walt disney world research trip booked for october.
i’m off to orlando from october 16th through the 25th. fortunately, a good friend has to attend a professional conference at a local hotel. so while he is busy with his business during the day, i can be busy with mine. then at night, a chance to relax and discuss walt disney world (WDW). WDW is crutial to understanding the global spread of thematic design, because the private resort is the result of combining the visual vocabulary developed at the original disneyland with very extensive and systematic urban planning.
the plan is to stay a full week with a pass that allows entry to any of WDW’s four major theme parks:
- THE MAGIC KINGDOM (a second-generation design of disneyland)
- EPCOT (a combination of a world’s fair take on modernism and a permanent cultural exposition)
- DISNEY / MGM STUDIOS (a celebration of hollywood’s golden age and the art of movie making and animation)
- DISNEY’S ANIMAL KINGDOM (a unique amalgam of a theme park, zoo, and wildlife preserve)
there are two major themed water parks as well, BLIZZARD BEACH (a melting ski resort) and TYPHOON LAGOON (a tropical paradise), but i think my time is better spent at the four primary examples listed above.
i have been to WDW several times as a child, and as recent as 2004 for pleasure, but this will be my first field study work for the themerica project, including photography, dictation and written notes. all eyes and ears open, continuing my exploration of the language of thematic design.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:44 am
Dave- Disney World/Land has been said to be a derivative of our very own Children’s Fairyland in Oakland. http://www.fairyland.org. Adjacent to Lake Merritt, Fairyland predates the Disney properties, and due to it’s relatively unknown status, lacks the funding to make it a “Vegas” over-the-top affair. It is still nonetheless a great place to take ones kids.
I would imagine it would take little digging to talk to the Fairyland folks if you wanted another “origins” type of perspective to relate to the explosive growth of Disney.
I’m sure you’ve thought of it, but I think it would also be interesting to hear/read your thoughts about the biggest, most iconic and pervasive American design of all– The red, white, and blue, stars-and-bars, American Flag.