Beyond Blue Sky: The Plaza Hub as a Magic Circle

Welcome to Beyond Blue Sky, where I pull out all the stops and share my very wildest and wackiest ideas and observations. Attention, Bobsled riders: thar be squalls ahead and there's no turning back now!

Boy, those Disney marketers sure love to spam the word magic, don't they? (Also dreams and wishes and believe, but magic is our focus here.) Disneyland is the Magic Kingdom, even if the name officially belongs to its Orlando counterpart. Advertising invites you to “experience the magic.” Or “share the magic.” Or “bring home the magic.” The short street running alongside the main parking area for the resort is called Magic Way. The year 2000 brought us the 45 Years of Magic Parade and the fireworks show “Believe...There's Magic in The Stars.” The holiday fireworks are still called “Believe...in Holiday Magic.” “Mickey and the Magical Map,” currently showing in the Fantasyland Theatre,” draws full audiences (and deservedly so—I'm not claiming that the mere presence of an overused word automatically taints anything associated with it). We're due to have the MyMagic+ system imported from Florida, thereby allowing guests to reserve time on attractions, appointment-style, with their Magic Bands. And that's just what comes off the top of my head.

That's a whole lotta “magic.” And the irony is that those marketers are probably completely unaware that the very geography of Disneyland hearkens back to ancient traditions of real magic, in the sense of mysticism and spellcraft.

Armchair Imagineering: Adventureland Amphitheatre

This is an idea for a revamped theatre attraction to go in the space currently occupied by Aladdin’s Oasis at Disneyland. The Oasis is suffering from gross under-utilization of its space and facilities, having gone over the years from a “dinner and a show” experience in the vein of the Tahitian Terrace that it replaced, to a mere backdrop for a character meet-and-greet. It’s time to shake things up and return a taste of the theatre to Adventureland.

After-Action Report: The Jungle Cruise

My last After-Action Report was about something very new at Disneyland, namely the Fantasyland Theatre show, “Mickey and the Magical Map.” This one is about something very old at Disneyland—maybe the oldest thing, depending upon how you define “oldest” and “thing” and for that matter “at Disneyland.”

A common trivia item among Disneyland fans is that the Jungle Cruise is the “first” ride. This seems to mean not that it was the first one to open—it shared Opening Day status with 17 other attractions, many of which are still in operation—but that it was the first thing Walt Disney conceived of and decided that he definitely wanted for his park while it was in the early planning stages.

Imagineering Theory: Animating the Parks

Or: Matching Film Settings to Area Themes

The Walt Disney Company is known for two things above all else: its high-quality animated films, and its equally high-quality theme parks. From the earliest days of Disneyland, these two product lines have been closely intertwined: rides based on the films were built in Disneyland, and Disneyland’s landmark castle (itself named after a movie but not actually based on the appearance of the castle in said movie) was used as the basis for the animation studio’s logo. In recent decades, “synergitis” has only intensified the relationship between Disney animation and Disney parks, and almost any animated film with the Disney name attached might find a presence in one of the company’s resorts.

But we can probably all agree that there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. The purpose of this article is to get a handle on the right way, for the benefit of Armchair Imagineers who combine a love of the Disney animated canon with an eye for immersive and cohesive theming.

Armchair Imagineering: International Land

At Disneyland Park in Anaheim, the borders of Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are occupied by a series of attractions that don’t quite fit. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, the Matterhorn, “it’s a small world”…these iconic rides were installed in their locations to take advantage of available space, or because they belonged there once, but by now the surrounding area or the ride itself has evolved in such a way as to take it out of theme. What do cartoon fish have to do with the future or even science-fiction? The growling Yeti notwithstanding, the Matterhorn Bobsleds are more contemporary than fantastic. The whimsy of “it’s a small world” seems perfectly suited to the childlike wonder of Fantasyland, but the theme of international peace and multiculturalism belongs, one would hope, firmly in the real world.

In addition, there is a large swatch of land between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland that suffers from underutilization—formerly the site of the Fantasyland Autopia and Motor Boat Cruise (neither of which was very appropriate to Fantasyland either), it currently provides extended track for the remaining Autopia in Tomorrowland…yet another ride that doesn’t do justice to the imagery of its land. It’s almost like this part of the park is rebelling against the adjacent areas and crying out for a theme of its own. Hence the proposal contained herein: International Land, where the world itself comes to Disneyland.