Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
The only thing I would add to the discussion of whether Frontierland's theme is sufficiently 'current' is that it not being particularly ubiquitous in the culture is part of the land's appeal.
While the notion of the frontier was certainly far more present in popular culture when Disneyland opened, one thing that was key to Disneyland's success was appealing to nostalgia. I doubt, for example, young kids in the 1950s and 1960s were particularly electrified by the idea of turn-of-the-century Marceline, Missouri, but that wasn't the point.
In general, I also think Disneyland has been managed with a lot more awareness of the need to walk a fine line between updating and expanding as well as preserving a sense of nostalgia in the park itself than has been evident at WDW where nostalgia appears more as marketing and merchandising. Epcot is the best example of that, where almost everything from the original park is now gone so they end up doing things like putting up murals of long-gone attractions, hints to older architecture in newer structures, or references to old-style pavilions in new attractions to try and create some emotional connection to the current park.
In short, Frontierland paying homage to something that recalls not just the past in an historical sense but in a cultural sense is what continues to give it the kind of charm that distinguishes the Magic Kingdom-style parks. Whatever you think about the new attractions, cars with big cartoon faces zooming around from a franchise that has only stuck around because it sells a lot of merchandise do not have charm. Once RoA is gone, I fully expect we'll see them beginning to reference everything they've replaced that people miss in exactly the same way they do with Epcot.
While the notion of the frontier was certainly far more present in popular culture when Disneyland opened, one thing that was key to Disneyland's success was appealing to nostalgia. I doubt, for example, young kids in the 1950s and 1960s were particularly electrified by the idea of turn-of-the-century Marceline, Missouri, but that wasn't the point.
In general, I also think Disneyland has been managed with a lot more awareness of the need to walk a fine line between updating and expanding as well as preserving a sense of nostalgia in the park itself than has been evident at WDW where nostalgia appears more as marketing and merchandising. Epcot is the best example of that, where almost everything from the original park is now gone so they end up doing things like putting up murals of long-gone attractions, hints to older architecture in newer structures, or references to old-style pavilions in new attractions to try and create some emotional connection to the current park.
In short, Frontierland paying homage to something that recalls not just the past in an historical sense but in a cultural sense is what continues to give it the kind of charm that distinguishes the Magic Kingdom-style parks. Whatever you think about the new attractions, cars with big cartoon faces zooming around from a franchise that has only stuck around because it sells a lot of merchandise do not have charm. Once RoA is gone, I fully expect we'll see them beginning to reference everything they've replaced that people miss in exactly the same way they do with Epcot.
Last edited:
