Disneyland is famous for its attention to detail – everything from trash can placement to smells in different lands. But this obsession with perfection didn’t happen overnight. Over the years, Imagineers get better and better at manufacturing the perfect park experience. This starts with the gates opening in the morning, and ends with lighting the park at night until the last visitor leaves.
One of those aspects quite overlooked in the early years was lighting; specifically, nighttime lighting. In the mid 60s, Imagineering legend Dick Irvine noticed an issue. In some places (namely, Tomorrowland), the attractions and walkways were overwhelmed with light. In other parts of the park, the pathways were so dark they became difficult to navigate.
Irvine tasked Rolly Crump and Yale Gracey to tweak the lighting across the park, beginning a whole new chapter of storytelling in the darkness. They made obvious improvements like adjusting light levels and styling light fixtures to their respective lands, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Today, lighting around the Disneyland Resort changes dramatically to suit its environment. In bold, energetic lands, you’ll find multi-color neon and very little shadow. Tomorrowland, Pixar Pier, Cars Land, Mickey’s Toontown, and Hollywood Land are perfect examples of this lighting style. With everything colorfully illuminated, there’s no mystery. Your eye is drawn to the big and exciting adventures in front of you, creating a kind of visual noise to correspond with the loud coasters, shooting games, and excitement.
Remove a little light, and suddenly there’s a bit of mystery. Picture Frontierland, New Orleans Square, Grizzly Peak, and Adventureland. These spaces have winding walkways, and you can’t ever see the entire land at once. The shadows, darkness, and ambiguity perfectly serve the moods of these lands. You wouldn’t believe you were exploring a jungle or the wild west if it were flooded with light – these lands are supposed to be untamed. These lands also use lights and shadows to create depth perception on buildings, particularly in New Orleans Square. What may seem like a short walkway in the daytime can look like a long street in the dark.
Then there are lands where the evening light adds a softness. They’re not shadowy and mysterious, or fully lit; they have softly glowing lanterns, old-fashioned strung lights, and other softer tones. Buena Vista Street, Critter Country, Pacific Wharf, Paradise Gardens Park, and Main Street all use this lighting style. You feel a sense of nostalgia and quaintness walking through these lands in the evening. It’s almost as if the lighting gives the slightest hint of a sepia photograph.
Two lands at the resort don’t seem to fit this pattern. The first is Galaxy’s Edge; the striking colors mix with softer lighting in some areas, while other areas loom in shadow and keep a feeling of mystery and the unknown. This land is so massive, it seems able to combine lighting techniques to create different areas and moods within a single land.
The other special case is Fantasyland. This land combines brilliant white tones from structures like the Matterhorn and It’s A Small World with all kinds of glowing pinks and purples, as if the castle is streaming light onto the rest of the land. Walking through Fantasyland at night feels less like wandering a theme park and more like stepping into a dream world, where everything is a little rosier. I suppose it’s fitting for the land in the shadow of the castle to stand out with its own style of light.
Disneyland’s lighting is continuously being refined, adjusted, and perfected. Imagineers will never stop searching for improvements and new ways to tell stories. And honestly, lighting the park at night is another chance for storytelling! Next time you wander through Disneyland, see if you can notice how lighting patterns change from land to land. The subtle changes from these lights can have a dramatic impact on your experience in the park.
