Since we’re in the business of the architecture of Disney World in this here blog (well, “business” is a bit of an overreach… we’re in the “fruitless hobby” of the architecture of Disney World), I want to occasionally do a post on ranking aspects of Walt Disney World when it comes to immersion – the act of engrossing or plunging guests into the theme. If you read my story, you’ll see that my viewpoint is that it is the architecture of Disney World that helps immerse you in the magic, and makes Disney Parks so unique. We’ll start with ranking the 6 lands of the Magic Kingdom.
The idea here is to rank the various lands of Magic Kingdom from worst to first in regards to how well they immerse you in the theme of the land. In other words, how much do you feel transported to said land? There’s not a terribly weak land at Magic Kingdom, so this will likely be controversial. I hope you’ll yell at me in the comments and tell me how wrong I am.
6) Tomorrowland
Look – I love Tomorrowland. But, really it’s just because of Space Mountain. I mean this place is fine… it’s got a great personality, so to speak… But, it’s kind of an incoherent mess of a land. Disney, thankfully, has begun (like five years ago) an exceedingly slow overhaul and redesign of the land. But it’s slow-going, even by Disney standards. And, odds are, when this is finally complete in the year 2053, the land will be still be a jumbled mess.
The Good
Disney has stripped the most recent accoutrement from the buildings flanking the main midway into Tomorrowland. This has improved things – bringing back a more austere future as conceived in the middle of the 20th century: simple, clean, and monochromatic.
The entry sequence to the land from the Castle Hub is actually not bad. The newer overhead signage fits in well with the new austere future look.
The purple rocks? I don’t get it… but, even that somehow works. And Astro Orbiter, sitting at the center of the land, and ringed by the Tomorrowland Peoplemover, draws you deeper into Tomorrowland. It is a nice kinetic design. It feels purposeful and rational.
The circular shape of the Peoplemover’s track starts to almost set up a motif – a repeating feature or deign idea – in other parts of the land. The motif is kind of weakly implemented, but you can start to see a hint of it throughout the land. Certainly, it seems like an opportunity for a stronger design of the land in the future.
The Bad
Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom has always been a bit challenged from an overall planning and design standpoint. When the park opened in 1971, it was strangely sparse and seemingly constantly under construction over the following few years. By the way, I highly recommend Martin’s Videos for documentation of the Disney parks. Check out the first video about the Ultimate History of Tomorrowland to see how this land was challenged from the start, and only compounded when the location of Space Mountain was moved.
The biggest problem with Tomorrowland is what you see when you look outward from Astro Orbiter – north, east, and south, at least. The perimeter of the land is confused and ill-defined.
For instance, blank walls greet you to the south, between Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and the Carousel of Progress. Seriously… this looks like the truck-loading side of a big box store or something… really strangely un-designed.
Looking east, the edge of the land bleeds out to the berm that surrounds the park – with only the Peoplemover’s elevated covered track visually cueing you that the land stops there. Very little at the pedestrian level tells you that Tomorrowland even has a boundary. It would be more forgiving if there was some framed vista here – a purposeful view out to the beautiful green beyond. But that is NOT what you see here. Instead, a stage and a restroom building stand in the way of whatever view might be there.
Now, Space Mountain is a gorgeous structure, and is even more impressive because it sits majestically by itself on the horizon of Tomorrowland. But, even a potential view of that beautiful edifice is blocked by the Peoplemover track from almost every angle. Space Mountain is, surprisingly, most impressive and best seen from OUTSIDE the park. Again, a missed opportunity, in my mind.
And the north portion of Tomorrowland is dominated by the noxious fumes of Tomorrowland Speedway (which is not very “tomorrow”), and has views of the back of Dumbo’s queue building.
I love parts of Tomorrowland. Some of it is immersive. And it’s especially fun at night with the gorgeous lighting design. But, comparatively, it’s the weakest of the lands in Magic Kingdom.
5) Liberty Square
Ah, Liberty Square. A charming trip back to late 18th-century America. There are places within this land at Magic Kingdom where you really can feel transported to a colonial-era harbor town.
Now, I’m admittedly a bit jaded when it comes to Colonial American architecture. I live near Annapolis, MD, Old Town Alexandria, VA, Colonial Williamsburg, and Georgetown in DC. So, when I walk into Liberty Square, my default position is to be a bit underwhelmed… and that’s probably not fair to how immersive the land actually is. But, hey, it’s my ranking.
