Experience the magic of commercialization

  Emilia Hwang When Hwang isn’t scrambling
for parking, she enjoys long drives with her Crash Test Goofy.
E-mail her at [email protected].

It’s a small world after all. At least, that’s what
the masterminds at Disney would have us believe.

One trip to Walt Disney World, Florida, and sun-kissed travelers
are convinced that they’ve gone all around the world.

At Disneyland Park in Anaheim, visitors donning Mouseketeer hats
will unequivocally testify to journeying beyond the frontiers of
the imagination and back.

In less than a month, Disney’s California Adventure will
attempt to set guests on a whirlwind journey through the Golden
State. The new theme park endeavors to capture all the splendor and
elegance of California’s scenic panoramas ““ from So
Cal’s glitz and glamour to the great wide open spaces up
north.

With this park, however, the brains behind The Happiest Place on
Earth have gone too far with their sugar-coated propaganda. The
global industrial complex led by Disney CEO Michael Eisner cannot
convince guests that all the natural beauty of California has been
consolidated for their perusal within 55 acres.

Tourists looking for the majesty of the Sierras will find the
Grizzly Peaks and the semblance of a bear crafted into an
artificial mountain (which also doubles as a raft ride). Visitors
to the West Coast won’t need to make the extra trip to San
Francisco, when several feet from the California Adventure’s
entrance awaits the famous Golden Gate Bridge (which also doubles
as a monorail overpass).

Only the laziest of travelers will take a bite of this poisoned
apple.

Hold on, who am I kidding? As much as I’d like to believe
that consumers won’t subscribe to Disney’s latest
massive, commercial exploit, I’m sadly one dwarf short of
whistling a happy tune.

While attempting to capture California at its finest, Disney has
succeeded in a large-scale commodification of the state’s
historic culture.

For instance, guests can tour a commercial tortilla factory and
learn about the history of the tortilla, from its beginnings in
ancient Mexico, up to its modern history in California.

With no wait list or PTE numbers required, Tortilla 101 is
graciously taught to scholars of the corn and flour variety by
Mission Foods Corporation. Kitchen demonstrations are also included
on the course syllabus, and visitors can watch chefs prepare
recipes using fine Mission Foods products. After much laborious
note-taking, guests can then enjoy the food that they’ve been
so intently learning about in the dining area.

It’s no wonder that Mission Foods is the largest tortilla
manufacturer in the U.S.

Among the other corporate food attractions in the park is
Wolfgang Puck’s Avalon Cove. The seafood restaurant is a
hearty addition to California Adventure, even though Puck was born
in Austria and trained in classical French cooking.

Disney, however, will soon convince guests that in the process
of catering to world leaders and celebrities, the renowned chef
reinvented California cuisine.

Another signature California product featured in the park
originated

during the 1849 gold rush.

Visitors who didn’t know that Andre-Boudin Bakeries is
responsible for the state carbohydrate before entering the park
will certainly remember the fact after experiencing a multi-media
presentation documenting the making of the world-famous sourdough
bread.

Guests can then peruse the menu at the Boudin Bakery Café.
Incidentally, Andre-Boudin Bakeries is a subsidiary of Specialty
Foods Corporation, one of the nation’s leading food
manufacturers.

Can you say world-dominating conspiracy?

Even the new entertainment center, Downtown Disney, is anchored
by big names like AMC theaters, the House of Blues and ESPN.

For visitors who come to California Adventures from across the
globe, the pseudo-cultural experience the park provides may be the
only glimpse of California they get. It’s too bad Disney has
rewritten the state’s history to fit their corporate
agenda.

The Disneyland Park, Walt Disney’s vision of a world where
imagination reigns, opened on July 17, 1955. Opening with 18 major
attractions, Disneyland now boasts of more than 60 attractions.

Over 400 million guests and 4,335 pyrotechnic shows later,
Disney is manufacturing a realm that tests the bounds of
visitors’ pocketbooks and not their creative capacities.

Though the world according to Disney may be sponsored by large
companies rather than large imaginations, a visit to the old and
new parks can still be an enlightening experience if guests
don’t forget that Disney, after all, is just another company
name.

But, the California experience a la Disney has its upside. The
park’s beachfronts are clean and picturesque, featuring state
of the art rides. Furthermore, a visit to the park’s
Hollywood Pictures Backlot is safer and more sterile than a stroll
down the infamously gritty real-life boulevard.

Not to mention the park has ample parking, which is unheard of
in most of Southern California.

So, for guests who don’t mind a less-than-authentic
journey to the Golden State, Disney will be glad to furnish their
scrapbooks with artificial backdrops and elaborate facades at
California Adventures.

Visitors just need to keep in mind that Disney’s small
world, after all, is just another good ride.