. Ray Kroc, the genius who engineered
McDonald’s franchising, with 31000 locations across the globe, initiated a revolutionary and far-
reaching process that sociologist George Ritzer describes as McDonalization, the process by
which the aspects of the fast-food restaurant are starting to dominate various sectors of the
United States society, including other parts of the world (Ritzer, 2009 p.50). On the other hand,
Disneyfication, also known as Disneyzation, denotes the transformation of society in an effort to
make it similar to The Walt Disney theme parks. This being noted, it is worth exploring the
differences and similarities between the two terms.
Both terms have various differences. First, McDonalization is viewed as an environment
that individuals rush to when they want to achieve something hastily. In the modern age, time is
a valuable factor and people are more than ready to ignore their nutrition to get more time.
Individuals become more and more impatient as they are used receiving products and food
instantly, and if this fails to happen, things become unpleasant. In contrast, Disneyization fosters
virtual reality and makes people feel they want to spend more time or stay longer, as opposed to
the former. McDonalization is just a concept adopted to comprehend the fact that people are
being forced into a world of conformity (Denegri and Zwick, 2012, pp. 450). On the other hand,
Disneyland is regarded as one of America’s most real place considering that it does not thrive in
pretense (Morgan, Wisneski, and Skitka, 2011 p.447). Arguably, the differences between the two
terms are significant.
There are several similarities between Disneyization and McDonaldization as depicted in
this paper. To start with, both Disneyization and McDonaldization focuses on drawing

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individual’s attention to disperse the principles illustrated by the Disney parks. In essence, the
Disney theme parks are also owned by the McDonaldization. The two notions pay attention to
four perspectives which are control, predictability, calculability, and efficiency which influences
the theme parks hence the two restaurants appear parallel (Williams and Peach, 2018 p.67)
Moreover, as the theme parks are McDonaldization’s bearers, the McDonalds will be considered
as bearers of the Disneyization. In particular, the four dimensions assist McDonaldization and
Disneyization in discerning the economy and culture in which they fall. Also, there are four
trends which are theming, merchandising, differentiation of consumption, and emotional labor
which attempts to guide the restaurants towards addressing the large-scale concerns to achieve
modernization and effective social changes. Through Disneyization and McDonaldization,
different surroundings are created since the restaurants provide the visitors with rooms to stay.
They seamlessly merge with other attractions through their design to ensure consumers acquire
high satisfaction. They focus on a single objective which is control since they are subjects of
existing in a selfish community.
To summarize McDonaldization and Disneyization have similarities and differences as
discussed in this paper. McDonaldization is the environment which people seek when they need
things done or achieved fast. In the modern era, people do not care much about their health and
they are ready to disregard nutrition to create time for other things. However, Disneyization
establishes a fundamental reality for persons hence they wish to stay for long durations, which is
not evident for McDonaldization.

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Bibliography
Denegri-Knott, J. and Zwick, D., 2012. Tracking presumption work on eBay: Reproduction of
desire and the challenge of slow re-McDonaldization. American Behavioral Scientist, 56(4),
pp.439-458.
Morgan, G.S., Wisneski, D.C. and Skitka, L.J., 2011. The expulsion from Disneyland: The social
psychological impact of 9/11. American Psychologist, 66(6), p.447.
Ritzer, G. 2009. McDonaldization: the reader. Pine Forge Press.
Williams, J. and Peach, J., 2018. ‘We are all Foxes Now’: sport, multiculturalism and business in
the era of Disneyization. Sport in Society, 21(3), pp.415-433.