Segregated
“Walt Disney wanted to keep the boring business of running a theme park separate from the magical show guests come to see. The tunnel is why you never see a pirate sauntering through Tomorrowland.”
-Grayson Kamm, First Coast News
Grayson, Kamm. “Hidden Places: Beneath Walt Disney World.” First Coast News. 2007. Accessed 18 Nov. 2008 < http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/florida/news-article.aspx?ref=rss&storyid=81978>.
Kamm’s article is a rather ‘enchanted’ look at the business side of running Disney World. Since Walt Disney created a sort of constructed utopia, there are many aspects of this theme park that must be constantly controlled and monitored. Below the park is a mile-and-a-half long tunnel containing offices and hallways. Kamm states “Walt called the tunnel the "Utilidor" -- short for "utility corridor". His Imagineers packed it with pipes and tubes that, for example, suck out trash from drop-off points around the park to a collecting station far away from the fun.” Kamm also states that at Disney World, no one ever uses the word ‘employee.’ “Everyone -- from a character to a custodian -- is a "cast member" playing a role.” And since there are no ‘employees’ there are also no uniforms. Everyone wears costumes specially designed at Disney, which are then “manufactured all over the world.” And it’s not just the cast members that need costumes. Kamm mentions that “Every day, a special team inspects the clothes on the parks' audio-animatronic figures -- ones like the founding fathers at the Hall of Presidents in the Magic Kingdom. A crew works overnight repairing any holes or rips they find.”
Reading this article about the business side of Disney World was fascinating, because it really demonstrated how vulnerable an utopian environment is, and all the variables that must be constantly monitored, as to not ruin it. I noticed that this article mentioned the special or gratuitous titles that are given to the workers at Disney World, which is similar to a blog I did earlier about the Houyhnhnms, where vocabulary also played an important part in the balance of their utopia. While Walt Disney’s theme park functions on an utopian level, it also shows that factors such as overflowing trash and torn costumes would ruin his created environment in an instant.
http://www.vacationdaysmagazine.com/blog/uploaded_images/wdw_corridor-703259.jpg
