“Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust:” The Creation and Continuation of "Disney Magic" in the Disney Theme Parks

Abstract

What is “Disney Magic” and what is it that makes the Disney Theme Parks “The Most Magical Place on Earth”? This thesis investigates the Disney Theme Park experience and was inspired by personal connections to the parks and the company. This paper is sectioned into three different chapters- defining Disney, the conundrum of place, and the intersection of virtual and physical in order to understand how the elusive “Disney Magic” is manufactured. Through the analysis of intentionality in the park experience and the narrative immersion of guests into the entanglements of popular Disney media, I argue that “Disney Magic” can be found in the intersection of the virtual and physical. Using my own ethnographic fieldwork at Walt Disney World alongside anthropological theory, I explain how Disney Theme Parks are cinematic playgrounds in which guests are the main characters of the stories they weave through interactions with Disney worlds.