Urban Lessons from Disneyland

“To all who come to this happy place – welcome.” Walt Disney walked up to the podium, and with these words a new world was born.
Once entering the park, one passes under a bridge for the miniature Santa Fe Railroad, where a centrally placed plaque meets every guests' eye with the phrase, “Here you leave Today / And enter the world / Of Yesterday, Tomorrow / And Fantasy”. The effect of this entry sequence is phenomenal, as this passage opens onto a land removed from specific time or place. Yet, Main Street, U.S.A. is filled with recognizable architecture and institutions from years past. This place detaches its guests from reality, creating its own existence in the imaginations of its inhabitants. Most of all, however, it is the separation from the present that has the greatest contribution to the creation of a new reality.
Disneyland was conceived as an alternative to a movie studio as a tourist destination, and in that same instance works nearly the same. The stories that Disney is known for are created with the same basic principles of movie sets – false stages, floats, backdrops, facades, and the combination of timing with the power of illusion. In every corner of this park is the essence of stage presence.
The potential effect of this land was unknown at the time of its inception, but it has had an astonishing influence in the world of architecture and urban planning. Malls, communities, even entire cities are now being planned with the same ideas of narrative that Walt Disney and his team of Imagineers employed in the design of this fantasyland.