But, I can recognize that Liberty Square is a beautiful land architecturally-speaking. I just wish there was a bit more of it. And that it was just a bit more encompassing.
The Good
I do REALLY like the area of Liberty Square right across the bridge from the Castle Hub. From that viewpoint, you get a very well-conceived composition of several different styles of Colonial American architecture – from Dutch New Amsterdam, to Williamsburg Georgian, to New England waterfront.
The Meh
There’s really no “bad” in my eyes; just some missed opportunities, so we’ll call these “meh”s. There is actually a well thought-out transition to Frontierland, as the Diamond Horseshoe is based on architecture from the Northwest Territory – now the midwest – which straddles the American Colonial and American Frontier styles.
But, for me, there is too much “bleed”. Frontierland just seems to be constantly photo-bombing Liberty Square. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Tom Sawyer Island are fairly visible across the water.
Another thing that pulls me out of the immersive theme of Liberty Square, is The Haunted Mansion. It is based on 19th century Hudson River Dutch Gothic architecture according to Disney. I guess that kinda-sorta places it in Colonial America, but it just seems a bit foreign to the main theme. It doesn’t feel quite “colonial”, a word which inspires thoughts of Williamsburg, VA and New England harbor towns. I love the architecture of the Haunted Mansion, and I’ll do a separate post on it at some point. But, I just don’t feel like it fits smoothly in to the land’s theme.
It’s a very immersive land, and I know I’m being a bit nit-picky, but there are just too many other good lands at Magic Kingdom to rank this better than #5.
4) Adventureland
In 4th place, is a land that has a lot going on.
Adventureland! …where you can seek adventure in the jungle, on a tropical island, in an Arabian village, and in a Spanish-inspired Caribbean Plaza… all in the same land!
Me
And while that sounds incredible, it’s also the reason why Adventureland comes in behind three other Magic Kingdom lands. Variety is supposedly the spice of life, but when it comes to theming, it can create a bit of schizophrenia within a land.
The Variety
It’s just too much. Sometimes, simpler is better. And in this case, a collection of adventurous locales from all over the world, leaves the land convoluted. But, the biggest issue is that the transitions between the various sub-lands are not handled well. Maybe it’s mainly the Arabian village that is the biggest offender. It just doesn’t fit. It almost interrupts the island jungle theme around it. It’s just strange.
Polynesian island / jungle…
More Island-ish theming…
…and then around the corner, Arabian desert theming…
…aaaand back to the island / jungle / tiki thingy…
…and then to Spanish-Caribbean adventures. Whew!
The Good
Despite the jarring transitions and over-abundance of styles, most of the areas within Adventureland are quite detailed. And when standing in most parts of the land, you do indeed feel like you’ve been truly transported somewhere exotic. The landscaping is incredibly lush, and there are virtually no views with intrusive elements from adjacent lands. It’s actually very immersive.
Also, the Spanish-influenced Caribbean Plaza architecture seamlessly transitions around the corner to the American Southwest architecture of the western extents of Frontierland. It’s a really clever design move by the Imagineers. In fact, Pecos Bill’s Tall Tale Inn is a three-sided building that straddles these two lands.
3) Fantasyland
This was a tough one. I must admit, part of me wants to push Fantasyland up to #2. At the end of the day, to break the tie, I asked myself, “Which land would I rather just walk around and enjoy?” And, (spoiler alert) Frontierland won out. But, Fantasyland is still on the medal platform! It should be proud! Top 3 land at Magic Kingdom!
The Good
There is a LOT of good in Fantasyland. When the New Fantasyland expansion was introduced in 2012, the new rear castle walls helped better define most of the original Fantasyland as a “Castle Courtyard” sub-land.
Outside of the castle walls, we find several other sub-lands. “Storybook Circus” has always been its own sub-land. But, Disney originally categorized the rest, collectively, as the “Enchanted Forest”. But, I haven’t heard “Enchanted Forest” used by Disney in years. The-Sub-Land-Formerly-Known-As-Enchanted-Forest is really three sub-lands:
- The area immediately outside the castle walls with Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Mad Tea Party.
- The Beauty and the Beast area with Enchanted Tales with Belle, Be Our Guest restaurant, and Belle’s Village.
