ABSTRACT
Fantasyland is a children’s land par excellence. If any icon other than Mickey Mouse represents the carefully constructed eternal childhood Disney offers to the market, it is Cinderella’s Castle in Fantasyland. On the far side of the castle, Fantasyland is divided into four quadrants, which center on Cinderella’s Golden Carousel and Dumbo, the Hying Elephant. The northwest quadrant of Fantasyland contains three venues—two rides and a restaurant. The 135-acre Disney-MGM Studios theme park is built around a very extensive work display. The climactic moment threatens riders with pretend annihilation by a railroad locomotive, a simple but clever effect. This is one of the two rides in Fantasyland that warns parents that the ride may be too “intense” for young children. Disney characters perform a musical revue at the latter that is aimed especially at children. Disney’s homogenization suggests that all children do or should look alike—except for their native costumes and skin color—just like Euro-Americans.
