Page 75 - The Disneyization of Society

THE DISNEYIZATION OF SOCIETY

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Figure 3.2 The restaurant and games area in the Trafford Centre

included small theme parks and areas for family entertainment; in Sydney,
Australia, there is a large retail area that encompasses theme park attractions and
rides, themed restaurants, a Sega World and street theatre. 24
The trio of forms of consumption that are the focus of this section are also
brought together in many of the far eastern theme parks that have emerged in the
years after Tokyo Disneyland. In this connection, it is striking that the passage
quoted on page 50 from the work of Hendry concerning the Japanese gaikoku
mura (foreign country villages) mentions that there is at these venues ‘an abun-
25
dant stock of food, drink and ornaments from the area in question’. As an example,
at Glücks Königreich, a park themed on Germany, there are a variety of eating
opportunities for appropriately ethnic food as well as shops, and a reproduction
castle that functions as a luxury hotel. The park also includes a restaurant,
conference facilities and a sports club. Similarly, Huis ten Bosch, which is themed
on Holland and is the largest of the gaikoku mura, contains a wide range of shops
and restaurants as well as a hotel (Hotel Europe).
In addition to shopping malls as locations where theme park attractions, shop-
ping and restaurants merge, large complexes like the festival marketplaces and
tourist enclaves (see Chapter 6 on the latter), provide examples of locations where
different forms of consumption are brought together. Wolf mentions several
complexes that combine a variety of consumption forms. He cites: Fox Studios,
Australia megaplex – 16 theatres, soundstage with a backlot for public viewing,
adventure playground, area with stores and restaurants; Crown Resort, Melbourne