Performance and the Disney Theme Park Experience

Most scholars and critics deny agency to the tourist in their engagement with the Disney theme park experience. The vast body of research and journalism on the Disney “Imagineers”—the designers and storytellers who construct the park experience—leads to the misconception that these exceptional artists puppeteer every aspect of the guest’s experience. This anthology, now in its second edition, re-centers the park experience around its protagonist: the tourist, and addresses the Disney Parks using performance theory, an approach few to no scholars had used prior to the first edition. The authors of the individual essays, as well as the Introduction by Kokai and Robson, and an Afterword by world renowned tourism and performance expert Susan Bennett, recognize the inherently complicated nature of Disney. Many of the contributors consider themselves Disney fans, but also recognize the potentially problematic aspects of Disney parks. This collection permits both perspectives to exist sideby side, informing rather than contradicting each other. Jennifer A. Kokai is the co-author, with Tom Robson, of Disney Parks and the Construction of American Identity: Tourism, Performance, Anxiety, and the solo author of Swim Pretty: Aquatic Spectacles and the Performance of Race, Gender, and Nature, as well as numerous essays. She is Director of the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of South Florida, USA. Tom Robson is the co-author of Disney Parks and the Construction of American Identity: Tourism, Performance, Anxiety, with Jennifer A. Kokai. He is the author or co-author of several additional essays and chapters. He is currently a Clinical Assistant Teaching Professor in Purdue University’s Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts program.