In Eco's piece for this week, he touched on the power of phenomenon of the immersive universe Disney manages to create, through the examples of the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion in the Adventureland and New Orleans/Liberty Square lands of the parks. These happen to be two of the rides that I work, and so I would like to offer an insight into the lengths that Disney goes to to keep this immersion, some that Eco touches on, but that I have an insider's perspective on. This isn't a support or a condemnation of the methods used, simply a statement of the techniques used to create these worlds. How and why they are created is up for discussion, as we've been doing in class.
I am both an employee and a trainer for the rides in my section of the park. But I am to refer to myself as not an employee but as a cast member, as part of the show. We all have our role in the show, and mine happens to be in rides, but we call them attractions. And it is not a section but a land, a place themed to to be a simulation (back to Baudrillard) of the real thing. For Adventureland, it's far away places like Morocco, the Polynesian, the jungle rivers of the world, the Caribbean islands. In Liberty Square, it's the early age of America, the era of the steamboat, the birth of lavish architecture in the form of mansions and liberty bells.
When guests, not customers, arrive at my attraction, I am to greet them using what we call themed language. "Ahoy, mateys!" and "Ahola!" start the experience off by establishing an environment. Everything from my words to my outfit, designed specifically for whatever attraction I am at that day, must make sense with the story being told. If I am wearing an outfit for a different area, I am not permitted to pass through another one; for example, if I am in my khaki skipper outfit planning to take guests on a river cruise, I can't walk into Liberty Square where the cast members are wearing bonnets and long dresses at the Hall of Presidents. This is one of the reasons why a massive system of tunnels exists underneath the Magic Kingdom, to allow us to get to our lands without crossing others and shattering the illusion.
Inside the ride, both elements of the story and the practical elements are also themed. Taking a tour through the Haunted Mansion? You'll be riding not in a vehicle, but in a "Doom Buggy". The emergency exit? The "Full of Fear" hallway. Every last detail fits into the larger picture.
Eco described the experience of riding through these attractions and the level of detail put into them, so I won't go into that, though it is even more elaborate than he wrote. However, what I can offer is that Disney is so committed to the believably that they will shut down their attractions and leave guests disappointed and angry to save face. We have certain figures in each rides, such as specific animatronics or special effects, that if they stop working, we are required to close for until they can be fixed. When I train new cast members, they are required to know what these figures are. Just last week, during a special event requiring guests to pay an additional fee, we closed the Pirates of the Caribbean for an hour because one of Jack Sparrow's hands had come lose. There are four other Jack Sparrows throughout the ride, but because of his importance to his "show scene", and the attention that guests pay to him, we were not allowed to admit people until he was restored to his authentic self.
Is this dedication to storytelling, or a way to control perception? I think it can be argued either way, but I'd love to know what someone who does not work for the company makes of all of this.
I am both an employee and a trainer for the rides in my section of the park. But I am to refer to myself as not an employee but as a cast member, as part of the show. We all have our role in the show, and mine happens to be in rides, but we call them attractions. And it is not a section but a land, a place themed to to be a simulation (back to Baudrillard) of the real thing. For Adventureland, it's far away places like Morocco, the Polynesian, the jungle rivers of the world, the Caribbean islands. In Liberty Square, it's the early age of America, the era of the steamboat, the birth of lavish architecture in the form of mansions and liberty bells.
When guests, not customers, arrive at my attraction, I am to greet them using what we call themed language. "Ahoy, mateys!" and "Ahola!" start the experience off by establishing an environment. Everything from my words to my outfit, designed specifically for whatever attraction I am at that day, must make sense with the story being told. If I am wearing an outfit for a different area, I am not permitted to pass through another one; for example, if I am in my khaki skipper outfit planning to take guests on a river cruise, I can't walk into Liberty Square where the cast members are wearing bonnets and long dresses at the Hall of Presidents. This is one of the reasons why a massive system of tunnels exists underneath the Magic Kingdom, to allow us to get to our lands without crossing others and shattering the illusion.
Inside the ride, both elements of the story and the practical elements are also themed. Taking a tour through the Haunted Mansion? You'll be riding not in a vehicle, but in a "Doom Buggy". The emergency exit? The "Full of Fear" hallway. Every last detail fits into the larger picture.
