please help!

[cmhlop72]

im writing a paper for an english class. the question in the paper is how is disneyland a utopia. pros and cons and whatnot. one of my main points is that a utopia is what people make of it, not necessarily "rules."

btw, im a big fan of disneyland, ive been there on vacation with my family for something like 8 years in a row, so i figured this would be easy to write

so if i could, id like to ask questions of you all, if you havent noticed ive been here only a short time. this paper is due at noon tomorrow so any answers you have are greatly appreciated quickly.

first off, what do you consider to be a "must do,"

in what way do you feel the fireworks are a ritual, if at all?

have you ever been in trouble in disneyland?

do you feel there is a dress code, implied or otherwise?

if there are threads that you remember that deal with this please by all means point me at them. ill be up all night and i think i can get email from other memebers so dont hesitate. thank you all so much.

 

[ter-moo]

I realize this doesn't answer your specific questions, but I was thinking that Disneyland is a Utopia because it shows only the best of life--with everything a bit nicer than how it really is. Main Street is ****-and-span clean with old-fashioned shops and "good-old-days" atmosphere. Even the vehicles that go up and down the street are old ones--signifying a simpler, easier time.

People at Disneyland sell an allusion of friendliness, good cheer and positive energy. Real life isn't like that.

Good guys always win.

Dreams come true.

Everyone gets along.

Those are a few of my initial thoughts of why it's a utopian atmosphere..

 

[bumbershoot]

I definitely feel there is a dress code, but it's for the "greater good". Heelies aren't allowed, so that no one hurts themselves or others. Clothing that covers more than the important bits is what you're supposed to wear, with nothing offensive on the clothes, so that no one is easily offended.

For me the "must do" aspect changes with each visit. Each day of a visit. The main must do is to have a good time.

The fireworks aren't a ritual for me, but they are A ritual of sorts for the park. They are done at certain times, and cap off a day if the winds allow it. They are a celebration of the day you've had and a great way to call it a night.

The idea of utopia is hard, b/c what is perfect for one is miserable for another. So really, it's Walt Disney's idea of utopia, he and his descendants set up what sort of utopia it is, and anyone who wants to share in that can go and have a nice time.

 

[letthembelittle]

first off, what do you consider to be a "must do," Well my first memory of Disneyland is riding Dumbo so when we took our kids that was a big must do, also meeting Cinderella which meant waiting at the Princess Fantasy Faire was a must do for our little girl

in what way do you feel the fireworks are a ritual, if at all? I dont feel like they are a ritual to me but I can see how they would be for others, to me seeing the parade is a ritual.

have you ever been in trouble in disneyland? no and really no one should do things that would get them into trouble, its a family park and people should be mature enough to follow the rules.

do you feel there is a dress code, implied or otherwise? I think it is implied that it is a family place so people should dress in nonoffesive ways but I saw plenty of people wearing things that I wouldnt have from little girls in plastic "glass" slippers to a women who looked like she could have used a shirt.

Good luck with your paper!

 

[jemilah]

first off, what do you consider to be a "must do,"
ride a fast ride to get the blood pumping usually Space Mnt or Matterhorn
in what way do you feel the fireworks are a ritual, if at all?
They seem to be a fitting way to end a wonderful day
have you ever been in trouble in disneyland?
no
do you feel there is a dress code, implied or otherwise?
Yes it is a family place and I have seen people with offensive clothing turned away

 

[avalon451]

Hi, CM, I used to be a HS English teacher, and I have a Master's degree in English. Also, I used to TA for 300-level English classes at the University of WA, Seattle, when I was a grad student there, and grade papers for the profs. So maybe I can offer a couple of ideas.

First of all, you might want to look up the definition of utopia and just have it printed out and sitting in front of you. Some of the dictonaries give interesting twists to ideas you may have studied-- don't look up just Wikipedia, check a couple other sources. I'm guessing that in class, you've been discussing a few historical and fictional attempts to create utopias? Think about the examples you might have studied and make a couple notes to compare/contrast Disneyland with them.

