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 crucial 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.