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CASE STUDY: Raising the Bar in Themed Design
As critical as I may sometimes be, I think it is worthwhile to reflect on how far things have advanced in the last fifty years of this art-form.
This thread will be a visual comparison & examination as to how designers at WDI (and other shops) have raised the bar in park design over the last five decades, and give us a place to judge and discuss past & future projects.
(Because Walt’s Disneyland will serve as the original benchmark or baseline, I have placed this thread in the Disneyland thread).
I will use three (very gray) tiers in this visual examination:
Tier III – Substandard. Lower than what we "expect from Disney" - due to inferior design, materials and/or craftsmanship or simple obsolescence to due to age.
Tier II – Disney Standard. The standard quality of themed design that we have come to expect from Disney Parks.
Tier I – Higher Standard. A quality of themed design that surpasses the Disney Standard (and what may hopefully become the new Disney standard).
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We’ll start with the Park Icon, the Castle:
Tier III – Substandard: Magic Castle at Lotte World Korea (b. 1989).
Tier II – Disney Standard: Sleeping Beauty Castle (b. 1955DL, 2005HKDL); Cinderella Castle (b. 1971MK, 1983TDL)
Tier I – Higher StandardTier III – Substandard: Original DL (b. 1955, extinct), TDL (b. 1983)
Tier II – Disney Standard: HKDL (b. 2005)
Tier I – Higher Standard: DLP (b. 1992)
******
Animated Robot
Tier III – Substandard: – MK Space Mountain Queue
Tier II – Disney Standard: – DL Star Tours Queue (b. 1987)
Tier I – Higher Standard: – S.I.R. from MK Alien Encounter preshow (b. 1994, extinct)
****
Many more examples to follow.
As critical as I may sometimes be, I think it is worthwhile to reflect on how far things have advanced in the last fifty years of this art-form.
This thread will be a visual comparison & examination as to how designers at WDI (and other shops) have raised the bar in park design over the last five decades, and give us a place to judge and discuss past & future projects.
(Because Walt’s Disneyland will serve as the original benchmark or baseline, I have placed this thread in the Disneyland thread).
I will use three (very gray) tiers in this visual examination:
Tier III – Substandard. Lower than what we "expect from Disney" - due to inferior design, materials and/or craftsmanship or simple obsolescence to due to age.
Tier II – Disney Standard. The standard quality of themed design that we have come to expect from Disney Parks.
Tier I – Higher Standard. A quality of themed design that surpasses the Disney Standard (and what may hopefully become the new Disney standard).
*********
We’ll start with the Park Icon, the Castle:
Tier III – Substandard: Magic Castle at Lotte World Korea (b. 1989).
Tier II – Disney Standard: Sleeping Beauty Castle (b. 1955DL, 2005HKDL); Cinderella Castle (b. 1971MK, 1983TDL)
Tier I – Higher StandardTier III – Substandard: Original DL (b. 1955, extinct), TDL (b. 1983)
Tier II – Disney Standard: HKDL (b. 2005)
Tier I – Higher Standard: DLP (b. 1992)
******
Animated Robot
Tier III – Substandard: – MK Space Mountain Queue
Tier II – Disney Standard: – DL Star Tours Queue (b. 1987)
Tier I – Higher Standard: – S.I.R. from MK Alien Encounter preshow (b. 1994, extinct)
****
Many more examples to follow.
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