Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Signage of Walt Disney World - Part 1



One of my favorite bits of detail about the Disney theme parks is all of the signage that's been created to heighten the authenticity, or at least the illusion and theming for the regions of the parks in which they are placed, such as the above poster which can be found in Tomorrowland. Most people probably never stop and read it, or even look at it, or even know it's there, but somehow, peripherally, or subliminally they are noticing it and this poster is enhancing the idea that they are in some city of the future where a recreational rocket vehicle show is common place. Often the signage is whimsical with a sense of humor to it, whether it's the windows which adorn the upper floors of the stores lining Main Street U.S.A. which pay tribute to significant people in the Disney organization, or the headstones alongside the queue leading into the Haunted Mansion, whose epitaphs are often puns as dark and amusing as anything in Edward Gorey's "Gashlycrumb Tinies" and placed to occupy and distract the person waiting on line. The headstones, like some of the others can also be seen as props and not simply signage.

Here are a selection of signs taken from all four of the Florida theme parks beginning with these pieces from Adventureland's Jungle Cruise in the Magic Kingdom.









The following were taken from across all of Disney's Animal Kingdom.























Clicking on any of the images above will make them large enough to give an appreciation of the detail included in them. Tomorrow I will conclude with part two of my look at the signage of Walt Disney World.


     

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Love it!

John Rozum said...

Thanks, George! There's more to come. When's your trip?

Unknown said...

The end of March. Touring Plans has rated each day a 9 or 10. :( But with scho-aged kids...you gotta do what you gotta do!

John Rozum said...

We actually went the week before February vacation in order to avoid the crowds. It's harder to that as the kids get older, but since my daughter's twelve and my son is ten, we wanted to get in another trip before they became jaded, surly, teens. My son still regresses to being a six year old as soon as he gets there which is rewarding.