The Five Senses of Disney (Part 2)

The next sense most commonly used at a Disney park is your ears this sense is on over load just as much as your eyes are.  Disney uses sounds, music, and dialog to tell the great stories throughout the parks and resorts.  Music is key element Disney uses to place their guests into a scene the three types of music they use are sound effects,  instrumental music, and sung music.  


Like in movies sound effects are used to surprise or make you laughing or even scare you.  Lets look at the Haunted Mansion it has one of the most famous sound effects in any Disney attraction the dog or wolf howling out side of the attraction.  For Imagineers this single solitary sound sets a tone for the entire attraction it draws guests into the attraction weather your coming into Frontierland from Adventureland or in the Hub next to the castle or in Fantasyland you can hear that sound and you instantly think of the Haunted Mansion.  Another sound effect that instantly draws you into a place is the sound of the train at Main Street USA, when you hear the sound of the train, the whistle, and the bell it instantly takes you to that spot where ever you are. The bell and whistle have such a distinct sound that they just bring you to Main Street.


Also like in movies instrumental music plays a very important role it bring guest into the story.  Imagineers use it in a verity of ways and in a verity of places as well.  The First place you hear music is right when you enter the parks and that music is some of the most important music because it sets a tone for the entire park and gives you a sense of what lies a head.  For instants lets look and the four major parks of Walt Disney World the Magic Kingdom you hear all the great music from Disney movies and TV over time.  At EPCOT there are two distinct parts and both have their own sounds and style.  Future World has a very futuristic sound where as World Showcase has an international sound.  The Disney Studios are all about the movies and what els would you hear other than famous movie scores from Robin Hood to Gone With the Wind.  Animal Kingdom's sound is very organic sounding and it makes sense your in the jungle and your there to see Animals.


Finally you have all the great Disney songs from their movies to songs that come from the attraction.  Think of your favorite Disney attraction and now think what song goes with that?  When Walt was designing Disneyland at his disposal he had two brothers with the ability to write songs that just captivated the imagination.  Richard and Robert Sherman were Walt's go two men when he wanted a song and the Sherman Brothers deliver to a tone of  2 Oscars and 1 Grammy along with countless nominations and other awards.  The Sherman brothers wrote three songs you will never get out of your head once you hear them.  "Its a Small World" was written for the 1964 Worlds Fair and then made its way to every Disney theme park across the world, love it or hate it it makes the attraction a classic.  Another song is "In the Tiki Tiki Tiki Room" was written for the first audio animatronics attraction the Enchanted Tiki Room.  Finally one of Walt's favorite songs "Theres a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" also written for the 1964 Worlds Fair then transplanted into the theme parks.  


As you can tell sound is an important tool for imagineers in bringing you into the story. Weather its a songs written by the Sherman brothers or a score from a Disney move or just a sound that you hear in the park sound is and important element.  The next time your in one of the parks just stop and listen you might be surprised at what you hear or experience.  In the next installment get ready to use your nose and YES Disney Parks have these distinct smells that you just hold on too. 

The Five Senses of Disney

When I began to write this post i discovered this topic is more than just a single post and a more than I could ever have imagined. When  you visit a Disney park Imagineer's are not just stimulating your eyes and ears but they try to involve all five senses.  When you go to a Disney park you taste, you touch, you smell, you see, and you hear; every one of your senses is stimulated at any moment while you are in the park.  By using your five senses Disney is able to emerge you deeper into your experience and by making the experience even more enjoyable. The first sense i will touch on is sight and Disney wastes no time using this sense once you approach a Disney park. 

Sight is Disney's most powerful tool, the use of weenies (weenie- a term coined by Walt to describe an object that draws people in.) draws you into areas is key in bring people into the park.  OK for instants imagine the Magic Kingdom with out Cinderella Castle or EPCOT without Spaceshipearth it would take away that WOW factor when you first enter the park and it would lack a key element in the grand story Imagineers are trying to convey to the guests.  These are a few of the very noticeable weenies, but there are smaller weenies with in the theme parks as well as in the resort hotels and even the shops at the Marketplace.  An example of a smaller weenie is if you have been in the Animal Kingdom Lodge and walked into the lobby and gone whoa.  

Another Disney sight staple is dramatic lighting  if anyone has walked through any of the parks at night the notice very dramatic lighting all over the parks.  In the past year Disney has debuted two new Shows using lighting and exciting new visuals using dramatic lighting and affects.  Disney's World of Color at Disney's California Adventure uses lighting and water affects to project famous Disney movie scenes on to the water. Another new show that has less technical elements, but still delivers on the wow factor is the new The Magic, The Memories and You! witch is a projection of Disney movie clips as well as family videos take by real families while at Disney World on to Cinderellas Castle.

My next post will center around using your ears, Disney surround  you with all sorts of sounds to pull you into the story and the place that Imagineers are bringing you into.