Anyone ever think the MK was an island?

[SSEmonorail]

I remember when I was young always thinking that the MK was "supposed" to be an island. I am not sure if I ever believed it and in fact, enjoyed pointing out to my parents the backstage roadway which could be seen from the railroad. I thought the whole concept of needing to take the monorail or ferry was supposed to add to the feel of the MK being a land seperated from the rest of the world. I remember lamenting when the resort buses started going directly to the MK instead of the TTC as it "ruined" the magic.

So my question is was the MK ever intended to invoke the feeling of an island? Or was this just something that I just fabricated in my mind?

 

[Thrawn]

It wasn't supposed to be an "island" persay, but it was supposed to give the feeling of isolation from everything else. Once you are in the park, you more or less still have that feeling.

 

[stitchlvr]

I was told it was an island by friends of ours that had visited before we did. Of course, we figured out that it isn't, but yet, there was a brief period where I thought it was an island. :hammer:

 

[brich]

That's one of the best parts of the MK. The feeling of being in the center of it's own universe. The fact that you can't see it from the road, like DL and that you really can't look beyond the park when in it (aside from the lagoon resorts, which really are part of it all). The monorail and water transportation work great to add to this illusion.

 

[ctwhalerman]

Yea, the lagoon in front of the park both adds to the excitement and gives the Magic Kingdom a grand entrance. It allows you to get peeks at some of what is inside, but it is still mainly a mystery until you get in.
This is in contrast to Disneyland, where the grand entrance was a parking lot, where a few show buildings and other undesirable things could be seen (and some still can be). So, basically the Magic Kingdom was so well-planned that it really is an island-but of magic.

 

[rainfully]

I'm pretty sure I used to think it was an island when I was little... it was the whole ferry boat thing that made me think that. But yeah... it was definitely designed to "build up" to the grand entrace... and I think they did it very well!

 

[should-be-BELLE]

For a while when I was little I thought it was on an island because the only two ways we used to get there were monorail and the ferry...but I know now that it's not..but as others have said..I like the seclusion of it

 

[CSUFSteve]

Hello,

I think part of the MK's "island" feeling was partly borne out of Walt's frustration about Disneyland being crowded in by external blights. So I think they (probably WED more than Walt) wanted to make sure MK's immediate environs would always remain free of traditional urban clutter.

I always lamented that we in CA didn't have enough space to put a lagoon in front of Disneyland. I mean how cool is it to be able to boat past MK!? A lagoon instead of a parking lot. Of course, even if the land were available, the high price of land in CA would never make it economically viable to turn that much property into a lagoon. The per capita's would never work. That's also been used as an argument *against* a water park on the Fujishige property.

Steve

 

[surfsupdon]

It's funny this should come up.

My friend yesterday confided in me (who stays offsite and thus uses the parking lot) how the Disney busses pulled right up front of the gates, b/c she too thought it was an island. Like with sandy beaches all around the shores. I broke the news gently to her.

 

[Sledge]

The first time I realized that you could get there without taking the ferry or the monorail I was quite sad. I was expecting the bus to take us to the lagoon where we would ride across to the actual park. I was pretty bummed out. :lol:

 

[bgraham34]

Ya know I am not really sure what I ever thought this was. i have to think about it more. Maybe I will ask the rents.

 

[Dakotadogy]

Yes, I thought it was an island, too. In fact, I was 22 the first time I realized it wasn't. It was dark, we were coming to the resort area, made a wrong turn and ended up in the bus parking area by the MK. Whoa. Way to ruin the magic.

 

[joshwill]

I remember when I was young always thinking that the MK was "supposed" to be an island. I am not sure if I ever believed it and in fact, enjoyed pointing out to my parents the backstage roadway which could be seen from the railroad. I thought the whole concept of needing to take the monorail or ferry was supposed to add to the feel of the MK being a land seperated from the rest of the world. I remember lamenting when the resort buses started going directly to the MK instead of the TTC as it "ruined" the magic.

So my question is was the MK ever intended to invoke the feeling of an island? Or was this just something that I just fabricated in my mind?

when i too the backstage magic tour, the guide had said that walt wanted the transport across the lake because in books and such, you many times got to a "magic" kingdom by boat.

 

[Christina]

Yes I'm sure when I was younger I did think that MK was on a island... I also remember the times I thought it wasn't even on Earth.

 

[donald23]

Thats something thats common in all of the theme parks, except maybe Epcot. They all give you the feeling of isolation, making the experience more "magical".