The Quest for the Best Amusement Park Is Ever-Changing and Never-Ending - The Ringer

[Parkscope Joe]

The Amusement Park Revolution Has Come to Disney World

Disney’s Star Wars-themed Rise of the Resistance is a ride so immersive that calling it a ride seems reductive. And it’s just a mere hint of where theme parks are headed in the future.

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Strangely, theme parks, which are controlled by the same companies whose ultimate allegiance is to the bottom line, are perhaps the only places that offer fans the illusion of control they seek, and a return to the childhood feeling that each visitor is having a sovereign experience with a mainstream franchise tailored just for them. In this way, theme parks epitomize fans’ evolving relationship to popular culture, from passive consumer to hopeful agent of change, all the while reinforcing the status quo—they make the rides, we just ride them.