Theme Parks
Entry updated 19 August 2024. Tagged: Theme.
While there were precursors that are said to have anticipated the idea, Walt Disney (see The Walt Disney Company) effectively introduced the theme park as it is now perceived in 1955, when Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, with rides that not only provided thrills but also featured exotic settings, characters, and (sometimes) a loose story line; after it proved very popular, other companies created many other theme parks. Naturally, many of Disneyland's early rides were based on Disney cartoons and films, but one of Disneyland's sections, Tomorrowland, included rides based on sf themes, including the Submarine Voyage, offering glimpses of fantastic creatures and mermaids Under the Sea; Monsanto's Adventure thru Inner Space, in which riders were purportedly shrunk to the size of atoms (see Great and Small); Flight to the Moon, updated as Mission to Mars, wherein riders sat in a room that resembled a Spaceship while their chairs moved to simulate acceleration; and Rocket Jets, letting riders spin around a pillar inside small Rockets. A later addition to Tomorrowland was Space Mountain, an indoor roller coaster in which riders seemed to be travelling through space, and Disney also produced a short sf film, to be shown exclusively in Disney parks, called Captain Eo (1986) and featuring a singing and dancing Michael Jackson.
But a major development occurred in the 1980s, when the Inner Space ride was replaced by Star Tours, a simulated space voyage set in the universe of Star Wars (1977); much later, Disneyland added a new section, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, with additional rides and restaurants based on the Star Wars films. The Space Mountain ride is also periodically refashioned as Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain to include Star Wars references and John Williams's music from the films. But an extremely expensive hotel at Disney World offering a purported two-day flight through the Star Wars galaxy was not successful. Other rides based on Star Wars are sure to follow.
Disney's exploitation of Star Wars inaugurated the trend of basing rides on media franchises, usually sf films; examples include rides based on the films King Kong (1933), E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Back to the Future (1985), Jurassic Park (1993), and Transformers (2007), all at Universal Studios parks; The Terminator (1984) at Six Flags parks; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) at Disney's Epcot; and Avatar (2009) at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Then there emerged several rides based on Superheroes like Superman, Batman, and Aquaman, all at Six Flags parks. There were also restaurants with decor mimicking the franchises' settings and, of course, stores selling masses of pricy Toys and Collectibles, strategically placed in Disney parks so that people exiting a ride are forced to walk through them with their children.
The broader significance of these rides to sf is highly debatable. Considered as exciting experiences, they are undoubtedly enjoyable, and they arguably function as advertisements for sf franchises, further popularizing the genre. However, considered as sf narratives, their story lines are necessarily simplistic and derivative; for example, in the Disney ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, riders are captured by minions of the evil Empire and pressured to reveal the location of a secret rebel base until they are rescued by rebels – a tired story that would only occupy a few minutes in a Star Wars film. And while there is something appealing about seeing physical depictions of sf settings and characters, they add little to one's understanding or appreciation of the adventures that they adapt. They recall the generic and equally puerile plots of the Choose Your Own Adventure books, except that riders have no ability to affect the proceedings.
For fictional theme parks, see Theme Parks in SF. [GW]
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