Eco described the experience of riding through these attractions and the level of detail put into them, so I won't go into that, though it is even more elaborate than he wrote. However, what I can offer is that Disney is so committed to the believably that they will shut down their attractions and leave guests disappointed and angry to save face. We have certain figures in each rides, such as specific animatronics or special effects, that if they stop working, we are required to close for until they can be fixed. When I train new cast members, they are required to know what these figures are. Just last week, during a special event requiring guests to pay an additional fee, we closed the Pirates of the Caribbean for an hour because one of Jack Sparrow's hands had come lose. There are four other Jack Sparrows throughout the ride, but because of his importance to his "show scene", and the attention that guests pay to him, we were not allowed to admit people until he was restored to his authentic self.
Is this dedication to storytelling, or a way to control perception? I think it can be argued either way, but I'd love to know what someone who does not work for the company makes of all of this.
Disney’s immersive universe is impressive to say the least. They critique and hold parts of every aspect of the world, blending reality and fantasy to the extent at which reality actually becomes the fantasy and fantasy even can feel/ become real! I immediately associate this with the Avatar and Star Wars franchises. Disney was able to buy out and create these empires consisting of die hard fan-bases that are hooked on and by a multitude of different angles. This process, these factors, include merchandising, theme park attractions, visual rhetoric, sequels, and much, much more.
ReplyDeleteThe most unique part about Disney is how it understands and is able to maintain, preserve, and also expand upon its own value, constantly building off of and into its previous self, all for more money and more power. The company is able to blind people through and with their very own loyalty- taking advantage of their emotions at a young age, impressing them to the point of wanting to contribute, to take part in the phenomenon, even though they already subconsciously supply to their immense success.
Part of this understanding comes with what you describe in the second paragraph regarding what you can and cannot say. You understand the system yet you wish to fulfill the requirements in order for the system to continue operating smoothly. It is hard to function/ contribute outside of the system as an independent.
Referring to the idea of simulation, Disney includes a wide variety of “options” in terms of what hotels you can stay at, what environment, what simulation, you wish to subscribe to, when in all actuality, you are being directed away from the real the entire time, all to manipulate the thought of getting more for your dollar.
What immediately came to my mind when thinking of this were the new bungalow villas added on the coast of Bay Lake at Walt Disney World’s Polynesian Resort. These rooms are priced at a minimum of $2,500 per night and does not include admission to any park at Walt Disney World. The value alone in timeshare points as well is unable to fully cover an extended vacation. When analyzing these statistics, one should realize that this is ultimately the cost of renting out a beachfront hotel room in Hawaii- the true, original polynesian, but because that environment is lacking the thrills and excitement attached to the theme parks and overall resort area, Disney is more appealing to some and would come as a wiser investment. For now this proves to be the case depending on who you ask and speak with, however it is also interesting to see the expansion Disney is making to their newly founded Hawaiian resort, but that’s a discussion for a whole separate blog post…
Here is a link to a diagram I made comparing the two hotel rooms...
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D0cn1bGs_k6clAE-N_6RXzaG4sAPJaXAIHMlvTg79H4/edit?usp=sharing
Post blog Comment 10/9
ReplyDeleteJoy, I really enjoyed your descriptions of the ways Disney works from the inside, and the extent it has made to ensure that the “dream” or the “illusion” cannot be challenged.
I myself am continually impressed by the ways in which Disney presents itself. The “show” is so seamlessly done, that at times it is difficult to recognize where the “show” ends and where the reality begins.
The simulacra of Disney is incredibly impressively done. Within the walls of the parks, as Joey mentioned, employees are denoted as cast members instead of workers. This is another clever rhetorical device used by Disney to ensure the continued illusion of the simulcra. Furthermore, at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the different parks representing Asia, India and Africa are incredibly resemblant of the reality. Disney architects and engineers are sent all over the world to perfectly recreate the “reality” of the other within the internal walls of Disney.
When I visited Animal Kingdom with my boyfriend who is from India, he was impressed with the “authenticity” of the parks— each of the artifacts included in the park were incredibly resemblant of the real thing. It is so “authentic” that to some, this is the point of referent.
Perhaps more impressively, is to the extent in which the corporation of Disney manages to maintain the simulacra of a “dream world”. Disney has weaved itself into the corporate environment without lending the notion that it is part of the capitalist market. For instance, despite the sheer magnitude of the Disney corporation, we do not see it as such. We still see it as a world in which we can escape. There is no corporate face, there is no recognizable CEO— there is simply the idea of Disney. Despite the slow but sure march of Disney towards near entertainment market monopolization, it remains, in appearance a benign Dreamforce, rather than a cog in the capitalist machine.