DISNEYLAND...AGAIN?

Yep...again! I have a friend who has an employee's Silver Pass and when he calls, I'm always up for it. Anyway, this time we decided to concentrate on Frontierland. The land is so big that even with an entire day to spend there we had to pass up a lot.

The first thing to do in Frontierland is to take a ride on the paddle-wheel steamship. The whole boat is a work of art.

Past the heavy traffic area the river is surprisingly intimate and quiet. Surprisingly authentic, too. You'd swear you were in the backwoods of Tennessee or Missouri. The landscapers did such a good job that when you come across examples of human habitation like an Indian village they seem a little jarring and out of place.

As the ship approaches civilization again we begin to see artifacts of human habitation: Narrow gauge railroad tracks (above) and a pier. The tracks are decorative but they'd work great for a small, real-world, suburban railroad.

After the steamboat ride we headed for the canoes. This simple ride is one of the most fun things you can do in Frontierland.

Those X%&*@ two cute little girls behind me shoveled at least a gallon of water down my back.

A duck family paddled almost right up to the boat. They seemed to have had no fear of humans.

A quick peek (above) into the nearby Golden Horseshoe Saloon. Wow! Imagine how great it would be to have a local dinner theatre like this!

Next stop: the magesterial Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. If you visit Disneyland don't pass this up. In photos it looks like other theme-related small rollercoasters you've seen and you figure you can safely pass it up.  N-O-T   T-R-U-E!!!!!!! The ride is absolutely unique and is not to be missed...even if you have to stand in line with crying children for an hour to ride it.

The ride should really be in Tomorrowland. It's the urban transportation of the future, not the past. Ride it and you'll glimpse the dazzling world of 2040 when the concept of a City of the Young will hopefully have taken hold.

What the ride has to offer isn't visible in pictures, it isn't even visible to people in the park who watch it without riding it. It's the Art of Experience which may turn out to be the primary artform of this emerging century. The ride combines motion with carefully controlled 3D spatial awareness and sound. You'll have to ride it to know what I'm talking about. It incorporates advances in psychology as well as engineering. I'd like to know the name of the genius who thought of this.

A CITY FOR THE YOUNG

I have an admittedly impractical fantasy about urban planning: I ask myself what a city would be like if it was populated almost entirely by the young...say 50 and below. And what if the people in such a city were not only young, but also physically fit? How would people like that get to work? What kind of houses would they live in? Would they take rollercoasters to the job (above)? Would they swim to it?

I love the idea of using rollercoasters (above) for real urban transportation. Maybe a city of the young could do that.

The idea of rollercoasters cars snaking through the suburbs, of cars full of laughing people  emerging from clumps of trees and disappearing into them again...I find that exhilarating to think about.

Okay, it's not practical...I admit it.

In such a city maybe even things as commonplace as sidewalks might look different. Physically fit pedestrians might not mind if the sidewalks were hilly (above) and fit the natural contours of the land.

Maybe small streets might be designed to hold rainwater for a few hours before draining it away. It would be an excuse for kayaking. A city of the young might look at rain as a source of fun rather than a nuisance.

Maybe a way would be found to make water rides into public transportion.

In such a city even walking to school might be an adventure. I like the idea of city planners taking the trouble to be sure kids had fun making the trip to school. Making them walk would be better for their health than using a school bus.

BTW, I'm not sure the wall idea above is a good one. It seems a bit contrived, too much like meddling adults had something to do with it. It's a good springboard for thought, though. Exactly what would kids like to climb on?

No doubt a young city would value urban horseback riding (above) more than it's valued now. Lots of equine rental places might spring up.

No doubt that we'd also see fun architecture with lots of towers and balconies and with
 bridges connecting the buildings.

Maybe young people would be more playful with the urban landscape. Maybe they'd prefer to see contrasts in mood and texture when they look around. I like the idea of heavy, atmospheric architecture like the kind above existing only a few dozen yards from light, modern places like Kinko's.

The problem here is that in the wrong hands, all this could look very cheap and tacky.  You could argue that amusement park architecture should stay in amusement parks where artifice is expected and is part of the tradition, and where it's safe from nitpicking by bureaucrats. In my fantasy city none of this is a problem. It all works...somehow.

A city of the young might be so attractive that even old people would want to live there. I mean, who'd want to leave a place like this?

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Thanks to Joel Brinkerhof who sent me a link to a great video about Coney Island that triggered some of this speculation. I won't link to it now, because I have other plans for it. Thanks again, Joel!