I was reading what fellow theme park nerd
friends had to say about Disney’s Animal Kingdom recently, specifically Dinoland
USA. The usual comments: the area is vile, doesn’t fit in or feel very Disney-like
in execution and other perfectly valid and true criticisms… But I felt the need
to chime in and defend the cleverness of the theme.
Then I thought, wait, what am I doing? The
answer: Playing devils advocate, mostly.
See, Dinoland USA is perhaps the most
self-representational, metaphorical, hyperreal commentary on the amusement
industry that exists as an actual attraction. And that’s kinda cool from an “arty-farty
lets have a discussion about theme park theory” point of view.
