Have you walked through Disneyland and wondered why some lands like Adventureland,
Frontierland, and Tomorrowland have a sign out front...but lands like Fantasyland, New Orleans
Square and Galaxy’s Edge don’t? It’s certainly a puzzler because you’d think that a sign would
be really useful for knowing how to get around Disneyland especially if it’s your first visit.
The truth is, each land at Disneyland has its own reasons for having a sign vs not having a sign
and today we’ll talk about each of those reasons, but the basic rule of thumb
is that the lands with a sign usually don’t have a weenie, and if it does have a weenie,
it’s not exactly obvious what the land’s theme is. Now if the term weenie sounds strange or funny to
you, then maybe I should clarify what it means. You see, Walt wanted the park to be designed
like a movie set, where the guests could be influenced to move around using visual draws.
When people enter the park, they are drawn further into the center of it thanks to the
castle sitting at the end of Main Street. People see the castle and their curiosity
entices them to get a closer look at it. So Walt considered icons like the castle as a weenie,
referring to when you get a dog’s attention by waving a tasty hot dog in front of it.
When you examine the main entrance of Fantasyland you will notice there is no
big sign out front telling you what land is beyond the castle. The answer might be painfully obvious
but it was assumed that if you looked at the fairytale castle, you would associate it with
the land of make-believe and fantasy. But what about Tomorrowland in 1955,
it certainly did not have a large sign out front, and again it was because this land also featured
a weenie in the form of a large rocket that sat near the far edge of the land. If this
space featured a large rocket and futuristic architecture, it was pretty obvious this was
the land of tomorrow. But what about the land of today? In other words, modern Tomorrowland.
In 1998 when the New Tomorrowland emerged in its steampunk style color scheme, it wasn’t
immediately obvious what land this was. Even with the large Astro Orbiter out front, Imagineering
still felt it was important to incorporate Tomorrowland’s first official sign. But in 2015
for Tomorrowland’s Season of the Force, new signs were installed to advertise the temporary overlay.
As it turned out that sign would never be removed, and instead the second iteration of
the Tomorrowland Sign took over it, even while Disneyland removed the 1998 sign back in 2019.
How about Main Street, why doesn’t it have a sign? Well to be honest it doesn’t need it,
not only does Main Street speak for itself but originally it wasn’t considered a
official land at Disneyland. Main Street was more like the red carpet to the show,
plus when people entered the park they didn’t have to seek out Main Street because the only way in or
out of the park was by going through this area. So what about Adventureland, I think the 1955
entrance spoke for itself, if you can imagine this space without a sign, then you’ll see
that it wasn’t obvious what land was behind this gateway, therefore it needed to be labeled. Today
the tiki room entrance of Adventureland might advertise itself without the need for a sign,
but by this point the sign is part of this lands entrance tradition.
The same kind of goes for Frontierland. You might argue that in 1955 the Mark Twain Riverboat was
considered Frontierland’s weenie, people would see the boat from the gateway and know this
is the land of the western frontier. However, the Imagineers knew that boat only sits at the dock
every 20 minutes, so most of the time there would be very little -aside from the old log fort, to
signify what land this was, I mean...what if this was Adventureland? So as you know, the land was
given a sign. You could say that today Big Thunder Mountain serves as Frontierland’s weenie, but
while that is true, you can’t see Big Thunder from the Frontierland entrance.
Now, you might look at New Orleans Square and immediately know that it looks just like the
French Quarter of the big easy. However, one could rightfully point out that this land most certainly
could use an entrance sign. But the reason it never got one was because for several
years during this land’s development, it was going to be considered not as its own land,
but as an expansion of Frontierland. Frontierland already had a New Orleans Street, but Walt wanted
something bigger and more immersive so he intended to extend New Orleans Street so
it led to the massive square beyond it. And so New Orleans Square was indeed a land of its own,
but it was always considered a large neighborhood of Frontierland, that’s why the New Orleans Square
train station still read Frontierland Station all the way up until 1997 when they changed it.
Critter Country has an icon right there at the entrance, but the exterior of Splash
Mountain certainly didn’t make it very obvious as to what you can expect at critter country.
So in this case a sign was necessary to identify the land and what it is all about.
Toontown...well...I mean do I even have to say it? Without the sign, would anyone ever know
there was something under that creepy bridge? Well I’ve gone through the park and showed
you why certain lands have signs and why others don’t...and usually it has to do
with several factors, whether or not the land has an icon that makes it blatantly obvious
what the land is themed to, or in some cases its traditional to have or not to have a sign there.
But now comes the part where we break away from those notions altogether and try to
figure out why Galaxy’s Edge does not have a sign. The land has an icon, yes, it’s the Millennium
Falcon, but it's not visible from any of the entrances. In fact, it is not visible
at all until you go deep into Galaxy’s Edge and find it in the back corner. And just like the
entrance of Toontown, Galaxy’s Edge requires you to enter from underneath the railroad tracks...all
three entrances are unmarked. So how in the world are you supposed to know what is beyond these
entrances and whether or not it has what you are looking for. Well frankly, the only answer I can
surmise is that if you are coming to Disneyland with the express purpose of going to Galaxy’s
Edge, you likely already know how to get there, or you have asked a cast member for directions.
And even if you never knew that Galaxy’s Edge existed, you would still see the large crowds
of people going in and out of the entrances, which would entice your curiosity to look inside.
Even still...every land at Disneyland has a reason for having or not having a sign out front
and it all has to do with whether or not the theme is understandable from the land’s entry point.
Many Disney fans love Disneyland’s signs, they’re beautiful and creative,
maybe you want to know more about them, and that’s exactly what you’ll find at Signs of Amusement,
a YouTube channel that highlights the history and creativity of Disneyland Resort’s signs,
and the best part is, you can purchase any of the signs Jason makes on the show.
So check out Signs of Amusement, links will be at the end of the video and in the description.
So anyway, now you know why some lands have a sign and some don’t, but what do you think,
does Galaxy’s Edge need a sign? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.