From a couple of your questions ("What are 'must do's'" and "Have you ever been in trouble" and fireworks as ritual) I'm wondering if you're sort of on the wrong track... you might want to look more at how Disneyland is supposed to model an ideal society... previous poster had good ideas on that, with Main Street being the fantasy of old time "good old days" America... (ha, but were they the good old days?) It's like the fantasy of "God, Mom and apple pie" that never really was for most people. Think about each "land" in terms of those idealist fantasies. "Frontierland" "Tomorrowland" "Fantasyland" wow, you could go on and on about how people have tried to create utopias out of each of those concepts and historically failed. But hey, at DL, they did it! They created those lovely utopias. Well, sort of.

There's your "con" points... think about the sheer weight of money money money that drives the Disney company. Think about the sheer genius of advertising that makes us (DISer nuts! and I'm one! Hello, my name is Gail and I'm a Disneyland addict!) spend our money, our time, so much concentration on GETTING to this utopia and spending as much time as possible there. Think about the merchandising in the parks... everything is so expensive, souvenirs, food, experiences, lodging... Think about the crowds, the heat and the frustration of not having a FastPass for Indy when the line is 90 minutes long. Where else will people (who most unwisely did not get all their touring tips off the DIS boards) pay inordinate sums of money to enter a park and wait in lines over an hour long to ride a 3 minute ride?

I really think ol' Walt had goodness in his heart, and a vision for a kind of utopia to make as many people as possible happy. I think that he accomplished a lot of that, but it's inevitable that in today's society, when the bottom line is king, it had to become at least partly about the profit.

It's the "Happiest Place on Earth," yet it can engender a whole lot of frustration, anxiety and disappointment. It can also be simply wonderful.

Ok, did that make any sense at all? Hope it helps get you thinking.

By the way, you probably just drop apostrophes and capitalization for e-mails and stuff, but please check that really carefully, because I noticed you don't use it much. But you write clearly and well, so I'm guessing it's just the shorthand used in texting and e-mails. My own punctuation has gotten terrible, since I e-mail so much. I've almost forgotten what commas are for.

Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps. I don't miss those all-nighters, trying to finish papers on time! Good luck.

 

[DesertBell]

First, let me say that every time I saw "A utopia" I read "Autopia" and it took me like five readings to understand what the heck you were talking about.

That said, I will say that, while I love the attractions at Disneyland, I suspect that even without the fun coasters and the amazing fireworks, I would still drive eight hours to spend a day in a place where I can pretend that people are nice to each other and that bad things don't happen.

I love going to Disneyland, because once I walk under that arch, once I pass that plaque, I am in a different world. I am recovering from severe anxiety and major depression, and no matter how much I have struggled, I am always happy at Disneyland. I am always peaceful there. Like nothing can touch me.

There is nothing at Disneyland that is a "must do" for me. I am just as happy to sit on Main Street drinking my coffee from the Blue Ribbon Bakery as I am to ride INdy or Splash. I just want to be there. Heck, I want to LIVE there.

 

[dbanzai]

My first semester in college, we had to read an essay by David Mamet about why he hated Disney, and it was pretty much 'cause he saw it as somewhat utopian. He mentioned the fact that it was clean, and the orderliness of the lines (obviously he hadn't read the posts here about the rope drop or line cutting. But then, I read this before the internet boom).

It may be worth reading, to get the antithesis.

By the way, a number of the essays we read in this class made me dislike Mamet.

I think if you wrote on a tangent, you should look at the original plans for EPCOT, which Walt meant to be the city of the future. Walt I think did strive for a utopian society, and the original EPCOT was close in his mind: Traffic went around or under the city, getting from neighborhood to neighborhood was by WEDway and to other areas (including the "industrial" part of "town" was by mass transportation, aka the monorail. Downtown was accessible by both tranpsortation systems, and it was kind of like the World SHowcase there or maybe DTD, and the whole area was covered for 365 perfect days of weather.

Speaking of WEDway, aka the peoplemover, you can include that: Originally meant to demonstrate a clean, economical mass transit system for smaller regions.