...This chapter travels to one of the most popular honeymoon destinations in the world: Disney World. Over a week, Essig interviewed honeymooners and couples celebrating their anniversary to ask why Disney World is “the most romantic place on earth.” Through these interviews, Essig considers how...

... Walt Fifteen Year Old Captain A novel 1878 In Search of the Castaways feature film 1962 Scott Gavin Walt Disney World diamonds Great Society pirates space race utopia Walt Disney World Three Stooges Ursula Andress George Segal Shangri La The shift in tone of the next few years...

...Chapter 2 investigates Disney World as a pilgrimage site predicated on its rites of passage, temporary communities transcending normal social constraints, spatial planning, corporeal, symbolic transitions, and/or liminality. Disney World, particularly the Magic Kingdom, is compared to Santiago de...

... World’s state of health as an entertainment destination and questions its sustainability for the future. Despite Walt’s controlling vision, it is Disney World’s employees and visitors who continually reinvent the place, ever more on their own terms. This concluding chapter begins by considering further...

...In the American world, the presence of African culture is sometimes fully embodied and sometimes leaves only a trace. This book explores this presence, examining Mattel’s world of Barbie, the 1996 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and Disney World, each of which repackages African...

...The conclusion offers an in-depth examination of the NBA’s COVID-19 “bubble” games that took place at Walt Disney World from July to October 2020. As a made-for-television event in a highly mediatized environment, the bubble offered a culmination of the interrelated forces of the court, the venue...

...This short chapter analyses Stanley Elkin’s postmodern novels, and in particular The Magic Kingdom, which describes the trip to Disney World organized for a group of terminally ill children. The harshly satirical tone of the novel represents a strong criticism of Disney’s...

...Chapter 1 reflects on the impetus for Walt to build Disney World. It also reflects on Walt Disney’s carefully crafted dual persona as a savvy businessman and dedicated visionary. A discussion of the Disney Company’s synergistic business model is provided so that its successes and failures...

...This chapter, like the previous one, focuses on particular facilities at the Walt Disney World Resort where there exist certain implications for the perception of Africa in American popular culture. In this chapter, the focus is on Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (DAKL), which focuses solely...

...This book focuses upon Disney World in Florida as the project in which Walt became most invested, personally and financially, before his death. It examines primary themes in the history of the built environment and human creativity that persist at Disney World. These themes include: the need...

... Anaheim California theme parks Walt Disney World Orlando Florida Bolter Jay David feminist media studies Grusin Richard media studies merchandising and marketing Mittermeier Sabrina synergy in merchandising and marketing Wasko Janet fandom studies femininity Iger Robert media convergence...

... near Orlando, Florida, Disney World enjoys a warm climate and an ample buffer zone, setting it apart from the everyday world’s imperfections. First, this chapter contains brief introductions to literary and artistic prototypes that established and propagated images of Paradise. Then, the chapter...

... remote, inhospitable locations subsequently transformed into thriving tourism sites. Each utilizes themed attractions and spaces, with an intensity of showmanship elevated far beyond most other American amusement places. Furthermore, both Las Vegas and Disney World are firmly embedded in our collective...

...Chapter 5 focuses upon the profound influence that World’s Fairs, particularly those in the United States, had upon Walt Disney. The fairs offer keen insight into the conception and planning of Disney World, especially Epcot. Disney’s work developing attractions for the 1964–65 World’s Fair in New...

... Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and the Walt Disney World Resort. The study focuses primarily on the way in which visual culture reinforces, challenges, and represents social relations, especially as they have been articulated around racialized identities in the past twenty years. The first...

...This chapter turns to the third case study concerning the imagining of Africa through popular culture. This chapter primarily engages the ways in which, like Mattel’s world of Barbie, the world of Disney — particularly the Walt Disney World Resort — creates a symbolic and metaphoric control...

..., and audio narration, and his opening-day experiences at Disney World. This cross-country trip included rail and automobile mishaps, and Disney executives, including Roy Disney, were able to convince Bradbury to return to Los Angeles by way of his first airline flight. Chapter 17 includes brief context...