- The Little Mermaid area with Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid
As mentioned, Storybook Circus has been an official sub-land since the beginning, as seen by its signage. All of these sub-lands are REALLY well done. They are very immersive. From the queue of Under the Sea, to the interior of Be Our Guest, to the Fantasyland Train Station in Storybook Circus, the level of detail is incredible. As you walk around Fantasyland, it is certainly easy to get caught up in the fantasy of it all. The Disney magic delivers here.
I almost forgot the Rapunzel-themed restrooms… a sub-land that exists entirely for bathroom breaks and stroller parking. Seriously.
The Transitions
The one thing I have against you, Fantasyland, is the transitions between all your myriad sub-lands.
Some of these sub-lands are so small, and so shoe-horned into the available space, that the transitions between them are clunky at best. It might have worked better if The Little Mermaid area wasn’t there at all, and they replaced it with something more forest-y. As beautiful as it is, it just does not fit immediately next to Belle’s Village and in the shadow of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. There is almost no transition between them whatsoever.
The same can be said for the transition between the Mad Tea Party / Seven Dwarfs area and Tomorrowland. You smell the exhaust from Tomorrowland Speedway from the Mad Tea Party queue, and Cosmic Ray’s is right in view. I wish there was a stronger boundary or threshold. Eh – nitpicky, probably.
2) Frontierland
Frontierland comes in at the 2 spot. Technically, Frontierland represents a geographical and chronological trip across America: from 1800s St. Louis to 1880s Arizona as you walk westward. But, for most of us, it simply feels like one well-designed, immersive, American West, Pioneer-era, river town. It’s beautiful!
The Good
The main drag is fronted by a series of one and two-story buildings, and almost completely connected by a long covered boardwalk-like porch. A continuous covered wooden sidewalk was common in towns like this due to the availability of wood and the condition of the Main Street (muddy, rutted, dusty, smelly). This historically-accurate touch is just one example of the realism that immerses you in the theme of the Old American West.
On the opposite side of the street is the Rivers of America, which is one circular river… not multiple rivers… confusing. But, either way, it’s a gorgeous setting, and the river – and Tom Sawyer Island beyond – are perfect for the theme. Even the Liberty Belle Riverboat – which officially is a Liberty Square attraction – fits in with the pioneer aesthetic.
The two Mountain attractions at the end of Frontierland (Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad) continue the theme fantastically – from the queue lines to the stations to the ride vehicles. They totally envelop you in the theme:
A Minor Nit to Pick
The only small thing that I would count against Frontierland is that Liberty Square is fairly visible to the east. The Imagineers designed the two lands at Magic Kingdom to flow together and transition across the decades of American history, and across America geographically.
But, it feels a bit off-theme when you’re so deeply immersed in the wild west, to see the Hall of Presidents sitting at the end of the street. I guess it technically works, but it is a nit to pick.
1) Main Street, U.S.A.
That brings us to the champ! The most immersive of all the lands at Magic Kingdom is Main Street, U.S.A.! It wouldn’t win a best attractions contest, or a best restaurants contest (looking at you Tony’s Town Square Restaurant). But, when it comes to immersing guests in a story, and transporting them to another world, Main Street, U.S.A. comes out on top!
Let’s face it, you may consider this an upset… a dark-horse winner… a Cinderella story, if you will. (eye roll)
But, admit it, when you walk through the tunnel under the train station, and emerge into the Town Square, you find yourself in a magical place. Even if you started your Disney trip at Epcot, it feels like your vacation truly starts when you first step onto Main Street, U.S.A. Getting that first glimpse of the Castle from Main Street is the climax of many people’s Disney vacation.
What is it about this land that makes it so magical and immersive? I mean, we’re talking about a bunch of Victorian buildings on a narrow street, right? Well, we’ll look at this in great detail in future posts, but Disney uses several design strategies to pull this off. The bright color schemes, the smell of popcorn, the kinetic energy of the various Main Street Vehicles, the period music, the highly-detailed facades – it’s all part of the package.
And while Cinderella Castle technically belongs to Fantasyland (detailed post on its architecture here), it plays a starring role in the magic of Main Street, U.S.A. The buildings on both sides of the street help frame the distant castle, which beckons you to come deeper into the park to experience the magic.
So, there’s our winner! What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
