Armchair Imagineering: Four Concepts For Area Themes That Disney Should Absolutely Try

I've been getting more wildly speculative with my Armchair Imagineering posts lately. This is largely because I've had this blog for three-and-a-half years, with a pretty consistent weekly posting schedule, and I'm just plain running low on what you might call “standard” material. I've gotten all the Strong Opinions about rides past and present out of my system and I have to reach deeper into my imagination for topics.

The topic of this week's post is something I've touched on before but never devoted an entire post to: ideas for area themes that haven't been tried before, at least not by Disney. I don't have a proposal for a park to fit all these into, but for what they are, I hope you find them as intriguing as I do.

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.