Passport to Dreams Old in New is the absolute king-hell best Disney design criticism blog, written by Foxxfur, a former cast member who is thoughtful, encyclopedic, and razor-sharp in her observations of the Disney theme parks, especially Walt Disney World.
She’s written her end-of-year summary of the year at Walt Disney World — a significant year, with preparation for the new Star Wars and Avatar lands underway, the new RFID-based book-six-months-in-advance fastpass bracelets, and the new Fantasyland fully operational.
As always, it’s the most insightful work you’re likely to read on the design considerations behind (or at odds with) the business decisions made about the Disney parks. The section on the castle, for example, is just brilliant:
The trees served a real purpose besides looking nice. What I think happened is that the designers of Magic Kingdom noticed that from a distance, the bottom of Cinderella Castle looks flat as a board:
But the minute you shift off to the left or right, the forced perspective of the towers kicks in, and you end up with an incredibly dynamic looking structure:
Basically by planting the trees where they did, WED was forcing you to approach the castle to get the closer view from the best possible angle. When you’re climbing the ramps to walk through the castle, the way the towers shift and seem to grow and loom over you almost induces vertigo. It’s a really remarkable effect that too few are allowed to see today.
As I’ve covered extensively on this site before, the trees came down, and while I’m not willing to call the sight lines necessarily better or worse, they are different, and they changed the way the Hub felt. The Hub had previously been open lawn with a forest in the center, and it was now open lawn and a lot of concrete. It was unbearably hot nearly all the time, and almost never pleasant. And worse, it became a gridlock constantly, especially at night during fireworks. Experienced Magic Kingdom goers knew very well to just sit down in Liberty Square or something and wait.
Passport to Dreams 2015 Year-End Review
[Foxxfur/Passport to Dreams Old and New]