Abstract
Beginning with Disneyland, by the end of the twentieth century, themed spaces had proliferated across sectors from leisure to education as a core component of Pine and Gilmore’s Experience Economy. As Ellen Lupton reminds us, what has changed now in the twenty-first century is that, increasingly, we are designing for participants: for users, visitors, and guests. Calling customers “guests” is a key Disney contribution to the hospitality industry, and it traces back to Walt Disney’s personal philosophy. Although now regarded as paternalistic, Disney’s concern for his “guests” is not unlike current trends in human-centered design. How Disney parks were/are planned, designed, and continue to be iterated maps suitably to practices in the UX industry. Thus theme parks can be thought of as a kind of software. Most recently, mobile apps have become integral to most visits. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019 with interactivity via the Play Disney Parks app baked directly in. Guests can embark on a number of gamified quests, scan and translate “alien” content, and participate in role playing. Now with the global theme park industry having reopened following in some cases over a year long pandemic closure, apps have become the central way guests manage their theme park experience, and operators manage the guests. This paper describes the evolution of the Disney parks in the context of user experience design, looks at the current state of the art, and speculates on where mobile interactivity within the theme park model might head in the future.