The pedigree of pixie dust: Disneyland and theme parks as a remediation of playful places throughout history
ORCID Identifiers
Document Type
Article
Source of Publication
Journal of Leisure Research
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Abstract
The original Disneyland in California that opened in 1955 was the only one personally built by Walt Disney, who notably disdained Coney Island’s amusement parks while conceiving, developing, and popularizing the successful design and business model for the modern theme park industry. A historical examination reveals many facets of Disneyland to be a remediation of not only seaside parks but an extensive lineage of playful places including Roman Saturnalia, festivals, carnivals, pleasure gardens, and world’s fairs. A wide array of aspects encompassing access, gate fees, passes, location, performative labor, temporal milieu, target audience, synergistic media consumerism, religious content, elite approval, edification versus entertainment, and anti-alienation attractions had been adopted and/or adapted for each iteration of the playful place up to the time of Disney’s eponymous theme park. Remediation provides a novel framework to chart and examine the past and present evolution of the playful place.
DOI Link
ISSN
Publisher
National Recreation and Park Association
Disciplines
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Keywords
Disney, Disneyland, place, remediation, theme parks
Scopus ID
Recommended Citation
McCarthy, William, "The pedigree of pixie dust: Disneyland and theme parks as a remediation of playful places throughout history" (2021). All Works. 4397.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/4397
Indexed in Scopus
yes
Open Access
no