It is important to remember who was the audience for the Disneyland Resort Preliminary Master Plan. This document had to appeal to policymakers and their advisors at the local, regional, state, county, and federal levels. All of these players would be called upon to collaborate and partner with Disney to make this dream come true.
To broaden support, Disney had suggested that the resort could become a demonstration site and hub for a number of innovative transportation systems. Imagine arriving at the Disneyland Resort by the Las Vegas High Speed Rail Train or the Orange County Monorail or the Anaheim PeopleMover system. All of this was to provide visitors with options so that they could leave their car at home.
The entire project would be guided by seven guiding principles.
- Project Unity would create an environmental design experience that is more powerful than its parts. Everything will support everything else. Visual contradictions will be eliminated.
- Integration with the Anaheim Commercial Recreation Area would make sure that the entire community benefits and not just Disney.
- A Dramatic Entry Sequence would provide notable gateways and create a sense of place.
- Parking on the Perimeter is the innovative way to deal with the tens of thousands of cars that would be descending upon the project everyday.
- Transportation Linkages is a reminder to make it easy for people to get around and to be connected with the region.
- Pedestrian Orientation means the resort would become a series of unfolding spaces that encourage walking.
- Diversity of Guest Activities helps to define the project programming by insisting on a wide variety of activities that appeal to a wide range of demographics.
I was glad to see that Disneyland was going to get some TLC. New attractions would include Toontown, a brand new Tomorrowland themed to the year 2055, and “The Indiana Jones Adventure Spectacular”. There was also the promise to spruce up the park.
But the big news would be the centerpiece of the expansion – WESTCOT Center. Eisner asked his Imagineers to “amaze me” and they certainly delivered. This would have been the most complex, fully realized theme park in Disney history rivaled only by the implementation of Tokyo DisneySea some ten years later.
WESTCOT Center was meant to be the center of the “global village”. Keep in mind that the development of WESTCOT Center was fast tracked and very much in the early stages. But the vision painted by the Plan illustrates a park unlike anything Disney had ever done before. WESTCOT Center would have been the world’s first truly urban theme park.
While studying WESTCOT I am reminded that this park represented the best thinking of Imagineering at a time when they could do no wrong. Before, the struggles of Euro Disneyland or underperforming parks like Animal Kingdom, California Adventure, the Paris Studios, Hong Kong Disneyland, etc. This was the vision of a bunch of people at the top of their game.
At the 1994 NFFC convention, Imagineer Tony Baxter gave an interview and revealed additional details about WESTCOT and what they designers were trying to accomplish. Baxter highlighted two initiatives.
The first initiative was to create a much more participatory and immersive environment. You don’t passively sit by and watch the action but you become a part of the story. The characters and activities interact with the guests.
The second initiative was that WESTCOT would be the first theme park where you could spend the night inside of the park. As he said during his talk, guests would be able to “live the dream”. You don’t just visit the Asian corner of the world you can spend the night. The same went for Europe and the African sections of the park.
Next week we will push the turn-styles and see what is beyond.
0 Yorumlar