Disneyland - A Design Inspiration

Chandra Hu
Apr 3, 2020
2 min read

Updated: Apr 9, 2020

“Disneyland is the biggest creative solution of the twentieth century.”

(Wardle D. 2018)

Agreeing with innovation speaker Duncan Wardle I’m going to talk about how Disneyland is one of my biggest design inspirations. I visited Disneyland in Los Angeles for the first time last summer. If it was in the past, I would not think much about the design involved with the magical experience. However, since learning about User Experience or UX Design I’m able to notice the creative innovation that the design of a space and interactive system can be.

The Storytelling

Disneyland really stands out compared to other theme parks. Why is that? It might be because of the grand scale of the park and the sheer amount of artistic details put to craft each attraction. However, I also believe that it was Walt Disney’s re-expression of theme parks that made the experience more memorable in people's minds. Duncan Wardle talks about Walt’s creative approach to re-frame the challenges in theme parks. Instead of employees, Walt created cast members who act out a role. They work either on-stage or backstage and in a costume, not in a uniform. Giving the ‘character’ a place to live; walk-around-characters; different lands for different stories - this resulted in Disneyland becoming the most immersive storytelling theme park we know. I was really able to feel this while being there. The ‘cast’ were always in their roles in themed costumes, no matter if they were princesses, pirates or cleaners and made each separate themed area seem like it was taken out of the movie itself.

Cut the lines

Another ‘rule’ that was challenged was waiting in lines and years later, they came up with a solution to reduce line waiting time with RFID bracelets. This allowed you to reserve a spot on a ride or make an order at a restaurant six months in advance. During my own time there, this was still a system in use, but through the Disneyland app using FastPass tickets which allowed us to reserve specific time slots every ninety minutes. Although it was not available for all attractions, this had evidently cut out more time to try other rides and made the day much more productive than it could have been. A system like this can save up to two hours a day while also preventing people from getting tired of the experience.

An Inspiration

Disneyland presented to me as one of the most immersive theme parks in respects to the atmospheric storytelling and attributing time-saving features. Walt himself is deemed one of the world’s first UX designers (Dickerson J. 2013). This has taught me that designing through creative thinking and valuing consumer experience can make a big difference and Disneyland is an incredible revolution for User Experience design. A phenomenal inspiration for its creative solutions and to my own design career!